Flood bar for screen printing

An apparatus for spreading and positioning ink in orifices of a screen fabric comprising:

• a mounting portion adapted for receiving translational motion;
• a flooding portion having an ink interaction surface spaced and adapted for overlying the screen fabric, the ink interaction surface adapted for interacting with the ink to force the ink into the orifices of the screen fabric;
• and
• the flooding portion including a bottom surface having a width of at least 0.125 inches and a pair of edges which are configured differently, the flooding portion being reversible for placing different quantities of ink on the screen fabric by moving the apparatus in either direction.

A screen printing machine, comprising:

• a tensioning frame having a screen fabric, the tensioning frame carried by the screen printing machine;
• a platform adapted for holding a substrate, the platform held in spaced relationship from the tensioning frame, generally parallel to the screen fabric;
• a head slideably carried for translational movement in a plane parallel to the screen fabric, the head positioned such that the screen fabric is interposed between the platform and the head, the head having a pair of mounting apparatus;
• a flood bar and a squeegee carried by the mounting apparatus of the head;
• and
• the flood bar having a mounting portion adapted for receiving translational motion and a flooding portion including an ink interaction surface spaced and overlying the screen fabric, the ink interaction surface adapted for interacting with ink to force the ink into the screen fabric without deformation of the screen fabric into contact with the substrate, the ink interaction surface having at least one concave curved portion adapted for rotating the ink.

A screen printing machine comprising:

• a tensioning frame having a screen fabric, the tensioning frame carried by the screen printing machine;
• a platform adapted for holding a substrate, the platform held in spaced relationship from the tensioning frame, generally parallel to the screen fabric;
• a head slideably carried for translational movement in a plane parallel to the screen fabric, the head positioned such that the screen fabric is interposed between the platform and the head, the head having a pair of mounting apparatus;
• a flood bar and a squeegee carried by the mounting apparatus of the head;
• and
• the flood bar having a mounting portion adapted for receiving translational motion and a flooding portion having an ink interaction surface spaced and overlying the screen fabric, the ink interaction surface adapted for interacting with ink to force the ink into the screen fabric without deformation of the screen fabric into contact with the substrate, the flooding portion also having a bottom surface generally parallel to the screen fabric, the bottom surface having a width greater than 0.125 inches for forcing the ink into the screen fabric.

A screen printing machine comprising:

• a tensioning frame having a screen fabric, the tensioning frame carried by the screen printing machine;
• a platform adapted for holding a substrate, the platform held in spaced relationship from the tensioning frame, generally parallel to the screen fabric;
• a head slideably carried for translational movement in a plane parallel to the screen fabric, the head positioned such that the screen fabric is interposed between the platform and the head, the head having a pair of mounting apparatus;
• a flood bar and a squeegee carried by the mounting apparatus of the head;
• and
• the flood bar having a mounting portion adapted for receiving translational motion and a flooding portion having an ink interaction surface spaced and overlying the screen fabric, the ink interaction surface adapted for interacting with ink to force the ink into the screen fabric, the ink interaction surface of the flooding portion having a pair of concave curved portions, one of the concave curved portions having a larger radius than the other concave curved portion.

A method of spreading and positioning ink in orifices of a screen fabric comprising the steps of:

• providing a flood bar in proximity to the screen fabric;
• moving the flood bar translationally generally parallel to the screen fabric without deformation of the screen fabric into the substrate;
• rotating the ink with a curved ink interaction surface of the flooding portion of the apparatus to force the ink downward into the orifices of the screen fabric;
• and
• pushing the ink with a bottom surface of the flood bar which is generally parallel to the screen fabric to assist in placing the ink into the orifices.