US2614492A

US2614492A - Method of and apparatus for printing

Info

Publication number: US2614492A
Application number: US792161A
Authority: US
Inventors: George R Brodie
Original assignee: Fredk H Levey Co Inc
Current assignee: Fredk H Levey Co Inc
Priority date: 1947-12-17
Filing date: 1947-12-17
Publication date: 1952-10-21
Anticipated expiration: 1969-10-21

Description

Oct. 21, 1952 G. R. BRODIE 2,614,492

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR PRINTING Filed Dec. 17, 1947 FIG. I

III/IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM A FIG .4 10 INVENTOR a/ye R. .Bradz'e ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 211, i952 00., Inc, New

York

ING

. .Georg e-lt.-Brodiehovver Merion.Township-, Mont-- c me s C -l s i no -m Erc k H r'.

York Ni Y a corporation-ol. N ew.

Application December 17, letseriar; No; "mater This invention, relates larly to an improved method of and apparatus th efor- Printing has: been. conducted heretofore for many. years: with stereotype and. electrotype plates; the web press. such plates are customarily semi-cylindrical in. form and are fastenedto a rotatable platecylinder-which bears against an, impression cylinder; The Web of paper passes between the cylinders to form the impression. V v

Inki.ng of the plates on the. plate cylinder is accomplished by means of a. train of upward to 20 rollers extending from: the plate cylinder to the inking fountain; The large. number of rollers isnecessary to secure proper distribution. of the ink,,and the train of rollers is usually quite complicated. Use of. such mechanism. materially retards the speed at which. the press may be operated. i

s .In recent. times, rubber plates have been substituted forstereotype and electrotype. plates for a limited class of printing work in the so-called aniline press.- The rubber plates are formed. by first impressing thermoplastic resinous material with: the type form to provide a matrix, and thereafter compressing. a sheet of. rubber into: the matrix and vulcanizing it.v Such rubber plates have'g'an advantage in. that they are light and easilyshapedabout the cylinder andmay be. securedthereto with adhesive materialt However, such plates. have required the use of so-called aniline. inks, which consist of pigmented V3111..- ishe's made: up of'shellac and. alcohoh Inks of.

this type are. very expensive, extremely quick prii fiingplates' are used with. inks of: the type consisting of afipi'gment suspended ina'varnish made up of a resin anda volatile solvent: which is adapted to be vaporized rapidly upon thev ap seam (mini-450) I f pr n i e, antennautilized: heretofore,

rollers-showing theknurled surface thereof and ing dis a .detailyiewof the manner of comtrolling the amount of: ink which is applied to theprinting. plates... v

, 'I have discovered that, contrary to views here-- toforeheld by printers. it is possible to printv successfully .at high speed with rubber plates using'an ink which previously has beenv utilized only in rinting from metallic plates. Moreover; insuc'h an operation, it is possible to avoid: the long trains of inking rollers which have been thereby permitting press operations at higher speeds than have been. possiblewith conventionalprinting methods.

. The. inventiondepends primarily upon the method of delivering ink to the printing plates. Heretoforea solid-steel roller has been used-in aniline pressesand rubber or glue glycerine in plication. of heat. to. the printed impressiom Quick drying inks'ofl this type are used extensively in printing. magazines and. have. superseded linseed oil inks during. the. past. fifteen years.

' "Another. obiectof, the invention is the provision of an,improvedinkingmechanism: and a printing press including. such. mechanism.

Other objects and advantages: of the invention will be ap'parent as it is better understood. by

Fig. l. a. side. elevationof a; press embodying.

' the. invention;

FigQIZ, is apIan-vleWthereQf;

other types of letter presses. Itis not. desirable or necessary to use: a softroll to deliverthe ink to arubber plate andithe use of a solid steelroll gives a resulting printing that displays a so-called halo, i. e., the: edges. of the type are inked but the body of each. letter-does not receive and C011? vey ink to the impression. Thus the body of the. letters may appear particularly white with an ink outline. l I Toavoid. this difficulty,v I. employ an inking roller. of. metal having, a knurled surface. The knurling must be disposed. atan angle, preferably to the line parallel to the axis of the roller: The knurling may vary in dimensions, but preferably is about 175 lines to an inch, with a depth not exceeding 0..002.inch.. If the knurli'ng is: toocoarse, thedesired efifeet is. not obtained, but it may be. finer than indicated with excellent results.

The precise action of the knurled roller uponthe. rubber plate is not entirely clear.. However, by transferringthe. ink from a knurled roller of the type. described. to the type surface on the rubber plate,v uniform: inking: over the surface is obtained, and hencexno: halo appears in the resulting impression.

.To obtain the best results, the knurled roller should be engaged by a hard rubber roller having a hardness of above durom'eter. The pressure; between the two rollers may vary from a few pounds to 10,000 pounds per square inch. Theeffect" of the rubber roller is to' assure an ink layer of the desired. depth on the knurled oller, but its action is entirely difierent from that or a doctor whi'chhas been used heretofore with knurled. inking rollers. The doctor blade inevit-- ably" scoresthe knurled. surface and renders it useless. The .rubber'roller, on the other hand, creates no wear andeifetcively' limits the ink. layer uniformly for an indefinite times invention characterized}. moreoven. :by

theslmrmetionoi.therconventicnauountannamk at a regular rate. The surplus may be withdrawn, to the source and recirculated, for'examplebyja pump.

It is to be noted that in the-conventiona1 letter press printing unit with the conventional fountain and ink train, it is necessary to have a number of keys across the width of the press so as to control the ink flow in increments across. the web. This is necessary since the average printed form does not consume a uniform amount of ink across the width of the web. In those portions across the width of the web where the ink is notheavily consumed, the ink tends to build up back along thetrain of rollers and the fountain keys back of those points have to be tightened down to level off the flow. With the inking mechanism described in this invention, the ink is taken directly out of the fountain, applied to the plate and any excess left on the inking roll is returned to the fountain immediately. Thus there is no opportunity for a surplus amount of ink to build up back of light portions on the form and it is possibl to print a uniform film of ink across th entire width of theweb even though the form may vary from one extreme to the other across the web. The fact that the-inking roll is continuously taking ink out of the fountain, applying it to the plate'and then taking the reserve back into the fountain also makes it impossible 'to have ghost printing or to have heavy and light densities of ink film which sometimes result from the use of too few form and distribution rollers in the Alkali blue base 2.00 Zinc resinate 15.30 Petroleum hydrocarbon, B. P. 450, F 22.60 Water 0.10

Gils-onite 0.75

Rosin -4 0.68 Petroleum hydrocarbon, B. P. 503 F 1.07 Wetting agent (Tallicin 105) 3.20 Carbon black 16.00

Calcium carbonate pigment 6.30 Petroleum hydrocarbon, B. P. 381 F 32.00

It is to be understood that in describing this typical ink the invention is not thereby limited, because it is apparent that numerous combinations involving substitutions of resins, pigments, and other ingredients of the ink may be made. Thus,

the ink may be of any desired color, by substitut acteristic somewhat different from ordinary mag-- azine inksgsuch as are used with extended ink trains, theink employed in accordance with the present invention being somewhat softer. The

' preferred constants for the ink are determined at fyin the proportions of the solvent in the composition above described.

Referring to the" drawing, 5 indicates the frame of a printing press. Suitably journalled therein are an impression cylinder 6 and a plate cylinder 1 to which rubber printing plates 1 are adapted to be attached. The cylinders 6 and l are adapted tobe rotated in opposite directions as the web 8 passes between them to receive the printed impression from the rubber .plate or plates secured to the surfac of the plate cylinder 1. Beneath the cylinder 1, two inking cylinders 9 and ID are journaled for rotation in the frame to rotate in opposite directions. The cylinder 9- is preferably a hard rubber surface of approximately the hardness hereinbefore specihad. The cylinder 10 has a knurled surface as indicated in Fig. 3. It will be noted that the knurling II is disposed'at an angle of approximately 45 to a line parallel to the axis of the cylinder. The fineness of the knurling should be approximately that hereinbefore specified. The journals of thecylnders l, 9 and H] are mounted in adjustable devices of the usual type employed in presses, in order that the pressure exerted between the cylinders and between the inking rolls may be adjusted to meet the desired conditions.

End plates l2 are disposed at the ends of the

rollers

9 and 10 to provide, in the bight or nip between the two rollers, a reservoir space which is adapted to receive or to hold a quantity of ink of the selected composition. The ink may be supplied continuously from the reservoir l3 by a pump 14 and pipe 15. The overflow may be returned through a pipe I6 to the reservoir l3. Thus, continuous circulation of the ink is maintained and the body of ink is held in the bight or nip of the rollers 9 and I0. As the latter rotate, a film of ink is carried on the peripheral surface of the roller l 0 and delivered to the rubber plates on the plate cylinder 1. The ink is continuously transferred to the Web 8 as the cylinders 6 and I rotate, thus forming the printed impression.

Theweb, in the form of a roll I1, is supported on trunnions IS in supportslQ on the frame 5. It is delivered around guide rollers 20 and 2| to the web. feeding mechanism, consisting of

rollers

22, 23, and 24. It passes then over guide roller 25 to the cylinders; and l. Thence it passes over a drum 26 supported for rotation at 21 on the frame 5. The drum 26 may be heated in any suitable manner, for example by steam supplied from a convenient source, so that the drum is maintained at an elevated temperature such that as the web passes around itthe solvent is vaporized from the printed impression and the latter is dried. It has been found that a twelve-inch steam drum will effect the drying of the printed impression, whereas in standard magazine presses a steam drum 6 or more feet in diameter is usually required.

From the drum' ZS, the web passes over a roller 28 and thence over a roller 29 to the rewind consisting of rollers 30, 3| and 32, which engage the surface of the roll of web 33 as the latter is formed about a mandrel 34, slidably supported inguides35. W

' of satisfactory impressions.

the drawings, with appropriate guide rollers,

constitute a Web perfecting press in whichboth sides of the web may be printed before the web ,is rewound or cut in the usual manner.

The relative adjustment ofcylinders 9 and E9 to control the amount of ink carried by the knurled cylinder ID to the type of the rubber printing plate 1' may be obtained by any conventional adjusting means such as that shown in Fig. 4, where each journal 40 of roller 10 is mounted in a bearing block 4| which is slidable on the main frame of the press. To this end, each bearing block carries-a block 42 having a female thread into which a threaded adjusting screw 43 is threaded. The adjusting screws are rotatably anchored in anchor blocks 44 and each carries a hand wheel 45 at its outer end. Rotabearing blocks 4| with corresponding adjustment of the pressure with which the knurled roller I bears against the relatively softer roller 9.

Among the advantages of the apparatus is the relative inexpensiveness and ease of handling of rubber printing plates. They may be applied to the plate cylinder of the press by means of adhesive, thus avoiding the complicated clamping 6 ferring the inked impression of the plate to a traveling web.

2. The process of claim l further characterized in that the smooth cylindrical surface is of hard rubber.

3. A printing press comprising an impression cylinder, a rubber printing plate carried by the plate cylinder, a knurled inking roller having a relatively hard surface disposed to engage the rubber printing plate carried by the plate cylinder, a smooth-surfaced relatively softer roller disposed to engage the surface of the knurled roller, means for supplying ink to and constantly maintaining it throughout the length of the bight between the knurled roller and the smoothsurfaced roller, the two rollers being adapted to rotate in opposite directions, each toward the tion of the hand wheels causes a sliding of the i devices which are essential where heavy metal printing plates are used. Furthermore, the press, due to the method of printing, is much faster than presses heretofore known. The elimination of the complicated inking train permits markedly increased speed of operation with the production The method and the apparatus are adapted for printing a wide variety of materials, including books, magazines, newspapers, catalogs, telephone directories and the like.

Various changes may be made in. the details of the procedure as described and in the apparatus employed, without departing from the invention or sacrificing the advantages thereof.

I claim:

1. The method of printing which comprises,

. the ink throughout thelength of the bight, controlling the depth of. the ink layer remaining on the knurled surface after leaving the bight by adjusting the pressure between the two cy1indri-' cal surfaces, passing the knurled surface carrying the layer of ink in rolling contact with a rubber printing plate to ink the plate and transother at their upper sides, and means for adjusting the pressure between said rollers to control the depth of the layer of ink carried by the knurled roller to the rubber printing plate.

4. A printing press as defined in claim 3 in which the smooth-surfaced roller is of hard rubber.

5. A printing press as defined in claim 3 adapted to the passing of a web between the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder and provided with means for heating the web after it leaves the plate and impression cylinders.

GEORGE R. BRODIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,740,697 McManus Dec. 24, 1929 2,014,043 Harbinson Sept..10, 1935 2,036,480 Kaufler Apr. 7, 1936 2,042,476 Meyer June 2, 1936 2,047,624 Freidlander July 14, 1936 2,069,828 Hauptli Feb. 9, 1937 2,169,681 Dudly Aug. 15, 1939 2,194,911 Porter Mar. 26, 1940 2,213,419 Taylor Sept. 3, 1940 2,226,848 Cornwall Dec. 31, 1940 2,271,124 Juve et a1. Jan. 27, 1942 2,275,514 Dudly Mar. 10, 1942 2,276,662 Matuschke Mar. 17, 1942 2,310,788 I-Iummelchen Feb. 9, 1943 2,322,445 Huber June 22, 1943 2,351,612 Hawley June 20, 1944 2,368,157 Ortolano Jan. 24, 1945 2,447,872 Riggs Aug. 24, 1948 OTHER REFERENCES Thiokol. Facts, published by Thiokol C0rp., Yardsville, N. J Aug. 8, 1936.

Printing Inks, by Ellis; Reinhold Pub. Corp., 330 West 42ndsSt., N. Y., 1940.