Method and apparatus for maintaining ink level in ink fountain of printing press
AssigneeAccel Graphic Systems, Inc.
InventorJAMES E. KOEHLER
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and method for maintaining a minimum amount of ink in an ink fountain (10) of a printing press includes an ink fountain level sensor (28) and ink dispenser (26) mounted on a carriage (30) for lateral movement on a track (32) across the ink fountain. The carriage traverses the ink fountain. When the ink in the fountain develops a spot below a preset minimum level, a preset amount of ink is immediately dispensed upon detection of the low spot by the sensor.
Claims12
An apparatus for maintaining levels of ink in an ink fountain of a printing press comprising:
- a sensor having an infrared beam transmitter and infrared energy detector spatially arranged for enabling determination of whether an ink surface is within a predefined distance of the sensor based on an angle of reflection of the infrared beam from the surface;
- means for moving the sensor and an outlet of an ink dispenser in tandem along a linear support;
- and
- a controller, in communication with the sensor, for actuating means for transferring ink through the nozzle in response to the sensor indicating that the surface level is substantially not within the predetermined distance over a predefined interval.
An offset printing press comprising:
- an ink fountain including a fountain roller and blade for holding a small supply of viscous, offset printing ink, the ink fountain cooperating with an ink train to deliver a film of ink to an offset printing plate;
- an ink fountain level sensor including an infrared beam transmitter and infrared energy detector spatially arranged for enabling determination of whether a point along the surface of a bead of ink formed within an area of convergence of the fountain roller and blade in the ink fountain is within a predetermined distance of the sensor based on an angle of reflection of the infrared beam from the surface;
- an ink dispenser for selectively dispensing ink from through an outlet and into the ink fountain;
- means for moving the ink fountain level sensor and the outlet together in tandem along a linear support mounted above the ink fountain;
- and
- a controller, in communication with the ink fountain level sensor and ink dispenser, for determining, as the sensor and outlet are moving along the linear support, when a portion of the bead of ink is substantially further than the predetermined distance to the sensor and in response thereto actuating the ink dispenser when the outlet passes over said portion in order to deliver ink to the low interval.
A method for maintaining a length of a bead of ink within a convergence of a fountain roller and a blade of an ink fountain of an offset printing press comprising:
- laterally traversing across the ink fountain a sensor for determining distance to a point along a surface of the length the bead surface;
- laterally traversing across the ink fountain, in tandem with the sensor, an outlet for dispensing ink;
- and
- dispensing ink through the outlet in response to the sensor passing over and detecting a spot at which there is less than a predetermined level of ink portion of the bead of ink below a predefined level as the nozzle passes over the portion.
An offset printing press comprising:
- an ink fountain including a fountain roller and blade for holding a small supply of viscous, offset printing ink, the ink fountain cooperating with an ink train to deliver a film of ink to an offset printing plate;
- an ink fountain level sensor including an infrared beam transmitter and infrared energy detector spatially arranged for enabling determination of whether a point along the surface of a bead of ink formed within an area of convergence of the fountain roller and blade in the ink fountain is within a predetermined distance of the sensor based on an angle of reflection of the infrared beam from the surface;
- an ink dispenser for dispensing ink in the ink fountain;
- means for moving the ink fountain level sensor along a linear support mounted above the ink fountain;
- and
- a controller, in communication with the ink fountain level sensor for determining, as the sensor and outlet are moving along the linear support, when a portion of the bead of ink is substantially further than the predetermined distance and, in response thereto, actuating the ink dispenser to dispense ink into the ink fountain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.