US 5,340,495 A · Compositions for cleaning ink from a printing press and methods thereof

Abstract

Improved cleaner compositions and methods useful for removing ink from parts of a printing press are provided. The cleaner compositions comprise a fatty acid methyl ester and a nonionic surfactant which is an ethoxylated C.sub.4 -C.sub.10 alcohol. The cleaner compositions may further comprise a mixed heteric oxide of a higher chain alcohol, and water. The cleaner compositions, which are devoid of volatile organic compounds, eliminate the need to dry the parts of a printing press, particularly the rubber blanket, which need periodic cleanings during a run. The non-volatile cleaner compositions are combinable with printing ink compositions without appreciably affecting the printing characteristics of the ink. When printing is resumed while the rubber blanket is wetted with the cleaner, the cleaner becomes blended with the formed image as the image is received by the rubber blanket and the blended mixture is then printed. Printing resolution and color matching rise to meet commercial requirements within a few prints. Cleaner compositions comprising a fatty acid methyl ester and at least one volatile organic compound are also provided. In applications where the use of volatile organic compounds is desirable, the compositions of the invention allow the percentage of volatile organic compounds to be reduced while retaining good cleaning characteristics. Cleaner compositions for removing UV ink are also provided. The UV ink cleaner compositions comprise a fatty acid methyl ester and a heteric alkylene oxide of lower chain alcohol.

Claims24

Dependent claims

A liquid ink cleaner composition for removing ink from parts of a printing press, said composition comprising:

60%-95% by weight of a methyl ester of a C.sub.8 -C.sub.22 fatty acid;
and
5%-40% by weight of a nonionic surfactant which is an ethoxylated C.sub.4 -C.sub.10 alcohol having a molar ratio of ethylene oxide to alcohol of between about 2:1 to about 8:1;
wherein the ink cleaner is miscible with a printing ink composition at dilutions up to at least 2:1 by volume (ink:cleaner) without significantly reducing the tack of the ink.

1 more element

A method for cleaning a rubber blanket of a printing press, the rubber blanket having a transferring surface having an image comprising ink and aqueous fountain solution, which image is transferred from an image plate to the transferring surface of the rubber blanket and then from the transferring surface of the rubber blanket to paper in the process of printing, the method comprising:

(a) contacting the image comprising ink and aqueous fountain solution with a sufficient quantity of an ink cleaner composition for a sufficient amount of time to substantially remove the ink image from the transferring surface of the rubber blanket, said ink cleaner composition being combinable with the ink and fountain solution without substantially affecting the transferability of the ink image;
and
(b) while the rubber blanket is wetted with the cleaner composition, operating the printing press to transfer a series of images comprising ink and aqueous fountain solution to the rubber blanket from the image plate and in turn to a plurality of sheets of paper whereby, with each cycle of the printing operation, the ink cleaning composition is diluted by the ink and aqueous fountain solution and transferred to said sheets of paper to yield prints having incrementally increasing resolution until a plurality of prints of acceptable resolution are produced;
wherein the ink cleaner composition comprises:
60%-95% by weight of a methyl ester of a C.sub.8 -C.sub.22 fatty acid;
5%-40% by weight of a first nonionic surfactant which is an ethoxylated C.sub.4 -C.sub.10 alcohol having a molar ratio of ethylene oxide to alcohol of between about 2:1 to about 8:1;
0-30% by weight of a second nonionic surfactant which is a heteric alkylene oxide condensation product of C.sub.12 -C.sub.18 alcohol wherein the condensation product is formed from alkylene oxide containing both ethylene oxide and propylene oxide;
and
0-20% water.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Compositions for cleaning ink from a printing press and methods thereof

Life of this patent

Compositions for cleaning ink from a printing press and methods thereof

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims24