Printing press inking systems

An apparatus for feeding U.V. curable inks to a plurality of spaced apart hoses terminating adjacent the various print units of a printing press, without causing said U.V. curable in to cure prematurely, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a frame receiving a plurality of individual ink pumps of the worm and stator type, said pumps lying in a single plane and being in closely spaced relation with one another, plural stators made from cylinders of synthetic rubber and having double helix forms, said rubber having a Durometer reading of at least 90, said stators having openings disposed axially therein for receiving a plurality of single helix rotors, plural single helix rotors, plural motors and plural drive shafts, one for each rotor and two universal joints for each drive shaft, thereby permitting each drive shaft to swing through a small arc, a single liquid-tight hopper for supplying ink to said stators and feeding such ink to each of said stators, whereby the amount of ink pumped from any one pair of rotor-stators is totally independent of any amount of ink from any other rotor-stator pair.

A method of feeding U.V.-curable inks to an outlet without causing said inks to cure prematurely, said method comprising feeding individual portions of said inks to a plurality of pumps of the worm and stator type, said stators being of the double helix type and said rotors being of the single helix type, said pumps comprising said pumps being in closely spaced relation, selecting plural individual double helix stators each made from a cylinder of elastomeric material, and each having an opening therein for receiving a motor-driven single helix rotor, said rotors also fitting into said stators, said motors being operationally connected to flexible means on each of said drive shafts, said drive shafts being connected to said rotors, and said outlet receiving said U.V. curable inks and feeding said inks to a press from a position adjacent the pump outlets at a rate determined by the rotational velocity of said rotors.

A method of feeding U.V.-curable inks to an outlet without causing said inks to cure prematurely, said method comprising providing a plurality of pumps of the worm and stator type, said stators being made of elastomeric material and being of the double helix type, and said rotors being made of a relatively rigid material and being of the single helix type, said pumps being in closely spaced relation, and plural motors operationally connected to flexible means on each of a plurality of drive shafts, said drive shafts being operationally connected to said rotors, feeding a mass of ink to the inlets of plural ink pumps, and taking said ink from each of said ink pumps and supplying it to a plurality of separate outlets each connected to a printing unit, said ink being fed at a rate determined by the respective rotational velocity of said rotors.