Abstract: An ink cartridge has a pair of elongated, longitudinally extending, and transversely spaced side plates and a pair of short, transversely extending, and longitudinally spaced end plates bridging the side plates and forming therewith an downwardly open compartment adapted to hold a body of ink. Respective doctor blades extend transversely toward each other from lower edges of the side plates and define a floor of the compartment and a central downwardly open mouth adapted to feed ink from the body to a roll below the compartment. Respective axially spaced flexible bodies carried on the end plates are shiftable between outer positions generally disengaged from axial end edges of the doctor blades and inner positions bearing axially against the axial end edges.

Abstract: A printing roller has an outer surface and is rotatable in a rotational sense about a roller axis. A liquid applicator has an upstream blade having an edge engageable with the roller surface and a downstream blade having an edge engageable with the roller surface downstream in the sense from the upstream-blade edge. The blades form a compartment fillable with a liquid to be applied to the roller outer surface. The upstream blade is shifted on rotation of the roller between an engaged position with the respective edge engaging the surface and a disengaged position with the respective edge spaced radially from the surface.

Abstract: An inker for applying ink to a transfer roll of a printing machine has an inking chamber extending longitudinally along the transfer roll and having an outlet also extending longitudinally along the transfer roll and open against the transfer roll and a first generally cylindrical mixing chamber centered on an axis, spaced transversely from and extending longitudinally along the transfer roll. A rotatable shaft extending along the axis in the mixing chamber carries a partition subdividing the mixing chamber into two axially adjacent and axially spaced mixing compartments open radially into the inking chamber. At least two inlet conduits open onto each of the compartments, and a pump feeds respective inks to the inlet conduits and therethrough into the mixing compartments.

Abstract: A printer having a roll with a radial outer roll surface has an ink cartridge having a housing itself having a pair of side walls and a pair of end walls bridging the side walls and defining therewith a downwardly open mouth juxtaposed with the roll surface. One of the side walls is shiftable between an outer position defining a relatively large volume and an inner position. Doctor blades supported on the housing have outer edges resiliently engageable at the mouth with the surface. One of the doctor blades is shiftable between an open position with its outer edge spaced from the other doctor blade and a closed position. A mechanism connected to the one wall and to the one doctor blade shifts the one doctor blade between the open position and the closed position and simultaneously shifts the one wall from the inner position to the outer position.

Abstract: Images are printed on surfaces of discrete objects that are loaded onto an upstream end of a production path passing through a plurality of treatment stations and taken off a downstream end the path. The path passes through a plurality of treatment stations and is split at least one of the stations into a plurality of generally parallel lanes each having a respective treatment device or printer. At the one treatment station the objects are split up and fed to the lanes from the path, the images are printed on the objects in the lanes with the respective printers, and all the objects are returned to the path after printing. The objects move single-file downstream along the path upstream and downstream of the one station. Instead of printers, each lane can have some other type of treatment machine and the operations performed by these treatment machines in the lanes can be the same or different.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and a device for producing and deflecting ink drops in a continuous ink-jet printer in which a continuous cohesive ink jet exits from a nozzle of a pressure chamber, and in which at least one acoustic pulse (140, 142, 142a) strikes the cohesive ink jet (9) transversely to the propagation direction, and one segment of the ink jet (9) upon which the acoustic pulse (140, 142, 142a) acts is separated from the cohesive ink jet (9) and deflected from its original propagation direction (100), the separated segment forming an ink drop (11) during its travel due to cohesion forces.

Abstract: The invention relates to a security device for data carriers which may be or is secured onto or within a data carrier or its housing, and in which data may be exchanged, especially bidirectionally, with the security device, by means of a read/write device especially provided for the data carrier. The invention furthermore relates to a data carrier, especially optical data carriers with such a security device, as well as a process for securing data carriers against unauthorized copying, wherein data recorded on an electronic security device installed upon or in a data carrier, are processed by the security device and the outcome of such processing is read out from the security device.

Abstract: Objects to be printed are loaded one-by-one onto a conveyor extending through and upstream from a printing station in a longitudinally extending row in groups each having a predetermined number n of longitudinally aligned objects and a longitudinal length equal to n times a predetermined step length and with the groups separated in the row from one another by an empty gap having a short length equal to n?1 times the predetermined step length. The thus oriented objects are moved by the conveyor through the printing station in alternating long steps having a long length equal to n times the predetermined step length and short steps equal to n?1 times the predetermined step length such that with each long step one of the groups is positioned in the printing station. In the printing station the objects are taken off the conveyor, printed, and returned to the conveyor between the long steps.

Abstract: In an ink-jet printing a succession of ink droplets are projected along a longitudinal trajectory at a target substrate. A group of droplets is selected from the succession in the trajectory, and this the group of droplets is combined by electrostatically accelerating upstream droplets of the group and/or decelerating downstream droplets of the group into a single drop.

Abstract: The inventions relates to an apparatus, in particular for a screen-printing machine, for measuring tension in a printing screen in a frame, characterized in that a holder for the frame (1) has holder bars (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) each formed of a plurality of sections (3a1, 3a2, . . . , or 3b1, 3b.2, . . . , or 3c1, 3c2, . . . , 3d1, 3d2, . . . , ) each provided with a respective sensor (6) for measuring tension. The invention furthermore relates to a method, in particular for a screen-printing machine, for measuring tension in a screen in a screen frame, characterized in that a screen (2a) mounted in a frame (1) is mounted in a holder (3) having holder bars (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) each formed by a plurality of sections (3a1, 3a2, . . . , or 3b1, 3b.2, . . . , or 3c1, 3c2, . . . , 3d1, 3d2, . . . ) each provided with a respective sensor (6) that measure forces between the respective section (3a1, 3a2, . . . , or 3b1, 3b.2, . . . , or 3c1, 3c2, . . . , 3d1, 3d2, . . . ) and the frame (1).

Abstract: The invention concerns a transport support for transport of at least one object along the transport path through at least one processing station, and can include transport of at least one printable object along the transport path for printing of a printable object, in which the transport support includes a device by means of which the object can be aligned in the desired position relative to the transport support. The invention also concerns a method for alignment, including centering, of at least one object of a transport support, by means of which at least one object is transported along a transport path to/through at least one processing station, in which the object can be aligned by a device provided in the transport support into a desired position relative to transport support.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing and/or deflecting ink drops, in particular in a continuously operating ink-jet printer, in which a continuous, cohesive ink stream is emitted from a nozzle of a pressure chamber, with spaced sonic pulses (140, 150) acting on an ink stream (9, 11, 12) that is at least partially cohesive or in the form of drops in the dispersion direction (100, 100a) of the ink stream; by the effect of each of the spaced sonic pulses (140, 150) on the ink stream (9, 11, 12), an ink drop (11, 13) may be separated from the ink stream (9, 11, 12) and/or deflected, in particular by the same angle, from the original dispersion direction (100, 100a) of the ink stream (9, 11, 12), such that a group of ink drop streams (13), in particular parallel ink drop streams, may be/is produced.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for conveying sheetlike articles, in particular printed sheets, by which conveyed sheetlike articles may optionally be fed to various conveying routes, various delivery stacks being provided in particular at the end of the conveying routes. The device includes at least one conveying module (1, 2, 3, 4) having at least one continuously revolving suction belt (11) which exerts a negative pressure on the underside of an article (200) to be conveyed, and which conveys the article (200) from the start to the end of the conveying module (1, 2, 3, 4). At least one conveying module (2) is designed as a mechanical switch point in order to reroute a conveyed sheetlike article (200) in its conveying route. The invention further relates to a method for operating such a device.

Abstract: A conveyor system has an elongated guide defining a closed transport path extending through a plurality of treatment stations and a plurality of carriers movable on the guide along the path and each capable of holding a respective workpiece. At least one magnet is provided on each carrier, and an annular row of individually energizeable electromagnets extends along the path and is capable of exerting force on the magnets of the carriers so as to displace the respective carriers along the path. A plurality of sensors spaced along the path detect the carriers and generate outputs indicating positions and movement of the carriers along the path. At least some of the electromagnets at least intermittently form some of the sensors.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for changing the trajectory of ink droplets generated by and emitted from a print head which operates in a continuous manner, the ink droplets being electrostatically charged and deflected in a plane out of an original trajectory by at least one electrical field in a first deflecting device, the ink droplets being deflected in the same plane by at least one electrical field in a second deflecting device. The invention further relates to an inkjet printing device for emitting, in particular in a continuous manner, electrostatically charged ink droplets in an original trajectory by means of a first deflecting device for deflecting the charged ink droplets in a plane out of the original trajectory, at least one second deflecting device being provided by which the ink droplets may be deflected in the same plane.

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for applying substances comprising liquid crystals to substrates, wherein the substance is maintained at a working temperature inside a coating device, in particular a printing mechanism, the substance being in a liquid state at said temperature and the liquid crystal components contained in the substance being in a mesomorphous state. Furthermore, the invention relates to a printing machine whose components, in particular ink chamber, screen roller, transfer rollers, distributor rollers, printing cylinders and impression cylinders can be individually heated.

Abstract: The invention concerns a transport support for transport of at least one object along the transport path through at least one processing station, and can include transport of at least one printable object along the transport path for printing of a printable object, in which the transport support includes a device by means of which the object can be aligned in the desired position relative to the transport support. The invention also concerns a method for alignment, including centering, of at least one object of a transport support, by means of which at least one object is transported along a transport path to/through at least one processing station, in which the object can be aligned by a device provided in the transport support into a desired position relative to transport support.

Abstract: An ink applicator has at least one generally stationary mounting part, a fixed elongated bar fixedly mounted on the mounting part and carrying an elongated applicator blade, and a movable elongated bar mounted on the mounting part, extending parallel to the fixed bar, carrying an elongated applicator blade parallel to the fixed-bar blade, and defining an elongated ink-holding compartment with the fixed bar. The movable bar is supported on the mounting part for movement between an outer position with the movable-bar blade spaced transversely from the fixed-bar blade and defining a gap through which ink can flow out of the compartment and an inner position with the blades engaging one another and closing the gap so that no ink can flow out of the compartment.

Abstract: The invention relates to a device for conveying sheetlike articles, in particular printed sheets, by which conveyed sheetlike articles may optionally be fed to various conveying routes, various delivery stacks being provided in particular at the end of the conveying routes. The device includes at least one conveying module (1, 2, 3, 4) having at least one continuously revolving suction belt (11) which exerts a negative pressure on the underside of an article (200) to be conveyed, and which conveys the article (200) from the start to the end of the conveying module (1, 2, 3, 4). At least one conveying module (2) is designed as a mechanical switch point in order to reroute a conveyed sheetlike article (200) in its conveying route. The invention further relates to a method for operating such a device.

Abstract: A pulse generator which can be used for a printer, for example an ink jet printer, to provide adjustable pulses per unit displacement or speed has a linearly or rotatably displaceable first plate with a periodic pattern of different optical density or transmissivity or reflectivity juxtaposed with a second plate with another array of markings of different optical density transmissivity or reflectivity so that in an overlapping region a Moiré pattern or other interference pattern for beat pattern is provided. The latter is detected by an optical sensor which outputs electrical pulses. The two plates can be relatively displaced to change the pattern and hence the detected periodicity.