The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a printed band of flexible material, wherein the band at at least one side thereof comprises printing ink and is stripped from the printing ink using a device for cleaning the printed band of flexible material, which device comprises a cleaning organ, and which method comprises the steps of
When printing on a band of flexible material, generally a plastic film, unusable printed film will be produced when setting up the printing process. The setting up comprises the registration of colors for multicolor printing, and/or adapting a color until it has the desired hue. Since the conveying speed of the film past the printing machine is relatively high (e.g. 1 m/sec) and the setting up will take relatively long, large amounts of rejected printed film will ensue. It is known in the art to clean the printed band, for instance from U.S. Pat. No. 2014174473 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,774.
A first problem is that the cleaning may not be sufficient, i.e. ink residue may remain on the band. A second problem is that it is undesirable if cleaning liquid remains, in particular in case the band is subsequently printed on again.
The object of the present invention is to reduce at least one of both problems.
To this end, a method according to the preamble is characterized in that the device comprises a pair of wiper blades for removing the cleaning liquid wherein the wiper blades
By using a device with the arrangement of the pair of wiper blades as described above, the cleaning liquid is removed from the band more effectively. The angle is preferably at least 40′.
The wiper blades will generally be made of an elastomer material.
The cleaning organ is for instance an ultrasonic cleaning organ or is a scraping organ such as for instance a brush or a sponge roll. The term band of flexible material comprises a flexible plate such as a printing plate, but will generally and preferably be a foil (film) which will usually be of plastic.
The distance in the direction of transport of the wiper blades is preferably at least 2 cm and more preferably at least 4 cm. With a larger distance problems such as one or more of i) stretching of the band, ii) the formation of folds and iii) tearing of the band can be avoided or limited, whereas nevertheless liquid at the particular surface of the band can be removed in a highly effective way.
The angle is the angle of the band between the wiper blades of a pair of wiper blades. The distance between the wiper blades and the relative height refer to the contact lines of the wiper blades with the band (i.e. the elongated portions of the wiper blades that are in contact with the band).
Contacting the band with a cleaning liquid is done for instance by means of spraying.
According to a favourable embodiment, contacting the band with cleaning liquid comprises feeding the printed band through a bath with cleaning liquid.
Thus, the duration of the contact can be prolonged and/or the intensity of the contact can be increased (the liquid can penetrate to a greater degree), thus facilitating the removal of ink from the band.
According to a favourable embodiment, the cleaned band is rolled up after removing the cleaning liquid.
Such a roll can be used for printing.
According to a favourable embodiment, the cleaning organ is a rotating scraping organ and there is a speed difference between the printed band and the scraping organ.
The scraping organ is for instance a brush roll. This brush roll can deliver removed ink to the bath in a highly effective way. The direction of rotation of the rotating scraping organ is preferably such that, at the location where the scraping organ is in contact with the printed band, it moves in a direction opposite to that of the printed band. Thus, the speed at which the scraping organ moves over the surface of the printed band can be increased as a result of which the printed band can be freed of ink to a greater degree.
According to a favourable embodiment, the throughput speed of the band is coupled to the circumferential speed of the rotating scraping organ.
Thus, the scraping will take place independently from the throughput speed of the band of flexible material and effective scraping will take place at every speed. The coupling can be accomplished by coupling the rotating scraping organ with a motor with which the printed band is fed through the bath, or by coupling the rotating scraping organ with a guiding roll used for feeding the printed band through the bath. Here, use can be made of a mechanical coupling such as by means of gear wheels, a chain or the like. Alternatively, the rotating scraping organ can be powered by a motor of its own, wherein the speed is regulated depending on the throughput speed of the printed band.
According to a favourable embodiment, the band obtained after removal of the cleaning liquid using wiper blades is contacted at both sides with additional liquid, and that the device comprises an additional pair of wiper blades for removing the additional liquid wherein the wiper blades
Thereby, ink residue can be removed from the band to even a greater extent. The angle is preferably at least 40°.
The additional liquid is for instance cleaning liquid. The contacting can for instance be done by spraying or by feeding the band through a second bath (meaning to include a compartment of the earlier bath as well). This second bath may for instance contain cleaning liquid as the additional liquid, which is relatively clean. This cleaning liquid may be brought continuously or non-continuously to the bath situated upstream, from which then liquid with a high level of ink is discharged. Thus, the pollution of cleaning liquid into the first bath is substantially less important, and the concentration thereof is allowed to increase. This makes the disposal thereof cheaper and/or the filtering easier. Further, in this way the consumption of cleaning liquid can be limited while achieving an excellent cleaning.
According to a favourable embodiment, the additional liquid is at least 96 v/v % water, preferably 98.5 v/v % water and more preferably 99.8 v/v % water.
Thus, a better drying is attained because less low-volatile components will be present and thus a faster/better drying can be attained and/or after drying less chemicals will remain on the resulting film. Preferably, the additional liquid is calcium depleted water such as demineralised water, reverse osmosis water or distilled water.
According to a favourable embodiment, the wiper blades selected from wiper blades and/or from additional wiper blades are situated at a location where the band is fed at an angle of at most 87°, preferably at most 82°, and more preferably at most 75° with the horizontal between the wiper blades.
Hence, the likelihood is reduced that liquid is transferred by the wiper blade from one side of the band to the other side. Thus, liquid is effectively removed from the band on both sides of the band.
According to a favourable embodiment, the band after the removal of adhering liquid is subjected to a step of drying using air.
In this way any remaining adhering liquid is removed to a greater extent and the printability of the resulting band is improved. The airflow is for instance a heated airflow.
According to a favourable embodiment, the band obtained after getting rid of the cleaning liquid is printed on.
The cleaned band is highly suitable as a material for setting up a printing process. To this end a band of virgin material can be connected by conventional means with a cleaned band, wherein the cleaned band is used for setting up the printing process. Connecting bands is a technique that is generally applied.
Finally, the present invention relates to device for cleaning a printed band, which device
Thus, the cleaned band can be freed effectively and to a large extent of adhering liquid. Therefore, the device comprises for instance a bath and the pair of wiper blades is arranged above the bath for letting flow back therein the adhering liquid blocked by the pair of wiper blades. The invention also relates to any embodiment in any combination as described in the dependent method claims, which for the sake of brevity only are not repeated.
The angle is preferably at least 40°.
According to a favourable embodiment, the device comprises an air knife for drying, downstream of the pair of wiper blades, of the cleaned band.
Thus, the cleaned band can be stripped from adhering liquid even more effectively. The air knives are arranged such that they will blow air in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the cleaned band.
The present invention will now be illustrated with reference to the drawing where
With the embodiment described here the device 100 comprises a first section 110 for feeding the film 195 to a second section 120 which is a cleaning section 120 and comprises a bath 121 that can be filled with a cleaning liquid. After the cleaning in the bath 121, the film 195 that has been stripped from printing ink (film 195′) is dried in a third section 130 and subsequently rolled up in a fourth section 140 yielding a roll 195b of cleaned film 195′ which is suitable for use when setting up the printing parameters when printing film.
More specifically, the device 100 comprises a frame 101. In the first section 110 the frame 101 is arranged for rotatably placing a roll 195a of printed film 195 that has to be stripped from printing ink.
Apart from the bath 121, the second section 120 comprises in the embodiment discussed here an auxiliary frame 150 which can be in a relatively high first position (
The auxiliary frame 150 is provided with guide rolls 153 and rotating scraping organs 152. The guide rolls 153 determine a path of the film 195 through the auxiliary frame 150 and thus also through the bath 121. The rotating scraping organs 152 strip the printed film 195 from the printing ink, aided therewith by the cleaning liquid. Severed ink particles will end up in the cleaning liquid and can be transported by means of a pump 123 to a filter 124 after which the cleaned liquid ends up in the bath 121 again. The filter 124 is for instance a candle filter (Type VB-H-52, Firma Van Borselen, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands). The cleaning liquid is for instance Polywash 3000 (Polymount International BV, Nijkerk The Netherlands), a cleaning liquid based on 4-hydroxy-4-methylpentan-2-on. The scraping organs 152 are for instance rollers (diameter 8 cm) covered with nylon plush (Pental Eterna Brushes & Tools Making Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China). Advantageously such plush material is applied to the rollers in the shape of a band and in the shape of a spiral, thus enabling a more effective cleaning of the film 195.
When the film 195′ that has been stripped from printing ink exits the bath 121, there is adhering liquid on the surface of the film 195′. This will be removed by using a pair of conventional elastomeric wiper blades 127, that are positioned on either side of the film 195′ and press against the film 195′ that is fed between them. In order to effectively remove the adhering liquid, the wiper blades 127 protrude to beyond the band of film 195′. Wiper blades made of EPDM rubber have been found very suitable.
The film 195′ is fed along the wiper blades at an angle of 55° with the horizontal, first past the wiper blade at the upper side at a distance of 10 cm followed by a wiper blade at the lower side of the film 195′.
In the third section 130 the film 195′ is dried in a drying chamber 131 using air knives 132. The film 195′ is fed through the drying chamber 131 by a long path created by guide rolls 133, wherein air is fed to the drying chamber 131 by means of a fan 135. The dried film 195′ is rolled up in the fourth section 140. The roll 195b film 195′ is powered by means of a motor 141 and pulls the film 195 through the device 100.
Furthermore, the auxiliary frame 150 is in the first relatively high position wherein the printed film 195 can readily be introduced in the auxiliary frame 150. Prior to cleaning the printed film 195, the bath 121 will be rolled under auxiliary frame 150, whereafter this will be brought toward the relatively low second position (FIG. 1A).
For moving the auxiliary frame 150 from the first position towards the second position thereof v.v., with the embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention discussed here, the auxiliary frame 150 is at the lowermost section (half) thereof provided with flexible elements 451, here in the form of cables 451. The cables 451 are attached to an axle 452 (
With the present embodiment the auxiliary frame 150 comprises two parallel steel plates 551 which are provided with windows 554 for inserting the printed band 195 in the auxiliary frame 150 when this is in the relatively high first position.
With the embodiment described here, the scraping organs 152 have been displaceably installed in a horizontal direction, and they press against the printed band 195. The gear wheels 563′ of the scraping organs 152 press the chain 560 via a Teflon® plastic strip 565 against gear wheels 563 of the guiding rolls 153. More specifically the plastic strip 565 is present between the plates and against the pins of the links of the chain 560. Hereby the chain 560 effectively drives the gear wheels and the chain will not disengage from the gear wheels.
The additional liquid of the second bath 621 will stay relatively clean and in case the additional liquid is cleaning liquid it can be discharged in the first bath 121. This can be done continuously or batch wise.
Advantageously however, the additional liquid is clean water as the last liquid, thus leaving less chemicals on the film.
With this embodiment the wiper blades 127a, 127b and additional wiper blades 627a, 627b are placed in the direction of transport of the film 195 for each pair at a distance of 10 cm of each other, which offers the advantage of being able to exert a relatively larger force on the film, as a result of which it can be stripped from adhering liquid effectively, yielding a qualitatively better, cleaner film 195′.
Both pairs of wiper blades are preferably situated at a location where the film is at an angle of at least 40° with the horizontal, as a result of which gravity helps with a quick discharge of the particular liquid. The wiper blade 127a that strips the film at the upper side thereof from liquid is positioned upstream with respect to the wiper blade that strips the underside from liquid. Thus, liquid flowing from the side of the upper side of the film toward the underside of the film can still be removed by the wiper blade 127b situated (but with the contacting line thereof higher) downstream (the same applies for the additional wiper blade 627b).
When in use the wiper section 733 will be carried along by the film 195 against which the wiper blade 127, 627 is pressed causing the wiper section 733 to tilt until the wiper section 733 with a longitudinal edge 734 thereof gets into contact with profile 770. Thus a fixed angle of the wiper section 733 with respect to the film 195 is achieved.
This embodiment allows the film 195 to be fed from the other side, which may be necessary when the band of film 195 has to be coupled to a following band of film 195.
Within the scope of the claims as defined the method and apparatus can be varied in various ways by the appended claims. For example, air used for drying may be heated, for more efficient drying of the film before it is rolled up or used.
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