Adjusting arrangement for ink fountain blade

Claim 2

In an ink fountain for a printing press, the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through the reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering a film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of pluNgers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series, each plunger having an externally threaded shank, each plunger being mounted in an internally threaded cartridge which is bodily movable with respect to the frame, an internally and externally threaded sleeve interposed between the plunger and the cartridge thereby to provide two sets of mating threads, the sets of threads being differentially related, drive means for driving the sleeve for movement of the plunger forwardly and backwardly within the cartridge, the plunger being keyed to the cartridge, stop means interposed between the sleeve and the cartridge for limiting the forwardly extending position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge and means operable with the plunger in its forwardly extending position for adjusting the cartridge to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller in a reference position and whereby the thickness of the ink film may thereafter be determined by backing off the plunger by reverse movement of the drive means.

Claim 3

The combination as claimed in claim 1 in which the threaded sleeve has a drive shaft and in which the stop means includes a first radially positioned stop member on the drive shaft and a second radially positioned stop member on the cartridge, with the stop members being located at the same radius so as to blockingly engage when the threaded sleeve enters the cartridge to a predetermined depth.

Claim 4

In an ink fountain for a printing press the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through the reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering the film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series column by column, each plunger having an externally threaded shank, each plunger being mounted in an internally threaded cartridge which is bodily movable with respect to the frame in an axial direction, an adjusting sleeve having differential inner and outer threads interposed between the plunger and the cartridge, the sleeve having a drive shaft extending rearwardly from the cartridge, reversible motor means rotationally coupled to the drive shaft, means providing a keyed connection between the plunger and the cartridge so that the plunger does not rotate upon driving by the motor, radial stops interposed between the drive shaft and the cartridge for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, and means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the cartridge and the frame for adjusting the cartridge axially to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller and whereby the thickness of the ink film may be thereafter determined by backing off the plunger by reverse rotation of the motor.

Claim 5

In an ink fountain for a printing press the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through the reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering the film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series column by column, each plunger having an externally threaded shank, each plunger being mounted in an internally threaded cartridge which is bodily movable with respect to the frame in an axial direction, an adjusting sleeve having differential inner and outer threads interposed between the plunger and the cartridge, the sleeve having a drive shaft extending rearwardly from the cartridge, reversible motor means rotationally coupled to the drive shaft, means providing a keyed connection between the plunger and the cartridge so that the plunger does not rotate upon driving by the motor, radial stops interposed between the drive shaft and the cartridge for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, and means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the cartridge and the frame for adjusting the cartridge axially to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller and whereby the thickness of the ink film may be thereafter determined by backing off the plunger by reverse rotation of the motor.

Claim 6

In an ink fountain for a printing press, the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through a reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering the film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series, each plunger being mounted in a cartridge, the cartridge being of cylindrical shape slidably received in a bore formed in the press frame, an adjusting sleeve interposed between the plunger and the cartridge, a first threaded connection between the sleeve and the cartridge and a second threaded connection between the sleeve and the plunger, means including a reversible motor and drive shaft for rotating the sleeve, the plunger being keyed to the cartridge and the first and second threaded connections being differentially related so that rotation of the drive shaft produces gradual axial movement of the plunger, stop means interposed between the drive shaft and the cartridge for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, and means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the cartridge and the frame and operable with the plunger in its forwardly extended position in the cartridge for adjusting the cartridge axially to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller and whereby the thickness of the ink film may thereafter be determined by reverse rotation of the motor to retract the plunger.

Claim 7

In an ink fountain for a printing press, the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through a reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering the film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series, each plunger being mounted in a cartridge, the cartridge being of cylindrical shape slidably received in a bore formed in the press frame, an adjusting sleeve interposed between the plunger and the cartridge, a first threaded connection between the sleeve and the cartridge and a second threaded connection between the sleeve and the plunger, means including a reversible motor and drive shaft for rotating the sleeve, the plunger being keyed to the cartridge and the first and second threaded connections being differentially related so that rotation of the drive shaft produces gradual axial movement of the plunger, stop means interposed between the drive shaft and the cartridge for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, and means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the cartridge and the frame and operable with the plunger in its forwardly extended position in the cartridge for adjusting the cartridge axially to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller and whereby the thickness of the ink film may thereafter be determined by reverse rotation of the motor to retract the plunger.

Claim 8

In an ink fountain for a printing press the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through the reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering a film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series, each plunger having an externally threaded shank, each plunger being mounted in an internally threaded cartridge of cylindrical shape fitted for sliding movement in a bore formed in the frame, the cartridge having an arm extended radially thereon, and being movable in the frame in a direction parallel to the plunger axis, means including a motor and drive shaft for driving the plunger forwardly and backwardly within the cartridge, stop means for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the arm and the frame to permit advancement and retraction of the cartridge with respect to the frame for adjusting the cartridge to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller in a reference position and to block the cartridge against rotational movement whereby the thickness of the ink film may thereafter be determined by rotation of the drive shaft with the bottoming of the stop means serving to prevent movement of the blade beyond the reference position.

Claim 9

In an ink fountain for a printing press the combination comprising a frame, an ink reservoir, a rotatable fountain roller adapted to rotate through the reservoir, a flexible fountain blade secured to the frame and extending generally tangentially to present a free edge spaced from the roller and biased away from the roller surface for metering a film of ink on the surface of said roller as it leaves the reservoir, a plurality of plungers oriented at an abrupt angle to the free edge and arranged in an evenly spaced series, each plunger having an externally threaded shank, each plunger being mounted in an internally threaded cartridge of cylindrical shape fitted for sliding movement in a bore formed in the frame, the cartridge having an arm extended radially thereon, and being movable in the frame in a direction parallel to the plunger axis, means including a motor and drive shaft for driving the plunger forwardly and backwardly within the cartridge, stop means for limiting the forwardly extended position of the plunger with respect to the cartridge, means including a manually operated reference screw interposed between the arm and the frame to permit advancement and retraction of the cartridge with respect to the frame for adjusting the cartridge to a reference condition in which the edge of the blade is spaced closely to the roller in a reference position and to block the cartridge against rotational movement whereby the thickness of the ink film may thereafter be determined by rotation of the drive shaft with the bottoming of the stop means serving to prevent movement of the blade beyond the reference position.