Bridge mandrel for use as a repeat builder in a printing machine
OwnerMichael A. Smoot, Gregory J. Gayle +1inventors
InventorsMichael A. Smoot, Gregory J. Gayle, Michael J. McGuinness
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A bridge mandrel includes an inner sleeve assembly comprising the inner laminate and an outer laminate secured on each side of an intermediate hardened foam layer. The inner laminate is of multi-ply form with inner plies of base and adhesive layers separated from outer plies of base and adhesive layers by a compressible foam layer. The adhesive layers are made from high viscosity thermoplastic adhesive material. The intermediate layer is of segmented form with a radial gap between adjacent segments. A header is mounted to each end of the inner sleeve assembly.
Claims47
A bridge mandrel comprising a cylindrical inner laminate for being mounted on and around a fixed mandrel and the like, a cylindrical outer laminate mounted around and to said inner laminate, said inner laminate and said outer laminate being permanently mounted together to form an integral unit comprising a sleeve assembly, said inner laminate being of multi-ply construction comprising a plurality of inner plies made of base and adhesive layers and a plurality of outer plies made of base and adhesive layers with said plurality of inner plies being separated from said plurality of outer plies by a compressible foam layer, and said adhesive layers being made from a high viscosity thermoplastic material.
A bridge mandrel for being mounted on a fixed mandrel comprising a cylindrical inner laminate for being mounted on and around the fixed mandrel, an intermediate cylindrical layer made of a hard rigid incompressible material mounted around and to said inner laminate, a cylindrical outer laminate mounted around and to said intermediate layer, said inner laminate and said intermediate layer and said outer laminate being permanently mounted together to form an integral unit comprising a sleeve assembly, and a cylindrical header mounted to each end of said sleeve assembly.
A bridge mandrel for being mounted on a rotatable fixed mandrel comprising a cylindrical inner laminate for being mounted on and around the fixed mandrel, an intermediate cylindrical layer made of a hard rigid incompressible material mounted around and to said inner laminate, a cylindrical outer laminate mounted around and to said intermediate layer, said inner laminate and said intermediate layer and said outer laminate being permanently mounted together to form an integral unit comprising a sleeve assembly, and said intermediate layer being generally radially segmented to create a plurality of side by side segments having a radial gap between each pair of said side by side segments.
A method of making a bridge mandrel comprising forming a cylindrical multi-ply inner laminate on and around a cantilevered support tool by wrapping a plurality of inner plies of base and adhesive layers around the support tool, wrapping a compressible foam layer around the plurality of inner plies, wrapping a plurality of outer plies of base and adhesive layers around the compressible foam layer to form the inner laminate, the adhesive layers being made from high viscosity thermoplastic material, forming a cylindrical intermediate layer of hard rigid incompressible material around the inner laminate while the inner laminate remains on the tool, forming a cylindrical outer laminate around the intermediate layer while the inner laminate and the intermediate layer remain on the tool, the inner laminate and the intermediate layer and the outer laminate comprising an inner sleeve assembly, and heating the inner sleeve assembly in an oven so that the components of the inner sleeve assembly are co-cured to create the same thermal history thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.