PAD-TYPE PRINTING MACHINE

Abstract: A hand-operable pad-type printing machine can be operated by one hand, thereby enabling the operator to handle articles (X) to be printed with the other hand, but can obtain printing precision which would be difficult to achieve by other hand-operated pad-type printing machines. A printing pad (6) can be raised and lowered by a handle (20) and moved between an inner inking position in which it can engage an ink pad (3) and an outer position in which it can print an article (X). A roller (24) and an abutment plate (25) prevent up and down movement of the handle (20) except in the inner and outer positions and cam arrangements control operation of an inking plate (7) and a doctor blade (8).

Description: The invention relates to printing machines, and particularly to hand-operable pad-type printing machines. A machine of this kind can be suitable for printing designs or lettering on a relatively small number of articles. Pad-press printing machines are well known and widely used in printing designs or lettering on articles and have a pad for transferring ink from a printing surface to an article. In addition an inking plate and doctor blade are provided. If a large number of operations are required the pad, the linking plate, and the doctor blade can be automatically operated by means of an electric motor and a pneumatic cylinder. For small numbers of operations a hand-operable kind is preferred and can be provided with (1) a driving section whereby either a pad or a carrier on which the printing surface and article are mounted is horizontally moved so as to enable the pad to be located above the printing surface and article, and (2) a press section whereby the pad is pressed to the printing surface and the article. The application of ink to the printing surface and the removal of superfluous ink therefrom are manually carried out. There is another pad-type printing machine which is provided with a lever whereby the pad is circularly moved, in association with which a carrier holding the printing surface and article is reciprocally moved in a plane so that the pad and the printing surface are alternately pressed to the article. The application of ink to the printing surface and the removal of a superfluous ink are mechanically effected in association with the movement of the carrier. The first-mentioned hand-operated pad-type printing machine is disadvantageous in that the operator must use both his hands to operate the driving section and the press section, and the application of ink to the printing surface and the removal of superfluous ink must also be carried out by hand. This is unduly labour and time-consuming, and consequently expensive. The last-mentioned printing machine may have an increased efficiency because the operation of a single lever effects all the working steps, but printing precision is sacrificed because the circular movement of the pad is likely to cause misalignment between the printing surface and the pad. In BE-A-899 240 a hand operable pad-type printing machine is disclosed providing a first carrier moving horizontally in the body structure controlling the vertical movement of the pad which is carried on a second carrier and is connected to the first carrier. The application of ink to the printing surface and the removal of superfluous ink are mechanically effected in association with the movement of the second carrier. According to the invention there is provided a hand-operable pad-type printing machine, which comprises; a body structure; and an ink tray provided in a lower part of the body structure, the ink tray accommodating a printing plate; characterised by a slider unit reciprocally movable in an upper part of the body structure; a handle pivotally connected to the slider unit at one end thereof, thereby enabling the slider unit to be moved horizontally inwardly and outwardly of the body structure; a pad unit having a pad for transferring inked patterns from the printing plate to an article, the pad unit being carried on the slider unit so as to move horizontally in conjunction with the horizontal movement of the slider unit and having a member engagable with the handle whereby the pad unit is moved vertically when the handle is pivoted on the slider unit; an ink scraper unit and a doctor blade unit carried on the slider unit so as to cause an ink scraper and a doctor blade to move horizontally within the ink tray upon horizontal movement of the slider unit; a first cam mechanism for controlling the ink scraper so that upon an outward stroke it is submerged in the ink in the ink tray and thereby covers the printing plate with ink, and upon an inward stroke it is kept out of contact with the printing plate; and a second cam mechanism for controlling the doctor blade so that upon an outward stroke it is kept out of contact with the printing plate, and upon an inward stroke it is submerged in the ink so as to wipe superfluous ink from the printing plate. Such a machine can be operable by a single hand without detracting of printing precision. Preferably the printing plate and the ink tray are provided as a printing unit on a base; the printing plate is fixed to a block, the printing plate and the ink tray are made of plastics and the block is detachably fixed to the body structure by a magnet provided on a surface of one of the block and the base which is in contact with the ink tray with the other of the block and the base being made of magnetic material, whereby the block joins the ink tray to the base and the pad unit has a pad of plastics for transferring inked patterns from the printing plate to the article. The invention is diagrammatically illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figure 1 is a front view showing a hand operable pad-type printing machine according to the invention; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional plan view taken on line II-II in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on line III-III in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a vertical cross-section taken on line IV-IV in Figure 1; Figures 5(a) and (b) are diagrammatic views exemplifying the operation of a first cam mechanism as viewed on line V-V in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a vertical cross-section taken on line VI-VI in Figure 1; Figures 7(a) and (b) are diagrammatic views exemplifying the operation of a second cam mechanism as viewed on line VII-VII in Figure 6; Figure 8 is a front view showing a printing unit provided in the printing machine of Figures 1 to 7; Figure 9 is a front view on an enlarged scale showing the printing unit of Figure 8; Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view taken on line III-III in Figure 9; Figure 11 is an analytical perspective view showing the printing unit; and Figure 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a modified version of a printing unit according to the invention. Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figures 1 to 3, a printing machine 1 has a body structure 2 (hereinafter referred to as the body) which includes a raised floor 2 a , a vertical wall 2 c and a ceiling space 2 d . An ink tray 4 is supported on the raised floor 2 a , the ink tray 4 accommodating a printing plate 3. The body 2 has an extended portion 2 b on which a support 5 is placed for holding an article X to be printed. References to an article in this specification should be taken to include all objects on which designs or lettering are to be printed whether it may be flat or cubic i . e two or three dimensional. The body 2 is provided with a slider unit 9 in the ceiling space 2 d on which an ink-transfer pad 6, an ink scraper 7 and a doctor blade 8 are carried. The slider unit 9 includes bearings 9 a at opposite sides which are carried on guide bars 10 extending horizontally in the ceiling space 2 d . The slider unit 9 can reciprocate beneath the guide bars 10 between positions I and II shown respectively in full lines and in broken lines in Figure 1. The slider unit 9 is provided with a first guide member 9 b extending downwardly and having a pair of vertical bars 12 slidably pasing therethrough. The bars 12 support the pad 6 by way of a first intermediate member 11. The slider unit 9 is additionally provided with a second guide member 9 c which has two pairs of vertical bars 15 and 16 slidably passing therethrough, so as to support the ink scraper 7 and the doctor blade 8, respectively; that is, the bars 15 are fixed to the ink scraper 7 by way of second intermediate member 13, and the bars 16 are fixed to the doctor blade 8 by way of third intermediate member 14. The pad 6 is upwardly biased by means of a spring 17 and is normally maintained at the height shown in Figure 1. The ink scraper 7 and the doctor blade 8 are downwardly biased by means of springs 18 and 19. The ink scraper 7 and the doctor blade 8 can each move between an upper limit position and a lower limit position, which are defined by first and a second cam mechanisms 30 and 40. The operation of these cam mechanisms will be described hereinafter. As the slider unit 9 reciprocates the pad 6, the ink scraper 7 and the doctor blade 8 reciprocate between the full line and broken line positions I and II shown in Figure 1. The pad 6 is above the printing plate 3 in the position I and is above the printing article X in the position II. The ink scraper 7 and the doctor blade 8 reciprocate within the ink tray 4. The slider unit 9 can be moved by a handle 20, which comprises a pair of levers pivotally connected to the slider unit 9 at one end 20 a of the levers and a grip 20 b which projects outwardly from the ceiling space 2 d . A middle portion 20 c of each of the levers of the handle 20 bears against a roller 22 carried on a bracket. To ensure that the pad 6 can only descend at the position I and/or the position II a roller 24 is provided on an extension 23 of the handle 20, and an abutment plate 25 is fixed in the ceiling space 2 d . The abutment plate 25 has a bottom edge 25 a and sloped end faces 25 b and 25 c . If the pad 6 is not at either the position I or the position II, the handle 20 is prevented from moving down by the roller 24 coming into abutment with the bottom edge 25 a of the abutment plate 25, whereas when it is at the positions I and II the roller 24 can move along the sloped end face 25 b or the sloped end face 25 c , respectively, thereby allowing the handle 20 to be depressed. The length of the abutment plate 25 is equal to the distance between the positions I and II. As shown in Figures 4 to 7 the ceiling space 2 d is bounded by side walls 2 d ′ and 2 d ″. The first cam mechanism 30 and the second cam mechanism 40 are located on the inner faces of the walls 2 d ′ and 2 d ″, respectively. Referring to Figures 4 and 5 the first cam mechanism 30 for the ink scraper 7 comprises a first planar cam 31 extending to cover the whole distance over which the ink scraper 7 moves, and a second planar cam 32 adjacent a rear portion of the first planar cam 31. The second planar cam 32 terminates short of the length of the first planar cam 31 so that as shown in Figure 5, the second planar cam 32 is not provided at a position I. The top surfaces of the cams 31 and 32 form cam faces 31 a and 32 a , respectively. The first cam face 31 a has a low portion 31₁, a sloped portion 31₂ and a high portion 31₃. The second cam face 32 a has a high portion 32₁ and a sloped portion 32₂. The vertical bars 15 of the ink scraper 7 are fixed to a support member 33 which has a first follower 34 rolling on the cam face 31 a and a second follower 36 rolling on the cam face 32 a , which second follower 36 is carried on an arm 35 pivotally connected to the support member 33. The arm 35 is normally biased forward by a spring 37 so that the second follower 36 abuts the rear face of the first follower 34 as shown in Figure 5(a). Referring to Figures 6 and 7, the second cam mechanism 40 for the doctor blade 8 comprises a first planar cam 41, a second planar cam 42, and a third planar cam 43. As shown in Figure 7, the third planar cam 43 is adjacent a forward portion of the first planar cam 41 and a rearward portion of the second planar cam 42. The top surface of each planar cam 41, 42 and 43 forms a cam face 41 a , 42 a and 43 a respectively. The cam face 41 a has a high portion 41₁ and a sloped portion 41₂, the cam face 42 a has a high portion 42₁ and a sloped portion 42₂ and the cam face 43 a has a sloped portion 43₁ and a high portion 43₂. The vertical bars 16 of the doctor blade 8 are fixed to a support member 44, on which a first follower 45 is provided for rolling on the cam faces 41 a and 42 a . The support member 44 is additionally provided with a second follower 47 carred on an arm 46 pivotally connected thereto, the second follower 47 rolling on the cam face 43 a . The arm 46 is normally biased rearward by a spring 48 so that the second follower 47 abuts the front of the first follower 45 as shown in Figure 7. In the illustrated embodiment the ink tray 4 is a plastics panel, and as shown in Figure 1 it includes a first recess 4 a for storing ink, and a second recess 4 b for accommodating the printing plate 3, with a sloped portion 4 c located between the recesses 4 a and 4 b for smoothly transferring ink from the recess 4 a to the recess 4 b . The ink tray 4 is placed on a base plate 52 fixed to the raised floor 2 a through a spacer 51. The printing plate 3 is also a plastics panel, and is secured to a metal block 53 by means of bolts 54 acting on clamps 55. The spacer 51 houses magnets 56 which attract the metal block 53 to secure the printing plate 3 and the ink tray 4. In this way the ink tray 4 is secured on the base plate 52. In operation the handle 20 is pivoted in the clockwise direction (as viewed in Figure 1), when the slider unit 9 is at the full line position I shown in Figure 1, thereby causing the pad 6 to be depressed against the spring 17 and brought into contact with the printing plate 3 in the ink tray 4. If the printing plate 3 is covered with ink but with superfluous ink wiped therefrom, a clear inked pattern will be transferred to the pad 6. Then the handle 20 is pivoted in the counter-clockwise direction, that is, in an upward direction, and simultaneously the handle 20 is pulled out so as to enable the slider unit 9 to be brought to the position II, that is, move in the direction of arrow a in Figure 1. At the position II, the handle 20 is again pivoted in the clockwise direction to cause the pad 6 again to be depressed and make contact with the article X so that the inked pattern on the pad 6 is transferred thereto. When the pad 6 is depressed at the positions I and II the roller 24 on the extension 23 of the handle 20 is guided along the sloped end faces 25 b and 25 c of the abutment plate 25, thereby ensuring that the pad 6 is properly positioned against the printing plate 3 and the article X respectively. Thus the pattern is printed exactly at the desired location on the article. When the slider unit 9 moves from the position I to the position II the first cam mechanism 30 is operated to coat the printing plate 3 with ink. More specifically as shown in Figure 5(a) at (A) (the position I) the first follower 34 is located on the low portion 31₁ of the cam face 31 a . At this stage the ink scraper 7 is submerged in the ink in the first recess 4 a as shown in Figure 1. When the slider unit 9 moves in the direction of arrow (a) in Figure 1, the followers 34 and 36 are moved together in the direction of arrow (a) in Figure 5. Immediately they move the second follower 36 comes into abutment with the rear portion of the second planar cam 32, and rides on the cam face 32 a of the second planar cam 32 against the spring 37 as shown at (B). The first follower 34 moves to a position (C) (the position II). In accordance with the movement of the first follower 34 the ink scraper 7 moves in the ink tray 4 along a path indicated (A) in Figure 1, and urges the ink in the recess 4 a onto the printing plate 3 in the recess 4 b . In this way the printing plate 3 is covered with the ink. Simultaneously the second cam mechanism 40 is also operated to ensure the following series of operation take place. At the initial position I, that is, at (D) in Figure 7, the first follower 45 is located on the high portion 41₁ of the cam face 41 a (first planar cam 41). However immediately after the followers 45 and 47 move in the direction of arrow (a) the second follower 47 rides up onto the high portion 43 a of the cam face 43 a via the slope 43₁, thereby maintaining its high position regardless of the slope 41₂ of the first planar cam 41. Thus the doctor blade 8 is prevented from moving down, and kept at its raised position. However the high portion 43₂ of the third planar cam 43 is slightly higher than the high portion 41₁ of the first planar cam 41 as clearly shown in Figure 7(a), thereby raising the doctor blade 8 by a distance corresponding to the difference between the high portions 41₁ and 43₂. At (F) (the position II) the second follower 47 becomes separated from the third planar cam 43, and the first follower 45 rides onto a boundary between the high portion 42₁ and the slope 42₂. In this way the pad 6 comes into contact with the article X at the position II. Then the pad 6 is caused to ascend and the slider unit 9 is moved in the direction of arrow (b) until it returns to the position I. Upon the return of the slider unit 9 the doctor blade 8 wipes superfluous ink off the printing plate 7. More specifically, when the first and second followers 45 and 47 move from the state at (F) in the direction of arrow (b), the second follower 47 comes into abutment with the front of the third planar cam 43, thereby riding on the cam face 43 a of the third planar cam 43. The first follower 45 moves along the slope 42 a of the cam face 42 a . In accordance with the descent of the first follower 45 and the doctor blade 8 is lowered, and when the first follower 45 descends along the slope 42 a the doctor blade 8 comes into abutment with the printing plate 3. The doctor blade 8 continues to move on the printing plate 3, thereby wiping superfluous ink from the non-printing area. When the doctor blade 8 moves beyond the printing plate 3 the first follower 45 rides on the high portion 41₁ of the cam face 41 a from the slope 41₂ thereof as shown at (H) in Figure 7(b), thereby causing the doctor blade 8 to rise until it returns to the position I shown in Figure 1, wherein the second follower 47 again comes into abutment with the front of the first follower 45. In this way the initial starting condition is regained. As the slider unit 9 returns to its original position; that is, in the direction of arrow (b) the first cam mechanism 30 is operated as follows: As shown in (I) and (J) in Figure 5(b) the first follower 34 is initially on the high portion 31₃ of the cam face 31 a , and then moves to the slope 31₂. At this stage the second follower 36 rides on the high portion 32₁ of the cam face 32 a , thereby ensuring that the ink scraper 7 is maintained at its high position. When the followers return to the position I as shown in (K) in Figure 7(b) the second follower 36 becomes separated from the second planar cam 32, and the first follower 34 on the low portion 31₁ of the first planar cam 31. In this way the initial starting state is restored. A fresh article X is placed on the support 5 after each printing operation, and the handle 20 is repeatedly operated from the position I to the position II and vice versa. Referring to Figures 8 to 12 the printing unit referred to above will be described in greater detail: The printing machine has a body 101, which has a floor 102 on which a printing unit 120 is mounted. The printing unit 120 includes a pad 104, an ink scraper 105 and a doctor blade 106. the pad 104 is fixed to a supporting bar 107 slidably supported on the body 101. Likewise the ink scraper 105 and the doctor blade 106 are fixed to supporting bars 108 and 109, respectively, which are also vertically slidably supported on the body 101. A handle 113 is provided for operation of a slider unit in an upper part 103 of the body 101. The body 101 has an extension 101 a on which a support 110 is provided for supporting an article X. The supporting bars 107, 108 and 109 are operated in the aforementioned manner. As shown in Figures 9 to 12, the printing unit 120 also includes a base 122 fixed to the floor 102 by means of bolts 121, an ink tray 123 and a printer 124, which includes a metal block 125 of a rectangular shape and a printing plate 126 formed of plastics and having ink-carrying hollows (not shown) on its surface. The printing plate 126 is secured to the metal block 125 by means of bolts 127 through clamps 128. Particularly referring to Figure 11, the ink tray 123 is made oaf plastics by a vacuum forming method, wherein the plastics is not of a kind susceptible to chemical attack by a solvent present in the ink. As described above the ink tray 123 includes a first recess 123 a for accommodating the printer unit 124, and a second recess 123 b for storing ink, with an intermediate slope 123 c located therebetween. The base 122 includes a spacer 130 and a sheet 129 on which the metal block 125 is placed. The spacer 130 and the sheet 129 are connected to each other by the bolts 121. The spacers 130 are provided with two magnets 131 in holes 129 b in such a manner that the top surfaces 131 a of the magnets are flush with the top surface 129 a of the sheet 129, and attracted to the undersurface 125 a of the metal block 125, thereby securing the union of the metal block 125 and the base 122. As shown in Figure 12, magnets 131′ can be provided in the undersurface 125 a ′ of the metal block 125′, and the base 122′ (the sheet 129′) can be formed of magnetic material. In either case the number of the magnets is not limited to two but can be determined in accordance with the size of the metal block or the magnet per se.

Claims: A hand-operable pad-type printing machine, which comprises; a body structure (2, 101); an ink tray (4, 123) provided in a lower part of the body structure (2, 101), the ink tray (4, 123) accommodating a printing plate (3, 126); a slider unit (9) reciprocally movable in an upper part of the body structure (2, 101); a handle (20, 113) pivotally connected to the slider unit (9) at one end (20 a ) thereof, thereby enabling the slider unit (9) to be moved horizontally inwardly and outwardly of the body structure (2, 101); a pad unit (11, 12, 107) having a pad (6, 104) for transferring linked patterns from the printing plate (3, 126) to an article (X), the pad unit (11, 12, 107) being carried on the slider unit (9) so as to move horizontally in conjunction with the horizontal movement of the slider unit (9) and having a member (22) engagable with the handle (20) whereby the pad unit is moved vertically when the handle is pivoted on the slider unit (9); an ink scraper unit (7, 13, 15, 33, 105, 108) and a doctor blade unit (8, 14, 16, 44, 106, 109) carried on the slider unit (9) so as to cause an ink scraper (7, 105) and a doctor blade (8, 106) to move horizontally within the ink tray (4, 123) upon horizontal movement of the slider unit (9); a first cam mechanism (30) for controlling the ink scraper (7, 105) so that upon an outward stroke it is submerged in the ink in the ink tray (4, 123) and thereby covers the printing plate (3, 126) with ink, and upon an inward stroke it is kept out of contact with the printing plate (3, 126); and a second cam mechanism (40) for controlling the doctor blade (8, 106) so that upon an outward stroke it is kept out of contact with the printing plate (3, 126), and upon an inward stroke it is submerged in the ink so as to wipe superfluous ink from the printing plate (3, 126). A hand-operable pad-type printing machine according to claim 1, in which the printing plate (3, 126) and the ink tray (4, 123) are provided as a printing unit (120) on a base (52, 122); the printing plate (3, 126) is fixed to a block (53, 125), the printing plate (3, 126) and the ink tray (4, 123) are made of plastics and the block (53, 125) is detachably fixed to the body structure (2, 101) by a magnet (56, 131, 131′) provided either on that surface of the block (53, 125) which is in contact with the ink tray (4, 123) or on that surface of the base (52, 122) which is in contact with the ink tray (4, 123) with the other one of the block (53, 125) or the base (52, 122) being made of magnetic material, whereby the block (53, 125) joins the ink tray (4, 123) to the base (52, 122) and the pad unit (11, 12, 104, 107) has a pad (6, 104) of plastics for transferring inked patterns from the printing palte (3, 126) to the article (X).

Inventors: FUJIMOTO, MASAYA C/O TAIHEI KOGYO K.K., KANATANI, TADAHIKO C/O TAIHEI KOGYO K.K., UENO, YOSHITAKE C/O TAIHEI KOGYO K.K.
Applicants: NAVITAS KABUSHIKI KAISHA
Application year: 1987
Main classification: B41F17
IPC codes: B41F17