Silk screen printing process and apparatus

Abstract

A silk screen printing process and apparatus in which a silk screen having a porous figure printing area may be divided by partitions into compartments for different types or colors of ink. The printing operation is performed by a rapid upward acceleration of the silk screen and sheet on which the printing is to be performed, thereby causing the ink to flow through the porous printing area of the screen as a result of inertia. Various types of apparatus may be used to perform the process, one consisting of a platen on which the sheet and silk screen are placed, and a hammer type element which strikes the underside of the platen to produce the upward acceleration. Another type of apparatus prints a continuous sheet of material, and as the sheet material moves along the underside of the silk screen, the sheet is pressed upwardly against the underside of the screen, thereby producing an upward acceleration in the form of a rippling effect which causes the ink to flow from the various compartments through the porous figure printing area onto the adjacent surface of the sheet. The continuous operation may be performed by a plurality of blades mounted on a belt beneath the silk screen. Devices for maintaining the ink in the various compartments at a substantially constant level may be provided in either of the two types of apparatus mentioned hereinabove.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.