The present invention relates to process and means for directly and effectively determining,the hollow volume, of a screen, or of absolute and relative ink releasing factor of ink supplying rollers, particularly for Anilox rollers for flexographic printing.

Heretofore did not exist process and means for directly and effectively determining,the hollow volume, of a screen, or absolute and relative ink releasing factor of ink supplying rollers, particularly for flexographic printing. It was usual for flexographic printers to know, by experience, that a certain screen, defined on the base of its number of lines, received in its large number of fine recesses a corresponding amount of ink quantity able to provide, on a determined color, prepared by experience too and applied by a determined ink supplying system had a corresponding covering factor. This method had been successful as long as the ink supplying rollers had been scraped, by rubber rollers. Since such kind of scraping was obsolete, with evolution of flexographic printing and of the same generations of ink supplying rollers, or Anilox rollers, harder ink supplying rollers scraped by relatively softer blades, but made of metal too and resistant to wear. With such kind of blade scraping, when used with ink supplying rollers of the third and fourth generation, the blades had a short life. More particularly, the mechanical ink supplying rollers, i.e.

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mechanically engraved, thus with mathematic definition pertaining to the third generation, missed their perfection upon application of a layer of chrome or the like, which partially filled the mesh recesses. Moreover the blades wore out the layer of chrome from the cell tops, thus reducing the capacity of cells, which in use, could be dirted by ink impurities and muds including particles of chrome and blade resulting from wear. All these factors, affected the performances of ink supplying rollers, thus, even experience was not sufficient. Even worst was with Anilox rollers of the fourth generation, i.e. those having a screen laser engraved on a ceramic layer. The laser provides a multitude of craters, defined only in number and distribution, but having other important feature which cannot be controlled. One of these feature that cannot be controlled is the releasing factor, i.e. the actual capacity of transporting and releasing ink. Another compHcation was that while in ceramic ink supplying rollers the release of ink from the cells is substantially total, the release of ink from the cells of ink supplying rollers of preceding generations were partial and varying with the time of use.

This deficiency required a solution, also in view of the advancements made by flexographic printing which, from Cindarella of printing systems, is rapidly evolving as quantity and quality On the other hand nor the manufacturers of machines, nor the manufacturers of ink supplying rollers for same, nor the printers, could provide a standardization of the field without values and factors universally acknowledged, but a multitude of arbitrary data, resulting from casual and heterogeneous personal experiences and interpretations. The main difficulty was with the ink supplying rollers of the fourth generation, whose performances are the most unknown by users. Thus there is the need to operate with parameters borrowed by other generations of ink supplying rollers. In fact, since in the

screen of other ink supplying rollers the shape and deepness were uniform and correlated, there were no problems in the choice of optimal combination: it was enough to indicate one of them, keeping in mind that a higher number of lines picks up and transports a corresponding lower amount of ink. Whereas with ink supplying rollers of the fourth generation, it may be true the contrary: that rollers with a screen having a higher number of lines per square centimeter, picks up more ink than a screen having a lower number of lines per square centimeter, wherein the difference seem to be due to the deepness, rather than number of lines per square centimeter and the shape of cells. On the other hand, even a possible reference to deepness has absolute meaning, particularly in critical conditions, whereby, deepness increase, results in a thinning of the cell walls and in a collapse of the entire inking structure, so that it provides casual performances

Indeed, at the present state of the art, tests were made by using small sample mesh rollers reproducing the most exactly possible the screen of ink supplying roller intended to be reproduced.

Of course, such test was indirect, not contextual and improper as founded on two presuppositions which in practice do not occur The first was that the small sample mesh roller appositely provided, was representative of the actual ink supplying roller intended to be tested. Even when this was the case the two rollers could be not be equally new and or equally clean. The second supposition was a perfect correspondence between the two rollers. Thus in no case could be a direct, actual and certainly representative of the performances of the ink supplying roller entirely or locally considered, in the time, in the place and in the actual conditions of wear, dirtiness surface tension.

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The invention as claimed is intended to remedy these drawbacks. The inventors with ingenious perception have conceived process and means for directly and effectively determining,the hollow volume, of a screen, or absolute and relative ink releasing factor of ink supplying rollers, particularly for flexographic printing, comprising the provision of at least penetration of at least a fluid or at least hyperplastic phase, of known quantity, into cell cavities under doctor level, of a screen and by determining at least la penetrated phase quantity and/or la penetrated phase quantity, transferred to a support . At least the penetrated phase quantity, is determined by difference, between the known phase quantity, preceding penetration and the phase quantity remained, at least after penetration or transferred to a support.. It is measured in term gauged as position change of the surface, interface or the like of fluid and/or hyperplastic phase, in a chamber having a constant cross section and is displayed by a substantially transparent graduated ruler. Or is obtained by indirect reading on an interface functionally floating, possibly through an amplifier, e.g. hydraulic and operating according to the principle of the hydraulic press and of Pascal or mechanic and operates according to the principle of the comparator used for high precision gauging. The fluid and/or hyperplastic phase operates in a chamber having a constant cross section is a substantially incompressible liquid contained, at least adjacent to the interface with the screen of the ink supplying roller to be tested, provided by a very thin hyperplastic membrane. Alternately, the chamber having a constant cross section, is comprised by a substantially solid, hyperplastic tablet, or comprises an ink, having standard or known characteristics.

In accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tester has, substantially a revolver-like manual gauge shape, with a

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handle 1'; functionally, it is in the form of cylinder - piston device, wherein at the end of cylinder, opposed to that in which the piston operates, there is a unit, of high plasticity or deformability and/or malleability, comprising a flexible, very thin membrane, containing a relatively fluid, but substantially incompressible substance and however able to penetrate, in response to pressure increases, into the recesses of cells, even the very small ones, filling in a prevailing part thereof. The operation of device is characterized by direct and effective acting, on the screen of the ink supplying roller to be tested or specifically on one or more sections thereof, as well as by two pressure conditions: firstly a position setting, whereby the interface, of hyperplastic body or of membrane is put into touch, of substantial adherence, with a substantially even or tangent attitude to the tops of cells. Each of these pressure and position conditions of piston, corresponds to a reference indication or zero setting. In the second pressure condition of course higher than the former, reference is made to such zero setting absolute position, gauging the relative change of position of piston, in comparison with that of its cylinder. The change of position is monitored and displayed by a reading which is directly and actually indicative of real and effective capacity, of such section of ink supplying roller screen, to receive, at least such ink quantity. In other words, such device, is comprised and operates as a manual tester, for testing the metal hardness, wherein, instead of the penetrator stroke, is significant the stroke of the piston, in addition to the critical position, provided by contact of surface of membrane with the cell tops of screen, provided by the former pressure condition (zero setting condition). Such test, is entrustable being indicative of the ink quantity which may be released.

In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a section of screen of ink supplying roller, is fed with ink with

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blade or doctor scraping off superfluous ink. Another device, mounted, say, in series, receives, on a paper or similar support ^" the ink transferred, taking into account, the printed surface extension actually provided, the quantity of ink, really released and releasable by such ink supplying roller or at least by those sections of screen of ink supplying roller, substantially repeating the same task, performed by a printing machine, but providing, additionally, the input quantity of ink, as well as, a result in term of surface extension, obtained with real, effective of virtual measure of results obtainable by such ink supplying roller, e.g. when operating on any printing machine. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a device for ink detection, may be of limited width and each time displaced to provide several sample bands along the entire length of screen of the ink supplying roller. Of course, even in this case, the device may take simplified shapes and attitudes, manually operated too, for eventual testings, or complicated ones, for thorough testing, not by sampling, but general, involving the whole screen and a complete range of colors and/or inks.

The importance of this process resides in its power to check the testing results, by expressing them in standard units, which must be familiar to the four categories taking advantage of such process and means: the manufacturers of inks, the manufacturers of rolls, the manufacturers of inking systems, and the printers. Such amounts, represents real, effective, quantities of ink releasable from the inking ink supplying roller, per surface unit, e.g. per square centimeter, at parity of other standard and/or to be standardized conditions, but over all independent from the most important variable, comprised by the ink supplying roller kind generation, as well as by qualitative and dimensional fashion of the ink supplying roller to be tested.

The ways of carrying out the invention are described in detail below with reference to drawings which illustrate only specific embodiments, in which:

Figure 1 is the axial, vertical, cross section of a device gauge for determining the hollow volume of a screen, particularly a cylindrical one;

Figure 2 is a schematic, detailed, partial, cross-section, in an enlarged scale, of the zero setting condition of the device of figure 1;

Figure 3 is a schematic, detailed, partial, cross-section, in an enlarged scale, of the gauging condition of device of figures 1 and 2;

Figure 4 is the axial, vertical, cross-section of a device, for determining the absolute and relative releasing factor, of inking rollers, particularly for flexographic printing;

Figure 5 is a perspective front view, of the inking section of the device of Figure 4 in the attitude wherein the inking of a band upstream of the inking section took place;

Figure 6 is a perspective view, in a reduced scale, of a testing machine, driven by an electric motor, which substantially includes the device of Figure 1, but mounted within a unit, in order to operate, in narrow sections and/or over the entire ink supplying roller screen, from end to end and in order to provide both the measure of the volume of cell recesses, and the releasing factor of the ink, in conditions substantially equal to printing ones;

Figure 7 is a symbolic graph showing, in ordinates, the ink quantity, including two absorbing fields preceded by a settlement step;

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Figure 8 is a perspective view of another very simplified manual device, but notwithstanding able to ascertain the volume of cell recesses comprised in a certain section of the ink supplying roller screen.

Referring now to figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, in accordance with the present invention, a tester 1 has, substantially a revolver-like manual gauge shape, with a handle 1'; functionally, it is in the form of cylinder 10 - piston 11 device, wherein at the end 10' of cylinder, opposed to that in which the piston 11 operates, there is a unit 2, of high plasticity or deformability and/or malleability, comprising a flexible, very thin membrane 20, containing a relatively fluid, but substantially incompressible substance 21, such as glycol or the like, and however able to penetrate, in response to pressure increases, into the cavities of cells 33, even the very small ones, filling in a prevailing part thereof. The operation of device 1 is characterized by direct and effective acting, on the screen 3 of the ink supplying roller 30 to be tested or specifically on one or more sections thereof, as well as by two pressure conditions: firstly a position setting (figure 2), whereby the interface 23, of hyperplastic body 2 or of membrane 20 is put into touch, of substantial adherence, with a substantially even or tangent attitude to the tops 33' of cells 33; These pressure and position conditions of piston 11, corresponds to a reference indication or zero setting, taken by the dial gauge 4, whose gauging member 40 engages the extension 11' of piston 11. In the second pressure condition (figure 3), of course higher than the former, reference is made to such absolute position, gauging the relative change of position of piston 11, in comparison with that of cylinder 10. The change of position is monitored by comparator 4, whose gauging member 40 engages the extension 11' of piston 11, such displayed reading is directly and actually indicative of real and effective capacity, of such section of ink supplying roller screen, to

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receive, at least such ink quantity. In other words, such device, is comprised and operates as a manual tester, for testing the metal hardness, wherein, instead of the penetrator stroke, is significant the stroke of the piston 11, in addition to the critical position, provided by contact of surface 23 of membrane 20 with the cell tops 33' of screen 33, provided by the former pressure condition (zero setting condition). Such test, is entrustable being indicative of the ink quantity which may be released. With reference to device to apply the loads, it comprises a spiral spring 12, engaging the piston 11 to extend outwardly from cylinder 10 or to prevent its retrieval, a presser 5, substantially a first class lever, with a fulcrum 50, a weight 5' and a power 5". The power 5" is comprised by a leaf spring, which, in turn, provide the weight of a trigger 55, comprising a second class lever, with a fulcrum 50' and power 55'. The device operation should be evident from figures 1, 2 and 3, however a brief description is given in the following. In stationary conditions, not shown, piston 11, urged by spring 12, is completely expanded, i.e. flange 11" engages shoulder 10" of the end 10', of cylinder 10, while presser 5 is released, with respect of shoulder 011 of piston 11, and the trigger 55 is released too. Meanwhile, the hyperplastic body or unit 2, stands with the membrane 20 released and slightly projecting from the end 10' of cylinder 10. The gauging is started by pressing the gauge with the membrane 20 against the screen 3 of the ink supplying roller 30, pushing it again, as long as the following steps have occurred: 1) membrane 20 and the whole unit 2 retrieve, in response to the pressure applied and, in turn, a pressure therein is established; 2) shoulder 011, meets the presser 5 which, however, being idle, oppose substantially no strength; 3) comparator 4 reaches or is set in 0 position, when it, with its membrane 20 is tangent to the tops 33' of cells 33 (figure 2). In these pressure conditions, trigger 55 is operated, to swing it completely, to provide the following effects: 1) presser

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5 engages shoulder Oil of piston 11, urging the same as well as the hyperplastic body 2 to penetrate its membrane 20 into cells 33, substantially filling them (figure 3). The excursion of trigger 55, over such position, is neutralized by the end 5" of presser 5 in the form of leaf spring, which renders permanent the testing pressure, wherein the hyperplastic body penetration, corresponds to an indication or reading displayed by comparator 4, which is proportional to such penetration, having an absolute meaning, since related to the condition of zero setting.

In accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, shown in figures from 4 to 6, a section 3' of screen 3 of ink supplying roller 30, is fed with ink 60, with blade or doctor 6, for scraping off the superfluous ink 60. Another device 7, mounted, say, in series, receives, on a paper or similar support 70, the ink 60 transferred. Taking into account, the printed surface extension actually provided, the quantity of ink 60, really released and releasable by such ink supplying roller 3 or at least by those sections 3' of screen 3 of ink supplying roller 30, repeating substantially the same task, performed by a printing machine, but providing, additionally, input quantity of ink 60, as well as, a result in term of surface extension, obtained with real, effective of virtual measure of results obtainable by such ink supplying roller 3, e.g. when operating on any printing machine. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, device 7 for ink detection, may be of limited width and each time displaced to provide several sample bands 03 along the entire length of screen 3 of the ink supplying roller. Of course, even in this case, the device may take simplified shapes and attitudes, manually operated too, for eventual testings, or complicated ones, for thorough testing, not by sampling, but general, involving the whole screen and a complete range of colors and/or inks. This is the case of Figure 6; in this figure, on a base 8,

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two end trestles 8' and 8", hold two pairs 80' e 80" of discs, on parallel axes, the forward thereof 80" is driven by a belt 81, which, in turn, is driven by an electric motor 82. The disc pairs 80' and 80" provide a kind of saddle, to receive the shafts 30' and 30" of ink supplying roller 30. Just over the base 8, are mounted, on a pair of supports 83' and 83", a pair of parallel guides,

84', 84" one of which, 84", is threaded and driven by motor 85. On parallel guides 84', 84" is mounted the unit 86, which carries the device, substantially shown in figures 4 and 5 and substantially referenced with the same numbers, or characterized by the same operation. Moreover, the unit 86 includes an arm 86' for engaging and releasing a nut or comprising itself a nut. It cooperates with a stop 86", which may be placed: downstream of the length of ink supplying roller 3, whose cell capacity is intended to be gauged; upstream of the length of ink supplying roller 3, whose ink releasing capacity is intended to be gauged or its capacity to transfer ink to the paper 70, which, in the first length, could be out of touch or even missing. Reference is now made to the graph of figure 7, showing, in ordinates, the ink quantity, including two absorbing fields, wherein field C relates to capacity of screen cells or absolute transport, while field c is relates to ink releasing factor which is the real one occurring during printing. Field C and field c are preceded respectively by field C and field c' of settlement or saturation.

Principles and examples described with reference to figures from 1 through 7 have as demonstrative symbol the device of figure 8 wherein a transparent and graduated pen is provided with a bottom ball valve 9', normally closed, to keep ink 60 within the pen. Upon placing the pen with its bottom on screen 30 of ink supplying roller 3 the valve open and the pen border adheres to the screen substantially providing a doctor able to distribute substantially on a band having the same width as the pen

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diameter, when the same is moved along. Annexed to the pen 9 there is a wheel 90 with a circular calibrated circumference 90' engaging a meter 91. The ratio between ink consumed from the pen and the length realized may be expressed in terms of capacity of the cells of screen 30.

The importance of this process resides in its power to check the testing results, by expressing them in standard units, which must be familiar to the four categories taking advantage of such process and means: the manufacturers of inks, the manufacturers of rolls, the manufacturers of inking systems, and the printers. Such amounts, represents real, effective, quantities of ink releasable from the inking ink supplying roller 30, per surface unit, e.g. per square centimeter, at parity of other standard and or to be standardized conditions, but over all independent from the most important variable, comprised by the ink supplying roller kind, as well as by qualitative and dimensional fashion of the ink supplying roller to be tested.

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