This application is the U.S. national phase, under 35 U.S.C. 371, of PCT/EP 2007/058253, filed Aug. 9, 2007; published as WO 2008/028744 A1 on Mar. 13, 2008 and claiming priority to DE 10 2006 041 881.6, filed Sep. 6, 2006, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention is directed to an ink metering device of a printing couple and to a method of controlling the ink metering device. The ink metering device has a number of physical zones that are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction of the printing couple cylinders. These zones can be adjusted separately using metering elements for each zones.
A control device for controlling the printing of webs of material is known from DE 198 56 675 A1. An analysis table, with a group of keys for individually controlling the opening and closing of ink duct screws, is provided. The spacing of the keys from one another corresponds to the physical spacing of the respective ink duct screws.
A control element, which is situated beneath a sheet of paper that has been inspected by the press operator, and which is brought into a position that corresponds to a strip of the printed image that is to be corrected is disclosed in DE 42 16 440 B4. An automatic recognition system adjusts the relevant ink key for this zone and also for adjacent zones.
DE 10 2004 018 743 A1 discloses a device for visualizing ink metering element settings using a number of display devices. The number of display devices corresponds to the number of ink metering elements.
An ink metering device is known from DE 10 2004 022 700 B3. A panoramic ink zone, which is located between two single pages, is assigned on a display screen to both a display bar for one printed page and to a display bar for the other printed page. To prevent a contradictory adjustment via one and the same control element, a mean value for the two values that are desired by the press operator is determined. The mean value is taken into account by the shared control element.
DE 10 2004 054 599 A1 discloses a forme cylinder of a printing press. The forme cylinder supports a plurality of printing formes side by side in the axial direction.
The object of the present invention is to provide an ink metering device of a printing couple and a method of controlling such an ink metering device so as to allow standardization for different machine widths.
The object is attained in accordance with the present invention by the provision of an ink metering device of a printing couple including a forme cylinder and an inking unit. The ink metering device has a number of physical zones which are arranged longitudinally side by side in the direction of the forme cylinder. Each of these physical zones can be adjusted individually using metering elements. These metering elements control the quantity of ink to be applied in each physical zone. A control station is provided with a number of operator elements which are assigned to virtual zones of a printed page and which are usable for controlling the metering elements.
The benefits to be achieved in accordance with the present invention consist particularly in that a cost-effective and standardizable solution for inking units in newspaper printing presses is devised. The previous high cost of the customary small series production of each ink fountain and the corresponding metering elements specific to the widest variety of press and/or product formats can be decreased substantially, at least over broad areas or for series of related printing formats.
By adjusting the offsets, which arise as a result of the standardized metering elements, to the technical operating conditions using algorithmic calculations, and particularly by using a computer-supported software solution, operation can be carried out in the customary manner without significant cost to the printer.
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are represented in the set of drawings and will be specified in greater detail in what follows.
The drawings show in
A printing couple 01 of a printing press is indicated only schematically in
A machine width M1, and specifically an effective width of the printing couple cylinder 02, is usually adjusted to the maximum width of the print substrate or of the web of material to be printed. In newspaper printing, this machine width corresponds, for example, substantially to somewhat more than a whole number multiple of the width of one newspaper page of the desired maximum product format, or to the width of all of the printing formes that can be arranged side by side on the forme cylinder 02. Press manufacturers therefore design and supply newspaper printing presses of different machine widths for use by different publishing houses or for use by the print shops that serve them.
The print images to be applied to the print substrate 06 ordinarily require an amount of ink that varies across the width of the print image. This ink amount varies, based upon the print image, in order to achieve the desired ink density and thereby the desired inking across the width of the print image.
To ensure proper individual ink zone inking, over the entire printing width, the ink metering device 04 has a plurality of individually adjustable metering elements Di (i=1 . . . m; with mε or with m being an element of natural numbers (1, 2, 3, 4 . . . ), side by side in an axial direction, with which plurality of individual adjustable metering elements Di the supply of ink can be controlled in each corresponding ink zone ZP,i (i=1 . . . m; with mεN); index wherein P is used for identification of “physical” zones. The ink metering device 04, having a plurality of adjustable ink zones ZP,i can be configured in a variety of ways. In the several drawing figures, the ink metering device 04 is embodied with a plurality of metering elements Di which are configured as so-called ink blades Di, or scraping elements, which ink blades D can be adjusted individually, in terms of their distance from the circumferential surface of the roller 03, via drives, which are not shown here. Based upon the gap width of this distance, the scraping by the ink blades Di leaves a thicker or a thinner film of ink on the circumferential surface of the inking roller 03, which has been placed in contact beforehand with an ink reservoir. In order to successfully ensure individual inking over the printing width or over the width of the ink fountain 04, the gap between inking roller 03 and metering element Di is adjusted by zone ZP,i, for example, by using the drives, which are not shown here, for the individual metering elements Di.
In an embodiment of the present invention, which is not specifically illustrated here, a plurality of pumps Di or a plurality of outlet openings Di, each of which is provided with valves that are controllable with respect to flow and which are arranged in the flow path, can also be provided for use as the metering elements Di. The ink metering device 04 and the method for controlling the ink metering device 04 will be described, by way of example, within the context of a so-called ink fountain 04 having an ink reservoir, such as an ink trough, and including the plurality of ink blades Di. The principle which will be described in relation to the ink blades Di can also be applied to every other embodiment of metering elements Di that form physical zones ZP,i.
In newspaper printing such as, for example, in inking units of newspaper printing presses, different machine widths M1; M2 are offered for different maximum product formats. Ordinarily, however, inking units, that are adapted specifically to these respective machine widths M1; M2, are used for these different machine widths M1; M2. The segmentation of the physical zones ZP,i, which is based upon a width bS or a page width bS of one printed page S, is always chosen as a whole number wherein, for example, the number for Zp may equal 8. Thus, for example, for a newspaper printing press having a wider product format, an inking unit having a specific number of wider metering elements Di or zones ZP,i such as, for example, having eight such zones, has heretofore been used. For a newspaper printing press having a narrower product format, an inking unit having the same number, such as, for example, eight zones or having a different whole number of metering elements Di or zones ZP,i, each having a smaller physical zone width bP, has been used. Overall, an even number of zones ZP,m corresponds to the width of the printed page. The number of adjustable physical zones ZP,i is ordinarily reflected in the number of operator elements Bj (j=1 . . . n, with nε) with the corresponding virtual zones ZV,i (j=1 . . . n, with nε
) on a control station 07. In
In the typical configuration of the ink metering device 04 as being specific to a particular machine width, it is a disadvantage that especially the metering elements Di, have a high structural design costs. The usual disadvantages, that are known for very small series production, apply.
The method and apparatus of the ink metering device, as will be described in what follows, is based upon the concept of eliminating the requirement of specifically configured ink metering devices 04, and especially on the elimination of the metering elements Di, for each specific machine width M1; M2 of a printing press 01 used in newspaper printing. Instead, in accordance with the present invention, the method and apparatus is directed to using at least the same metering elements Di, and advantageously even the same ink metering devices 04, at least within certain limits, for various different machine widths M1; M2.
In
If the press operator were to perform an adjustment, using the operator element B3 for its virtual zone ZV,3, for example, and thereby actuating the drive of the metering element D3, as is customary in newspaper printing, and without taking into account the different zone widths bP; bV and/or the different zone positions, this would be incorrect, as may be seen in
As is shown in
If, in the example depicted in
In another preferred embodiment of the principle of the present invention, as described in connection with
In the embodiment which is depicted in
In general, the ink metering device 04 has a number “m” of metering elements Di such that the total of the widths bP of the zones of the number “m” of metering elements Di is greater than, or is equal to the machine width M1; M2 or the maximum web width. The width of the ink metering device 04 is thus configured accordingly. If, as in the case of the examples or the embodiments of
The control station 07 therefore continues to be embodied, as is customary, with a whole number, and advantageously with an even whole number, “n”, of virtual zones ZV,j and/or with the corresponding number “m” of operator elements Bj, such as, for example, “n” pairs of push buttons Bj. The ink metering device 04 is configured with a different segmentation of zones ZP,i of a standardized width bP and optionally with a different number “m”. The offsets between virtual and physical zones ZV,j, Zp,l, which are dependent upon format and/or number of zones and/or zone width, are converted and are taken into account using the algorithm A, especially with computer support. Corresponding computing assemblies, containing the algorithm, are provided for this purpose. The algorithm A can be a function, among other things, of the machine width M1; M2 defined by the maximum web width and/or of the number “m” of physical zones ZP,i or of metering elements Dm and/or of the number “n” of virtual zones ZV,j or of operator elements Bj and/or of a width bP of the physical zones ZP,i. The algorithm A contains fixed rules for the conversion or for the consideration of the offsets or of the difference in the number and/or the position of the zones ZV,j; ZP,i. These fixed rules and/or the aforementioned input parameters, such as machine width, “m”, “n”, and the like can be defined, but stored in the computing assembly so as to be modifiable by press operators.
In the presetting process, the preset values for the metering elements Di or for the area coverages can advantageously be based directly on the physical zone number “m” and on the physical zone width bP. It is also possible, however, for the preset values or for the area coverage values to be based on the zone number “n” on the control station 07, converted there using the algorithm A to accommodate the physical conditions in the manner described above, and acted upon by those of the metering elements Di or their drives.
For all the examples or embodiments depicted in
For the aforementioned preferred embodiments of the present invention, which are illustrated in
While preferred embodiments of an ink metering device of a printing couple and a method of controlling the ink metering device, in accordance with the present invention, have been set forth fully and completely hereinabove, it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that various changes in, for example, the drives for the cylinders, the specific ink being metered and the like could be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention which is accordingly to be limited only by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10 2006 041 881 | Sep 2006 | DE | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
---|---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2007/058253 | 8/9/2007 | WO | 00 | 2/24/2009 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2008/028744 | 3/13/2008 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
6142078 | Lachajewski | Nov 2000 | A |
6167806 | Chretinat et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6742451 | Junghans | Jun 2004 | B1 |
20080036800 | Kishigi et al. | Feb 2008 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
42 16 440 | Nov 1993 | DE |
198 56 675 | Sep 1999 | DE |
100 28 317 | Dec 2000 | DE |
101 31 825 | Feb 2003 | DE |
10 2004 022 700 | Oct 2005 | DE |
10 2004 018 743 | Nov 2005 | DE |
10 2004 054 599 | Feb 2006 | DE |
2217653 | Nov 1989 | GB |
WO 9115369 | Oct 1991 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090320702 A1 | Dec 2009 | US |