US2546304A - Printing element or cylinder - Google Patents

Description

March 27, 1951 w. c. HUEBNER PRINTING ELEMENT 0R CYLINDER Filed March 14, 1946 V ,1 3 w f4 m f5 fo 7 m 1 VENTOR. fl Z zzzz d M/ze B a wt orrregs Patented Mar. 27, 1951 PRINTING ELEMENT R CYLINDER William C. Huebner, New York, N. Y.

Application March 14, 1946, Serial No. 654,454

2 Claims.

This invention relates to printing elements or cylinders suitable for use in various different methods of printing, but which are particularly adapted for use in printing apparatus where the printing is effected without the heavy pressures employed in orthodox printing presses, such for example as apparatus in which the ink is transferred from the printing element to the prlnt receiving paper or material through the instrumentality of electronic, electrostatic or mag netic lines of force. More specifically, the invention relates to improvements in printing elements of the nature disclosed in certain of my copending applications for U. S. Letters Patent.

My U. S. application, Ser, No. 623,703, now abandoned, for example, discloses printing elements having tubular or hollow cylindrical bodies .which are made of materials that are porous or permeable by liquids and are provided with exterior printing surfaces comprising areas that mask portions of the permeable body of the element and are impervious to liquids'and other areas to which the liquids are delivered or applied by permeation or expulsion through the pores or interstices of the body of the element. Said application shows printing elements of two forms having a tubular body of porous material provided with an exterior printing surface. In one form this printing surface is composed of image-printing areas that mask portions of the porous body and are impervious by fluids or liquids, and nonprinting areas formed by pervious parts of the printing surface or exposed surface portions of the porous body which in the use of the element are moistened by a dampening fluid permeating or passing through the body pores of the element. In the printing element of the second form, the exterior printing surface is composed of non-printing areas that mask surface portions of the porous body and are impervious to liquids, and image-printing areasformed as'by exposed surface portions of the porous body which, in the use of the element, are inked or covered with fluid ink, dye or liquid printing material expelled or passing through the body pores of the element. The first form of element provides a printing surface in the nature of a planographic surface in which the nonprinting areas can be dampened, without the use of the orthodox dampening roller, by a dampening fluid passing through the body pores of the element for repelling the printing ink, which may be applied, as by the orthodox inking rollers, to-;,;the image printing areas of the printing surface; Said second form of element provides aprinting surface in the nature of an intaglio or gravure surface in which the pervious imageprinting areas are inked, without the use of the orthodox inking rollers, by fluid ink, dye or liquid printing material that passes or is expelled from the interior of the element through the body pores thereof to said image-printing areas.

Printing elements of such character-avoid the cost and inconvenience of the inking rollers used in the present-day orthodox relief presses and offset presses and also avoid the use of doctor blades or other surface wiping instrumentalities used in orthodox gravure presses.

Asdisclosed in said applications, the permeable tubular body of the printing element is formed by a hollow cylinder or tube of porous ceramic or other suitable plastic material which, after being ground to true cylindrical exterior and interior shape, is provided exteriorly with a printing surface such as described, comprising pervious areas formed as by exposed or bare surface portions of the porous element body and other areas which mask surface portions of the porous body and are impervious to dampening fluids orfiuid ink, dye or liquid printing material.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved printing cylinder or element that can be readily and economically produced of required accuracy for high grade printing and has a pervious body of-novel construction that will insure free and uniform passage or expulsion of liquids through the pores or interstices thereof to the printing surface, either for dampening the non-printing areas when the printing surface is 1 of the relief or planographic type, or for inking the image-printing areas when the printing surface is of the intaglio or gravure type.

Qther objects of the invention are to provide a printing cylinder or element of the character mentioned having a pervious or liquid expulsion body of novel construction or formation which is of greater strength and durability and less fragile and liable to breakage or injury during the manufacture or use thereof than the bodies of previous printing cylinders or elements of analogous type; also to provide a printing cylinder or element of the character mentioned having a pervious or liquid expulsion body of novel construction which provides means for effectively charging the printing liquid in its passage to the printing surface with an electric charge of required polarity for cooperation with other electrical means in apparatus in which the printing is effected by electronic or other electric action.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following specification of the preferred embodiments of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings, and. the novel features of the invention are set forth in the appended claims.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal, sectional elevation of a printing cylinder or element of one form embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an .elevationof one end .of theprinting cylinder, the left hand end, as shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the tubular shell of the element with portions of; the external printing surface broken away to show how the underlying porous or permeable body may be formed by windings of;,mesh or reticulated material.

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary, longitudinal,

sectional elevations showing printing elements of slightlymodifiedforms embodying the invene;

Fig. 6 is a similar sectional viewon a larger. scale'showing one way of fastening the endsofthe mesh'fabric ribbons at the ends of .the;sup

porting tube.

The printing element as illustrated in the drawings is in the form of a hollow cylinder comprise ing a peripheral tubular shell supported at. its... ends by and connecting opposite circular heads or'ends 2 and 3, which are suitably secured on an axial shaft or tube l. the cylinder comprises; an inner-perforated supporting tube 4 made of metal or other sufficiently terior: .1 1" this ,tube to the surroundingpsrvious d for. s ase et oushher terial forming the body 5 maybe, asshownat I in Fig. 1, fine wire, openmesh screen fabricof about 200 meshes to the inch, or other-analogousmaterialisuch as glass fiberyclothras shown at- 1 in ;Fig. 4; and the pervious'body 51of;-the; cylin:-- li shellmayhe or d q lll by. n r ui ed; numb r of l e s. f. e he the-Wi sho lass;- fiber material, or b one or-more layers-1 of, the 55 wire mesh material alternating with one or more layers of the glass fiber cloth, as indicated at] I and 1a Fig. 5. This open mesh; fabric--or cloth of whatever kind is wrapped or wound; on. the

tube t in such a way as to. provide auniform; annular, cylindrical body -5 -;without-.creases,,; ridges or seams. which would give ;it--,an;uneven,*

outer cylindrical surface.

Fig. 3 represents a desirable way,of winding the meshfabric orcloth on the tube 4to form the pervious body 5 of the cy-linderishell, in which The tubular shellof the tube 4 and cemented thereto, as indicated at 8, Fig. 6. Any desired number of superposed layers of fabric or cloth can be thus formed by helically winding the fabric ribbons about the tube in one layer upon another, but preferably the ribbons in alternate layers are wound helically in opposite directions so that the covolutions of the ribbon forming one layer will cross those of the next adjacent layer, as indicated in Fig. 3, in which "9 represents the ribbon forming one layer and [6' the oppositely wound ribbon forming the next layer. The opposite ends of each ribbon are suitably fastened or anchored in .-place, forinstance, by cementing to the tube 4, as above indicated, so as to hold the ribbons intact about the tube, without shifting. This manformlyover the outer surface of the porous body.

a relatively narrow-ribbonor band of the' fa brici is wound helicallyand tightly aboutthe. tube a with the side edges of adjacent, convolutions of the ribbon abutting flush withoneanother soas;

to form a continuous or unbroken layer. of thefabric, or cloth, withthestarting and finishing;

endsof theribbon suitably fastened atthe ends of the cylinder shell, Forinstance, the ends. of]

r n ay be t n d, o rth eud edeesof ner ofconstructingthe pervious body of the open mesh material insures that the outer peripheral surface'o'f the porous body will be a continuous or unbroken, true cylindrical surface, free from creases orridges where the edges of thewound fabric meet.

After building up the pervious body 5 to the. required thickness or diameter, it is enveloped by. a continuous orunbroken outerperipheral-coat ing or layer H of material of a character suitablefor forming theexterior peripheral print ingsurface of the cylinder, depending uponthe method of printing for which the ,cylinder prelement is to be used. For instancath is layer or, coating l I may be a metallic layer of ,tin, copper. or other suitable metal of a thickness, ,say in. the, neighborhood of 1 thousandths of an inch, and maybe formed by. any suitable method,;such as byspraying the metal in a molten condition uni 5 orby applying a suitable flux exteriorly on the. Wire mesh body 5 and rotating the tube withpits. mesh body dipping into a molten bath of coating metal; or by electrolytically depositing the metal;

coating on thepervious. body of'the shell,-as dis-,. closed in said app1ication,Ser..No; 623,703,,This. metal layer or coating when formed is ground; or finish ed to provide it with apolished or smooth.-

. ,outer surface of true cylindrical form.

The finished metalcoating .or'layenll issultably treatedto convert it into'a printing surface composed-of areas .12 which are impervious by liquids, and mask or covlerunderlying surface .pcr v tions. of the perviousbody .5 of the shell, andother areas 1 3 which are pervious or leave bare the reg; istering surface portions of the perviousv body ,5 t for expulsion or permeation of liquid throughthe pores or interstices .ofsaid body to the exterior.

ofrthe printing surface. at these bare. 0r pervious areas. Thus. liquid canpass orbe expelled from the. interior of the cylinder shell through its pores or interstices to these printingsurfaceareasl3 1, either for the purpose of dampening them, when. they constitute non-printing areas of :the .printingsurface; as inuthe case of axprinting surface ofthe planographic or relief type; or for the'purg pose of the passage or expulsionfof fiuid ink dye or liquid printing materialthroughthe pores. or interstices ofthe shell-to these bare or pervious surface areas when they constitute theirnage printing areas of a printing surfaceiof the intaglio orgravuretype. It-is to be understood that themasking areas i2 of the printing surface are impervious by liquidsso that the-liquids-can pass through the pores or intersticesof thQShGllibQdY to the exterior of the printing surface only lat: thebare or perviousareas l3 thereof This printing surface having; the impervious areas. l2 and the bare or vpervious areas l3 can 1 be produced by different suitable methods, depending on the required character of the printing surface. For example, the printing surfacecan be prepared by a method such as disclosed in said application, in which the metal layer I I is coated with a light-sensitive solution and the printing image or images is or are produced thereon photographically by exposing the lightsensitive coating to right through a negative or positive film, and then developing the sensitized coating so as to leave on the metal layer I I only those portions of the light-sensitivecoating which were hardened by light action, the other portions of the sensitized coating, which were protected from light action, being dissolved or washed off, leaving bare or exposed the corresponding portions of the metal coating or layer Ii. Then, after baking or suitable treatment of said light" hardened portions to convert them into an acidresistant enamel or its equivalent, the bare portions of the metal layer II are removed as for example, by the use of a suitable etching acid or by reversed electrolytic action as disclosed in said application, to expose or leave bare thecorresponding surface portions of the underlying pervious body of the cylinder shell for the passage therethrough of liquid from the interior of the cylinder shell to these bare or pervious areas I3 of the printing surface.

While a printing element having the printing surface formed by the outer metal layer or coating II, as above described, is preferred for use in many printing methods, nevertheless, instead of providing such a metal printing surface on the pervious body 5 of the shell, the printing surface can be produced directly on the pervious body without or omitting the metal layer, as by forming a coating or layer of light-sensitive material directly on the pervious body of the printing element and developing this coating or layer by a well known photographic process to provide the light-hardened, impervious or masking areas I2 of the printing surface and the pervious areas I 3 thereof formed as by removing the non-lighthardened portions of the light-sensitive coating by development to expose or bare corresponding surface portions of the pervious body 5 of the element as above described.

The liquid, whether a fluid for dampening the pervious areas I3 of the printing surface or a fluid ink, dye or other liquid printing material for inking these areas, may be applied or delivered to the interior surface of the perforated tube 4 of the cylinder shell in various ways. For this purpose, as illustrated in the drawings, the printing element is provided within the tube 4 with an annular wall or tube I5 which extends from one to the other of the heads 2 and 3 of the cylinder and is separated from the tube 4 by a shallow liquid space I6 to which the liquid is supplied or delivered for passage through the perforations of the tube 4 to the pervious body of the shell. The ends of the wall I5 may be, as shown, supported in annular grooves I1 in the cylinder heads 2 and 3 with its ends seated in suitable sealing gaskets or rings I8 interposed in the grooves 9'! between the heads and the ends of the wall I5 to prevent the escape of the liquid from the liquid space I6 past the Wall l5 into the interior chamber IQ of the printing element. The liquid may be delivered to the liquid space I 6 of the element under suitable pressure from a supply pipe 23, which as shown, connects with a stationary ring 2| that surrounds the hub 22 of one head 2 of the rotatable cylinder, and is held in place against charge wires or conductors 3'! and 38.

a face plate 23 of said cylinder head 2 by a'retaining ring 24 which is secured, as by screws.

25, to the hub 22 at the outer side of the ring 2|. The ring 2| shown is provided with a transverse port 26 which connects the supply pipe 26 with an annular channel 21 in the outer side of the face the printing element. Thus, liquid is supplied to this liquid space 16 for passage or expulsion therefrom'through the pervious body 5 of the element to the pervious areas I3 of the printing surface. Any other suitable means or method of supplying or applying the liquid to the interior surface of the pervious tubular shell of the ele-.

ment for passage or expulsion through its pores or interstices could be employed. Other means for this purpose are disclosed in the above mentioned applications. The other cylinder head 3 may have a chamber 29a similar to the chamber 29 of the head 2, and connecting by ports 30a with.

the liquid space It to ensure uniform distribution of the liquid throughout the whole annular liquid space I6.

When the body of the printing element is formed with one or more layers of metal wire me h material, as before described, one or more of these wire mesh layers may be supplied with electric current for charging the printing liquid with a given electric polarity during its passage through the meshes of the material to the peripheral printing surface of the element. As illustrated, for instance in Figs. 1 and 2 for this purpose, one or more layers of the wire mesh material are joined at their ends in electrical conducting relation with annular conductor rings 35 provided peripherally on the cylinder heads 2 and 3 and on which rings ride contact devices, such as rollers 36, for conducting electric current through the wire mesh material from and to supply and dis- By such means, an electric current can be passed through the Wire mesh layer or layers so as to effectively and uniformly impart an electric charge of required polarity to the printing liquid on its way to the peripheral printing surface of the element. The conductor rings 35 may be suitably insulated from the heads 2 and 3, as shown at 39, and the tubular peripheral shell of the element may be supported in annular grooves in the cylinder heads and suitably insulated therefrom, as indicated at 4!] in Figs. 1 and 6.

Printing elements constructed as shown and described are of strong and durable construction, not liable to fracture or distortion during the manufacture, handling or use thereof, nevertheless, they can be produced economically. The pervious body of the element formed by the fine mesh fabric or cloth ensures free and uniform distribution of the liquid to the enveloping printing surface for passage or expulsion of the liquid through its open or pervious areas. The imageprinting areas of the printing surface may be of half-tone lines or grain texture or of other character, depending upon the method of printing in which the element is to be employed or the character of printed material to be produced.

I claim as my invention:

1. A printing cylinder having a tubular cylindrical shell comprising a rigid perforated supporting tube of full cylindrical form. cylinder 7 heads attached to opposite ends of said'shell, an approximately rigid pervious body completely surrounding said shell and formed-of thin flat open me'sh metal fabric ribbon wound helically on said supporting tube with the convolutions of the-ribbon disposedwviththeir side edges in-edge to edge relation'to form a-plain cylindrical surface free from ridges, said body-being permeable by'liquid passing through the perforations of-said tube, and an outer coating completely surrounding said pervious body and forming a full cylindrical printing surface comprising areas which are impervioustosaid liquidand other 'pervious areas through which the liquid can pass to the exterior of'fsaid printing surface, an auxiliary tube 'of smaller diameter arranged within said shell and forminga space between the said tube and the she'llysaid auxiliary tube being supported in said heads, in spaced relationship to said shell to permit inks or other liquid to be forced into said space for discharge through said per'vio'us areas of said outer coating, and'connections for conducting an electronic current to said metal mesh, Which current can be projected from said mesh and through the'ink 'to create an electric discharge of ink through said pervious areas of said outer coating.

"21A printing cylinder having a tubular cylindrical shell comprising a rigid perforated supporting tube of full cylindrical 'form, cylinder heads attached to opposite ends of said shell, an approximately rigid pervious body completely surrounding said shell and formed of thinfiat open mesh metal fabric ribbon wound helically on'said supporting tube with the convolutions of the ribbon disposed with their side edges in edge to edge relation to'form a plain cylindrical surface freefrom ridges, said body being permeable for discharge through-said pervious 'areas-of said outer coating, a collector -ringmounted'on said cylinder adjacent" to an edge thereof and in electrical contact with said metal fabric ribbon, and a current conducting contact engaging said collecto'r ring forsupplying electronic current to said ribbon through said collector ring, for "pro- ,iecting saidc'urrent from said mesh through said ink to create-an electric discharge of ink through said pervious areas ofsaid outer coating.

WILLIAM C. HUEBNER.

REFERENCES 1 CITED The following references are ofrecord'in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 833,853 Steel Oct. 23, 1906 1,625,054 Rosato Apra19, 1927 1,7893% McCollum Jan. 13,1931 1,856,181 Burkholdt May 3, 1932 2,049,495 Freuder Aug-4, 1936 2,267,901 Duncan 'Dec." 30, 1941 2,276,113 Strauss Mar. 1 0, 1942

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