Patent US3828671A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3828671A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Squeegee and flood bar actuator with peeling screen clamp
Assignee: Medalist Industries Inc
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Filing: 1972-11-16
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Granted: 1974-08-13
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Expires: 1992-11-16
Abstract
Abstract The squeegee and flood bar assemblies of a screen printing machine are reciprocally moved along a spaced pair of parallel rails to alternately effect a printing stroke and a flood stroke. The rails are part of a frame which is pivoted for tilting movement between a printing position and a flood position. The squeegee assembly is slideably engaged in a third rail or control rail which is raised and lowered in coordination with the movement of the frame to lower the squeegee into contact with the printing screen at the start of the printing stroke and to raise it above the screen at the start of the flood stroke. The flood bar assembly is linked to the squeegee assembly to raise the flood bar when the squeegee is lowered and to lower the flood bar when the squeegee is raised. The front end of the printing screen is held in a clamp which is suspended below the parallel rails and includes a rod rotatably attached to the frame along an axis which is transverse to the rails, a pair of spaced lever arms projecting from the rod, and a linear clamp member suspended from the lever arms. The rear end of the screen is suspended from the frame by turnbuckles which allow the position of the screen to be manually adjusted.
Inventors
- 👤 A Fuchs
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-28 20:19
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41F; B41F15/00; B41F15/14; B41F15/40; B41F15/42; B41F15/423
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
305 words
In a screen printer, the combination comprising a base, a printing frame pivoted to said base for movement between a printing position and flood position, said frame including a pair of main rails which extend substantially parallel to each other and means for supporting a printing screen below said rails, a first slide carriage slideably engaged with one of said rails and movable therealong, a second slide carriage slideably engaged with the other rail and movable therealong, means for reciprocally moving said slide carriages along said rails back and forth between opposite ends of said printing screen, a squeegee assembly mounted between said slide carriages for movement therewith along said rails, said squeegee assembly including means for supporting a squeegee above said printing screen, a flood bar assembly mounted between said slide carriages adjacent to said squeegee assembly, said flood bar assembly including means for supporting a flood bar above said printing screen, linkage means connected between said squeegee assembly and said flood bar assembly for raising the flood bar when the squeegee is lowered and lowering the flood bar when the squeegee is raised, a control rail mounted on said printing frame and movable toward and away from said printing screen, a slide element slideably engaged with said control rail and movable therealong, means connecting said slide element to one of said assemblies for raising and lowering the same, and means for moving said control rail in one direction when said frame is moved into its printing position to lower said squeegee into contact with said printing screen and to raise said flood bar away from the same, and for moving said control rail in another direction when said frame is moved into its flood position as to raise said squeegee away from said printing screen and lower said flood bar toward the same.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
305 words
In a screen printer, the combination comprising a base, a printing frame pivoted to said base for movement between a printing position and flood position, said frame including a pair of main rails which extend substantially parallel to each other and means for supporting a printing screen below said rails, a first slide carriage slideably engaged with one of said rails and movable therealong, a second slide carriage slideably engaged with the other rail and movable therealong, means for reciprocally moving said slide carriages along said rails back and forth between opposite ends of said printing screen, a squeegee assembly mounted between said slide carriages for movement therewith along said rails, said squeegee assembly including means for supporting a squeegee above said printing screen, a flood bar assembly mounted between said slide carriages adjacent to said squeegee assembly, said flood bar assembly including means for supporting a flood bar above said printing screen, linkage means connected between said squeegee assembly and said flood bar assembly for raising the flood bar when the squeegee is lowered and lowering the flood bar when the squeegee is raised, a control rail mounted on said printing frame and movable toward and away from said printing screen, a slide element slideably engaged with said control rail and movable therealong, means connecting said slide element to one of said assemblies for raising and lowering the same, and means for moving said control rail in one direction when said frame is moved into its printing position to lower said squeegee into contact with said printing screen and to raise said flood bar away from the same, and for moving said control rail in another direction when said frame is moved into its flood position as to raise said squeegee away from said printing screen and lower said flood bar toward the same.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
92 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 1 wherein said control rail is mounted on said printing frame by a pivoted parallelogram linkage including a pair of parallel linkage arms pivotally connected between opposite ends of said control rail and said printing frame, and wherein the means for moving said control rail comprises means coupling one of said linkage arms to said base at such angle that said control rail will be raised and lowered by movement of said one linkage arm as said printing frame is moved between its two positions.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 1 wherein said control rail is mounted substantially parallel with said main rails.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
99 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 1 wherein said squeegee assembly is pivotally connected to said slide carriages and said flood bar assembly is pivotally connected to said slide carriages, and wherein said linkage means connected between said squeegee assembly and said flood bar assembly comprises a first lever arm rigidly attached to said squeegee assembly and projecting therefrom, a second lever arm rigidly attached to said flood bar assembly and projecting therefrom, and a link pivotally connected at one end to said first lever arm and pivotally connected at its other end to said second lever arm.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for reciprocably moving said slide carriages is pivotally connected directly to said slide carriages to communicate the force for said movement directly to said slide carriages.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 2 wherein said means coupling said one linkage arm to said base comprises a connecting rod pivotally connected between said base and one end of said one linkage arm.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
98 words
A screen printer as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for supporting a printing screen includes a rod rotatably attached to said frame along an axis which is transverse to said rails, a pair of lever arms rigidly attached to said rod and projecting from said rod at spaced apart locations therealong, a linear clamp member pivotally attached to said lever arms and suspended thereby below the level of said rod, said clamp member being shaped to receive one framing member of said printing screen and including means for clamping said framing member within said clamp member.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
75 words
An improved clamping means as defined in claim 7 and further comprising a second clamp member shaped to receive a second framing member of said printing screen and including means for clamping said second framing member within said second clamp member, and means for suspending said second clamp member from said printing frame opposite the first mentioned clamp member and for vertically adjusting the position of said second clamp member relative to said printing frame.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
56 words
An improved clamping means as defined in claim 8 wherein said second clamp member is suspended from said printing screen by a pair of substantially vertically oriented turnbuckles which are connected between said printing frame and said second clamp member to support said second clamp member and adjust its vertical position relative to said printing frame.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
110 words
In a screen printer having a base and a printing frame pivoted to said base for movement between a printing position and a flood position, an improved clamping means for securing a printing screen to said frame comprising a rod rotatably attached to said frame, a pair of lever arms rigidly attached to said rod and projecting from said rod at spaced apart locations therealong, a linear clamp member pivotally attached to said lever arms and suspended thereby below the level of said rod, said clamp member being shaped to receive one framing member of said printing screen and including means for clamping said framing member within said clamp member.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
110 words
In a screen printer having a base and a printing frame pivoted to said base for movement between a printing position and a flood position, an improved clamping means for securing a printing screen to said frame comprising a rod rotatably attached to said frame, a pair of lever arms rigidly attached to said rod and projecting from said rod at spaced apart locations therealong, a linear clamp member pivotally attached to said lever arms and suspended thereby below the level of said rod, said clamp member being shaped to receive one framing member of said printing screen and including means for clamping said framing member within said clamp member.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
86 words
An improved clamping means as defined in claim 10 wherein said printing screen has a front and a rear framing member and wherein said clamp member is positioned to receive the front framing member and further comprising a foot member movably attached to said clamp member and extending downwardly therefrom, said foot member being spring loaded to urge said clamp member upwardly, thereby urging the front edge of said printing screen upwardly to separate the screen from the printed surface below it during the printing operation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
18 words
An improved clamping means as defined in claim 10 wherein said rod is adjustably attached to said frame.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
21 words
An improved clamping means as defined in claim 10 and further comprising means for adjustably limiting the rotation of said rod.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
124 words
In a screen printer having a screen, a squeegee and a flood bar, reciprocating means for moving said squeegee and flood bar forth and back along said screen, a track for guiding the movement of the reciprocating means and actuating means for engaging one of said squeegee and flood bar with the screen and withdrawing the other of said squeegee and flood bar from the screen at the beginning of said forth and back movements, the improvement in which said actuating means comprises a control rail, a slide engaged with and movable along said control rail for continuous contact therewith, couplings respectively between said slide and said squeegee and flood bar, and means for moving said control rail toward and away from said screen.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
124 words
In a screen printer having a screen, a squeegee and a flood bar, reciprocating means for moving said squeegee and flood bar forth and back along said screen, a track for guiding the movement of the reciprocating means and actuating means for engaging one of said squeegee and flood bar with the screen and withdrawing the other of said squeegee and flood bar from the screen at the beginning of said forth and back movements, the improvement in which said actuating means comprises a control rail, a slide engaged with and movable along said control rail for continuous contact therewith, couplings respectively between said slide and said squeegee and flood bar, and means for moving said control rail toward and away from said screen.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
21 words
The invention of claim 14 in which said means for moving said third rail comprises parallelogram linkages and an actuator therefor.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
87 words
The invention of claim 15 in which said reciprocating means alternates between a flood stroke and a printing stroke, and in which said reciprocating means is mounted upon a tilting frame which is tilted to an upwardly tilted position above a printing table between the printing stroke and the flood stroke and is tilted to a lowered position adjacent to said printing table between the flood stroke and the printing stroke, said actuator comprises a link pivotally connecting one of said parallelogram linkages to said printing table.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1977-08-12 | 1978-02-11 | 1978-08-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1981-08-12 | 1982-02-11 | 1982-08-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1985-08-12 | 1986-02-11 | 1986-08-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |