US1730302A - Cleaning of the inking rollers and printing cylinders of printing machines - Google Patents

Description

1929- E. J. SMITH CLEANING OF THE INKING ROLLERS AND PRINTING CYLIN PRINTING MACHINES e0. 8. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DERS 0F Filed D 1929- E. J. SMITH CLEANING OF THE INKING ROLLERS AND PRINTING CYLINDERS 0F PRINTING MACHINES Filed Dec. 8. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENaTOR.

Patented Oct. 1, i929 UNIT STARS JAMES SMITH, O13 LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOSS PRINTING TEE FFICE PRESS COMPANY, CHICAGO, ILLIN IS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS CLEANING OF THE INKING ROLLERS AND PRINTING CYLINDERS OF PRINTING MACHINES Application filed December 8, 1926, Serial No. 153,364, and in Great Britain February 15, 1926.

This invention relates to the cleaning of the ink supplying and distributing rollers and the printing cylinders of printing machines, the chief object being to enable the various rollers, drums or the like employed in the inking system and also the printing cylinder to be effectively cleaned in an expeditious manner in situ.

According to this invention the cleaning" of the various rollers or the like and the printing cylinder is effected by spraying or directing a cleaning liquid or lye on to one or more ofthe rollers. For the cleaning operation the said inking rollers and drums and the printing cylinder are rotated -so that the cleaning liquid supplied to one or more of the inking rollers can be distributed over the peripheral surfaces of the said rollers and over the type on the printing cylinder in the same way that the ink is suppiled and distributed and conveyed to the type or printing cylinder during the printing operation. The impression cylinder may be retained out of contact with the type on the printing cylinder during the cleaning operation to prevent the blanket on the impression cylinder from being detrimentally affected by the cleaning lye. During the cleaning operation and the rotation of the rollers and printing cylinder as aforesaid, the rollers that draw or pull the paper into the machine are not rotated.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, the same will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings in I which Figure 1 illustrates an arrangement of inking rollers and drums of one type of inking mechanism provided with means whereby the cleaning method according to this invention can be carried out.

Figure 2 illustrates an ink supply nozzle which can also be used in connection with the cleaning of the inking rollers and the like according to the present invention.

Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of the clutch and associated mechanism for stopping the rotation of the paper drawing rollers during the cleaning operation.v

Referring to Figure 1, the arrangement illustrated comprises an ink fountain A with a vibratory roller B for supplying the ink to a small distributing drum or cylinder C from which the ink is conveyed by a series of dis tributing rollers D to a larger drum or cylin der E with which engage the form rollers ll that supply the ink to the type or printing cylinder Gr. The cleaning liquid or lye may be supplied from atank or reservoir by means of a pump or other feeding device to a pipe I-I having a series of outlets or nozzles along the same so that the lye can be caused to issue therefrom and to impinge on the drum I The cleaning operation is carried out whilst the inking rollers and the type cylinder are rotated in order to distribute the cleaning lye over their peripheral surfaces and over the type and as it is not necessary that the paper drawing or pulling rollers should be rotated during the cleaning operation a clutch is provided for rendering these rollers silent so that the paper remains stationary in the machine during the rotation of the inking rollers and the like when being cleaned. The impression cylinder I is so mounted that it can be retained out of contact with the printing cylinder during the cleaning operation, and for this purpose the said cylinder I may be mounted on eccentrics J which can be angularly moved by suitable means in order to cause the impression cylinder I to be moved away from the printing cylinder so as to prevent the lye which is distributed over the surface of the type from reaching the blankets on the said impression cylinder. A scraper K may be provided to remove the dirty ink from the peripheral surface of the small distributing drum C so that it can fall into a suitable collecting receptacle L having an overflow pipe through which the lye may flow or return to the main supply tank whilst the dirt remains in the bottom of the said receptacle. The said scraper may be mounted on a rockable shaft that can be angnlarly moved to place the scraper in an inoperatite position out of engagement with the inking roller or drum C for the printing operation. In order to dry the type on the printing cylinder quickly after having been cleaned by the distribution of the lye over the same, hot or cold air may be caused to impinge on the type preferably adjacent to one of the inking or form rollers F and for this purpose an air supply pipe Ml. may extend. along the printing cylinder in close proximity to the lower part thereof and may be provided With openings or nozzles through which the air issues so as to impinge on the printing cylinder and dry the type thereon quickly and ensure that no lye is left thereon when the ink supplying system is brought into use for the next printing operation. The said lye supply pipe and the air supply pipe may be mounted on or in close proximity to a vertical guard plate N disposed adjacent to the various inking rollers, the lye pipe being conveniently located at or near the bottom of the said plate whilst the air supply pipe may be mounted at or near the top thereof. Figure 2 illustrates a construction of nozzle through, which the ink is supplied to the inking rollers, a series of such nozzles being disposed adjacent to one of the inking rollers; These nozzles are also adapted for enabling the cleaning lye to be passed through them for cleaning the inking rollers. The ink supply nozzle is represented by O and this is normally closed by a valve P under the influence of a spring. The ink is normally supplied under pressure to the space Q, around the closing end of the valve so that when the pressure of the ink acting on the piston R forming part of the valve exceeds that of the spring the valve is forced rear- Wardly so as to open the nozzle and allow the ink to pass through the latter and to be di rected on to the distributing drum C. After the printing operation or when the ink supply pressure is reduced the spring causes the valve P to close the nozzle. The said valve is formed with a passage extending through the same and the rear end of the valve is connected to a pipe 3 through which the cleaning liquid or lye can be forced by a pump S from a tank S so as to pass into the passage in the valve whence it is directed through the passage in the nozzle to remove the ink therefrom. The lye issuing through the nozzle is directed on to the small distributing drum C and by rotating this drum and the other inking rollers the lye is distributed over the peripheral surfaces of the inking rollers and over the type on the printing cylinder, thus cleaning the rollers and the printing cylinder. A scraper K is located within a collecting receptacleL on a rockable shaft for removing the dirty ink from the distributing drum A during the cleaning operation.

In Fig. 3 is shown an embodiment of the mechanism for silencing or stopping the rotation of the paper drawing rollers while permitting the continued rotation of the inking rollers and printing cylinders. As embodied, the shaft 1 supported on the press frame by a suitable bracket 2 extends parallel to and is driven by suitable gearing from the main drive shaft of the press (not shown), as will be clear to those skilled in the art. A shaft 3 extends perpendicularly upward at the end of shaft 1 and is similarly journaled in bracekts 4 and 5.

Shaft 3 is driven from shaft 1 through bevel gears 6 and 7 fixed to rotate with shafts 1 and 3 respectively by suitable sleeves and pins.

The paper-drawing roller 8 is mounted above the former 9 and serves to draw the web of papers from the printing members I and G in the usual manner. Suitable slitters and cooperating, guiding rollers may be provided to cooperate with roller 8 in the usual manner.

The embodied mechanism for driving the roller 8 from the vertical shaft 3 will be clear from the drawing, and comprises spur gears 10 and 11 driven from horizontal shaft 12 suitably mounted in the frame and rotated by bevel gears 13 and 14 from the vertical shaft Shaft 15 extends parallel to and is driven by shaft 3 through gears 16 and 17.

The usual cutting, collecting and crossfolding cylinders to which the longitudinally folded web passes from the former 9 are actuated by a suitable horizontally disposed shaft which is driven by shaft 3 through bevel gears 19 and 20.

The embodied means for silencing the hereinbefore described paper-drawing mechanism comprises a clutch for disconnecting shaft 3 from its driving source.

Shaft 3 is formed in two portions, the lower portion 3 being provided with a sleeve 21. ex:- tending upwardly from bevel ear 7 and having clutching teeth 22. A sleeve member 2 1 is slidably mounted on the lower end of the upper portion of shaft 3 bv a key 25, and is provided with clutching teeth 26 adapted to cooperate with teeth 22. A clutch operating handle 27 is pivotally mounted on the press frame and serves to engage and disengage the clutch members.

It will be clear from the foregoing that the disengagement of the clutch will silence the paper-drawing rollers and the cooperating mechanism, while permitting the continued rotation of the printing members, driven from the main shaft of the press.

The invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific mechanisms shown and described but departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the accompanying claims without departing from the principles of the invention and without sacrificing its chief advantages.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A method of cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the printing cylinder of a printing press, comprising the directing of a cleaning liquid or lye on to one or more of the rollers or the like and rotating the latter as Well as the printing cylinder so as to distribute the cleaning lye over the peripheral surfaces of these rollers and over the type on the printing cylinder, and then forcing a current of air against the printing cylinder to rapidly dry the type thereon.

2. Apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the printing cylinder of a printing press by directing a cleaning liquid or lye thereon, comprising a pipe extending along one of the inking rollers and having nozzles or outlets through Which the cleaning lye can be directed onto the said roller, and means operated by a moving part of the press for forcing cleaning liquid through the outlets.

3. Apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the printing cylinder of a printing press by directing a cleaning liquid or lye thereon, comprising valves for closing said nozzles to the ink supply, means for forcing the cleaning r liquid through passages in said valves and through said nozzles onto one or more of the inking rollers When the nozzles are closed to the ink supply by the valves.

4:. Apparatus for cleaning the inking rollers or drums and the printing cylinder of a printing press comprising means for directing a cleaning liquid or lye onto one or more of said rollers, means for rotating the said rollers and the printing cylinder and means for preventing rotation of the paper or Web pulling or drawing rollers during the cleaning operation.

5. Apparatus for cleaning the inking rollers or drums and the printing cylinder of a printing press comprising means actuated by a moving part of the press for directing a cleaning liquid or lye onto one or more of said. rollers, means for rotating the said rollers and the printing cylinder and means for placing the printing cylinder and the impression cylinder out of contact for the cleaning operation.

6. An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the form cylinder of a printing press including in combination means for directing cleaning fluid onto a cylinder, means for transferring the cleaning fluid from said cylinder to a form cylinder, and means for rapidly drying the surface of the form cylinder.

7 An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the form cylinder of a printing press including in combination an ink distributing cylinder, means for directing cleaning fluid onto the cylinder, and a pump driven from the cylinder for forcing cleaning fluid through the directing means onto the cylinder.

8. An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the form cylinder of a printing press including in combination an ink distributing cylinder, a conduit for directing ink onto the cylinder, a valve for closing the conduit to prevent the passage of ink to the cylinder and means for directing cleaning fluid through the conduit When the valve is closed.

9. An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the form cylinder of a printing press including in combination an ink distributing cylinder, a conduit for directing ink onto the cylinder, a valve for closing the conduit to prevent the passage of ink to the cylinder and a passage through the valve for direct ing cleaning fluid through the conduit when the valve is closed.

10. An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers or drums and the form cylinder of a printing press including in combination means for spraying cleaning fluid to the printing surface of a form cylinder and means for rapidly drying said printing surface.

11. An apparatus for cleaning the ink supplying and distributing rollers and the form cylinder of a Web printing press ineluding in combination means for supplying cleaning fluid to one or more of said rollers, means for rotating said rollers and printing cylinder, and means for holding the Web stationary during the cleaning operation.

12. An apparatus for cleaning the inkloearing parts of a Web printing press including in combination means for supplying cleaning fluid to said parts, means for moving said parts to distribute the cleaning fluid, and means for holding the Web stationary during the cleaning operation.

ERNEST JAMES SMITH.

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