Adaptive clamping mechanism for printing plates
AssigneePresstek, Inc.
InventorDouglas D. Fuller
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adaptive clamping assembly especially suitable for use in clamping a lithographic plate material around a cylinder. A lead clamp for receiving the leading edge of the plate is fixed along the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the cylinder's longitudinal axis of rotation. A tail clamp for receiving the trailing edge of the plate is disposed along the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the lead clamp. The tail clamp is mounted to a take-up assembly that is rotatably mounted within the cylinder bore so that the tail clamp can be selectively positioned along the outer surface of the cylinder relative to the lead clamp. Further rotation of the take-up assembly through rotation of the cylinder tensions the plate around the cylinder for proper imaging or printing.
Claims20
An adaptive clamping assembly for clamping lithographic plate material having a length around a cylinder having an outer cylindrical surface and a longitudinal axis of rotation, said adaptive clamping assembly comprising:
- a first clamp mounted to the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the cylinder axis;
- a single second clamp adjustably disposed along the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the first clamp and including means for securing an edge of the plate material;
- and
- means for selectively positioning the single second clamp circumferentially about the outer surface of the cylinder relative to the first clamp so that the cylinder can accept plate material of at least three differently sized lengths.
An adaptive clamping assembly for clamping lithographic plate material having a length around a cylinder having an outer cylindrical surface and a longitudinal axis of rotation, said adaptive clamping assembly comprising:
- a first clamp mounted to the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the cylinder axis;
- a single second clamp adjustably disposed along the outer surface of the cylinder parallel to the first clamp and including means for securing an edge of the plate material;
- and
- means for clamping a plate material of any length within a predetermined length range including means for selectively positioning the single second clamp about the outer surface of the cylinder relative to the first clamp so that the second clamp may receive and secure the edge of the plate material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.