Web- and sheet-fed printing unit using various ink types, particularly water-based inks

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• a housing at least partially surrounding at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder;
• a humidifier for controlling the humidity of the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed space;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

The printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder;
• a humidifier for controlling the humidity of the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed space;
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• a cooling mechanism for cooling the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed area;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the cooling mechanism, humidifier, and the chemical agent supply for selectively actuating the cooling mechanism to control the temperature, humidity, and amount of chemical agent in the atmosphere within the semi-enclosed area.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• a housing at least partially surrounding at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and at least one of the inking mechanism and print cylinder;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking mechanism for applying an ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, for printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head for feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the housing comprises a first housing at least partially surrounding the inking mechanism and a second housing at least partially surrounding the print cylinder, the at least semi-enclosed space comprising a first at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the first housing and the inking mechanism and a second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the second housing and the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking mechanism for applying an ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, for printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head for feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the substance in the water based ink is an organic amine compound.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking mechanism for applying an ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, for printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head for feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the ink is a water-based ink and the substance in the water based ink is ammonia.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking mechanism for applying an ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, for printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head for feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the ink is a water based ink and wherein the chemical agent is ammonia.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking mechanism for applying an ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, for printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head for feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the ink is a water based ink and wherein the substance in the water based ink is a pH increasing chemical.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press comprising:

• a first print cylinder printing on a first side of a sheet;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a housing at least partially surrounding at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and at least one of the inking mechanism and print cylinder;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• a cooling mechanism for cooling the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed area;
• a humidifier for controlling the humidity of the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed area;
• and
• a control unit coupled to the cooling mechanism, humidifier, and the chemical agent supply for selectively actuating the cooling mechanism to control the temperature, humidity, and amount of chemical agent in the atmosphere within the semi-enclosed area.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the inking mechanism, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the inking mechanism;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• a housing at least partially surrounding the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and the print cylinder;
• a chemical agent supply for adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the at least semi-enclosed space, the atmosphere with the chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A method for controlling an evaporation of a substance from an ink in a sheet-fed printing unit, the method comprising the steps of:

• forming an at least semi-enclosed area around an inking unit and a print cylinder of a printing unit;
• supplying a water based ink to the inking unit and the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• and
• supplying a chemical agent into an atmosphere within the semi-enclosed area so that the atmosphere within the semi-enclosed area reduces a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink;
• and
• feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press for printing on a sheet having two sides, comprising

• a first print cylinder, the first print cylinder printing on a first side of the sheet;
• an first inking mechanism for applying ink to the first print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, the second print cylinder printing on a second side of the sheet;
• an second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• at least one housing at least partially surrounding the first and second inking mechanisms, a first and a second at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the at least one housing and the first and second inking mechanisms, respectively;
• at least one chemical agent supply adding a chemical agent to an atmosphere in the first and second at least semi-enclosed spaces, the atmosphere with the at least one chemical agent reducing a rate of evaporation of the substance from the ink.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder;
• an inking mechanism for applying an ink to the print cylinder, the ink including an amine;
• a housing at least partially surrounding at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder, an at least semi-enclosed space being formed between the housing and at least one of the inking mechanism and the print cylinder;
• a cooling mechanism for cooling the atmosphere within the at least semi-enclosed area;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press including:

• a print cylinder for supporting a print form suitable for printing with water based inks, the print form having an outer ink carry surface;
• an inking unit for applying water based ink to the print form, the inking unit having an outer ink carrying surface, the ink including an amine;
• a blanket cylinder for supporting a printing blanket, the printing blanket having an outer ink carrying surface;
• and
• a cooling unit for maintaining a temperature of the ink carrying surface of one or more of the print form, the inking unit, and the printing blanket at a predetermined level which is above a dew point of an atmosphere surrounding the outer ink carrying surfaces;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a first print cylinder for supporting a print form suitable for printing with water based inks, the print form having an outer ink carry surface, the first print cylinder printing on a first side of a sheet;
• a first inking unit for applying water based ink to the first print form, the first inking unit having an outer ink carrying surface;
• the first inking unit applying ink to the first print cylinder;
• a second print cylinder located downstream of the first print cylinder, the second print cylinder printing on a second side of the sheet;
• a second inking mechanism for applying ink to the second print cylinder, the ink including a substance;
• a blanket cylinder for supporting a printing blanket, the printing blanket having an outer ink carrying surface;
• a cooling unit for maintaining a temperature of the ink carrying surface of one or more of the print form, the inking unit, and the printing blanket at a predetermined level which is above a dew point of an atmosphere surrounding the outer ink carrying surfaces;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press, comprising:

• a print cylinder for supporting a print form suitable for printing with water based inks, the print form having an outer ink carry surface;
• an inking unit for applying water based ink to the print form, the inking unit having an outer ink carrying surface;
• a blanket cylinder for supporting a printing blanket, the printing blanket having an outer ink carrying surface;
• and
• a cooling unit for maintaining a temperature of the ink carrying surface of one or more of the print form, the inking unit, and the printing blanket at a predetermined level which is above a dew point of an atmosphere surrounding the outer ink carrying surfaces;
• and
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• wherein the cooling unit further comprises a blanket cylinder cooling unit coupled to the blanket cylinder, the blanket cylinder cooling unit circulating a second cooling agent through the blanket cylinder to maintain the outer ink carrying surface of the printing blanket at the predetermined level.

A printing unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press comprising:

• a print cylinder for supporting a print form suitable for printing with water based inks, the print form having an outer ink carry surface;
• an inking unit for applying water based ink to the print form, the inking unit having an outer ink carrying surface;
• a blanket cylinder for supporting a printing blanket, the printing blanket having an outer ink carrying surface, an a cooling unit for maintaining a temperature of the ink carrying surface of one or more of the print form, the inking unit, and the printing blanket at a predetermined level which is above a dew point of an atmosphere surrounding the outer ink carrying surfaces;
• a gripping head, the gripping head feeding sheets to the print cylinder;
• an air blower mounted within the printing unit, the air blower having an air intake for blowing air into an atmosphere around the blanket cylinder and an air exhaust for sucking air out of the atmosphere around the blanket cylinder;
• a blanket temperature sensor for monitoring a blanket temperature level of the printing blanket;
• and
• a control unit having an input connected to the blanket temperature sensor and having outputs connected to the air blower and the cooling unit, the control unit controlling the air blower and cooling unit as a function of the blanket temperature level received from the blanket temperature sensor.