US3550283A - Method and apparatus for applying a printing plate to a support saddle - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for applying a printing plate to a support saddle Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US3550283A
US3550283A US718656A US3550283DA US3550283A US 3550283 A US3550283 A US 3550283A US 718656 A US718656 A US 718656A US 3550283D A US3550283D A US 3550283DA US 3550283 A US3550283 A US 3550283A
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
plate
saddle
printing
cylinder
printing plate
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US718656A
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Eugene L Bernardi
Rudolph T Brazdovic
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Reichhold Chemicals Inc
Wood Ind Inc
Original Assignee
Reichhold Chemicals Inc
Wood Ind Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Reichhold Chemicals Inc, Wood Ind Inc filed Critical Reichhold Chemicals Inc
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US3550283A publication Critical patent/US3550283A/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41F—PRINTING MACHINES OR PRESSES
    • B41F27/00—Devices for attaching printing elements or formes to supports
    • B41F27/005—Attaching and registering printing formes to supports
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S101/00—Printing
    • Y10S101/36—Means for registering or alignment of print plates on print press structure
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
    • Y10T29/00—Metal working
    • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
    • Y10T29/49826—Assembling or joining
    • Y10T29/49895—Associating parts by use of aligning means [e.g., use of a drift pin or a "fixture"]

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for accurately positioning the printing portion of a flexible flat printing plate onto a curved support saddle
  • apparatus includes a movable layout table having thereon a movable rear register stop adapted to engage with a raised reference or printing portion cast on a printing plate to preposition the printing portion of the plate relative to the page to be printed.
  • Means are provided for rotating the saddle to a preselected position such that when the table and plate thereon are moved towards the saddle, the underside of the head of the plate will engage the curved surface of the saddle along a tagent thereto at a desired point between the head and foot of the saddle equal to the position down from the top of the page that the top of the printed portion is to appear.
  • Pressure means are provided for imparting a radial pressure to the plate and saddle and rotation means are provided to rotate the saddle and pull the plate from the layout table.
  • Method for positioning the printing portion of a flexible flat printing plate onto a curved support saddle including the steps of positioning a rear register stop on a layout table depicting the page to be printed at a point equivalent to the position that a raised reference point or preselected printed matter is to be positioned on the page, bringing a printing plate having a raised reference portion or preselected printing portion into contact with the stop, circumferentially positioning a curved support saddle at a point where the bottom surface of the head end of the plate may engage the saddle along a tangent thereto at a point which is a predetermined distance from the head of the saddle, moving the table and plate towards the saddle such that the plate engages the saddle along a tangent thereto, and applying a radial force to the saddle plate at the point of tangency while rotating the saddle to withdraw the plate from the table.
  • This invention relates to a printing plate applicator and more particularly to apparatus and method by which a thin printing plate may be accurately affixed to a curved support saddle.
  • our invention is directed to an apparatus and method by which a thin printing plate is applied to a curved support saddle so as to assure accurate positioning of the plate on the saddle both in circumferential and axial directions.
  • the apparatus includes a rotatable cylinder which is identical in diameter to the printing cylinder of a press and to which a curved support saddle is held by holding means similar to the holding means by which the saddle is to be locked to the printing cylinder.
  • the outer curved surface of the saddle has an adhesive thereon and means in the form of a pressure roll are provided such that when one end of a printing plate is brought into contact with the saddle, the printing plate may be rolled onto the saddle when the saddle cylinder is rotated relative to the pressure roll.
  • Adjustable stop and index means are associated with the saddle cylinder so that the circumferential point of initial contact of the top end of the printing plate will be circumferentially positioned on the saddle and will correspond to a pre-set distance from the top of a printed page.
  • a moveable flat layout table is provided such that the printing portion of a flat printing plate may be accurately positioned laterally with respect to the saddle to provide column register and also such that the printing portions adjacent the tail end of the plate may be pre-positioned with respect to a base line which in turn turn is positioned relative to the distance from the top of the printed page to be printed.
  • the table is moveable with respect to the saddle cylinder such that the top edge of the printing plate carried by the table may be brought into engagement with the outer adhesive surface of the saddle along a tangent thereto and at a point where the pressure rolls forms a nip with the saddle.
  • Means are provided for rotating the cylinder such that the plate may be pulled from the layout table and rolled onto the saddle by the application of a radial force of the pressure roll.
  • FIG. 1 is a broken side view of a plate applicator constructed according to the invention
  • FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a saddle to which a printing plate is to be affixed
  • FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating means for locking the saddle of FIG. 2 onto a saddle cylinder of the plate applicator;
  • FIG. 4 is an end view of the saddle cylinder of FIG. 3 and a portion of the applicator illustrating an adjustable stop means for circumferentially positioning the cylinder of FIG. 3;
  • FIG. 5 is a plan view of the stop means of FIG. 4 shown associated with an index means carried on the cylinder;
  • FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along lines VIVI;
  • FIG. 7 is a plan view of a portion of the applicator shown in FIG. 1 and more particularly a layout table
  • FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view taken along lines VIII-VIII of FIG. 7 illustrating a register means for positioning a printing plate on the layout table.
  • FIG. 1 there is illustrated a plate applicator 1 having a plate applicator portion 2 and a layout table portion 3 on which a thin flexible plastic printing plate P having a head or top end and a tail or bottom end may be accurately positioned.
  • the applicator portion 2 comprises a rotatable saddle cylinder 4 of the same diameter as the printing cylinder of a printing press to which the saddle is to be affixed.
  • the cylinder 4 is rotated about its shaft 5 by a drive means 6 which connects with the shaft by a drive chain 7.
  • the saddle S to which the thin printing plate P is to be attached comprises a semicircular member which is attached to the cylinder 4 by means of a fixed clamp 8 and movable clamps 9 which are slidable in tracks 10 contained on the surface of the saddle cylinder and which extend parallel to the cylinder axis.
  • the saddle also has head and tail ends corresponding in direction to the head and tail ends of the plate P.
  • Clamps 9 are moved in their tracks 10 by threaded screws 11 which are turned by knobs 12 to force an end of the plate into contact with the fixed clamp 8 and thus lock the saddle to the cylinder. Additional clamping pressure is obtained by lock-up rods 12' acting on cam discs 13 and 14.
  • the cylinder 4 is further provided with a locating bar 15 adapted to engage one circumferential end of a saddle such that the saddle will be circumferenially positioned with respect to the cylinder prior to the application of the holding clamps.
  • FIGS. 2 and 3 While we have illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 a saddle which is adapted to be held to a printing cylinder by end clamps, it is obvious that the saddle could be afiixed to the cylinder by other lock-up devices which are similar to the lock-up devices for securing the saddle to the printing cylinder of a press.
  • conventional underside tension lock-uphooks may be used which would engage recesses or pockets cut into the under surface of the saddle.
  • the cylinder 4 would then have similar underside tension lock-up hooks on its surface positioned in the same manner as tension lock-up hooks in the printing cylinder to which the saddle is eventually to be applied.
  • the applicator portion further comprises a pressure roll 16 which is rotatably carried on an arm 17 which in turn is pivotable about a shaft 18.
  • Arm 17 is connected by crank 19 to a piston rod 20 of a fluid motor 21 such that when the piston rod 20 moves in an upward direction as shown in FIG. 1, the roll 16 will be moved in a counterclockwise direction to exert a radial force on the printing plate P to force it into intimate contact with the surface of the saddle S to which an adhesive, preferably a double-faced adhesive sheet, has been previously applied.
  • the plate P is preferably of a thin, light flexible plastic material which can be rolled around the surface of the saddle without cracking when the cylinder 4 is rotated in a clockwise direction by the drive means 6.
  • the plate P be accurately positioned on the surface of the saddle to assure that when the saddle is applied to a printing cylinder of a pressure, the plate will be in accurate registry with other color plates applied to other cylinders. This requires that the plate be accurately positioned both longitudinally and circumferentially with respect to the saddle.
  • Circumferential positioning of the printing plate on the saddle is accomplished by pre-setting the rotational position of the saddle cylinder such that the top or head end of the printing portion of the printing plate when brought into position to contact the adhesive surface of the sad dle as shown in FIG. 1 will be at a pre-set distance from the top of the page on which the plate will eventually print. This is achieved by rotating the cylinder 4 in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 1 until a retractable plunger 22 shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, engages a stop surface 23 on adjustable bracket 24.
  • the bracket 24 has a curved slot 25 therein through which screws 26 extend for adjustably securing the bracket to the saddle cylinder. It is seen by reference to FIG.
  • Precise positioning of the saddle cvlinder is accomplished by utilizing a scale 27 contained on the end of the cylinder which is calibrated to indicate the distance of the bottom edge of a raised reference or printing portion of the plate from the top of the page to be printed.
  • the scale is conveniently marked in inches taking into ac- :ount any change of dimension that may exist between the page as printed and the actual dimensions of the plastic plate.
  • Plunger 22 is connected to a piston inside an air cylinder 28 such that the plunger may be fully retracted in the event it is desired to rotate the cylinder past the adjustable stop means when removing or applying a saddle.
  • FIGS. 7 and 8 there is illustrated a moveable layout table 3 on which the flat printing plate is initially layed out and positioned relative to the page which is to be printed.
  • the table 3 has a table surface 30 which is large enough to accommodate a single plate of full page size.
  • Surface 30 has thereon two longitudinally extending slots 31 which serve as guides for a movable rear register bar 32 and a lateral slot 33 in which side register units 34 may slide to engage the raised printing portion of a printing plate.
  • Scales 35 are provided on both sides of the table from which the stop bar may be positioned.
  • the scales are preferably calibrated in inches to measure the effective length of the fiat printing plate.
  • the rear register bar is set at the 12 inches on the scales. This assures that the head or top edge of the plate will overhang the end of the table a predetermined amount, as shown in FIG. 1, and will engage the saddle along a predetermined line when the cylinder is set at a predetermined position and when the table is moved toward the cylinder. In this manner, the top of the printing portion of the printing plate will be positioned a predetermined distance from the top of the page to be printed.
  • the rear register bar has thereon screws 36 which are threade into blocks 37 which in turn slide on the slots 31. In this manner, the rear register bar may be locked into position by turning screws 36.
  • the rear register bar 32 comprises in part a stop 38 adapted to engage an edge 39 of the printing plate which forms the bottom end of the printing portion of the plate. This edge is cast with the printing portion of the plate and provides an accurate base line from which to measure the length of the printing portion, i.e., effective length of the printing plate.
  • the stop overhangs a bottom slide portion 40 of the bar 32 and also a dead portion 41 of the plate which usually comprises excess flashing resulting from the casting operation and which comprises a nonprinting portion of the plate.
  • a plurality of undercut clamps 45 are slidably positioned along the bar 32 to hold the plate in position once the stop engages the edge 39.
  • the clamps are provided with screws 46 in order that they may be locked in place.
  • a spring biased ball 47 is contained in a threaded stud 48 carried by the clamp in order to hold the plate firmly down on the surface 30 of the table.
  • the top of the two outer clamps have reference lines (not shown) on the top thereof which are even with the end of the margin bar whereby the position of the end of the margin bar may be read on the scales 35.
  • the layout table is also provided with column lines 49 similar to the column lines on the page to be printed. By utilizing these column lines, the plate may be positioned laterally with respect to the table by the use of side units 50.
  • Side units 50 are generally similar to units 45 and include the margin stop arrangement for engaging a side of the printed portion similar to edge 39.
  • Side units 34 also have a margin stop arrangement for accurately positioning the top portion of the printing plate.
  • the table 3 is mounted on slides 52 carried by the frame of the applicator such that it may be manually moved towards and away from the saddle cylinder. When the table is moved to the position where shoulder 53 on the frame contacts shoulder 54- of the table, the top end of the plate will be in line contact with the saddle.
  • the procedure for setting a plate on a saddle is as follows.
  • the operator first positions the fiat plate on the layout table relative to the page which is to be printed. For example, if the plate is for a color print three columns wide between columns 2 and 6 of the page and the print is twelve inches long with the top of the print to be two inches down from the top of the page, the rear register bar '32 is set at 12 inches on scale 35 with the margin stop 38 of the bar 32 engaging the edge of the printing portion.
  • the side register units 34 and 45 are then moved into position such that their stops coincide with column lines 2 and 6. The screws of all clamps are then tightened.
  • the adjustable stop on the cylinder is then set to fourteen inches on scale 27 (12 inches length of plate plus two inches from top of plate to top of page) and the cylinder rotated until plunger 22 engages against stop surface 23 which circumferentially locates the circumferential portion of the saddle at which the top end of a plate will engage the saddle.
  • the saddle is then clamped onto the saddle cylinder and adhesive applied to the outer surface thereof.
  • the layout table 3 is then moved towards the saddle cylinder until the shoulders 53 and 54 engage at which position the top inner edge of the plate will contact the outer surface of the saddle.
  • Fluid motor 21 is then actuated bringing pressure roll 16 down onto the plate to force the plate into intimate contact with the adhesive surface on the saddle.
  • the layout table instead of being movable along a straight line towards the saddle cylinder, could move towards the cylinder by a pivotable action whereby the end of the plate would be pivoted into the position shown in a dotted line in FIG. 1.
  • the layout table and adjustable stop means could be mounted on a press whereby the plate would be aflixed to a saddle mounted on a printing plate cylinder.
  • clamps 45 could be used which could have a stop similar to 38 thereon for engaging and positioning a plate.
  • a stop similar to 38 could be mounted directly to an adjustable clamp which could be adjustably positioned with respect to the plate.
  • a printing plate applicator for applying a thin flexible printing plate having a tail end, a head end and an under surface to a curced support saddle where the printing plate has a raised reference portion thereon adjacent the tail end of the plate, raised printing portions thereon and non-printing portions thereon, said applicator comprising a rotatable cylinder adapted to mount a saddle, rotation means for rotating said cylinder, locating and locking means on said cylinder for circumferentially positioning and locking a saddle thereon, adjustable stop means for limiting rotational movement of said cylinder, a movable layout table having a top end adapted to support said printing plate, rear register means on said table for accurately positioning said printing plate thereon to provide a predetermined overhang of the head end of a plate over the top end of the layout table including a rear register stop spaced vertically above said table a distance greater than the thickness of the non-printing portions of the plate and less than the raised reference portion on the plate whereby said stop may overlie a nonprinting portion of said plate to engage
  • a printing plate applicator having in addition a first index scale on said cylinder calibrated in units of distance from the top of the page to be printed to the top of the printed matter to be included on the page by which said adjustable stop means is positioned circumferentially with respect to said cylinder whereby the initial point of tangential engagement on a saddle by a plate may be predetermined when said table and a plate thereon are moved towards a saddle.
  • a printing plate applicator includes a second index scale and a marker associated with the rear register means with said scale calibrated to measure units of length of plate from an edge of a raised printed portion adjacent the head end of the plate to a raised reference portion and wherein the distance from the rear register means to the top end of the table at any setting of the marker on the second index scale is less than the reading on the second scale by an amount equal to the predetermined overhang of the head portion of a plate when the rear register stop engages the raised reference portion on the plate.
  • each said saddle has a head end comprising the steps of casting a raised reference portion onto each printing plate near the tail end thereof wherein each reference portion in the series is in the same position with respect to the printing portion of each of the plates, positioning a raised rear register stop on a page layout table having a top end where the distance between the stop and the top end of the table is equal to the distance between the raised reference portion and the edge of the printing portion adjacent the head end of each plate less a predetermined distance equal to a predetermined overhang of the head end of a plate over the top end of the layout table when the rear register stop engages the raised reference portion of a plate, successively for each plate circumferentially positioning a saddle such that the under surface of a head end of a plate will engage the outer surface of the saddle along a tangent thereto at a point which is at a predetermined distance from the head end of the saddle which distance is equal to the distance from the top of the page to be printed to the printed matter to be printed by the plate, positioning a raised rear register stop on a page
  • a method according to claim 4 including the additional step of applying pressure to said plate in a radial direction with respect to said saddle while rotating said saddle and drawing said plate from said table to insure firm engagement between the saddle and plate.

Landscapes

  • Supply, Installation And Extraction Of Printed Sheets Or Plates (AREA)
US718656A 1968-04-02 1968-04-02 Method and apparatus for applying a printing plate to a support saddle Expired - Lifetime US3550283A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US71865668A 1968-04-02 1968-04-02

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3550283A true US3550283A (en) 1970-12-29

Family

ID=24886954

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US718656A Expired - Lifetime US3550283A (en) 1968-04-02 1968-04-02 Method and apparatus for applying a printing plate to a support saddle

Country Status (4)

Country Link
US (1) US3550283A (en))
JP (1) JPS4927128B1 (en))
DE (1) DE1917146B2 (en))
GB (1) GB1259028A (en))

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4604811A (en) * 1983-06-11 1986-08-12 Reiner Roosen Holding unit for mounting and aligning printing plates
US4743324A (en) * 1986-08-20 1988-05-10 W. R. Grace & Co., Cryovac Div. Printing plate mounter
US4846063A (en) * 1986-04-29 1989-07-11 Press Ready Plate, Inc. Film and plate registration system for flexographic printing
US4846059A (en) * 1988-01-15 1989-07-11 Press Ready Plate, Inc. Film registration table for flexible printing plates
US4936212A (en) * 1989-05-01 1990-06-26 Mosstype Corporation Flexographic printing plate transfer tray for mounter-proofer machine
US5065677A (en) * 1989-12-27 1991-11-19 Leader Engineering Fabrication Inc. Printing plate mounting and proofing apparatus
US20030079634A1 (en) * 2001-11-01 2003-05-01 Lintec Corporation Press plate mounting apparatus

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4446625A (en) * 1979-02-28 1984-05-08 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company Apparatus for mounting flexible printing plates
FR2678548A1 (fr) * 1991-07-03 1993-01-08 Schisler Cie Europ Emballages Dispositif de positionnement d'un cliche sur un cylindre d'impression.

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4604811A (en) * 1983-06-11 1986-08-12 Reiner Roosen Holding unit for mounting and aligning printing plates
US4846063A (en) * 1986-04-29 1989-07-11 Press Ready Plate, Inc. Film and plate registration system for flexographic printing
US4743324A (en) * 1986-08-20 1988-05-10 W. R. Grace & Co., Cryovac Div. Printing plate mounter
US4846059A (en) * 1988-01-15 1989-07-11 Press Ready Plate, Inc. Film registration table for flexible printing plates
US4936212A (en) * 1989-05-01 1990-06-26 Mosstype Corporation Flexographic printing plate transfer tray for mounter-proofer machine
US5065677A (en) * 1989-12-27 1991-11-19 Leader Engineering Fabrication Inc. Printing plate mounting and proofing apparatus
US20030079634A1 (en) * 2001-11-01 2003-05-01 Lintec Corporation Press plate mounting apparatus
EP1308277A1 (en) * 2001-11-01 2003-05-07 Lintec Corporation Press plate mounting apparatus
SG98077A1 (en) * 2001-11-01 2003-08-20 Lintec Corp Press plate mounting apparatus
US6684786B2 (en) * 2001-11-01 2004-02-03 Lintec Corporation Press plate mounting apparatus

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS4927128B1 (en)) 1974-07-15
DE1917146B2 (de) 1972-01-05
DE1917146A1 (de) 1970-01-08
GB1259028A (en)) 1972-01-05

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US3154012A (en) Means for registering printing plates
US4177730A (en) Method and apparatus for web printing
US4380956A (en) Mounting of flexible printing plates
US3889596A (en) Printing unit for selective indirect intaglio and flexographic printing
US3550283A (en) Method and apparatus for applying a printing plate to a support saddle
WO1988006522A1 (en) Method for mounting a plate on a cylinder and device for carrying out the method
US2559533A (en) Printing plate positioner
EP0944441A1 (en) Screen registration with shiftable support for web
JPH0262392B2 (en))
US4860650A (en) Method for attaining longitudinal registry of rolls in printing presses
US2231187A (en) Printing press
US1832255A (en) Means for marking cylinders used in rotary photogravure printing
US2000756A (en) Method of forming plate gangs for multicolor printing
US2679695A (en) Apparatus for registering printing plates to be duplicated
US2236000A (en) Method for registering printing plates
US2859532A (en) Method and apparatus for lineup and register of printing plates
US2736968A (en) Apparatus for registering printing plates
US3646886A (en) Plate cylinder with interchangeable plate clamping device
US4179990A (en) Method for making lithographic printing plates
US1377511A (en) Printing-plate registration
US3577856A (en) Apparatus for offset printing
US2921378A (en) Color plate registering equipment
US2082372A (en) Method of and machine for registering and proving printing plates
US1820880A (en) Method of and apparatus for marking objects
US3281946A (en) Printing apparatus