Inflatable pneumatic stencil clamp
AssigneeAsm Assembly Systems Singapore Pte. Ltd.
InventorsChris Dodd, Wenxiong Yang, Richard Cockram
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A clamping system for clamping a printing screen frame within a printing machine that uses at least one inflatable bladder to effect clamping. The system may be modular, so that bladders and/or extending inserts may be exchanged, replaced or incorporated as required.
Claims14
A clamping system which forms part of a screen-printing machine and is operative to clamp a printing screen frame within the screen-printing machine during a printing process, comprising:
- a receptacle for receiving a frame in use, the receptacle at least partially defining a space for accommodating the frame, and the receptacle including a frame support for supporting the frame in use,
- a clamping bracket,
- an inflatable bladder retained by the clamping bracket, the inflatable bladder bearing an engagement surface, and
- a fluid supply for supplying fluid to the inflatable bladder to inflate it from an uninflated state to an inflated state, wherein during inflation of the inflatable bladder the engagement surface is caused to move towards the space so that in use, while the inflatable bladder is in the uninflated state a printing frame may be loaded into the receptacle such that it rests on the frame support, and while the inflatable bladder is in the inflated state the printing frame is clamped by the inflatable bladder to be stationary relative to the frame support,
- wherein the clamping bracket comprises a channel of substantially inverted U-shaped cross-section, having a base and two opposing sidewalls, the inflatable bladder being attachable to the base of the channel with the respective engagement surfaces arranged directly above and parallel with the frame support, and laterally restrained by the sidewalls of the channel during inflation, and
- wherein the frame support is operative to support the printing frame in a horizontal plane in use, and the bladder is disposed above the horizontal plane so that the engagement surface moves downwards towards the space during inflation, so as to clamp the printing frame between the engagement surface and the frame support, and the clamping system comprises a second inflatable bladder, retained by a second clamping bracket, disposed above the horizontal plane, the first and second inflatable bladders being located on opposing sides of the space.
A method of clamping a printing screen frame within a screen-printing machine, the screen-printing machine comprising a clamping system including a receptacle for receiving the printing screen frame, the receptacle at least partially defining a space for accommodating the frame, the method comprising the steps of:
- i) inserting a printing screen frame within the space such that it rests on a frame support in a horizontal plane;
- and
- ii) inflating first and second inflatable bladders retained by respective clamping brackets of the clamping system and disposed above the horizontal plane on opposing sides of the space, such that engagement surfaces borne by the first and the second inflatable bladders are caused to move away from the clamping bracket and downwards towards the space and the printing screen frame and thereby clamp the printing screen frame to the clamping system between the engagement surfaces and the frame support,
- wherein each of the clamping brackets comprises a channel of substantially U-shaped cross-section, having a base and two opposing sidewalls, the respective inflatable bladder being attachable to the base of the channel, and laterally restrained by the sidewalls of the channel during inflation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.