JPS61287747A - Gravure printer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to printing, and more particularly to a printing press for gravure printing.

In gravure printing, the printed area uses a surface on which a gravure image is formed, consisting of a series of grooves (cells) that are individually separated by lands (mountains between grooves) that are not marked. ing. During printing, ink is applied to this surface, and excess ink that exceeds that which can fit within the cells is removed by a doctor blade that comes into contact with the rashid surface. A printing material or paper is then pressed against the inked image to transfer the ink from the cells to the paper. Cell dimensions vary.

I! I'I Cell: The area may be constant but the depth may vary, the area may vary but the depth may be constant, or a combination of these may be used. Therefore, the amount of ink held in the cells is varied, and this variety in the amount of ink makes it possible to print various gradations on printing materials.

Although various methods have been devised for applying ink to the surface of a gravure image, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink that is more economical and improved than those known methods. The goal is to realize the applicable law.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In some conventional examples of rotary letterpress printing presses for printing newspapers, plate cylinders are used which are manufactured by the stero printing process and are equipped with metal printing presses containing relief images. There are also models in which a printing plate having a relief image formed by image exposure and development of a photopolymerizable layer is attached to the plate cylinder. Depending on this type of printing, letterpress vfrV
There is a limit to the quality of J printing, and it can be achieved by gravure printing or off-seven printing.
This is not possible because the picture is printed as a series of dots formed by a screen. In most examples of conventional rotary letterpress printing presses, the mesh is only 65 dots per linear inch (about 2.54 centimeters), offset printing or gravure printing. According to the print, per linear inch (approximately 2,54 centimeters)
It is possible to use screens with 120 dots or more. Furthermore, conventional rotary letterpress printing presses are primarily limited to oil-based inks, which can be used in an "open" state (i.e., not drying) on the press. It is prepared and therefore does not dry completely on the newspaper.

It is well known that this is a constant source of complaint for newspaper subscribers. Furthermore, conventional rotary letterpress printing machines consume a large amount of energy, so there is a problem that they are expensive to operate.

This is due in part to the large array of ink rolls required to provide uniform ink application to the plate cylinder. It has been proposed to use a colored engraving drum instead of these ink roll rows. Although following them reduces the amount of power required and improves the quality of the printing preform, the overall effect still falls short of gravure or offset printing.

Another object of the present invention is to propose a high-speed printing press for newspaper printing that eliminates the above-mentioned problems.

Letterpress newspaper printing machines are very expensive and have a service life of 2
be for 5 years or more.

The high cost of replacing machines precludes the economical use of new printing technologies in newspaper printing.

Yet another object of the invention is to make it possible to convert existing newsprint letterpress printing presses into gravure printing presses.

Newspaper printing is carried out according to a very strict timetable, and printing plates often need to be replaced during printing to ensure that the newspaper contains the latest information. It is important to replace such printing plates as soon as possible. Recent technological developments have made it possible to produce gravure printing plates by photopolymerization methods in which the image is formed in a layer of polymer formed on a sheet of steel. Such a glJ temporary stamp can be manufactured in a short time and its use provides high quality images.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a high speed rotary printing press for printing newspapers or other commercial printed matter utilizing a gravure printing plate produced by the photopolymerization process as described above.

According to the present invention, there is provided: (i) a cylindrical surface on which a gravure image is formed; (ii) means for rotating the cylindrical surface about its axis; (iii) an apparatus for applying ink to the cylindrical surface, comprising: (a) A substantially closed configuration bounded by a cylindrical surface, an axially extending doku blade in contact with the cylindrical surface, and an axially extending sealing member for containing ink under pressure. An ink fountain extending in the axial direction,
b) ink supply means for supplying ink from an ink supply to the ink fountain for contacting the ink with the cylindrical surface; and (c) returning excess ink beyond what the cylindrical surface can hold to the ink supply. (iv) means for contacting the cylindrical surface with the printing material so as to transfer ink from the cylindrical surface to the printing material.

The axially extending sealing member is generally spaced from the cylindrical surface as far as possible so that the fountain is, for all intents and purposes, in a substantially closed configuration. It is a short distance away. To illustrate, this spacing between the sealing member and the cylindrical surface is 2. The length should not exceed 0.5 m, more preferably less than 0.5 m. However, it may sometimes be preferable to configure the axially extending sealing member to contact the cylindrical surface.

The inking device may be a single device sealed at the axial end of the cylindrical surface such that it spans the entire axial length of the cylindrical surface and has a width corresponding to the maximum width of the printing material or paper; Instead, a plurality of relatively narrow inking devices are used in a printing press, arranged closely side by side over the entire axial length of the cylindrical surface, and each of the devices is sealed at the end to the cylindrical surface. With this arrangement, depending on the width of the printing material, simply by cutting off the ink supply to the inking device or devices and/or by removing them.
It is now possible to easily print a printing material having a narrower width than the normal maximum width of the printing material. In this way, depending on the specificity of the width of the printing material, the number of inking units to be used can be freely selected. Furthermore, a particular advantage of this configuration is that the inking device can be mounted on the printing press in such a way that it can be easily removed and replaced with a device containing ink of a different color, so that the width of the printing material can be This means that it becomes easier to print in different colors. It is also particularly advantageous to design the inking devices to be interchangeable over the axial length of the cylindrical surface for the convenience of multicolor printing.

Alternatively, it is also possible to perform multicolor printing without removing and replacing the inking devices by supplying them with inks of different colors.

The cylindrical surface bearing the gravure image may be in the form of a gravure cylinder, which is formed by exposing the carbon tissue or other suitable photosensitive material by known photolithography techniques to form the image for printing. It can be manufactured by preparing a gravure screen that forms a. Upon exposure, a photosensitive material is hardened to varying degrees depending on the amount of light it receives. The exposed photosensitive material is then transferred onto the surface of a copper cylinder and developed such that it is selectively removed according to the degree to which it was cured in the exposure step. after that,
The desired cells are formed by etching the surface of the copper cylinder. The photolithographic resist area formed by the developed photosensitive material has various hardnesses and thicknesses, and corrosive liquids such as ferric chloride aqueous solution gradually destroy the resist area depending on the hardness and thickness. Corrodes copper cylinders. The areas of the resist that are most highly exposed to light have the greatest resistance to corrosion. Therefore, the copper surface immediately below the fully exposed part, corresponding to the screen, is not subject to any corrosion, and such part of the copper surface therefore forms the land against which the doctor blade rests. Other or remaining portions of the copper surface are eroded in inverse proportion to the amount of light received by the overlying resist, forming cells of varying depth and/or size.

Instead of the above, the surface on which the gravure printing image is formed,
It is also possible to construct it by a gravure printing plate fixed to the plate cylinder. Such a printing plate can be manufactured from a photosensitive plate formed by forming a photosensitive material layer on a suitable substrate such as a synthetic resin or a metal sheet. The photosensitive material is a photopolymerizable polymer (photo
In this case, the photosensitive plate can be manufactured by molding a photopolymerizable polymer. The photopolymerizable polymer may be any suitable polymer, but particularly preferred are British Patent Specifications Nos. 767.912 and 795.9.
61, 862.276 and 875.378.

When using a photopolymerizable polymer printing plate as described above, the photopolymerizable polymer is imagewise exposed to form a continuous tone positive area and a halftone screen area; The light that enters it makes it insoluble. The portions that received the most intense light were substantially completely photoinsolubilized, and the portions that received the least amount of light had the largest proportion of the polymer that was not photoinsolubilized. The slope is developed by the polymer solvent, and the remaining photosensitive areas are selectively washed away, leaving the insolubilized areas.

In this way, an image for a gravure ink kII is obtained which has cells of various volumes with different ink acceptance so as to produce a gradated image when printed.

When using a gravure printing press, it is detachably attached to the plate cylinder by means of locking means. The locking means and the printing plate are 1g mark to and from the plate cylinder! ] Preferably, the plate is constructed so that it can be quickly attached and detached and provides a smooth, substantially step-free surface for contact with the printing material or paper.

In one embodiment of the invention, the gravure printing plate is mounted on a plate cylinder conventionally used for the previously described stereo printing plates or photopolymerizable polymer relief stamps IGII tN. In this case, a padding plate or shim plate, preferably consisting of two or more divided parts and provided around the plate cylinder, is inserted between the gravure printing plate and the plate cylinder, so that the gap between the gravure printing plate and the relief plate of the prior art is is configured to compensate for differences in thickness. Alternatively, the existing plate cylinder can be replaced with another plate cylinder of a larger diameter, and when a thin gravure printing plate is attached to this larger diameter plate cylinder, the total diameter will be a stero printing plate or a photopolymerizable printing plate. It may be made to be equal to that of the existing plate cylinder when the relief printing plate is attached. Accordingly, the difference in thickness of the printing plate can be corrected without using a shim plate.

The locking means may be a suitable modification of the mechanical locking arrangement used to attach conventional Stero stamp GLJ temporary and photopolymerizable polymer printing plates to the plate cylinder, or alternatively, a shim plate may be used. In some cases, the locking means may be incorporated into the shim plate.

By converting a letterpress printing press into a gravure printing press in accordance with the present invention, the ink roll train associated with the press can be made redundant, and the necessary inking equipment can be located close to the plate cylinder.

Although this is applicable to both the case of converting a letterpress printing press to a gravure printing press as described above and the case of a new construction of a printing press, in a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the locking means: A plurality of magnetic members are provided on a shim plate that supports the printing plate, and the base material of the printing plate is made of a magnetizable material, such as a steel plate. In other embodiments in this regard, the magnetic elements are provided on the surface of the plate cylinder itself.

In either case, the circumferential length of the printing plate is greater than the circumferential length of the plate cylinder, including shim plates if required, so that when the printing plate is mounted in a predetermined position, Its ends are provided with an axial groove in the cylindrical surface of the overlapping zero-plate cylinder or, if installed, a shim plate, of a depth substantially equal to the thickness of the printing plate, into which one The recesses formed at the ends can be accommodated to maintain the predetermined cylindrical shape of the plate cylinder when both ends of the printing plate are overlapped.

If gaps occur at the free end of the printing plate, such gaps can be filled with a fast-curing plastic filler, and the filler can be removed when replacing the printing plate. .

Being able to modify a printing press so that a gravure printing plate can be fitted thereto has various practical and substantial benefits.

First, by using a gravure printing plate manufactured by photopolymerization, higher quality printing is possible compared to conventional letterpress printing.Secondly, by the direct application method of ink proposed by the present invention, it is possible to print with higher quality than in the case of conventional letterpress printing. The method eliminates the use of previously used ink roll trains, which makes it possible to substantially reduce energy consumption. Third, the use of gravure printing plates makes it easier to use water-based and emulsion-based inks, which allows for rapid drying and ink "smear-off" and "through-through" (the quality of the ink to the paper). The risk of penetration (transmission) is eliminated. Both ink fogging and noise generation are substantially suppressed, and either the need for ink column control or engraving ink drums is eliminated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to provide a better understanding of the invention and to show how it may be carried out, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which examples thereof will be described by way of example.

Referring first to FIG. 2, only one part of a printing press according to one embodiment of the invention is shown. The other side parts are identical to those shown and are therefore omitted for the sake of clarity.

The printing machine shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 has a pair of side frames 1
(only one of which is shown), by which a rigid cast iron extension table 2 is rotatably provided. This printing press also includes a plate cylinder 4 rotatably mounted around a cylindrical shaft 5 supported by a journal 3 provided on the side frame 1, and a plate cylinder 4 rotatably mounted on a journal similarly provided on the side frame 1. , which also has an impression cylinder 29 arranged in such a way that, together with the plate cylinder 4, it forms a nip through which a web 28 of printing material or paper passes. The printing press also has a main drive motor 37, which drives the gears [
The plate cylinder 4 and the press 29 are rotated via L38 and L39. The printing press can be provided with a plurality of printing devices as described above (not shown), in which case the printing devices can be driven by the motor 37 via a suitable drive mechanism known in the art.

A printing press 6 bearing a gravure image is mounted around the plate cylinder 4 and fixed thereto to form a cylindrical surface. The gravure image on the printing plate 6 is produced by exposing a layer of photosensitive polyamide formed on a steel substrate to form a continuous tone positive area and a halftone screen area, and then developing the exposed layer. It was formed by

For applying ink to the printing image, the printing press is equipped with a plurality of inking units, two of which are designated by B and C (FIG. 2), each printing unit. is fixed to the extension table 2 by a retainer plate 8 which is tightened and fixed to the extension table 2 by bolts 9. The inking device is 4
It is possible to install up to 4 plate cylinders.
are arranged in parallel to the HIJ machine over the entire axial length of the HIJ machine.

Alternatively, it is also possible to provide a single inking device having a width that spans the entire axial length or width of the plate cylinder 4.

Each inking device consists of a main body 10 to which is attached an axially extending sealing member 11, which
The body part 10, which is in the form of a plastic baffle plate spaced apart from but closely adjacent to the cylindrical surface of the printing plate 6 and perpendicular to the cylindrical surface, also includes a printing press. An axially extending doctor blade 12 is also mounted which contacts the cylindrical surface of 6. This doctor blade 12 is flexible, and is made of, for example, 1Jif.
By appropriately rotating the 5-hole port 13, it is possible to approach and move away from the cylindrical surface of the printing press 6. In the embodiment shown, in which the Pi joint is displaceably provided, the doctor blade 12 is brought into contact with the cylindrical surface of the printing press 6 in a so-to-speak inclined position. However, in other embodiments, it may be configured to follow and contact the cylindrical surface. At each end of the inking device, a closing wall 7 is provided which abuts the plate cylinder 4. A sealing member or puffer blade 11 and a doctor blade 12 together with the body portion 10 and the printing handle 6 form an ink fountain or groove extending in substantially hermetic configuration over the entire length and width of the inking device.

The body 10 further has a projection 14 extending over the entire width of the fountain and spaced slightly from the cylindrical surface of the printing press 6. Usually, the gap between this protrusion 14 and the cylindrical surface of the printing plate 6 is 2.0 I11 or less, preferably 0.
Less than 5y. The protrusion 14 allows the ink fountain to be
An ink supply path 17 is formed in the main body portion 10 which is divided into a region 15 and a second region 16.
One end is an inlet opening 18 that resides in a first region 15 of the fountain between the baffle plate 11 and the protrusion 14. This inlet opening is located midway between the ends of the fountain. There is also an ink discharge vji19 in the main body lO.
is also formed, in which the outlet openings 21 arranged at each end of the second zone of the ink fountain communicate with branch channels 20 at their ends, and this arrangement allows the ink to It is possible to exit from the second area 16 of the pot.

Ink supply path】? The free stop or other end of the pump 2 opens into the connecting member 31;
The ink supply pipe 2G is detachably connected to supply ink from the ink reservoir or the ink supply source 22 to the ink fountain via the ink reservoir 3 and the filter 24. The free or other end of the ink supply channel 19 leads into a connecting member 32 to which an ink drain pipe 27 is removably connected so that the ink is returned to the ink sump 22. (See Figure 3). A valve 30 is incorporated into the ink discharge pipe 27.

During printing, the ink, which may be a quick-drying ink containing water, is pumped from the ink reservoir 22 under pressure through the ink tank 24, and is sent to the ink 4U supply pipe 26, the ink supply path 17, and the ink input section. Via 1B Ink fountain first area 15
supplied within. The ink flows between the protrusion 14 and the cylindrical surface of the printing plate 6 and enters the second region 16 of the fountain;
From there an outlet opening 21, a branch passage 20, an ink discharge 81
9 and returns to the ink reservoir 22 via the ink discharge pipe 27. The plate cylinder 4 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow, that is, in the same direction as the ink flow direction. The ink mii! 1 causes an increase in pressure in the second region 16 of the ink fountain, which causes the mark I
The cells forming GII Kari 6 gravure images are evacuated and filled with ink. The pressure in this second zone can be controlled by adjusting the valve 30 accordingly. The sealing member or puffer plate 11 prevents the ingress of contaminants into the fountain and also maintains the ink within the fountain. Excess ink is removed from the cylindrical surface of the printing plate by a doctor blade 12 and returned to the ink reservoir 22.

Any waste ink escaping over the sealing wall 7 of the inking unit is removed by the auxiliary scraper blade 25. The ink remaining in the cells is transferred to a web 28 passing between the plate cylinder 4 and the impression cylinder 29, on which the desired image is printed.

For example, when installing the printing plate 6, the approach to the printing plate 4 is as follows:
This can be done by rotating the extension table 2 about the side frame 1 and removing the inking device from the plate cylinder 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, four inking stations are provided across the width of the printing press, and the printing press processes a web having a width equivalent to four pages, one inking station for each page. It is now possible to do so. According to this configuration, four pages can be printed at the same time. However, if a relatively narrow web is used and simultaneous printing of fewer than 4 pages is desired, a suitable number of inking units can be deactivated, and this can be achieved by simply using their inking units. All that is required is to turn off the τ pump 23 or remove the inking devices by loosening the bolts 9. In this way, only the appropriate number of inking devices are used depending on the width of the web to be printed. If desired, all inking units can contain different colored inks to print, for example, four colors simultaneously on a four page wide web. Since the inking devices are interchangeable, it is easily possible to rearrange them in the axial direction of the plate cylinder as desired to produce markings Ili'11 of different colors. Multicolor printing can also be carried out by removing the ink supply and discharge tubes of the ink Wfi and connecting them to ink supply and discharge tubes connected to ink reservoirs containing different colored inks. obtain.

The printing press of the invention is intended for newspaper printing and is in particular converted from a letterpress printing press. The printing plate and plate cylinder are shown in more detail in FIG. In the illustrated embodiment, shims 4fi, l15 supporting the printing plate 6 are attached to the plate cylinder 4 of the letterpress printing press in order to compensate for the difference in diameter caused by the gravure printing plate having a relatively small wall thickness. Semi-permanently installed. A magnetic member 117 is incorporated around the shim plate 115. A printing machine 6 is attached to the outer periphery of the cylinder formed by this shim plate. The printing plate 6, which is made into a flat sheet, consists of a tone plate substrate 119 on which a printing layer 120 of polyamide is formed. The printing plate 6 is secured to the plate cylinder 4 by a magnetic member 117 and by means of a locking means or clamping device indicated generally by the reference numeral 125.
Fixed. The locking means 125 has a longitudinally extending clamping head 126 which has a wedge-shaped shape oriented in the axial direction of the plate cylinder 4 and which is accessible from one end of the plate cylinder 4. It can be displaced in any radial direction by a drive device 128. The tightening head 126 is the plate cylinder 4
It is housed in a corresponding longitudinal slot 130 formed around the fuselage head. In addition, this tightening is such that the head 126 extends over the entire length of the plate cylinder 4,
This allows a plurality of printing plates 6 to be fixed in parallel around the plate cylinder.

The original form of the printing press 6 is a thin, flat sheet having a length substantially equal to the circumference of the plate cylinder 4. In order to fix this printing press 6 to the plate cylinder 4, the clamping is performed by displacing the head 126 radially outwards beyond the circumference of the plate cylinder 4 by means of a drive 128. The free ends 136 and 137 are bent and tightened at the head 1.
26 and between the sloped surfaces of slot 130. The clamping device 128 then pulls the head radially inward into the slot 130 and clamps the free end of the printing plate between the sides of the head 126 and that of the slot 130. Locked between
The clamping head 126 of the printing plate 6 fixes the position; in its retracted position, the clamping head 126 can be located radially inward of the outer printing surface of the plate cylinder 4 and By forming a corresponding groove 146 in the body 29,
This tightening is done so that the mark H1+ is not made in the part where the head 126 is located and corresponds to the margin end of the printed newspaper.

To remove the printing plate, the above procedure can be performed in reverse, and the radial tightening can be performed by a device or locking means 125, so that the printing plate 6 can be quickly attached to and removed from the plate cylinder 4.
It will be appreciated that it is possible to change the printing plate during the printing operation. , in a variant of this means, the tightening is performed by the device 12
5 configures the edges in an interrupted configuration, i.e. canine-shaped, and the free end of the printing plate is also shaped accordingly.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a letterpress printing press is fitted with a new, larger diameter plate cylinder provided with an (n) member corresponding to the +fi member 117. This allows the use of shim plates to Compensation for thickness differences between existing stero printing plates or photopolymerizable polymer relief printing plates can be made.

Fig. 5 shows a printing machine before it is converted into a gravure printing machine, and in the same figure, the members and parts corresponding to those shown in Figs. symbol is used. More specifically, the plate cylinder 4 attached to the side frame 1 is provided with a thick letterpress printing plate made of a photopolymerizable polymer, and an ink supply [22], an ink fountain roller 42, a rubber roller 43, The swinging drum 44 and the padding are supplied with ink via an ink roll row consisting of rollers 45.

When this printing press is converted into a gravure printing press according to the invention, the main components of the printing press, namely the side frame 1, the impression cylinder 29, the printing drive and optionally the plate cylinder 4, remain, but the ink roll row is removed. It will be understood that this is replaced by the ink "32. Also, if the existing plate] 1r14 is retained, the gravure stamp II used according to the present invention
Shim plates are used to compensate for differences in thickness between the plate and the photopolymerizable polymer printing plates of existing printing presses; Alternatively, the clamps used to secure the photopolymerizable polymer printing plate to the plate cylinder 4 have been modified, for example as shown in FIG. 4, for installation of the device in a gravure printing press.

These conversions result in high-speed newsprint printing at a fraction of the costs normally associated with changes or replacements in printing technology, and with operating costs much lower than with conventional letterpress printing presses. A gravure printing machine suitable for this purpose can be obtained.

6 and 7 show examples of modified configurations for holding the printing plate 6 on the plate cylinder 4. In these drawings, the first [l]
! Components corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are designated by the previously mentioned reference numerals. Figures 6 and 7
The configuration shown in the figures can be applied to letterpress printing presses converted according to the invention or to newly built printing presses specifically designed for this configuration.

If a plate cylinder of a letterpress printing press is used, two pieces for supporting the printing plate are provided on the outer surface 155 of the plate cylinder.

semi-cylindrical shim plates 152 and 153 are locked.

Magnetic members 158 are provided in these gyms +H 152 and 153 at intervals. The nose 159 of the shim plate 153 is formed with a reduced diameter end surface or step 160 . This stepped portion 160 forms a shallow recessed portion 162 extending in the axial direction in the shim plate 153 and having a depth practically equal to the thickness of the printing plate 6 .

As is clear from the enlarged sectional view of FIG. 7, the printing plate 6 consists of a steel substrate 119 and a printing layer 120 of polyamide. The thickness of the steel substrate 119 is approximately 0.010 inches (approximately 0.24 m).
) and is therefore very thin and flexible. Before this printing plate is attached to the cylindrical outer surface 167 of the shim plates 152 and 153, a gravure printing image is formed on the printing plate by the method described above. Then, this printing plate is cut into a length slightly longer than the circumferential length of the shim plate. At the same time, one end 165 of the printing plate 6 is bent inward to form a recess that matches the shape of the recess 162 of the shim plate 153 and the acute tip of the nose 159. Printing plate on plate cylinder 4
This is done by rotating the plate cylinder and inserting the printing plate into the sandwich between the plate cylinder 4 and ironing roller 168. The printing plate 6 is pressed against the surface 167 by the magnetic member 158.
As the printing plate is attached to the plate cylinder 4, the printing plate is pressed against the plate cylinder by the rotation of the iron roller 168 and the plate cylinder 4, and the surface 16
7 and whose free end 170 opposite said end 165 is superimposed on the end 165 and fits into the recess as shown, so that the exact cylindrical shape of the plate cylinder 4 is can get. As can be seen from the enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. The filler material 172, which may be a plastic material or other rapidly curing suitable resin, is filled in liquid, semi-solid or solid form. The surface of the filler 172 may be smoothed with a heatable smoothing tool to accelerate the curing process.

The overlapping configuration of the ends of the printing plate 6 is to obtain tolerances for the length of this printing plate, and also to prevent the filler material 172 from touching the outer surfaces of the shim plates 152 and 153. This means that the filling material is cut open when the printing plate is removed, and there is no risk of damage to the shim plate or plate cylinder at that time. By forming the stepped portions 160 with the same depth, the outer periphery of the plate cylinder 4 can be made smooth and substantially free of irregularities. is an important requirement. The bent edge along the nose 159 of the printing plate is effective in maintaining accurate alignment of the printing plate with respect to the plate cylinder 4.

When manufacturing a new printing press, a plate cylinder with a larger diameter can be used as appropriate to compensate for the difference in thickness due to the thinness of the gravure printing plate without the need for temporary use of a gym. In this case, a magnetic member corresponding to the magnetic member 158 is provided on the plate cylinder, and an axial recess corresponding to the recess 162 is formed.

In FIG. 8, members and parts corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 are designated by the same reference numerals as used in these figures.
The 0 plate cylinder 4' has a larger diameter compared to the plate cylinders used in TII presses, thus eliminating the need for the use of shim plates to compensate for the relatively thin gravure printing plates. , an axially extending surface slot 50 having a pair of register bins 51 is formed.

Magnets 52 are also provided in the slots, the end faces 53 of which are located below or inward of the circumference of the plate cylinder 4' and are arranged so as to form a shallow groove extending in the axial direction of the plate cylinder 4'. It has become. This groove is of a depth substantially equal to the thickness of the printing plate 6.

Magnetic members 54 are arranged at intervals on the surface of the plate cylinder 4'.

A pair of holes corresponding to the register pins 51 are formed in the first end 165 of the printing plate 6, and the holes are inwardly formed to form a recess that matches the shape of the groove formed by the end surface 53 of the magnet 52. It is bent into a shape. Rotate the plate cylinder 4' so that the registration pin 51 is engaged in the hole and the printing plate 6 is fed into the nip between the plate cylinder 4' and the ironing roller as in FIGS. 6 and 7. As a result, the printing plate 6 is fixed to the plate cylinder. In this way, the printing plate 6 is connected to the magnetic member 5.
4 to the plate cylinder 4', and the free end 170 of the printing plate 6 is superimposed on the first end 165 and fits within the recess. As before, filler material is introduced into the small gap between the edges 170 and 165 of the printing plate adjacent to the recesses.

The provision of register bins 51 makes it possible to successively secure a group of identical printing plates precisely in a predetermined position on the plate cylinder. Furthermore, the printing plate can be mounted by rotating the plate cylinder in either forward or reverse direction. As already mentioned, the length of the printing plate 6 may be slightly greater than the circumference of the plate cylinder; alternatively, the plate cylinder may be provided with the above-mentioned surface slots 50 in diametrically opposed positions. It is also possible to form a pair of printing plates arranged in parallel and having a length slightly larger than two of the circumferential lengths of the plate cylinder 4'.

If the width of the plate cylinder is several times the width of one page, a pair of register bins 51 can be provided in the surface slots 50 for each page width.

From the above description, it will be understood that according to the present invention, the following effects exceeding those of known techniques can be achieved.

i) According to the present invention, it is possible to convert a letterpress printing press into a gravure printing press.

ii) According to the present invention, it is possible to apply ink to a removable gravure printing plate in increments of one page width or two page widths,
Therefore, it is possible to economically perform gravure printing on a web with a width that is not as large as that of a metal, that is, a web with a width that does not correspond to the full width of four normal pages.

iii) According to the present invention, the printing plate can be mounted easily and in a sealed configuration, with a printing plate surface of the entire 360° being easily obtained.

iv) According to the printing method proposed by the invention it is possible to use oil-based, oil-emulsion, water-emulsion or water-based inks.

(2) The present invention can realize a gravure printing method that can be adapted to the timetable imposed by deadlines in ordinary newspaper printing.

The above description has been about a printing press obtained by converting a letterpress printing press mainly used for newspaper printing, but the printing press according to the present invention is a completely new printing press that is not obtained by converting an existing printing press. It will be appreciated that the printing press of the present invention can be used for a wide variety of printing purposes other than newspaper printing.

Furthermore, the present invention includes the embodiments listed below.

(1) The sealing member (11) extending in the axial direction has a cylindrical surface (6)
A gravure printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the gravure printing machine is provided at a distance from the gravure printing machine.

(2) A protrusion (14) where the ink fountain extends toward the cylindrical surface (6) and is spaced apart from the same surface (6).
, thereby connecting the ink fountain to a first region (15) having an inlet port (18) for receiving a supply of ink from an ink supply means and an outlet opening (21) for discharging ink to an ink return means. The ink flows between the protrusion (14) and the cylindrical surface (6), and the cylindrical surface (6) rotates around its axis, thereby forming the second region (16). 16) The gravure printing machine according to claim 1 or the above item (1), which is configured to be affected by the pressure increase generated within.

(3) Claim 1, above (2), wherein the ink fountain has a width corresponding to the axial length of the cylindrical surface (6).
or the gravure printing machine described in paragraph (2) of the same.

(4) A plurality of inking devices are provided, and the ink fountains of each inking device are arranged in parallel over the entire axial length of the cylindrical surface (6).
) or the gravure printing machine described in (2).

(5) Claim 1, the above (1), or Same (2
), (3) or (4).

(6) The gravure printing machine according to item (5) above, wherein the printing plate (6) is attached to the plate cylinder (4) by magnets (117, 158).

(7) A recessed portion is formed at the first end ( ], 65 ) of the printing plate [6), and the length of the printing plate is adjusted so that when the printing plate is attached to the plate cylinder (4), , the gravure printing machine according to item (5) or item (6) above, wherein the second end (170) is superimposed on the first end (165) and fits within the recess.

(8) A gap is formed between the portion of the printing plate (6) adjacent to the depression and the second end overlapped with the depression, and this gap is filled with a filler (172). The gravure printing machine according to item (7) above.

((+) (a) Side frame (1), (b) These side frames (1)
) a plate cylinder (4) mounted rotatably about its axis and provided with a thick stero printing plate or a photopolymerizable polymer printing plate, (C) applying ink to the printing plate from an ink supply source (22); Ink roll row to be transferred (42, 43, 44
, 45) and (ci) are provided on the side frames so as to be rotatable about their shafts, and are configured to bring the printing material (28) into contact with the printing plate and transfer the ink from the marking H1 board to the printing material (2nd). (i) providing a letterpress printing press with an impression cylinder (29) arranged in In order to compensate for the thickness of the printing plate, shim plates (115, 152° 153) are inserted and installed (ii) and the ink roll row is removed, and in its place (a) a gravure printing plate, A doctor blade (12) that contacts it and extends in the axial direction and a sealing member that extends in the axial direction (
11) an axially extending ink fountain of substantially closed configuration for receiving ink under pressure and bounded by (b) an ink fountain from an ink supply for gravure contacting the ink; characterized in that it is provided with an inking device consisting of ink supply means (23, 26) for supplying to the gravure printing plate and ink return means (27) for returning excess ink other than that which the gravure printing plate can hold to the ink supply source. A method for manufacturing a gravure printing machine.

(10) (a) Side frame (1), (b) These side frames (
1) a plate cylinder (4) mounted rotatably about its axis and provided with a thick stero printing plate or a photopolymerizable polymer printing plate; (c) printing ink from an ink supply source (22); Ink roll row (42, 43, 4) to be transferred
4, 45) and (d) are provided on the side frames so as to be rotatable about their shafts, and are arranged so as to bring the printing material (28) into temporary contact with the printing material (28) and transfer the ink from the printing plate to the printing material (28). (+), removing the thick stero printing plate or photopolymerizable polymer printing plate and plate cylinder and replacing it with a thin gravure printing press (29); installing a larger plate cylinder (11) with the same overall diameter and removing the ink roll bank, and replacing it with (a) a gravure printing plate and an axially extending doctor blade (12) in contact therewith; ) and an axially extending sealing member (11), an axially extending ink fountain of substantially closed configuration for containing ink under pressure; (b) an axially extending ink fountain for containing ink under pressure; Ink supply means (23, 26) for feeding the ink fountain from the ink supply for contacting and ink return means (23, 26) for returning excess ink other than that which the gravure printing plate can hold to the ink supply. 27) A method for manufacturing a gravure printing press, comprising: providing an inking device comprising:

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a portion of a printing press according to an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is a partial view, on a reduced scale, of a part of the printing press as viewed in the direction A of FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the printing press of FIGS. 1 and 2; FIG. 4 is a schematic side view showing the plate cylinder and impression cylinder of the printing press of FIGS. 1 to 3. FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a part of a conventional rotary letterpress printing press for newspaper printing. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing a portion of a plate cylinder according to another embodiment of the invention. FIG. 7 is an enlarged partial view of one view of the plate cylinder of FIG. 6. FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a portion of a plate cylinder according to still another embodiment of the present invention. 6... Cylindrical surface or (gravure) printing plate, 35°37
, 38.39...Means for rotating (35, 38, 39
... Gear, 37 ... Main drive motor), 25 ... Printing material or paper, 29 ... Means or impression cylinder, 12 ...
・Doctor blade, work 1... sealing member or puffful plate, 22
...Ink supply source or ink reservoir, 23.26...
Ink supply means (23... pump, 26... ink supply pipe), 27... ink return means or ink discharge pipe.

Claims (1)

Claims: (i) a cylindrical surface (6) on which a gravure printing image is formed; (ii) means (35, 37, 38, 39) for rotating the cylindrical surface (6) around its axis; iii) means for applying ink to the cylindrical surface (6); and (iv) means for applying ink from the cylindrical surface (6) to the printing material (25).
means (29) for contacting said cylindrical surface (6) with said printing material (25) in order to transfer said cylindrical surface (6) to said printing material (25);
) means for applying ink to (a) said cylindrical surface (6);
), an axially extending doctor blade (12) in contact therewith, and an axially extending sealing member (11) forming a substantially closed configuration for containing ink under pressure. (b) ink supply means (23, 26) for supplying ink to said fountain from an ink supply (22) for bringing the ink into contact with the cylindrical surface (6); (c) an inking device comprising an ink return means (27) for returning excess ink other than that which the cylindrical surface (6) can hold to the ink supply source (22); .