Abstract: An ink stamp with a handle having a downwardly extending shaft from which a pre-inked stamp is suspended. An intermediate member is threaded onto the shaft and abuts the top of a hollow base housing the pre-inked stamp to limit downward movement of the stamp when making an impression. A spring is positioned between the intermediate member and the base to urge the shaft and handle upwardly. Adjustment of the intermediate member along the shaft varies the extent of movement of the pre-inked stamp according to the amount of ink it holds.

Abstract: A screen process printing plate includes a screen holding plate provided with an opening and having flexibility and restoring capability. A screen is fixed to the screen holding plate and covers at least a part of the opening. A fixed member is provided for fixedly holding one end of the screen holding plate and a movable member is provided for holding an opposite end of the screen holding plate. The movable member is movable in a direction parallel to a plane defined by the screen. A biasing device is provided for biasing the movable member in a predetermined first direction away from the fixed member and in the direction of movement of the movable member. When a squeegee presses the screen holding plate and the screen, the screen holding plate and the screen are flexibly curved easily into contact with an object to be printed. Since the tension is supported by the screen holding plate, excessive tension does not occur in the screen.

Abstract: A washing device formed as an insert unit on a printing machine for cleaning the outer cylindrical surface of rollers or cylinders includes a washcloth supply roll and a dirty-washcloth take-up roll for a washcloth, a device for saturating the washcloth with washing medium, a device for withdrawing the washcloth from the supply roll by winding the washing device on the take-up roll via an actuable pressure applicator, so that, during a washing operation, the pressure applicator presses the washcloth against a roller or cylinder, the take-up roll being connectible with a feeder device fixed to the machine, the washing device being automatically connectible with a roll-sensing device fixed to the machine when it is slid as an insert unit into position in the machine, an upwardly exposed washcloth section, in the slid-in position, being disposed upstream of a membrane member, as viewed in transport direction of the washcloth, the washcloth section being located beneath a washing-medium dispenser device fixed to

Abstract: An articulating hand stamp mechanism is disclosed which is capable of being articulated between closed and open positions. In the closed position, a pair of pivotally connected split housings enclose the stamp pad and its housing completely. The mechanism may be articulated open by causing the housings to rotate about the pivot point which in turn results in the stamp pad housing to rotate to a horizontal position so that the pad can be brought against an article to be marked. Each of the split housings has had grasping portions with one of the hand grasping portions having a pressure bearing surface canted at an angle with respect to the other portion when the mechanism is closed. Because the pressure surfaces are canted and positioned a distance away from the pivot point, increased torque is provided, allowing the mechanism to be easily opened when desired while simultaneously minimizing opening caused by unintentionally applied force.

Abstract: A serial printer includes a reciprocably mounted carriage having a printing head, and a generally flat flexible cable extends between the carriage and a drive circuit. A generally flat flexible reinforcing plate comprising a shield electrode is disposed in superimposed relationship to the flexible cable.

Abstract: A plate lockup apparatus for a printing press includes a leading-side lockup device, a trailing-side lockup device, and a cam mechanism. The trailing-side lockup device is located in the gap of the plate cylinder and grips a trailing edge of the plate, the trailing-side lockup device having a lockup table and a gripper plate, each having a plate gripper surface extending in a radial direction of the plate cylinder. The lockup table and the gripper plate are connected to each other at non-gripping ends thereof through a shaft. The cam mechanism has a cam, a cam surface of which is in contact with the lockup table. The cam mechanism is operated such that at a start of pivotal movement of the cam, the plate gripper surfaces of the lockup table and the gripper plate are closed to grip the plate, and at an end of pivotal movement of the cam, the lockup table and the gripper plate are moved together in a circumferential direction of the plate cylinder to tighten the gripped plate.

Abstract: A low-inertia, fast-acting servo motor (40) coupled through a gear to a fountain roll (20) of an inker is controlled and energized by an electronic control unit (45). The control unit controls acceleration of the fountain roll (20) during the period of time when a ductor roller (21) is in contact therewith, from speed 0 to the required speed which is necessary to rotate the fountain roll (20) about a predetermined angle (.phi.s) which, for example, is between 0.degree. and 90.degree.. During the second half of the ductor roller cycle (T), that is, when the ductor roller (21) is separated from the fountain roll (20) and in engagement with an ink transfer roller (22) of the inker, the angular speed of the fountain roll is braked to zero speed. The system permits remote command of the angle of rotation (.phi.s) of the fountain roll (20) during the half cycle (T/2) of the ductor roller (21) as the ductor roller oscillates at a speed depending on printing press machine speed.

Abstract: A ribbon cassette is selectively mounted in a printing device having an operating mechanism actuable between locked and released states. The ribbon cassette has a casing for accommodating therein a print ribbon that cooperates with the operating mechanism for printing characters. The cassette also includes an actuating mechanism for mechanically unlocking the operating mechanism to the released state when the casing is inserted into the printing device. In a preferred embodiment, the actuating mechanism is a projection on a wall of the casing that abuts a locking linkage within the printing device and moves the locking linkage to unlock the operating mechanism.

Abstract: A device for adjusting a flexible printing plate on a plate cylinder of a rotary printing press includes clamping rails, whereby both ends of the plate are clamped in the clamping rails. The clamping rails are connected in an articulated manner at their ends by swivel-mounted levers to means for correcting the plate register by turning the printing plate during the operation of the press.

Abstract: A printer of a ribbon cassette fixed type, to which a ribbon cassette is detachably mounted, has a main body and a cassette mounting portion provided on the main body. The mounting portion has a cassette loading plate for loading the cassette thereon. The cassette includes two spools in parallel winding an ink ribbon therebetween. The printer includes a feed reel disposed at the loading plate and adapted to engage with one of the spools for feeding the ribbon, and a take-up reel disposed at the loading plate and adapted to engage with the other of the spools for taking-up the ribbon. A carriage is mounted in the main body movably along a printing direction. A print head is disposed on the carriage, to which a portion of the ribbon is set, for printing by using the ribbon discharged from the cassette by a movement of the carriage in the printing direction.

Abstract: A vacuum blanket cleaning system is provided for removing dust, lint or ink from a blanket cylinder in an offset printing press during the uninterrupted course of a press run. Operation is effected by an air cylinder which periodically urges a cleaner against the blanket cylinder and retracts the cleaner from the blanket cylinder for replacement or maintenance. The action of the cleaner in combination with rotation of the blanket cylinder is such as to loosen dust and lint from the blanket cylinder, which dust and lint is then drawn into a vacuum system that surrounds the cleaner.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of erasing printing by a thermal transfer printer which is capable of erasing printing on paper. A printing area is divided into a plurality of small areas extendedly disposed in the direction in which a carriage moves. These small areas are divided into a plurality of erasure units made up of a plurality of small areas spaced apart from each other. The erasure operation is divided into two or more operations performed on each unit whereby erasure of printing is reliably performed and damage to paper is suppressed to a minimum.

Abstract: A printer apparatus including a slide assembly for advancing a receptor material and a ribbon material relative to a print head and platen for printing color images.

Abstract: A printer having a function of reading a bar code attached on a printing paper. A carrier cover of a sensor carrier unit is disposed against the bar-coded surface of the printing paper as located in the printing position by a positioning means, and the printing paper is supported on its rear surface by a guide member, whereupon the sensor carrier unit is moved in the direction of reading the bar code. Therefore, the distance between the bar code and the sensor is normally kept constant so that the printing paper is effectively prevented from being displaced during reading.

Abstract: A stencil carrier apparatus including a semi-cylindrical driving feed roller, driven feed rollers, a pressure guide plate, and a control cam enables a used stencil from a printing drum to be reliably transported to a stencil receiver so as to be discharged out of a printing apparatus.

Abstract: A swinging gripper apparatus for use in a sheet-processing machine, which includes a rocker arm member having a pivotally mounted first end and a second end which is selectively positionable adjacent the cylinder or adjacent the feed table, a cam segment member having two opposing arcuate camming surfaces provided thereon, apparatus for moving the cam segment member closer to or further away from the pivotally mounted first end of the rocker arm member, at least one gripper member pivotally mounted on the second end of the rocker arm member for pivotal movement with respect thereto, a lever arm extending from the at least one gripper member, and a cam follower member mounted on the lever arm, the cam follower member being positioned between the two opposing arcuate surfaces provided on the cam segment member.

Abstract: A sheet-fed printing press with a sheet feeder and a printing unit traction device connecting the sheet feeder and the printing unit to one another, the traction device having a taut side and a slack side, a phase-adjustment device acting upon the traction device for changing a phase angle between an input shaft and an output shaft by means of a change in the length of the taut side, one of the shafts being assigned to the sheet feeder and the other to the printing unit, the phase-adjustment device acting between the slack side and the taut side along a substantially vertical line disposed centrally with respect to the shafts, the phase-adjustment device comprising an adjustably disposed guide for the taut side of the traction device, and a guide for the slack side of the traction device, tensioning elements acting between the taut-side guide and the slack-side guide for prestressing the slack-side guide against the slack side of the traction device, the slack-side guide together with the taut-side guide bein

Abstract: In a printer of the type having a print mechanism comprising a platen rotatable about its own axis for supporting a print sheet, an ink ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon therein, and a print head movable along the platen for performing a print operation on the print sheet with the use of the ink ribbon, a hopper storing a stack of cut sheets is disposed above a first area of a printer frame and a stacker above a second area thereof. A pin tractor is disposed beneath the first area thereof for mounting a continuous sheet. The cut sheet and the continuous sheet are selectively fed to the print mechanism for printing. The stacker is movably disposed between a cut sheet receiving position allowing to receive the cut sheets discharged from the platen and a rest position rejecting to receive the cut sheet. A space above the second area is enlarged when the stacker is brought to the rest position, whereby the ink ribbon cassette disposed beneath the second area can easily be exchanged.

Abstract: A blanket cylinder is covered by a blanket having ends secured by spindles in a wide gap extending parallel to the central axis of the cylinder. The cylinder includes a cover rail having a substantially mushroom-shaped cross-section disposed along the length of the gap. The cover rail is attached to the base of the gap so that the cover rail bears against the blanket secured on the spindles and sealing material is provided between the end walls of the cylinder and the adjacent surfaces of the cover rail.

Abstract: The machine substantially comprises two bays (9, 9a) accommodating the rotorgravure cylinders, either one of which is approachable from alongside by a trolley (4, 4a) carrying the print cylinder (6, 6a) and individually accessible regardless of whether the remaining bay is already occupied by a trolley and cylinder or not; each bay is served by its own impression cylinder (10, 10a) and doctor (8, 8a), which operate in conjunction with each replacement print cylinder brought in on the trolley. The speed with which print cylinders can be changed over and recommence operation is considerably enhanced by the design of the improved machine.