Patents Examined by Stephen R. Funk
  • Printer media alignment apparatus and method
    Patent number: 6585439
    Abstract: A printer having a media transport mechanism defining a media path. The path extends from a media supply past a print engine. A media alignment element moves between an extended position intersecting the path between the supply and the engine, and a retracted position away from the path. The printer may include a pair of rollers between the supply and the alignment element and encompassing the path, so that the sheet may be gripped by the rollers at a position adjacent the alignment to preserve the alignment by the element. The rollers may retract the sheet from the alignment element, which may move aside from the media path, so that the media may be fed toward a print engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Bruce G. Johnson, Antonio Gomez, Richard A. Kelley, Michael W. Munro, Richard Olson
  • Inking roller nip width adjustments in a rotary printing press
    Patent number: 6584902
    Abstract: A rotary printing press has one or two inking rollers each in rolling engagement with both an ink supply cylinder and a plate cylinder. Each inking roller is identically supported by a first pair of roller support members mounted one adjacent each end of the ink supply cylinder for pivotal motion about the axis of that cylinder, and a second pair of roller support members mounted to the first pair for pivotal motion about an axis parallel to the axis of the ink supply cylinder, the second pair of roller support members rotatably supporting one inking roller therebetween. Adjusting screws act between the two pairs of roller support members for adjustably varying the nip width between the ink supply cylinder and each inking roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokyo Kikai Seisakusho
    Inventors: Yasuo Shibuya, Takeo Nanba
  • Method and stencil for extruding material on a substrate
    Patent number: 6584897
    Abstract: A stencil for use in fabricating semiconductor devices is disclosed that has an aperture having a first portion extending from a first side thereof and a second portion extending from a second side thereof to minimize the shear stress between the material extruded therethrough and the stencil. The stencil allows for material to be extruded through the top of the stencil to the surface of the substrate and not contact the wall of the second portion of the aperture of the stencil. Since the material only contacts a small area of the first portion of the aperture near the top of the stencil, the material remains on the substrate and not in the aperture of the stencil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 23, 2002
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
    Inventors: Chad Cobbley, Ford B. Grigg
  • Pad-printing ink cup
    Patent number: 6584898
    Abstract: The invention concerns a pad-printing ink cup fitted with at least one magnet (10). The minimum of one magnet (10) may be positioned at different heights relative to the plane of the doctor edge (22), the magnetic force effective in the said plane depending on said heights.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 1, 2003
    Assignee: ITW Morlock GmbH
    Inventor: Holger Reinholdt
  • Stencil printing machine and printing drum thereof
    Patent number: 6578477
    Abstract: A printing drum (2), to which a stencil sheet having subjected to a stencil making process is attached, can be attached to and removed from a printer main body (1). A nonvolatile memory (25) is provided in the printing drum. The number of print products is stored in the nonvolatile memory as “Information on the use” of the printing drum. A control device (5) of the printer main body reads out “Information on the use” from the nonvolatile memory and stores them in a RAM (12) when the printing drum is attached to the printer main body. Subsequently, when printing is performed, information on the number of print products is updated. When the printing drum is removed from the printer main body, “Information on the use” is updated and written into the nonvolatile memory.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 6, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Eiko Yanagi, Kazuo Nakano
  • Article and method for use in preparing a lithographic printing plate by imaging in a printer engine
    Patent number: 6578485
    Abstract: A lithographic printing plate substrate is conditioned for imaging in a printer engine by an edge protector adhered along at least one edge of the plate substrate, the edge protector being of a flexible material, being coextensive with the edge, having face portions adhered to portions of the opposite faces adjacent the edge, and having an edge portion overlying the edge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 17, 2003
    Assignee: Kodak Polychrome Graphics LLC
    Inventor: Patrick R. Friedman
  • Lithographic printing plate support having a roughened surface
    Patent number: 6575094
    Abstract: A lithographic printing plate support is provided which becomes a support of a PS plate which has excellent ability to withstand repeated printing, and in which defects in appearance, such as dirtying and the like, do not occur. Also provided are a method of manufacturing the lithographic printing plate support and a PS plate which has such merits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 10, 2003
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Miwa, Teruyoshi Yasutake, Atsushi Matsuura, Akio Uesugi
  • Method for making a heat-sensitive stencil
    Patent number: 6571700
    Abstract: A stencil is made by thermally forming perforations arranged in both a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction in a thermoplastic resin film of heat-sensitive stencil material by the use of a heat source which is heated through supply of energy. Supply of energy to the heat source is cut when a time interval not shorter than 50% and not longer than 100% of an estimated perforating time lapses from the time at which supply of energy to the heat source is started. The estimated perforating time is a time interval expected to be necessary for a perforation to be produced by the heat of the heat source and to be enlarged to a desired size as a final size as measured from the time at which supply of energy to the heat source is started.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Jun Nakamura, Kenji Ohshima
  • Method of thermally perforating a heat sensitive stencil
    Patent number: 6571699
    Abstract: A stencil is made by thermally forming perforations arranged in both a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction in a thermoplastic resin film of heat-sensitive stencil material by the use of a heat source which is heated through supply of energy. Supply of energy to the heat source is cut so that the quotient obtained by dividing a maximum diameter of a perforation at the time at which supply of energy to the heat source is cut by the energizing time is not smaller than 0.015 m/s and not larger than 0.23 m/s.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Riso Kagaku Corporation
    Inventors: Kenji Ohshima, Jun Nakamura
  • Print media handling system and printer having the same
    Patent number: 6572291
    Abstract: A print media handling system for feeding print media into a media inlet of a printer is disclosed. The print media handling system includes a media feeder for feeding print media along a media path towards the media inlet. At least one trimming element is disposed along the media path for trimming fed print media to a predetermined width prior to the print media entering the media inlet. A printer that includes a print media handling system described above is also disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 2001
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2003
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Wai Yuen Ho, Baskar Parthasarathy
  • Supports for lithographic printing plates
    Patent number: 6568325
    Abstract: A support for lithographic printing plate which is obtained by performing surface roughening treatments including electrolytic graining on an aluminum alloy plate containing Fe, Si, Cu, Ti, Mg and Ni in specified amounts, with the balance being Al and incidental impurities. The Ni content, Cu content and the average surface roughness of the roughened support surface satisfy a specified relationship. A lithographic printing plate prepared from the support have longer press life, higher resistance to staining and better surface quality.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 27, 2003
    Assignee: Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hirokazu Sawada, Akio Uesugi
  • Printing plate, method for producing printing plate, reusing method for printing plate, and printing machine
    Patent number: 6564713
    Abstract: A method for making a printing plate including a step of forming a hydrophobic image area on at least a part of a hydrophilic surface of a plate. The plate surface contains a photocatalyst and the image area is formed by using an organic compound which is decomposed and removed by the irradiation of light having a higher energy than the band gap energy of the photocatalyst.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yasuharu Suda, Toyofumi Shimada, Hitoshi Isono
  • Lithographic plate material
    Patent number: 6564712
    Abstract: There is provided a lithographic plate material with which a lithographic plate is prepared by the hot-melt transfer recording method utilizing an ink ribbon. The lithographic plate material has an image-receptive layer for hot-melt transfer recording that has a water retention property or can be imparted with a water retention property on a support, and the image-receptive layer has a surface roughness (JIS-B06011994) of 0.15 &mgr;m or more in terms of arithmetic mean deviation Ra and 1.00-3.00 &mgr;m in terms of 10-point height of irregularities Rz. It shows good transfer of the ink layer of ink ribbon and excellent fixation of the ink layer, and it enables production of a printing plate having excellent printing durability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: May 20, 2003
    Assignee: Kimoto Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hironori Sato, Junichi Nouda, Toshimichi Katsuoka
  • Processless thermal printing plate with well defined nanostructure
    Patent number: 6550387
    Abstract: According to the present invention there is provided a heat-sensitive material for making a negative working non-ablative lithographic printing plate including in a heat sensitive layer thermoplastic polymer beads and a compound capable of converting light into heat on a surface of a hydrophilic metal support, the layer being free of binder, and characterized in that the thermoplastic polymer beads have a diameter between 0.2 &mgr;m and 1.4 &mgr;m.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Agfa-Gevaert
    Inventors: Joan Vermeersch, Marc Van Damme
  • Printing system, printing method and recording medium
    Patent number: 6550382
    Abstract: The present invention aims at providing a printing system and technique correctly reflecting supplied color information, and a technique of managing color information in a centralized manner thereby facilitating maintenance of data. The printing system has a color information database DB in which color information is registered, and the color information has respective items of “color name”, “ink name”, “printing order”, “screen angle”, “process colorization instruction”, “pseudo color” and “ink type”. In print processing, it acquires a color name specified as the color of a prescribed area in digital data subjected to printing, and retrieves and extracts color information corresponding thereto from the color information registered in the color information database DB. Then, it performs raster image processing and performs print processing on the basis of the extracted color information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2003
    Assignee: Dainippon Screen Mfg., Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Satoshi Kouyama, Humihiro Hatayama
  • Printing press scraping blade
    Patent number: 6546861
    Abstract: A printing press ink scraping blade is disclosed. The ink scraping blade is of a unitary construction and includes a working end as well as a mounting end. The working end is preferably substantially thicker than the mounting end to provide substantially more material at the working end. As the scraping blade engages a scraping roller of a printing press, the blade is exposed to abrasive action and the additional material provided increases the serviceable life of the blade. To ensure that the blade maintains sufficient flexibility and deflection characteristics, the remainder or mounting end of the blade, is of a substantially reduced thickness. The blade may be manufactured from spring steel to further enhance flexibility.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Goss Graphic Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: John W. Manser
  • Printing form and method of modifying the wetting characteristics of the printing form
    Patent number: 6546868
    Abstract: The printing form, such as a printing plate or the surface of a printing cylinder, has a semiconducting surface with defined hydrophobic and hydrophilic areas corresponding to a print image to be printed with the printing form. The wetting characteristics of the printing form can be altered. To this end, the surface of the printing form is first placed into an essentially uniform chemical state with a first wetting behavior. Parts of all of the areas of the semiconductor surface are then put into a second chemical state which has a second wetting property that is different from the first.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 29, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 15, 2003
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventor: Peter Hess
  • Printing plate and printer using it
    Patent number: 6543360
    Abstract: A printing system is provided which ensures easy formation of a plate and regeneration of the plate for continued use. The press plate used in a the printing system to form an image using a water-based ink is characterized in that, (I) prior to formation of a latent image, the surface forming the latent image exhibits extra ink-repellency to the ink to be used; (2) the press plate allows a water soluble material forming the latent image to be deposited thereon; (3) the latent image can be formed by allowing the water soluble material to be deposited on the press plate surface; and (4) the press plate can be regenerated as a plate which allows a new latent image to be formed by washing the press plate with water and drying it, upon completion of ensuing processes of development and transfer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2000
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignees: Hitachi, Ltd., Hitachi Koki Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Sasaki, Mitsuyoshi Shouji, Kenichi Kawashima, Yutaka Ito, Teruaki Mitsuya, Nobuyoshi Hoshi
  • Method of increasing the service life of printing forms whereon images can be set in printing machines
    Patent number: 6543361
    Abstract: A method of treating a process-free printing form fitted to a printing-form cylinder includes having an imaging unit act upon a coating of a printing form and produce printing areas and non-printing areas on the printing form, and after the imaging unit has acted upon the coating, operating the imaging unit at reduced power during a return pass into a starting position thereof.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2003
    Assignee: Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
    Inventor: Gotthard Schmid
  • Method of preparing a lithographic printing plate for imaging in a printer engine
    Patent number: 6539865
    Abstract: A lithographic printing plate substrate is conditioned for imaging in a printer engine by attaching a leader to the leading edge. The leader is sufficiently flexible to be drawn into the printer engine and is adapted to pull the plate substrate through the printer engine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2001
    Date of Patent: April 1, 2003
    Assignee: Kodak Polychrome Graphics LLC
    Inventor: Patrick R. Friedman