US3685444A

US3685444A - Ink forming device for offset printing machine

Info

Publication number: US3685444A
Application number: US67058A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tamaki Kaneko; Katsumi Mizuno
Original assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Current assignee: Ricoh Co Ltd
Priority date: 1969-09-06
Filing date: 1970-08-26
Publication date: 1972-08-22
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-22
Also published as: JPS49446B1; DE2043984A1; GB1278371A; DE7033065U; DE2043984B2

Abstract

An ink forming device for offset printing machines wherein an ink transfer roller interposed between an ink fountain roller and an oscillator roller, which acts as one of the ink forming rollers, is caused to press against the oscillator roller when the ink fountain roller is not supplying ink from an ink fountain, so that the ink transfer roller also functions as an ink forming roller, thus reducing the number of ink forming rollers required.

Description

United States Patent Kaneko et al.

[54] INK FORMING DEVICE FOR OFFSET PRINTING MACHINE [72] Inventors: Tamaki Kaneko; Katsumi Mizuno,

both of Tokyo, Japan [73] Assignee: Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Aug. 26, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 67,058

' [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Sept. 6, 1969 Japan ..44/70822 521 U.S. c1 ..101/217, 101/350 4 51 Int. Cl. ..B4lf 31/06, B4lf3l/l4 [58] Field of Search ..101/1310. 6, 348-352, 101/357, 361, 363, 341, 345, 148,207,208, 3 209, 217, 218

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3 2,788,742 4/1957 French ..101/351 1,926,145 9/1933 Erickson et al 101/357 2,206,269 7/1940 Sinkovitz ..101/357 3,170,397 2/1965 Dutro et al. ..101/350 1151 3,685,444 1451 Aug. 22, 1972 3,064,564 11/1962 Lindemann 101/351 2,821,917 2/1958 Buttner et a]....;....l0l/DIG. 6 1,585,367 5/1926 Blaine ..l01/35l 3,120,803 2/1964 Greenwood l0l/35l 3,301,182 1/1967 Leviton l0l/35l 1,383,945 7/l92l Henderson ..l0l/35l 1,558,686 10/1925 Lipton et al. l0l/DIG. 6

Primary Examiner-J. Reed Fisher AttorneyHenry T. Burke, Robert S. Dunham, P. E. Henninger, Thomas F. Moran, Lester W. Clark, Gerald W. Griffin, Howard J. Churchill, R. Bradlee Boa], Thomas P. Dowd and Christopher C. Dunham [57] ABSTRACT An ink forming device for offset printing machines wherein an ink transfer roller interposed between an ink fountain roller and an oscillator roller, which acts as one of the ink forming rollers, is caused to press against the oscillator roller when the ink fountain roller is not supplying ink from an ink fountain, so that the ink transfer roller also functions as an ink forming roller, thus reducing the number of ink forming rollers required.

6 Clains, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED M1822 m2 SHEET 2 BF 2 FIG. 3 3o 26 INVENTORS TAM/J K/ KAA/EKO KAWSUM/ M/ZUA z" INK FORMING DEVICE FOR OFFSET PRINTING MACHINE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an ink forming device for rotary offset printing machines.

Ink forming rollers for rotary offset printing machines function to form ink to be applied to a master plate mounted on a-master cylinder. The larger the number of ink forming rollers, the more thoroughly the ink can be formed. Thus, conventional rotary offset printing machines use a large number of ink forming rollers which rotate while pressing against one another for forming the ink. An increase in the number of rollers entails an increase in the space for mounting the rollers, thereby making it impossible to" obtain an ink forming rollers, an oscillator roller 9 serving concurrently as an ink forming roller, an ink transfer roller 10, an ink fountain roller 1 l and an ink reservoir 13 are g the ink forming device support side all supported by plates 4.

The ink transfer roller is rotatably supported by roller support arms 14, (FIG. 4) which are fixed at their upper ends to a shaft 15, that is, rotatably supported by the side plates 4. The arms 14, are fixed at their other ends to the opposite ends of a shaft 16 which is engaged at the central portion by the forked end 17a of a member 17. The base of the forked member 17 is fixed to a shaft 18 rotatably supported by the side plates 4.

' The shaft 18 extends outwardly at one end through one overall compact size in a rotary offset printing machine.

The present invention provides an ink forming device for rotary offset printing machines having a relatively small number of ink forming rollers thus "permitting the construction of compact rotary offset printing machines.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention embodies an ink forming device wherein an ink transfer rolleris adapted to function concurrently as an ink forming roller with an oscillator roller, so that the ink may be formed thoroughly despite the fact that the ink forming rollers are smallin number and comprises pivotal support means for said transfer roller along with actuating and locking meansfor alternately pressing it against an ink fountain roller and the oscillator roller.

' The advantages'and features of the present invention will become'more apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of an offset. printing machine with parts broken away showing an ink forming device comprising one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing. the manner of operation of some of the parts of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the details of a locking member; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing part of the construction of the ink forming device according to this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be explained with reference to a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1, a master cylinder 2 and a blanket cylinder 3 are shown rotatably supported by two opposed side walls 1, of a printing machine and press against each other and rotate in the direction of respective arrows as is well known in the art. Side plates 4 are provided on each side wall 1 for supporting an ink forming device and are formed with engaging

portions

4a and 4b for engaging

support rods

5 and 6, respectively, which are secured at their opposite ends to the side walls 1 of the machine. These

rods

5 and 6 of the side plates 4, and supports at its end an arm member 19 Another member 20 has a roller 20a mounted on its upper end and engaging the lower end of the arm member 19. The baseof arm member 20 is fixed to the inner end of a shaft 21 which is rotatably supported in one of the side walls 1, and has a pivotal lever 22 secured to its outer end. The two-armed lever 22 has a roller 22a at the end of one arm. A spring 23 is mounted between the other arm 22b of the-lever 22 and a. pin on the outside of the side wall 1, so that the roller 22a is urged to bear against the peripheral surface of the cam 24 mounted coaxially on shaft 3a, with the blanket cylinder 3 by virtue of the biasing; force of the spring 23.

A spring 25 is mounted between the shaft 16 secured to the ends of the roller support arms 14, and one of the side plates 4 as shown in FIG. 1, so that the ink transfer roller 10 is normally urged to press against the ink fountain roller 11. As the cam 24 rotates together with the blanket cylinder 3 in the direction of the arrow a in FIG. 1, the lever 22 moves in pivotal motion in a counterclockwise direction about the shaft 21' whenever the roller 22a moves from the minor diameter portion to the major diameter portion of the cam 24 and causes the arm member 20 to move in the same direction. As

the arm member 20 thus moves in pivotal motion, the

roller 20a pushes the-arm member 19 to the left in FIG. I, so that the 'arm member 19' moves in pivotal motion in a clockwise direction about the shaft 18. The pivotal motion of the arm member 19 is transmitted through the shaft 18 to the forked member 17 which also moves in pivotal motion in a. clockwise direction in FIG. 1. Since the forked member 17 moves the shaft 16 downwardly, the arms 14 move in pivotal motion in counterclockwise direction about the shaft 15 into the dash-and-dot line position 14A. As a result, the ink transfer roller 10 moves to the dash-and-dot line position 10A where it presses against the oscillator roller 9 which is serving concurrently as an ink forming roller.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink transfer roller 10 is maintained in pressing contact with the oscillator roller 9 while the roller 22a is in contact with the major diameter portion of the cam 24. As the roller 22a moves from the major diameter portion to the minor diameter portion of the cam 24, the ,arm member 20 moves in pivotal motion in a clockwise direction in FIG. I, so that the force with which the roller 20a presses against the lower end of the arm member 19 is released. This permits the arms 14, to be restored to their original 3 positions by the biasing force of the spring 25,. with the result that the ink transfer roller 10 is brought back into pressing engagement with the ink fountain roller 11. As described therefore, the ink transfer roller 10 is fountain roller 11 and theoscillator roller 9 at regular intervals to be maintained in contact with either one of ,7 and 8 to the master cylinder 2. A conventional control means, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,926,145 or US. Pat. No. 3,490,367; operates the cam 26 in a suitable sequence of operations to regulate the desired amount of ink which the ink fountain roller 1 1 will pass to the ink transfer roller 10. The action of the cam 26 is such as to lock the fountain roller 1 1 to stop the supply of ink to the transfer roller .10 and to lock the latter against the oscillator roller 9 during the ink forming operation in the manner as follows:

The. ink fountainroller l l is also adapted to be angularly displaced a suitable amount for supplying ink from reservoir 13 to the ink transfer roller 10. The amount of angular displacement'of the ink fountain roller 1 l is adjusted by rotating a cam 26 shown in FIG. 3 from outside the machine so that the supply of ink to the ink transfer roller 10 can be controlled by manipulating the cam 26. I The cam-26 is secured to a shaft 26b which loosely mounts a lock member 28 having a forward end portion 28a which is disposed below a bent engaging portion 226 at the upper end of the arm 22b of the lever 22. As

shown in FIG. 3, a resilient member 29 curved in the direction of the cam 26 is secured at the base to the arm of the lock member 28, said resilient member having a free end which is disposed in the path of travel of a pin 30 secured to the forward end of a projection 26a of the cam 26.v

v If the cam 26 is rotated in the direction of the arrow b in FIG. 3 till the projection 26a thereof is positioned against a stopper 27, then the ink fountain roller 11 is held against rotation and the supply of ink is stopped. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, the pin 30 will move the froller' 22a is maintained ifn h a with the major adapted to move, in pivotal motion between the ink diameter portion of the cam 24. Thus, the ink transfer roller is maintained in pressing engagement with the oscillator roller 9 'as shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 3, the nu-z meral 31 designates a stop which-'-'-prev'ents the downward movement of the lock member 28 when the resilient member29 is notpressed by the projection 26a. The provision of the resilient member 29: between the lock member 28 and the cam 26 has the efiectof preventing undue forces from acting on theportion of the lever 22 with which the lock member 28 is brought into engagement. v

From the foregoing description, then it will be appreciated that the ink forming deviceaccording to this invention permits maintenance of the ink transfer roller in pressing engagement with the oscillator rollerwhen no supply of ink is being delivered-to the transfer roller resilient member 29 upwardly and the lock member 28 i will move in a pivotal motion in a clockwise direction in slaved relation, so that the upper edge of the forward end portion 280 of the member 28 is positionedagainst the engaging portion 220 of the lever 22. Thus, the en-- gaging portion 220 of the ar'm22b of the lever 22 in oscillating between the solid line position and the dashand dotline position 22bA in FIG. 3 as the cam 24 rotates, will slide along the upper edge of the forward end portion 28a of the lock member 28. When thearm 22b. is in the dash-and-dot lineposition 22bA, the engaging, portion 220 abuts against an offset portion 28b formed on the upperedgeof the forward end portion 1 28aiofthe lbck member 28 (FIG. 2). In this way, the .ilp ivotal lever 22 is locked in position by the lock ,mernber g28. Thislocking engagement between the -ji f1gvqrz;2' d the lock member 28 occurs while the from the ink fountain roller, thereby permitting the ink transfer roller to function as anfirtk forrniiig rolle r. This offers the advantage that an ink forming opeiation can be performed satisfactorily in a printing machine which, has a relatively small number of ink forming rollers.

This device can have application in all types of offset printing machines. It is to be understood that the present invention is notlirnited to the specific form of the embodiment shown anddescribed, and that many changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from: the spirit and scope of the in- I vention. v

What is claimed is: I, 1. An ink forming device for offset printing machines.

comprising an ink transfer roller interposed between an ink fountain roller and an, oscillator roller and rotatably supported by pivotable support arms for alternately coming into contact with said ink fountain and oscillator rollers, a drive cam adaptedto rotate-in conjunction with a master cylinder, a: lever adapted to pivot in slaved relation to said drive cam, means for. transmitting the pivotal motion of said lever to said support arms for causing saidinktransfer roller to alternately come into contact with said ink fountain roller and said oscillator roller, an ink supply control cam for deter? mining the angular rotation of said ink fountain roller when ink is supplied to the master cylinderduring printing and for stopping the rotation of said ink fountain roller, and a lock member operatively connected to said ink-supply control cam for engaging said lever when the control cam is in the ink fountain roller stopping position and locking said lever when said ink transfer roller is brought into contact with said oscillator roller to maintain said ink transfer roller in contact with said oscillator roller.

2. An ink forming device for offset printing machines having:

a. a master cylinder;

b. a blanket cylinder cooperating with said master cylinder;

c. an intermittently rotated ink fountain roller for supplying ink from a reservoir;

d. an oscillator roller for applying ink through a set of inking rollers to said master cylinder;

e. a transfer roller for transferring ink from said ink fountain roller to said oscillator roller;

f. means for pivotally mounting said ink transfer I roller for movement between said ink fountain roller and said oscillatorroller;

g. means for pivoting said mounting means to cause said ink transfer roller to alternately contact said ink fountain roller and said oscillator roller; I

h. means for intermittently rotating and stopping said ink fountain roller;

i. a cam having a major diameter portion and a minor diameter portion and operatively connected to rotate with said master cylinder; and

j. follower means riding on said cam and connected to said means for pivoting said mounting means so as to control the pivoting of said transfer roller;

wherein the improvement comprises:

k. locking means on said means for pivoting said mounting means;

l. means actuated by said rotating and stopping means in response to the stopping of said ink fountain roller for engaging said locking means and holding said ink transfer roller against said oscillator roller when said ink fountain roller is stopped, whereby said ink transfer roller and said oscillator roller cooperate to act as ink forming rollers.

3. A device as in claim 2, wherein said mounting means comprises:

i. a pair of support arms, each pivoted at an adjacent end and having the ink transfer roller extending between them; and

j. means at the opposite ends of said support arms,

operatively connected to said pivoting means.

4. A device as in claim 2, wherein the means for engaging said locking means comprises:

m. a pivotable arm member having a portion on one end for engagement with said locking means; and

n. spring means connected to said arm member for pivoting said arm member into the locking position in response to the engagement of said spring means by said rotating and stopping means when in the ink fountain roller stopping position.

5. A device as in claim 4, wherein the means for pivoting said mounting means comprises a bellcrank having said follower means on one arm, and said locking means comprises a portion on the other arm of said bellcrank which engages said end portion on said arm member.

6. A device as in claim 5, wherein said locking means and said arm member end portion comprises an extension on one and a recess engageable by said extension on the other.

Claims

1. An ink forming device for offset printing machines comprising an ink transfer roller interposed between an ink fountain roller and an oscillator roller and rotatably supported by pivotable support arms for alternately coming into contact with said ink fountain and oscillator rollers, a drive cam adapted to rotate in conjunction with a master cylinder, a lever adapted to pivot in slaved relation to said drive cam, means for transmitting the pivotal motion of said lever to said support arms for causing said ink transfer roller to alternately come into contact with said ink fountain roller and said oscillator roller, an ink supply control cam for determining the angular rotation of said ink fountain roller when ink is supplied to the master cylinder during printing and for stopping the rotation of said ink fountain roller, and a lock member operatively connected to said ink supply control cam for engaging said lever when the control cam is in the ink fountain roller stopping position and locking said lever when said ink transfer roller is brought into contact with said oscillator roller to maintain said ink transfer roller in contact with said oscillator roller.

2. An ink forming device for offset printing machines having: a. a master cylinder; b. a blanket cylinder cooperating with said master cylinder; c. an intermittently rotated ink fountain roller for supplying ink from a reservoir; d. an oscillator roller for applying ink through a set of inking rollers to said master cylinder; e. a transfer roller for transferring ink from said ink fountain roller to said oscillator roller; f. means for pivotally mounting said ink transfer roller for movement between said ink fountain roller and said oscillator roller; g. means for pivoting said mounting means to cause said ink transfer roller to alternately contact said ink fountain roller and said oscillator roller; h. means for intermittently rotating and stopping said ink fountain roller; i. a cam having a major diameter portion and a minor diameter portion and operatively connected to rotate with said master cylinder; and j. follower means riding on said cam and connected to said means for pivoting said mounting means so as to control the pivoting of said transfer roller; wherein the improvement comprises: k. locking means on said means for pivoting said mounting means; l. means actuated by said rotating and stopping means in response to the stopping of said ink fountain roller for engaging said locking means and holding said ink transfer roller against said oscillator roller when said ink fountain roller is stopped, whereby said ink transfer roller and said oscillator roller cooperate to act as ink forming rollers.

3. A device as in claim 2, wherein said mounting means comprises: i. a pair of support arms, each pivoted at an adjacent end and having the ink transfer roller extending between them; and j. means at the opposite ends of said support arms, operatively connected to said pivoting means.

4. A device as in claim 2, wherein the means for engaging said locking means comprises: m. a pivotable arm member having a portion on one end for engagement with said locking means; and n. spring means connected to said arm member for pivoting said arm member into the locking position in response to the engagement of said spring means by said rotating and stopping means when in the ink fountain roller stopping position.