US2961952A

US2961952A - Method of and apparatus for cleaning and controlling paper in printing presses

Info

Publication number: US2961952A
Application number: US612625A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles C Doyle
Original assignee: J E DOYLE CO
Current assignee: J E DOYLE CO
Priority date: 1956-09-28
Filing date: 1956-09-28
Publication date: 1960-11-29
Anticipated expiration: 1977-11-29

Description

Nov. 29, 1960 c. c. DOYLE 2,961,952

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AND CONTROLLING PAPER IN PRINTING PRESSES Flled Sept 28, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,UUII "mum [I I nmnmmmummm INVENTOR. MC fi h United States Patent METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING AllzllgsEgONTROLLlNG PAPER IN PRINTING Charles .C. Doyle, 34103 Lake Shore, Willoughby, Ohio;

" Helen Lefton, executrix of said Charles C. Doyle,

' deceased, assignor to The J. E. Doyle Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Sept. 28, 1956, Ser. No. 612,625

7 Claims. (Cl. 101-416) This invention is concerned with the cleaning of sheet and webmaterial and particularly sheet and web materialsuch as paper as used in the printing industry. The invention is directed to improvements in methods and apparatuses for use in modern printing presses.

Recently it has become a common practice to apply starch powder to printed surfaces to prevent the off setting and smearing of wet ink on the printed sheet or web. While such practice permits of the more rapid printing orspeeding up of the press, a problem develops in that the loose starch is detrimental to subsequent prints on the starch dusted sheet or web. The starch is picked up by the'ink' during subsequent printing thus contaminating the ink and weakening the color thereof when the paper is run through the press the second time. The starch also has the tendency to fill the screen surface of half-tone plates causing a spotting effect in printed pictures and the starch also fills in the pockets of small printing type.

The practice to overcome the foregoing disadvantages, is to stop the press and clean or scrub the type and halftone plates with a suitable cleaner to remove the accumulation of lumped starch and ink.

, The general object of the present invention is the provision of a vacuum cleaning method and apparatus which i will eliminate the troublesome starch before the sheet or web reaches the second printing stage or run and which are also effective in removing dust, lint, and other foreign matter on the surface or edges of the paper and which are adaptable for use on various types of presses such .as letter presses, lithographing presses, offset, gravure, screen printing and textile presses.

While the use of a suction manifold on a printing press is old. I have, found that an equal suction across the sheet or web does not facilitate the elimination of air pockets on the underside of the sheet to be printed and which usually results in the formation of wrinkles in the paper and spoiled stock. Wherefore a further object of the present invention is the provision of a method of applying a cleaning suction to the sheet surface to be printed in such a manner as to prevent wrinkle formations. A still further object is the provision of a suction apparatus for the fulfilling of the above mentioned method.

Other objects of the invention hereinafter become apparent to those skilled in the art and the essential characteristics are summarized in the claims. In the drawings I Fig; 1 is a perspective view of one form of the novel apparatus for carrying out my method;

Fig. 2 is a top plane view of a single throat manifold structure; Fig. 3 is an end view of the manifold showing several nozzle members as arranged in the suction end of the singlethroat manifold;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of one of several nozzle structures as positioned in the suction end of the manifold structure; Fig. ,5 isa fragmental elevational view of a brush structure and adjusting and clamping means therefor;

2,961,952 Patented Nov. 29,

"ice

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 2 showing a valve means in a side wall of the manifold structure;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary perspective of a nozzle membe showing the relative depth of the obliquely arranged grooves of the sheet contacting surfaces of the nozzle member; and Fig. 8 is a cross section taken through the hose clamp where attached to the intake of the suction pump shown in Fig. 1.,

Referring to the drawings in Fig. 1 I show diagrammatically my apparatus attached to and associated with one type of press. The apparatus comprises a motor driven suction pump unit 15 with a filter bag 16 attached to outlet branch 17 of the suction pump. The intake branch 18 of the pump is attached to a flexible conduit 19 adapted to extend through the press frame to a manifold structure 20 supported .on the press frame by adjustable means (not shown). The pump unit is of sufficient capacity to exceedany suction requirements of the nozzle of the manifold. 7

Another problem is to provide a manifold structure which can be confined to restricted space between the rolls of the press of very substantial width but capable of brushadjustment. In Fig. 1 the manifold is shown disposed with its nozzle and brush structure in a restricted space between feed roll A, platen roll B and impression cylinder C and which is a typical installation.

The manifold structure 20 preferably is built up of light gauge stainless steel sheeting to have a rear wall 22., a like front wall23 and side walls 61. The shapes of the respective manifold walls are such that the throat of the manifold will be of substantially increasing volumetric capacity from nozzle end to top end of the manifold structure. It is to be understood that in some installations where space and clearances with respect to the press rolls is not so limited the forward wall 22 would be a top wall. I

As' shown in Fig. 4 I employ a brush structure 25 adjustably attached to the nozzle and manifold structure and the brush structure is adjustable relative to the nozzle and manifold structures in a manner to be set forth.

The nozzle structure comprises nozzle units 30 pro-, vided with elongated suction passageways 3-1 and having a sheet contacting surface 32 in which is formed a series of grooves 33 to extend at an angle obliquely to the line.

of travel of the sheet. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the grooves 33 extend in a direction sloping outwardly from the center of the manifold structure i.e. from the center of the moving sheet with respect to the side portions of the sheet relative to the center line direction of travel of the sheet. 7

The nozzle members are shown in Fig. 3 arranged. in sets of two for each half of the manifold structure but it is to be understood that the number of nozzle sets to be used will be dependent upon the sheet width capacity of the press and the width of the manifold thus is like- Wise determined. V V

The opposite end of the bolt 42 is provided with a clamping nut 52 and washer 52a and has a wrench socket 53 in the end thereof. Thus the bolt serves the purpose of securing the manifold structure to the nozzle structures there being at least two bolts for each brush structure. When it is desired to adjust the brushes .relative to the paper sheet or web the press is inched along until the more or less fiat'side F of the paper feed roll A is opposite the nozzle structure thus affording clearance for the hand of the operator between the feed roll and front of the manifold structure. Clamping nuts 52 may then' be loosened and the'bolts 42 turned with an'Alln' wrench 54 shown in dot and dash lines tang-4.1 am pinion 48 fixed on the bolts 42 may thus be manipulated to raise or lower the brush holder racks 50 and accordingly the brush bristles relative to the paper and to the nozzle structures. Tightening of nut 52 while holding bolt 42 with the wrench 54 assures the retention of the brushes in adjusted position.

The manifold is provided with means for controlling the degree of suction force to be applied to the paper at the center of the moving sheet or web and at the sides thereof. I have discovered that by applying more suction force at the central region of the moving sheet than prevails at the side portions of the sheet air pockets beneath the moving sheet can be eliminated thus avoiding wrinkle formations in the sheet as it reaches the impression cylinder. By increasing the suction force on the center of the moving sheet or web relative to the sides more tension is exerted at the center by the pull of the impression cylinder of the press thus causing any air beneath the sheet to escape outwardly toward the side edges of the sheet.

Referring to Fig. 6 I show a sliding valve structure formed in the side walls of the manifold structure. Thus elongated openings 60 are formed in the side walls 61, the extent of the openings being varied by sliding valve members 62, whereby the section may be adjustably diminished at the sides relative to the center of the web. Slideway straps 63 secured to the side walls 61 slideably support the valve over the opening 60.

In some instances 1 find it advantageous to use deflector plates 65 (see Fig. 2) in the throat of the manifold to further the regulation of the central and side suction forces. 'Ihese plates also serve to stiffen the front and back Walls of the manifold structure.

In Fig. 4 I show the

manifold walls

22 and 23 converging to have a suction inlet 40 substantially equal to the inlet capacity of the nozzle suction passageways 31. The ends of the manifold walls are flared outwardly and-then extend parallel to receive the nozzle structures per se. Flanges 41 on the manifold are provided to fit slots in the side faces of the nozzles and the nozzles are held in fixed relation to the manifold walls by bolts 42. The bolts 42 also serve to secure the brush structures 25 to the manifold and nozzle structures and it is desired that the brushes be adjustable relative to the moving paper and the nozzle structure.

In many installations there is insufiicient space or room available to adjust the brushes from the rear side (side 22) of the manifold structure. To meet this condition I have devised a brush holder adjusting and clamping means which can be manipulated by the pressman from the forward side 23 of the manifold structure. In Figs. 4 and I show the bolt 42 extending from rear to front side of the manifold and nozzle structures. The bolt head 47 is disposed on the rear side and through washer 47a engages the face of the body 45 of the brush structure 25. Upwardly extending lugs 46 are formed on the brush body 45 with elongated openings 49, one wall of which is in the form of a gear rack 50. A gear pinion 48 of sufficiently small diameter to operate in the elongated opening 49 is fixed to the bolt 42.

Since the apparatus is adaptable for use in cleaning sheet stock of various thicknesses ranging from tissue gauge to cardboard gauge the overall suction forces will be accordingly varied. For this purpose I provide a venting valve 68 (on Fig. 2) in one of the manifold walls 22-23 centrally located near the outlet structure of the manifold. This control could be located anywhere in the duct 19 as for instance in the collar 69 (see Figs. 1 and 8) with radial openings 70 formed in the collar, duct and inlet branch 18 of the suction pump. Loosening and turning of the collar 69 affords the regulation.

From the foregoing description of my invention it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that tensioning of the paper as it passes between the platen and impression rolls can be varied across the sheet to control slewing and/ or wrinkling without relying entirely upon the brushing action of the brushes to fulfill these functions; The nozzle grooves 33 have a smoothing action upon the sheet exerted outwardly from the central region of the sheet or web at both sides of the sheet. The suction force control at the nozzles, so that more tension is exerted on the central region of the sheet, eliminates pockets of air beneath the sheet which are usually the cause of wrinkling. The brushes can be adjusted conveniently to fulfill the starch and dirt loosening function for which they are primarily intended.

On some work the action of the suction air traversing the grooves 33 is sufficient to maintain the sheet unwrinkled as the sheet is tensioned by the platen and compression rolls, while in other instances the same can be effected by regulation of the suction forces along the nozzles as explained. On the other hand paper with bad slewing tendencies is sometimes encountered where both actions are combined to maintain the paper in an aligned run through the press. r

I claim:

1. The method of cleaning and preventing wrinkle formations in a sheet of moving paper being fed through a. printing press comprising exerting a sheet cleaning suction across the surface of the sheet to be printed transverse to the direction of movement of the sheet and ata feed roll and regulating the degree of suction on the moving sheet so that a greater suction effort is exerted at-the center of the moving sheet than upon the side portions of the sheet, thereby to aid removal of any air pockets occurring between the underside of the sheet and feed roll, while directing over the surface of the sheet to be printed in directions obliquely outwardly relative to the central region of the sheet but toward the direction of sheet movement streams of air caused by said suction, and then brush-wiping the impression side of the sheet whereby brush-loosening of deleterious matter is effected upon the impression side of the sheet after any air pockets have been eliminated from the underside of the sheet.

2. An attachments for cleaning a moving sheet of paper and the like comprising a single chambered suction manifold structure having an elongated opening, a suction nozzle structure secured in said opening in sealed relation to the manifold, said Suction nozzle structure having a paper engaging surface with air passage grooves formed therein in spaced relation along the length of the nozzle to extend obliquely relative to the direction of travel of the paper, said grooves along one half of the nozzle surface being directed in oblique sense reversed to that of grooves formed in the other half of the nozzle surface, a brush structure adjustably mounted on the nozzle structure rearwardly of said paper engaging surface relative to the direction of movement of the paper for wiping the impression side of the paper, and brush securing means extending through the nozzle structure for adjustably securing the brush structure to the nozzle structure.

3. An attachment for the purposes stated comprising a single chambered suction manifold structure having an elongated opening, a suction nozzle secured in said opening in sealed relation to the manifold, and a powered suction unit, conduit means extending between the manifold and unit, said suction nozzle having a paper engaging surface, said manifold structure comprising upper and lower walls and side walls converging into a suction duct branch and said side walls having respective suction regulating valve means adjustable to maintain a greater suction force at the center of the nozzle opening than at theends of the nozzle opening.

4. An attachment for the purposes stated comprising a single chambered suction manifold structure, a web engaging nozzle carried in the inlet end of the manifold structure, nozzle suction reglating means on the manifold structure for varying the degree of suction action ofthe end sections of the nozzle relative to the central section of the nozzle whereby the suction action of the nozzle on the central region of the web can be maintainedto be greater than the suction action of the nozzle along the side portions of the web, suction control means on the manifold for regulating the overall suction action of the nozzle on the web, and spaced grooves in the web engaging surface of the nozzle extending in oppositely oblique directions on opposite sides of the center of the nozzle.

5. A paper cleaning attachment for printing presses comprising a manifold structure having converging top and bottom walls forming a nozzle receiving opening adapted to extend the printing width of the press, nozzle members disposed in the elongated opening, said nozzle members having elongated suction openings and an adjacent paper contacting surface, said surface having parallel slots formed therein with the slots in one half the nozzle paper contacting surface extending obliquely to the direction of movement of the paper and the other half of the nozzle surface having slots therein extending in like manner but at an angle reverse to the angle of the first said slots.

6. An attachment for printing presses adapted for continuous web printing comprising a manifold structure having converging front and back walls forming a nozzle receiving opening adapted to extend the width of the web, nozzle members disposed in the elongated opening, said nozzle members having elongated suction openings and an adjacent web contacting surface, said manifold having side walls connecting the front and back walls and valve means in each of the side walls for lowering the suction forces at each side of the manifold.

7. An attachment for cleaning a moving paper sheet and the like comprising a single chambered suction manifold structure having an elongated opening adapted to be disposed transversely of a path of paper travel, a suction nozzle secured in said opening in sealed relation to the manifold, a powered suction unit, conduit means extending between the manifold and unit, said suction nozzle having a paper engaging surface, suction varying means disposed between the powered suction unit and the nozzle for varying the degree of suction efiected upon the sheet by the suction unit as the sheet is drawn through a printing press, and an adjustable non-rotating brush extending the transverse width of the nozzle and mounted behind the nozzle with reference to the direction of paper travel, said brush mounting including brush securing and adjusting means extending through the nozzle structure and projecting forwardly of the nozzle whereby the brush adjustment may be effected at the forward side of the nozzle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 14,136 Doyle May 23, 1916 1,089,453 Wood Mar. 10, 1914 1,094,364 Bulger Apr. 21, 1914 1,096,471 Stevens May 12, 1914 1,120,840 Niles Dec. 15, 1914 1,129,274 Clements Feb. 23, 1915 1,196,090 Doyle Aug. 29, 1916 1,196,438 Doyle et a1 Aug. 29, 1916 1,196,439 Doyle Aug. 29, 1916 1,207,161 Goldsmith Dec. 5, 1916 1,404,636 Mustee Jan. 24, 1922 1,737,174 Price Nov. 26, 1929 1,830,287 Ohlin Nov. 3, 1931 1,867,256 Egli July 12, 1932 2,022,593 Fuykers Nov. 26, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 243,851 Germany February 1912 392,326 Great Britain May 18, 1933 167,188 Switzerland Feb. 15, 1934 489,819 Great Britain Aug. 4, 1938