Ink fountain mechanism

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6802255
  • Patent Number
    6,802,255
  • Date Filed
    Monday, December 9, 2002
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 12, 2004
    19 years ago
Abstract
An ink fountain mechanism for adjustably metering the thickness of of ink in a plurality of zones axially across a fountain roller for a printing press includes a plurality of metering blocks, horizontally aligned and axially adjacent to one another with side-by-side upper support surfaces forming a substantially continuous support surface along the length of the fountain roller. Each upper surface of the metering blocks is adjustably spaced from the ink receiving fountain roller. A plurality of adjustment bolts are each separately and threadably engaged with each of the plurality of metering blocks. The adjustment bolts are slideably supported in a main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller. A plurality of lever actuated cams are pivotably held adjacent to the heads of each of the adjustment bolts. Metering cams are engaged with the heads of the adjustment bolts and are actuatable between a minimum position, providing a minimum ink metered thickness, and a maximum position, providing a maximum metered ink thickness. The levers actuating the metering cams are each separately and progressively movable between minimum and maximum positions to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a range between the minimum and the maximum ink thickness.
Description




FIELD OF INVENTION




The present application relates to an ink fountain mechanism for a rotary offset printing press, and in particular to an ink liner control mechanism.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




An ink fountain, or ink duct as it is sometimes called, is commonly connected on a rotary offset printing press for supplying ink to a fountain roller, or ductor roller. The fountain roller rotates through the ink in the ink fountain reservoir. The ink is received onto the surface of the fountain roller and then is rollingly transferred, directly or through a series of intermediate rollers, to a printing roller. It is desirable to adjust the quantity of ink received by the fountain roller so that an adequate supply of ink is provided to the printing roller while minimizing excess ink. The amount of ink required will depend upon various factors such as the viscosity of the ink, the type of paper and importantly, the density of the printing or image. The adjustment of the quantity of ink is accomplished by adjusting the thickness of the film, or the layer, of ink that the fountain roller receives onto its surface. The ink is then transferred from the ink fountain to a printing roller and then onto the printed sheet.




The density of the printing also typically varies across the printed sheet. Particularly, in the case of multiple color printing, the amount of any given color of ink may vary across the sheet, depending upon the density of the particular color in the printed image. Therefore, it is further desirable to adjust and vary the quantity of ink supplied by the fountain roller to different areas according to the print density of the different colors. To better approximate the amount of ink needed in different areas of a given sheet of printing, a plurality of axially spaced zones are identified along the length of the fountain roller. The adjustment of the quantity of ink is accomplished by adjusting the thickness of the film or layer of ink that the fountain roller receives onto its surface in each of the zones. The ink is then transferred more completely from the ink fountain to a printing roller and then onto the printed sheet with minimal waste and with improved print quality.




In the past the adjustment of the quantity of ink was attempted using an ink blade at the bottom of the ink reservoir supported at an angle against the fountain roller. The edge of the ink blade was spaced from the fountain roller a small distance forming a gap through which the ink was squeezed into a layer or film as the roller rotated. A thin ink blade was supported along its dispensing edge by the rounded tips of adjustable bolts. The bolts could be threaded in and out to adjust the pressure on the blade in the area of the bolt tips for approximated zonal control. It was found that because of the point pressure of the tips of the bolts, this mechanism for metering the quantity of ink in different zones needed improvement.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention provides a unique, simplified, reliable and improved ink fountain mechanism for adjustably metering the thickness of the layer of ink in a plurality of zones axially across a fountain roller. The ink fountain mechanism includes a plurality of metering blocks, horizontally aligned and axially adjacent to one another and each having an upper surface adjustably spaced from an ink receiving fountain roller. A plurality of adjustment bolts are each separately and threadably engaged with each of the plurality of metering blocks. The adjustment bolts are slideably supported in a main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller. A plurality of lever actuated cams are pivotably held adjacent to the heads of each of the adjustment bolts. The cams are engaged with the heads of the adjustment bolts and are actuatable between a minimum position, providing a minimum metered ink thickness, and a maximum position, providing maximum metered ink thickness. The lever actuating the cam is continuously movable between the minimum and maximum positions to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a range between the minimum and the maximum ink thicknesses.




According to one embodiment the adjustment bolts are biased toward the cam. For example, a return spring may be held in the main beam so that it pushes against a bottom of the adjustment bolt head and such that the top of the adjustment bolt head is biased to interface against the cam. In an exemplary embodiment, the bolt head interfaces against the cam through a interface cap constructed of a material selected to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam and the cap. The size, shape and materials of the interface between the cap and the cam are selected and constructed so that the cam lever can be manually moved through the range of ink thickness metering positions, yet the cam lever and cam will remain in any desired metering position by the frictional contact between the cam and the cap. External force applied to the cam lever is required to change the metering position. In an exemplary embodiment the lever is moveable by a press operator with manually applied force. Each of the cam levers may be separately positioned to meter the ink thickness at each of the separate metering blocks.




According to another aspect the invention each cam is mounted on a mounting shaft for rotation between the minimum and maximum metering positions. Orifices are formed through the cam and the mounting shaft, that may be aligned to permit an adjustment tool to be extended through the cam and through the mounting shaft. The adjustment tool engages with the head of the adjustment bolt to thread the bolt into or out of the metering block and to thereby precisely position the metering block relative to the main beam and to the fountain roller. The threaded bolt adjustment is thus useful for precisely adjusting the minimum thickness of the ink when the cam is at its minimum position. The maximum thickness of the ink will also be adjusted upon adjusting the minimum thickness because the eccentric lift of the cam between the minimum position and the maximum position remains constant. For example, if the eccentric lift of the cam is thirty thousandths of an inch, from the minimum to the maximum positions, and the minimum ink thickness is adjusted from one thousandth of an inch thick down to zero, the maximum thickness will be adjusted from thirty-one thousandths of an inch thick to thirty thousandths of an inch thick.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a schematic partial cross-sectional side view of an ink fountain mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention.





FIG. 2

is a partial cutaway perspective view of the ink fountain mechanism of FIG.


1


.





FIG. 3

is an exploded assembly view of the ink fountain mechanism of

FIGS. 1 and 2

.





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of sub-assembly comprising a cam, interface cap and cam guide, adjustment bolt, and metering block illustrative of certain aspects of the invention











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS




Referring to

FIGS. 1-3

, it will be understood that an ink fountain mechanism, according to one embodiment of the present invention, comprises a plurality of sub-assemblies


11


A-O. The number of sub-assemblies


11


may be varied without departing from the invention and may be greater or fewer depending, in part, upon the width of the printing press for which it is designed. As will be more fully understood with reference to the figures and description, the present invention provides a unique, simplified, reliable and improved ink fountain mechanism


10


for adjustably metering the thickness of a layer of ink dispensed by a fountain roller


12


in a plurality of circumferential zones A-O. Each zone A-O is generally defined as a circumferential area or band adjacent to one of a plurality of substantially identical sub-assemblies


11


A-O. One sub-assembly


11


is positioned next to another along the length of the fountain roller


12


. Each zone is primarily acted upon by similar components of an adjacent sub assembly. For clarity, the embodiment of

FIG. 1

will be described with respect to a single sub-assembly


11


and the interrelationship between the plurality of sub-assemblies A-O will be more fully explained with reference to

FIGS. 2 and 3

below.





FIG. 1

, is a schematic partial cross-sectional side view of the ink fountain mechanism


10


adjacent to a fountain roller


12


. The ink fountain mechanism


10


includes a metering block


14


that is horizontally aligned with and axially adjacent to other metering blocks


14


in other sub-assemblies. Each metering block


14


has an upper surface


16


adjustably spaced outward in a radial direction from an outer cylindrical surface


18


of ink receiving fountain roller


12


. An adjustment bolt


20


has external threads


22


and is separately and threadably engaged with internal threads


24


formed in each metering block


14


. The adjustment bolt


20


is slideably supported by a bushing


26


inserted in a bore


34


formed in a main beam


30


. The main beam


30


extends parallel to the axis


28


and along the length of the fountain roller


12


. A cam


40


is mounted for partial rotation on a mounting shaft


32


held by the main beam


30


. The cam


40


comprises a cam surface


44


and an actuation lever


42


attached or integrally formed for manual lever actuation. The eccentric surface


44


of the cam


40


is positioned adjacent to a head


38


of the adjustment bolt


20


. The cam


40


is engaged at its eccentric surface


44


with the head


38


of the adjustment bolt


18


and is manually actuatable with lever


42


between a minimum position


50


, providing a minimum ink metered thickness at


52


, and a maximum position


54


, providing maximum metered ink thickness


56


. The lever


42


that actuates the cam


40


is continuously movable in a position range


58


between the minimum and maximum positions,


50


and


54


respectively, to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a thickness range


59


between the minimum and the maximum ink thickness,


52


and


56


respectively. An ink liner


60


comprises a thin sheet of resilient and flexible material supported at an inclined angle by an inclined base


62


of an ink fountain reservoir


64


. The ink liner


60


is supported at and along a dispensing edge


66


by the upper surface


16


of the metering block


14


. The ink


68


to be dispensed and metered by the ink fountain mechanism


10


is held in the reservoir


64


. The ink flows by gravity and by the rolling contact with surface


18


of fountain roller


12


. The ink


68


is “squeezed” or metered between the edge


66


of the ink liner


60


and the surface


18


of ink fountain roller


12


. This provides a metered thickness layer


70


of ink


68


onto the surface


18


of the fountain roller


12


.




According to one embodiment, each adjustment bolt


20


is biased toward a corresponding cam


40


. For example, a return spring


36


may be held circumferentially around bolt


20


within a bore


34


in the main beam


30


so that the spring


36


pushes against the head


38


of adjustment bolt


20


. A top surface


46


of the head


38


of the adjustment bolt


20


is thus biased toward the cam


40


. In an exemplary embodiment, the bolt head


38


comprises a cap screw head such as an Allen bolt head and the bolt head interfaces with the cam through an interface cap


48


attachable to the head


38


of bolt


20


and constructed of a material selected to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam surface


44


and the interface cap


48


. The size, shape and materials of the interface cap


48


and the cam


40


are selected and constructed for a desired frictional coefficient at the interface therebetween. In one exemplary construction, the cam


40


and cam arm


42


are integrally formed having a consistent size and shape from one cam to the next using sintered powdered metal technology and the interface cap


48


is formed of an acetal resin, such as Delrin, a trademark of DuPont.




In an exemplary embodiment the cam lever


42


is moveable by a press operator with manually applied force. The cam lever


42


can be manually moved through the position range


58


for providing the thickness range


59


of metered ink thickness. The biased force and frictional coefficient act to retain the cam lever


42


and cam


40


in any desired metering position as may be manually selected by the press operator. External force applied to the cam lever


42


is required to change the metering position. Each of the cam levers


42


A-O of each sub-assembly


11


A-O may be separately positioned to meter the ink thickness at each of the separate metering blocks


14


A-O.




According to another aspect of the invention, each cam


40


is mounted on a mounting shaft


32


for rotation between the minimum and maximum metering positions,


50


and


54


respectively. Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 4

, a first adjustment orifice


80


is formed through each cam


40


extending diametrically through the cam


40


. At each sub-assembly position along the mounting shaft, a second adjustment orifice


82


is formed diametrically through the mounting shaft


32


. Each second adjustment orifice


82


is aligned with each bolt


20


and each siding hole


26


. The interface cap


48


is also provided with a third orifice


84


centrally located for alignment with the head


38


of the bolt


20


and with the second orifice


82


. Each first orifice


80


is formed in each cam


40


so that each first and second orifices,


80


and


82


, are aligned when the cam


40


is in the minimum ink thickness position


50


of lever arm


42


. In the embodiment depicted in

FIG. 1

, the minimum position


50


of lever arm


42


corresponds to the downward position. When aligned, the first second and third orifices,


80


,


82


and


84


respectively, permit an adjustment tool


90


to be extended through the cam


40


, through the mounting shaft


32


, and through the cap


48


for engagement with the head


38


of adjustment bolt


20


. The adjustment tool


90


(see

FIG. 4

) engages with the head of the bolt


20


and may be rotated in one direction to thread the adjustment bolt


20


into the metering block


14


. The bolt


20


may be rotated the other direction to thread the adjustment bolt


20


out of the metering block


14


. Preferably fine threads are used for precisely adjusting the position the metering block


14


relative to the main beam


30


and thus relative to the fountain roller


12


when the cam lever arm


42


of cam


40


is in the minimum position


50


. The position of the metering block


14


, relative to the fountain roller


12


, determines the position of the ink liner relative to the surface


18


,


50


that the minimum thickness


52


of the ink


68


in layer


70


is precisely adjustable at each metering block when each cam


40


is at its minimum position


50


. The maximum thickness


56


of the ink


68


in layer


70


will also be adjusted upon adjusting the minimum thickness


52


because the eccentric lift of the cam


40


between the minimum position and the maximum position does not change. For example, if the eccentric lift of the cam is twenty thousandths of an inch (0.020 inch), from the minimum position


50


to the maximum position


54


, and the minimum ink thickness


52


is adjusted, by turning the adjustment bolt


20


, from one thousandth of an inch (0.001 inch) thick down to zero, the maximum thickness also will have been simultaneously adjusted from twenty-one thousandths of an inch (0.021 inch) thick down to twenty thousandths of an inch (0.020 inch) thick.




Referring now to

FIG. 2

, an ink fountain mechanism


10


according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention is depicted in a partial cutaway perspective view. A plurality of sub-assemblies


11


A-O each constructed as described above with respect to

FIG. 1

are provided adjacent to a plurality of zones, indicated generally with arrows A-O. The ink reservoir


64


is formed between the fountain roller


12


, the ink liner


60


and two side plates


65


L and


65


R on opposite ends of the ink fountain mechanism


10


. The ink liner


60


preferably comprises a thin sheet of resiliently flexible plastic material. A sheet of 7 mils thick polyester has been found to be useful for purposes of the present invention. The ink liner is supported at an oblique angle relative to horizontal so that ink


68


in the reservoir


64


will flow toward the fountain roller


12


. A dispensing edge


66


is formed and positioned parallel and in close proximity to the cylindrical surface


18


of fountain roller


12


. The ink liner


60


may extend along, and substantially aligned with, an imaginary line tangent to the cylindrical surface


18


of the fountain roller


12


. The edge


66


of ink liner


60


may terminate at the roller surface


18


. Alternatively, the edge


66


may extend slightly past the surface so that a flat portion


67


of the ink liner


60


is immediately adjacent to the surface


18


of fountain roller


12


. The edge


66


is supported by the plurality of metering blocks


14


A-O. Each metering block


14


is independently adjustable using a corresponding adjustable bolt


20


and then may be independently positioned for metering using cam lever arms


42


, as described above with reference to FIG.


1


. The metering blocks


14


support the edge


66


and flat portion


67


of ink liner


60


along the length of the fountain roller


12


. Each metering block


14


has a flat upper surface


16


formed at about the same oblique angle relative to horizontal as the ink liner


60


is supported by the inclined base


62


of the fountain reservoir


64


. The flat upper surface


16


of the metering block


14


extends across the width of each metering zone from one flat side


15


of the metering block to another flat side


17


of the metering block


14


. Flat sides


15


and


17


are each formed at right angles to the upper flat surface


16


of the metering block


14


. The metering blocks


14


A-O are positioned side-by-side with only a very small clearance distance between adjacent sides. For example a right side


17


A of one metering block


14


A and a left side


15


B of a next metering block


14


B may be separated by less than a thousandths of an inch up to a few thousands of an inch clearance. Thus, while the blocks are independently adjustable they also remain vertically aligned side-by-side with adjacent metering blocks. The metering blocks


14


are each held at an adjustable horizontal position on the threads of one of the adjustment bolts


20


, yet each metering block has a limited degree of free rotational floating about the axis of the adjustment bolt. It is through side-to-side contact between adjacent metering blocks and through contact of the upper flat surface


16


of the metering blocks


14


with the flat portion


67


at the edge


66


of ink liner


60


that the blocks


14


are able to “float” into substantially perfect alignment with surface


18


of the fountain roller


12


. Thus, the partial rotational “floating” of the metering blocks


14


combined with the flexibility and resilient stiffness of the ink liner


60


has been found to be advantageous for permitting smooth yet independent adjustment of ink thickness in each zone. A smooth flat sheet of 7 mils thick polyester has been found to provide an advantageously useful combination of resilient stiffness and flexibility for this purpose. In one embodiment, to facilitate alignment of the plurality of metering blocks


14


and to further smooth the transition between one zone and the next, a strip of tape


110


, such as durable, thin flourocarbon polymer tape, such as tape made of Teflon a DuPont trademark, having a thickness of a few thousandths of an inch thick. For example, a strip of Teflon tape


110


about 0.006″ to about 0.007″ thick ×0.5″ to about 1.0″ wide may be adhered along the flat surfaces


16


A-O of the plurality of metering blocks


14


A-O. The thin flexible tape


110


is thus positioned under the ink liner


60


and extends along the entire length of the roller


12


. The tape


110


flexibly bridges across the gap between each block


14


A and the next block


14


B without restricting the independent adjustment of ink thickness at each zone.




A face plate


100


is provided to enclose the subassemblies


11


. The face plate


100


has a plurality of substantially identical vertical slots


102


to permit access to the cam lever arms


42


. In an exemplary embodiment the face plate


100


is also provided with graduated positioning marks


104


space along and adjacent to each vertical slot


102


. The operator can thus adjust the ink thickness in any given zone by the position of the lever arm adjacent to that zone. The adjustment tool


90


is preferably only used for the initial set up to each minimum thickness to exactly zero. After the initial adjustment using adjustment tool


90


, the thickness of ink can be adjustably metered using the position of the cam levers


42


. When switching from one printing job to the next the lever arms


42


, for the different zones A-O, are repositioned to provide the desired amount of ink in each of the plurality of zones. By making note of the lever arm positions, the same job could be set-up again later by repositioning the lever arms to the noted positions.




Reference to

FIG. 3

, which is an exploded assembly view of the ink fountain mechanism of

FIGS. 1 and 2

, provides additional understanding of the complete construction of the fountain mechanism


10


. The pluralities of parts are indicated with numbered arrows and the individual parts are indicated with reference numbers corresponding to the same reference numbers as in

FIGS. 1 and 2

.




In

FIG. 4

certain aspects of the invention are illustrated in a perspective view of a sub-assembly


11


comprising a cam


40


with attached lever arm


42


, interface cap


48


, adjustment bolt


20


, bias spring


36


, spacer


26


and metering block


14


A. For illustration purposes only, an adjacent metering block


14


B is also depicted (without the corresponding sub assembly


11


B). The partial rotational “floating” of the metering blocks


14


A and


14


B is indicated by arrows


120


and


122


respectively. It will be noted that metering block


14


A is depicted in a position adjusted back from metering block


14


B, such that the ink thickness at metering block


14


A will be thicker than the ink thickness at metering block


14


B. The adjacent sides


17


A and


15


B, of metering blocks


14


A and


14


B, respectively, are in sliding contact with each other. The angle alpha (α) of the upper flat support surfaces


16


is an oblique angle with respect to horizontal, and in the embodiment depicted is approximately 30 degrees relative to horizontal.




Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, a wide range of modification, changes and substitution is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure. In some instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a corresponding use of the other features. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the invention.



Claims
  • 1. An ink fountain mechanism for adjustably metering the thickness of a layer of ink in a plurality of zones axially across an ink receiving fountain roller, comprising:(a) a main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller; (b) a plurality of metering blocks, horizontally aligned and axially adjacent to one another and each having an upper surface adjustably spaced from the ink receiving fountain roller; (c) a plurality of adjustment bolts having heads, each separately and threadably engaged with each of the plurality of metering blocks, each metering block independently rotatable on the bolt threads such that the support surfaces independently align parallel to the fountain roller, the adjustment bolts slideably supported in the main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller; (d) a plurality of cams pivotably attached to the main beam and positioned adjacent to the heads of each of the adjustment bolts, the cams engaged with the heads of the adjustment bolts and manually actuatable between a minimum position, providing a minimum ink metered thickness, and a maximum position, providing maximum metered ink thickness; and (e) a plurality of levers attached to the cams for manually actuating the cams, the levers progressively movable between the minimum and the maximum positions to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a range between the minimum and the maximum ink thickness.
  • 2. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 1, wherein the metering blocks comprise vertical side surfaces and the upper support surface at an angle, wherein the metering blocks are positioned side-by-side with a small gap therebetween to permit independent alignment with the fountain roller by rotation on the threads of the bolts and so that the adjacent angled support surfaces of the metering blocks define a substantially continuous support surface with independently adjustable spacing from the fountain roller at each metering block along the length of the fountain roller.
  • 3. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 2, further comprising an ink liner supported along the substantially continuous support surface formed by the angled top surfaces of the metering blocks, the ink liner comprising a continuous thin sheet of resilient and flexible material.
  • 4. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 3, wherein the thin sheet of flexible resilient material of the ink liner comprises a thin sheet of plastic.
  • 5. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 4, wherein the thin sheet of flexible resilient plastic material comprises a sheet of polyester about 7 mils thick.
  • 6. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a return spring held in the main beam so that it pushes against a bottom of the adjustment bolt head so that the top of the adjustment bolt head is biased to interface against the cam.
  • 7. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 6 further comprising a interface cap constructed of a material selected to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam and the interface cap and wherein the bolt head interfaces against the cam through the interface cap.
  • 8. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 7 wherein the interface cap comprises a material selected to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam and the cap and the size, shape and materials of the cap at the interface between the cap and the cam are selected and constructed so that the cam lever can be manually moved through the range of ink thickness metering positions, yet will remain in any desired metering position by the frictional contact between the cam and the cap.
  • 9. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 6 further comprising a interface cap constructed of a plastic material to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam and the interface cap and wherein the bolt head interfaces against the cam through the interface cap.
  • 10. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 9, wherein the plastic interface cap further comprises an acetal resin material.
  • 11. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 1 further comprising an ink liner supported along an edge by the plurality of metering blocks, the metering blocks having angled planar upper support surfaces and a strip of durable tape adhered across the top surfaces of the plurality of metering blocks and interposed between the metering blocks and the ink liner.
  • 12. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 11, wherein strip of durable tape adhered across the top surfaces of the plurality of metering blocks and interposed between the metering blocks and the ink liner comprises a fluorocarbon polymer material adhered to the metering blocks and providing friction reduced relative movement against the liner.
  • 13. An ink fountain mechanism for adjustably metering the thickness of a layer of ink in a plurality of zones axially across an ink receiving fountain roller, comprising:(a) a main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller; (b) a plurality of metering blocks, horizontally aligned and axially adjacent to one another and each having an upper surface adjustably spaced from the ink receiving fountain roller; (c) a plurality of adjustment bolts having heads, each separately and threadably engaged with each of the plurality of metering blocks, the adjustment bolts slideably supported in the main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller; (d) a plurality of cams pivotably attached to the main beam and positioned adjacent to the heads of each of the adjustment bolts, the cams engaged with the heads of the adjustment bolts and manually actuatable between a minimum position, providing a minimum ink metered thickness, and a maximum position, providing maximum metered ink thickness, wherein each cam is mounted on a mounting shaft held by the main beam for rotation between the minimum and maximum metering positions and wherein orifices are formed through the cam and the mounting shaft, such that in one metering position the orifices are aligned to permit access through the orifices to the adjustment bolt, for an adjustment tool to be extended through the cam and the mounting and (e) a plurality of levers attached to the cams for manually actuating the cams, the levers continuously movable between the minimum and maximum positions to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a range between the minimum and the maximum ink thickness.
  • 14. The ink fountain mechanism of claim 13, further comprising a interface cap constructed of a material selected to provide non-binding frictional sliding contact between the cam and the interface cap, the interface cap having an orifice through it, and wherein the bolt head comprises a cap screw head such as an Allen bolt head that interfaces with the cam through the interface cap and an adjustment tool comprising an elongate wrench sized for accessing the cap head of the bolt through the cam, the mounting shaft and the interface cap.
  • 15. An ink fountain mechanism for adjustably metering the thickness of a layer of ink in a plurality of zones axially across an ink receiving fountain roller, comprising:(a) a main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller; (b) a plurality of metering blocks, horizontally aligned and axially adjacent to one another and each having vertical side surfaces, an upper surface at and angle adjustably spaced from the ink receiving fountain roller, wherein the metering blocks are positioned side-by-side and so that the adjacent angled support surfaces of the metering blocks define a substantially continuous support surface with independently adjustable spacing from the fountain roller at each metering block along the length of the fountain roller; (c) a plurality of adjustment bolts having heads, each separately and threadably engaged with each of the plurality of metering blocks, the adjustment bolts slideably supported in the main beam that extends the length of the fountain roller, (d) a plurality of cams pivotably attached to the main beam and positioned adjacent to the heads of each of the adjustment bolts, the cams engaged with the heads of the adjustment bolts and manually actuatable between a minimum position, providing a minimum ink metered thickness, and a maximum position, providing maximum metered ink thickness; and (e) a plurality of levers attached to the cams for manually actuating the cams, the levers progressively movable between the minimum and the maximum positions to provide substantially continuous metering of the thickness of ink in a range between the minimum and the maximum ink thickness.
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