Patent ID: 7134394

Claim:
A printing cylinder to which an offset blanket can be clamped comprising a cylinder body, a clamping channel that extends in the axial direction of the cylinder body; a clamping mechanism arranged in parallel relation to said clamping channel for fixing ends of the offset blanket in the clamping channel; the clamping channel being defined by a plurality of sides defining a space into which the rubber blanket ends can be inserted into the clamping channel, said clamping mechanism including a rotatable, substantially cylindrical spindle having a diameter less than the diameter of said cylinder body, said cylinder body being formed with a substantially cylindrical spindle receiving chamber parallel to said clamping channel that supports said spindle for relative rotational movement, said spindle substantially occupying said spindle receiving chamber, said spindle defining at least one side of the said clamping channel that is moveable in a circumferential direction relative to a circumferential surface of the cylinder body as an incident to a closed blanket retaining position to rotation of the spindle to completely close the clamping channel with only the ends of the rubber blanket retained therein, and said spindle having a peripheral portion adjacent said one side that has a curvature radius substantially the same as the curvature radius of said printing cylinder such that when said spindle is in said closed blanket retaining position the outer circumferential surface of said cylinder body is substantially uninterrupted for vibration free operation of the printing cylinder; and wherein the clamping mechanism is provided with a longitudinal slot for receiving the ends of the rubber blanket.