US3153380A - Inking, wetting, and cleaning control means for duplicating machines - Google Patents

Description

061:. 20, 1964 GERlCKE 3,153,380

INKING, WETTING, AND CLEANING CONTROL MEANS FOR DUPLICATING MACHINES Filed July 27, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.1

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United States Patent 3,153,380 INKING, WETTWG, AND CLEANING CONTRQL MEANS FOR DUPLICATING MACHINES Erich Gericke, Flemmingstrasse 14, Berlin- Steglitz, Germany Filed . luly 27, 1961, Ser. No. 127,217 Claims priority, application Germany Aug. 1, 1960 1 Claim. (Cl. 101-142) This invention relates to printing and duplicating machines.

In such machines lithographic foils must be fixed to a plate cylinder and wetted with a water-repellent liquid before being inked. While inking proceeds an offset cylinder must be brought into contact with the plate cylinder. As soon as the foil has been inked the offset cylinder must be stopped and the paper feed started, the several cylinders, for instance the plate cylinder, offset cylinder and an impression cylinder, must then be brought into printing positions. When printing has been completed the inking system and the paper feed must be rendered inactive, the blanket cleaned and dried and the machine stopped.

Machines of this kind are used for medium and very short runs (for example from to 20 copies per printing foil). This means that the above mentioned operations must be repeated at very short intervals (say every 1 or 2 minutes).

The drawback inherent in known machines is that a special control lever is provided for each of the above described operations or functions. Some machines may have as many as 7 or 8 control levers located in different positions which'are fairly widely apart so that the control operations which the machine operator is called upon to perform, necessitate his continuous careful attention and concentration to avoid upsetting the proper functioning of the machine by a faulty control action.

For these reasons it is desirable that the above mentioned functions should be considerably simplified and rendered capable of being performed without a large number of controls located far apart in different positions on the machine, as has been the case in the past.

According to the present invention all the functions for starting the machine to the position in which consecutive printing can proceed are controlled by one single starting lever, whereas all the functions required for rendering the machine inactive and bringing it to a stop with a cleaned and dried olfset cylinder are controlled by a second, i.e. a stopping lever. This arrangement considerably reduces the time hitherto Wasted in performing the several functional operations and therefore permits the performance of the machine to be substantially improved with the simultaneous simplification of its control.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example a preferred embodiment thereof and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of an offset printing machine according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows the plate cylinder, the offset cylinder and the impression cylinder and the starting and stopping levers according to the invention on a larger scale;

FIG. 3 corresponds generally to FIG. 2 but includes control means for the inking system;

FIG. 4 shows a liquid container for damping the printing foil, the stopping lever with a liquid container for cleaning the rubber blanket, a foil feeder table and a foil gripping means;

FIG. 5 shows details of the starting and stopping mechanism in different working positions, and

FIG. 6 is a partial view of the offset printing machine seen from the front and showing the locations of the starting and stopping levers.

'ice

In offset printing machines a lithographic printing foil 1 is fixed to a plate cylinder 2 and the printed image is first transferred from the foil to a rubber blanket 5 mounted on the offset cylinder 3 of the machine. The blanket 5 in turn transfers the image to a sheet of paper which is pressed against the rubber blanket 5 on the offset cylinder 3 by an impression cylinder 4.

According to the present invention, the operations of the various members to effect printing are controlled by levers 6 and 7 mounted on shafts 8 and 9. The upper lever 6 is the starting lever which in succession performs the following functions: when the starting lever 6 is raised through a given angular distance a roller 10 on the lever makes contact with a cam-edged lever 11 and pushes this lever 11 beyond a dead centre position to permit springs 13 to close grippers 12 which grip the end of a printing foil 1 on a foil feeder table 14. On a further upward movement of lever 6, a lever 15 which is likewise fixed to shaft 8 strikes an arm 16 on the foil entry table 17 and deflects the same about its fulcrum to clear the printing foil 1 as it is being drawn into the machine. The feeder table 14 is retained in this position by a detent 18 which must be released before a fresh printing foil is de-. posited on the table, release of the detent permitting table 17 to spring back into feeding position.

When the starting lever 6 is further raised to its upper end position a pin 19, rigidly connected with lever 6, pushes against the abutments 60-61 of the lever 20 and 40 which is loosely mounted on shaft 8 and raises the same upwards. Consequently a rod 21 which is suspended from lever 20 is likewise raised and an abutment 2.2 on rod 21 starts the electrical micro switch means 23 and 57 for starting and stopping, as illustrated in FIG. 3, and the machine starts.

In this position a damping wiper 24 which is kept moist by a Wick 25 dipping into a liquid container 26 fixed to shaft 8 wipes the printing foil 1 asit passes, and thus fixes the same.

When the starting lever 6 is lowered, the pin 27 which is rigidly connected to the lever 6, moves under the push rod 28 and moves the push rod 28 upwards (in illustrated position 28b), due to deflection of the starting lever 6. Thus, the triangular lever 29, which deflects about the point 63, moves clockwise and pushes, with the pin 64, the slotted lever 31 counter-clockwise about the fulcrum 65. Consequently the pull rod 32 is pulled to the right and takes along in its slot 66 the cylinder 67 of the shank 33a of the lever 33. Thus the lever 33 is swiveled around the point 68 counter-clockwise and pushes the pull rod 34 downwards, the latter deflecting the clamp lever 35 with its eccentric 36 about the fulcrum 69 to the left. In this manner, the inking roller 37 moves eccentrically to fulcrum 69 towards plate cylinder 2. Simultaneously with the pull rod 34 the pull rod 34a is pushed downwards which latter deflects the lever 35a with its eccentric 36a about the fulcrum 69:: also to the left. Since the eccentric 36a in the clamp lever 35a is turned opposite to the eccentric 36 in the clamp lever 35, the inking roller 38 is moved away from the plate cylinder 2.

When the catch lever 30 is set in the opposite direction, as shown in FIG. 4, the push rod 28a will be pushed upwards by the pin 27. Consequently the triangular lever 29 deflects counter-clockwise and the pull rod 32 will be pushed over the lever 31 to the left. The lever 33 thus effects that the pull rods 34 and 34a are pulled in the upper direction by which means the inking roller 37 will be deflected from the plate cylinder 2 while the inking roller 38 is moved into contact with the plate cylinder 2.

When the starting lever 6 reaches its bottom position, pin 27 will have been rotated through its dead centre position and will therefore remain in this position although spring 39 is tensioned and urges the lever to return. During the final stage of the upward deflection of lever 6, a lever 40which is loosely mounted on shaft 8 had been raised by pin 19 sufliciently to engage a detent 41.

When the starting lever 6 is now lowered, pin 19 pushes lever 40 downwards in the opposite direction and the latter, by means of detent 41, pulls down push rod 42 which deflects a lever 43 clockwise about a fixed fulcrum, thus activating the mechanism for starting the cylinders. The paper feed is thus initiated in conventional manner and, as soon as the first sheet reaches the impression cylinder, the gap between the cylinders is closed and the actual process of printing begins. The machine operates and prints the required number of copies.

As soon as the necessary copies have been produced the lower lever, viz. the stopping lever 7, is operated. This lever [is moved from its position of rest upwards, and a lever 46 which is rigidly connected therewith swings upwards, turning a lever 48 in an anticlockwise direction by the displacement of a push rod 47. After having turned through a given angle, the pull rod 44a is also moved to the right and an upper face 48a on lever 48 throws push rod 28 off its lifting pin, so that the tensioned spring 39 can return the triangular lever 29 into a middle position. The eccentrics 36 in the inking roller bearings 35 are thus rotated into a position in which both inking rollers 37 and 38 are out of contact with plate cylinder 2. During the further deflection of the stopping lever 7, a rod linkage not shown in the drawing, opens a valve in a suction pipe and thereby renders inactive the'suction feed of the paper besides causing the cylinders to separate. Further motion of the stopping lever 7 into its upper position moves the blanket wiper 49, which is kept moist by a wick 50 dipping into a liquid container 51 rigidly mounted on shaft 9, into contact with the rubber blanket 5, cleaning the blanket as it revolves past the wiper. When the stopping lever 7 is now returned to its bottom position, a drying wiper 52 which it rigidly connected with shaft 9 is moved into contact with the rubber blanket and dries the same. At the same time, a butler spring 53 in the bottom stop has been compressed, so that the stopping lever 7, upon being released, will rebound, causing a lever 55 which is rigidly connected with the stopping lever, and which now engages a detent 56, to move rod 21 oil. its rest 58. A spring 59 attached to rod 21 pulls it into the next rest. As a result of this action the upper abutment 69 on rod 21 is withdrawn from underneath an electric switch 57 and the machine stops.

I claim:

An offset printing and duplicating machine with an automatic paper supply particularly for printing short and very short runs comprising cooperating printing, blanket and impression cylinders, means for wetting the printing foil with a dye-repellent liquid before being inked, said wetting means being supported for movement toward and away from said foil, means for inking said foil, said inking means being supported for movement towards and away from said foil, cleaning and drying means supported for movement toward and away from said blanket cylinder, a starting lever, means associated with each of said wetting means, inking means and cleaning and drying means, positioned to cooperate with said starting lever and responsive to movement thereof for causing movement thereof to an operative position, a stopping lever, means associated with each of said wetting means, inking means and cleaning and drying means positioned to cooperate with said stopping lever and responsive to movement thereof for causing movement thereof to an inoperative position, a shaft for each of said levers upon which each of said levers is rotatively mounted, said means cooperating with said levers comprising cams fixed upon said shafts .and said levers being oscillated in a vertical plane whereby the control functions are carried out with the upward and the downward motion of the relevant lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,576,598 Goulding Mar. 16, 1926 2,220,255 Marchev et a1 Nov. 5, 1940 2,482,408 Ford Sept. 20, 1949 2,990,768 Fischetti July 4, 1961

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