Hickey picking device for letter press or offset printing presses
United States Patent 3898929
A hickey picking device that is removably attached to a conventional letter press or offset printing press, without modification of the press, in place of the wash-up tray to be used for removing foreign particles known as hickeys from the ink train while the press is running during a printing operation.
US Patent References:
Printing process and mechanism
Taylor - November 1944 - 2363817
ROLLER FOR PRINTING PRESS
Budinger - January 1972 - 3635158
Printing process and mechanism
Taylor - November 1944 - 2363817
ROLLER FOR PRINTING PRESS
Budinger - January 1972 - 3635158
Inventors:
Arild, Tor (Woodside, CA)
Gehres, Thomas (San Rafael, CA)
Gehres, Thomas (San Rafael, CA)
Application Number:
05/481992
Publication Date:
08/12/1975
Filing Date:
06/24/1974
View Patent Images:
Export Citation:
Primary Class:
Other Classes:
101/425
International Classes:
B41F35/04; B41F35/00; B41F35/02
Field of Search:
101/423,425,147,148
Primary Examiner:
Coughenour, Clyde I.
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
Moore, Gerald L.
Parent Case Data:
This application is a continuation of our application Ser. No. 418,097 filed Nov. 21, 1973 now abandoned which application was a continuation of our application Ser. No. 262,647 filed June 14, 1972, now abandoned.
Claims:
What we claim is
1. The method of removing foreign particles which cause hickeys from the ink train of a conventional offset printing press or letter press which is provided with bracket members for supporting a wash-up tray adjacent to a hard surface roller of the ink train, said bracket members being accessible while the press is running, comprising the steps of:
2. The method of removing foreign particles which cause hickeys from the ink train of a conventional offset printing press as defined in claim 1, including the steps of: removing the cylinder bracket means from the bracket members of the press;
1. The method of removing foreign particles which cause hickeys from the ink train of a conventional offset printing press or letter press which is provided with bracket members for supporting a wash-up tray adjacent to a hard surface roller of the ink train, said bracket members being accessible while the press is running, comprising the steps of:
2. The method of removing foreign particles which cause hickeys from the ink train of a conventional offset printing press as defined in claim 1, including the steps of: removing the cylinder bracket means from the bracket members of the press;
Description:
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a hickey picking attachment for wet or dry offset letter or printing presses which is constructed to be used while the press is running.
An object of this invention is to provide a hickey picking roller for letter or offset printing presses, said roller being provided with supporting means slidable into the brackets that normally support the wash-up tray of the printing press which is removed during the running of the press.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hickey picking cylinder in the inking train of the letter or offset printing press, said cylinder functioning not only to pick up the foreign articles known as hickeys but to increase the ink carrying capacity of the inking train of the press thereby improving the ink distribution.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hickey printing cylinder to the wet or dry offset printing and letter presses, said cylinder being attached to the printing press in place of the wash-up tray so that said hickey picking cylinder may be used during the printing operation of the press and furthermore may be attached to the press without any modification thereof.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of hickey picking for wet or dry offset printing presses or letter presses, wherein said hickey picking assembly may be removed for easy cleaning either during operation or shut down of the presses and may be substituted for a standard wash-up tray in the inking train.
Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.
Heretofore various efforts have been made to provide different types of cleaning rollers to printing presses as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,363,817 of Taylor, 3,467,008 of Domotor, 3,468,248 of Giori, 2,731,916 of Koch, 2,341,020 of Curtis, 3,309,993 of Grembecki et al. and 3,635,158 of Budinger.
However, none of these patents disclose a hickey picking roller that may be removed for cleaning while the printing press is in operation without stopping the press and interrupting the printing process. For example, in the Taylor patent inking rollers distribute a relatively thin film of ink on an ink drum and a relatively short cleaning roller which picks up cleansing agent, is mounted to transfer this cleansing agent to the ink roller to assist a scraper in scraping undesired ink off of the ink roller and prevent ink deposits from building up on marginal areas of the ink drum from which the ink is not transferred to the form cylinders. According to the Domotor patent the plate cylinder and an inking roller of a lithographic press are driven at different surface speeds so that they wipe each other and any particles of foreign matter such as lint, paper bits or dry ink carried by the plate cylinder are transferred from it to the inking roller. In this arrangement the roller picking up these foreign particles can not be cleaned without stopping the press and interrupting the printing process. The Giori patent relates to apparatus for removing thick, pasty ink from the plates and engraved cylinders used in direct or steel plate printing. This apparatus uses a wiping cylinder, the lower part of which plunges into a tank filled with aqueous solution. The upper part of the wiping cylinder contacts the cylinder carrying the printing plates and removes the thick, pasty ink therefrom. The ink adhering to the wiping cylinder is carried into the tank and in turn any aqueous solution adhering to the wiping cylinder is scraped therefrom. Another ink removing device is shown in the patent to Curtis and in this device a metal roll engages the form roll of the inking system to collect excess ink therefrom. The ink is scraped off of the metal roll and drops into a pan below. The Koch and Grembecki et al. patents show wash-up and cleaning devices used after a printing job is finished.
Foreign particles which cause hickeys sometimes get into the inking train of a printing press and interfere with the ink distribution to the form with the result that the printed copy may have various defects. Since the hickeys or foreign particles may appear on the different rollers in the inking train of the press it is essential that if a hickey picker is to be successful it must be used during the running of the press.
In the hickey picker, or foreign particle removing device of this invention we have provided a cylinder which may be attached to the wet or dry offset printing press or letter press without any press modification so that it may be readily attached to existing printing presses. The picking cylinder of this invention is provided with a rubbery surface which functions to suck foreign particles off of a hard surface inking roller that is in contact therewith during the printing operation. For our purpose a hickey picking roller of the type disclosed in Budinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,158 may be used. The picking cylinder is provided with suitable brackets which are adapted to be inserted into the supports that are provided to the printing press for receiving the wash-up tray. Since the wash-up tray is used only after the printng job is finished it is removed during the running of the printing press, that is during the printing operation. Thus, these supports may be used for receiving the hickey picking cylinder of this invention so that this cylinder is in contact with one of the hard surface inking rollers of the train during the printing operation. The hickey picking cylinder located on the press according to this invention adds to the ink carrying capacity of the ink train of the press and thus allows larger solids or screens to be printed by the press with greater ease. This cylinder also improves the ink distribution in the ink train resulting in better ink economy.
An important feature of this invention resides in the fact that the hickey picking cylinder as provided herein may be removed and cleaned while the press is running so that the foreign matter or hickeys that have been accumulated thereon may be quickly cleaned therefrom and the cylinder re-inserted to continue its hickey picking function. All of this is accomplished without stopping the printing process and at times when it is determined there is a buildup of foreign particles on the cylinder so as to impair the efficiency of the cylinder in picking up such particles.
Further features and details of this invention will be set forth in the following specification, claims and drawing in which, briefly:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hickey picking cylinder shown with the supporting brakcets thereof aligned with the wash-up tray supports of the printing press;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the ink train of a conventional offset printing press or letter press showing the location of the hickey picking cylinder of this invention.
Referring to the drawing in detail reference numeral 10 designates the hickey picking cylinder which is provided with a steel core 11 and a rubbery coating 12. The coating 12 is of a rubbery latex composition that may be type 20 Duro New Clear 342 made by the Bingham Company of Oakland, Calif. This coating may be in the form of a sheet vulcanized to the core 11 or it may be in tubular form stretched over the core. The ends of the core 11 are provided with studs 13 which are journaled in the brakcet members 14. The front member 15 is attached to the bracket members 14 by suitable machine screws so that these bracket members are held assembled with the ends of the roller or cylinder.
The bracket members 14 are provided with horizontal slides 16 which are adapted to be received in the slots provided in the members 17 which are provided to the printing press for supporting the wash-up tray during the washing and cleaning of the ink train of the printing press after a printing job is finished. The wash-up tray is removed from the members 17 by release of conventional locking means (not shown) which holds the tray. The hickey picking cylinder 10 is then attached to the press by inserting and locking the horizontal bracket members 16 into the slots of members 17 so that the rubbery surface of the picking cylinder is in contact with the hard surface roller 18 of the ink train of the press during the printing operation as shown in FIG. 3.
The conventional offset printing press is provided with a plate cylinder 19, a blanket cylinder 20 and an impression cylinder 21. Plate cylinder 19 receives ink from the ink train 22 which is provided with a series of hard rollers and alternate resilient surface rollers. The inking system of this press is provided with four inking rollers 23, 24, 25 and 26, and these are of different diameters. The inking system is also provided with a fountain roller 27 and ductor roller 28 which oscillates between the roller 27 and roller 29. The ductor roller 28 transfers ink from roller 27 to the coated roller 29 and roller 29 transfers it to the hard surfaced roller 18 which is in contact with the hickey picking roller 10 and also with the coated roller 30 of the ink train. The coated roller 30 distributes ink to the hard surfaced rollers 31 and 32 of the conventional ink distribution train. This press is also provided with a dampening system and the fountain solution is transferred from the tray 33 to the coated roller 34 by a roller 35 which is immersed in the solution. The ductor roller 36 oscillates between the two coated rollers 34 and 37 and roller 37 supplies the dampening solution to the hard surfaced rollers 38 and 39 which are in contact with the plate cylinder 19.
The same series of events take place in the train of a conventional letter press which deposits ink directly to the form or type.
While we have shown and described a preferred form of the invention it will be apparent that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
This invention relates to a hickey picking attachment for wet or dry offset letter or printing presses which is constructed to be used while the press is running.
An object of this invention is to provide a hickey picking roller for letter or offset printing presses, said roller being provided with supporting means slidable into the brackets that normally support the wash-up tray of the printing press which is removed during the running of the press.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hickey picking cylinder in the inking train of the letter or offset printing press, said cylinder functioning not only to pick up the foreign articles known as hickeys but to increase the ink carrying capacity of the inking train of the press thereby improving the ink distribution.
Another object of this invention is to provide a hickey printing cylinder to the wet or dry offset printing and letter presses, said cylinder being attached to the printing press in place of the wash-up tray so that said hickey picking cylinder may be used during the printing operation of the press and furthermore may be attached to the press without any modification thereof.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method of hickey picking for wet or dry offset printing presses or letter presses, wherein said hickey picking assembly may be removed for easy cleaning either during operation or shut down of the presses and may be substituted for a standard wash-up tray in the inking train.
Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification, claims and drawing.
Heretofore various efforts have been made to provide different types of cleaning rollers to printing presses as exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,363,817 of Taylor, 3,467,008 of Domotor, 3,468,248 of Giori, 2,731,916 of Koch, 2,341,020 of Curtis, 3,309,993 of Grembecki et al. and 3,635,158 of Budinger.
However, none of these patents disclose a hickey picking roller that may be removed for cleaning while the printing press is in operation without stopping the press and interrupting the printing process. For example, in the Taylor patent inking rollers distribute a relatively thin film of ink on an ink drum and a relatively short cleaning roller which picks up cleansing agent, is mounted to transfer this cleansing agent to the ink roller to assist a scraper in scraping undesired ink off of the ink roller and prevent ink deposits from building up on marginal areas of the ink drum from which the ink is not transferred to the form cylinders. According to the Domotor patent the plate cylinder and an inking roller of a lithographic press are driven at different surface speeds so that they wipe each other and any particles of foreign matter such as lint, paper bits or dry ink carried by the plate cylinder are transferred from it to the inking roller. In this arrangement the roller picking up these foreign particles can not be cleaned without stopping the press and interrupting the printing process. The Giori patent relates to apparatus for removing thick, pasty ink from the plates and engraved cylinders used in direct or steel plate printing. This apparatus uses a wiping cylinder, the lower part of which plunges into a tank filled with aqueous solution. The upper part of the wiping cylinder contacts the cylinder carrying the printing plates and removes the thick, pasty ink therefrom. The ink adhering to the wiping cylinder is carried into the tank and in turn any aqueous solution adhering to the wiping cylinder is scraped therefrom. Another ink removing device is shown in the patent to Curtis and in this device a metal roll engages the form roll of the inking system to collect excess ink therefrom. The ink is scraped off of the metal roll and drops into a pan below. The Koch and Grembecki et al. patents show wash-up and cleaning devices used after a printing job is finished.
Foreign particles which cause hickeys sometimes get into the inking train of a printing press and interfere with the ink distribution to the form with the result that the printed copy may have various defects. Since the hickeys or foreign particles may appear on the different rollers in the inking train of the press it is essential that if a hickey picker is to be successful it must be used during the running of the press.
In the hickey picker, or foreign particle removing device of this invention we have provided a cylinder which may be attached to the wet or dry offset printing press or letter press without any press modification so that it may be readily attached to existing printing presses. The picking cylinder of this invention is provided with a rubbery surface which functions to suck foreign particles off of a hard surface inking roller that is in contact therewith during the printing operation. For our purpose a hickey picking roller of the type disclosed in Budinger U.S. Pat. No. 3,635,158 may be used. The picking cylinder is provided with suitable brackets which are adapted to be inserted into the supports that are provided to the printing press for receiving the wash-up tray. Since the wash-up tray is used only after the printng job is finished it is removed during the running of the printing press, that is during the printing operation. Thus, these supports may be used for receiving the hickey picking cylinder of this invention so that this cylinder is in contact with one of the hard surface inking rollers of the train during the printing operation. The hickey picking cylinder located on the press according to this invention adds to the ink carrying capacity of the ink train of the press and thus allows larger solids or screens to be printed by the press with greater ease. This cylinder also improves the ink distribution in the ink train resulting in better ink economy.
An important feature of this invention resides in the fact that the hickey picking cylinder as provided herein may be removed and cleaned while the press is running so that the foreign matter or hickeys that have been accumulated thereon may be quickly cleaned therefrom and the cylinder re-inserted to continue its hickey picking function. All of this is accomplished without stopping the printing process and at times when it is determined there is a buildup of foreign particles on the cylinder so as to impair the efficiency of the cylinder in picking up such particles.
Further features and details of this invention will be set forth in the following specification, claims and drawing in which, briefly:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the hickey picking cylinder shown with the supporting brakcets thereof aligned with the wash-up tray supports of the printing press;
FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the ink train of a conventional offset printing press or letter press showing the location of the hickey picking cylinder of this invention.
Referring to the drawing in detail reference numeral 10 designates the hickey picking cylinder which is provided with a steel core 11 and a rubbery coating 12. The coating 12 is of a rubbery latex composition that may be type 20 Duro New Clear 342 made by the Bingham Company of Oakland, Calif. This coating may be in the form of a sheet vulcanized to the core 11 or it may be in tubular form stretched over the core. The ends of the core 11 are provided with studs 13 which are journaled in the brakcet members 14. The front member 15 is attached to the bracket members 14 by suitable machine screws so that these bracket members are held assembled with the ends of the roller or cylinder.
The bracket members 14 are provided with horizontal slides 16 which are adapted to be received in the slots provided in the members 17 which are provided to the printing press for supporting the wash-up tray during the washing and cleaning of the ink train of the printing press after a printing job is finished. The wash-up tray is removed from the members 17 by release of conventional locking means (not shown) which holds the tray. The hickey picking cylinder 10 is then attached to the press by inserting and locking the horizontal bracket members 16 into the slots of members 17 so that the rubbery surface of the picking cylinder is in contact with the hard surface roller 18 of the ink train of the press during the printing operation as shown in FIG. 3.
The conventional offset printing press is provided with a plate cylinder 19, a blanket cylinder 20 and an impression cylinder 21. Plate cylinder 19 receives ink from the ink train 22 which is provided with a series of hard rollers and alternate resilient surface rollers. The inking system of this press is provided with four inking rollers 23, 24, 25 and 26, and these are of different diameters. The inking system is also provided with a fountain roller 27 and ductor roller 28 which oscillates between the roller 27 and roller 29. The ductor roller 28 transfers ink from roller 27 to the coated roller 29 and roller 29 transfers it to the hard surfaced roller 18 which is in contact with the hickey picking roller 10 and also with the coated roller 30 of the ink train. The coated roller 30 distributes ink to the hard surfaced rollers 31 and 32 of the conventional ink distribution train. This press is also provided with a dampening system and the fountain solution is transferred from the tray 33 to the coated roller 34 by a roller 35 which is immersed in the solution. The ductor roller 36 oscillates between the two coated rollers 34 and 37 and roller 37 supplies the dampening solution to the hard surfaced rollers 38 and 39 which are in contact with the plate cylinder 19.
The same series of events take place in the train of a conventional letter press which deposits ink directly to the form or type.
While we have shown and described a preferred form of the invention it will be apparent that the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.