Abstract: An ink fountain having doctor blades clamped on the upstream and downstream sides to engage a rotary cylinder and an overflow ink barrier at one end of the ink fountain providing an overflow wall for the discharge of ink from the ink fountain into a drain chamber. Longitudinal channels beneath the doctor blades communicate with the drain chamber for the discharge of ink into the drain chamber.

Abstract: A plurality of components are force-fitted into a workpiece simultaneously, by the following steps: preparing a dummy workpiece with tool supports fixed thereto in a predetermined pattern, each tool support being removably surmounted by a component insertion tool; placing the dummy workpiece beneath a magnetic chuck on the platen of a hyrdraulic press; lowering the platen so that the tools are magnetically secured to the chuck; raising the platen to remove the tools from the tool supports; replacing the dummy workpiece by an actual workpiece with the components arranged thereon in said predetermined pattern; lowering the platen so that each tool on the chuck force-fits the component therebeneath into the workpiece; raising the platen with the tools thereon; and removing the actual workpiece from the press.

Abstract: Apparatus for force fitting components into a workpiece comprises a gantry supporting two insertion heads above an indexable support for the workpiece, a workpiece pick-up station on each side of the workpiece, and rods by which the insertion heads are suspended from the gantry and which are rotatable to translate the insertion heads between positions over the pick-up stations and positions over the workpiece and to operate tooling of the insertion heads to pick-up components from the pick-up station and to force fit them into the workpiece. The apparatus is programmed so that when one of the insertion heads is located over a pick-up station the other is located over the workpiece.

Abstract: A clinching plate for supporting a circuit board to be loaded with electrical connectors by means of a robot or a pick-and-place machine, comprises a plurality of clinching units set in openings in the plate. The units comprise pairs of slides having clinching ears for clinching a pair of posts at each end of each connector to the board to hold the connectors in place while the board is transported to a soldering station. One clinching unit is provided for each connector and each unit is operated by means of an individual drive cylinder under the control of the microprocessor of the mother machine.

Abstract: Connector insertion tool for mounting to a press having a magnetic chuck and mass inserting a plurality of contact pins depending from a connector into a printed circuit board comprises a body having bores therethrough and two rows of insertion fingers extending therefrom. A coil spring inside telescoping tubes in each bore urges a guide slidably mounted on the fingers away from the body when mounted to the press, or alternately urges a tube out of the bore opposite the guide before mounting to the press.