Patent ID: 8240250

Claim:
An improved ink pan system for a single pan design of a rotogravure printing press having a reservoir with an open top, a dam within said reservoir dividing said reservoir into an intake section where ink is contained for transfer to a gravure cylinder and an outtake section where ink is drained from a pan, a gate within said dam having an open position and a closed position, a vortex promoter located within said reservoir for promoting ink transfer to the gravure cylinder, and a doctor blade positioned over the intake section of said reservoir, wherein the improvement comprising: said reservoir having pan shrouding on the opposite side of said doctor blade over said outtake section, where said reservoir enclosing a substantial portion of the gravure cylinder; an intake port through the bottom of said intake section; an outtake port through the bottom of said outtake section; said intake section having a bottom with a first slope and said outtake section having a bottom with a second slope; said first slope being toward said outtake section and said vortex promoter; said second slope being toward said outtake port from both sides; a dam gate release lever connected to said gate and extending outside of said reservoir, said dam gate release lever being for opening and closing said gate from outside of said reservoir; a plurality of channels through said vortex promoter adapted for allowing ink to flow through said vortex promoter towards said outtake section; a pre-wipe bar located between said doctor blade and said vortex promoter adapted for removing excess ink from the gravure cylinder before it reaches said doctor blade; two journal port seals located on each end of the gravure cylinder, each of said journal port seals being adapted for sealing a journal of the gravure cylinder with the ends of said reservoir; and an angled doctor blade holder.