Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.

Raymond L Kirby, Jr

David J Ivary

There is disclosed an ink pad having an elongated one-piece body of molded plastic construction and an ink receptive pad supported by the body. The body has a bottom wall with projections adapted to engage in corresponding holes in a carrier support. The invention also relates to an ink cartridge having an elongated body of plastics material. An ink-receptive pad supported by the body, a projection extending upwardly from a top wall of the body, a resilient retainer disposed above the projection and secured to the body, the retainer having a portion extending laterally from the projection and adapted to releasably engage a support plate.

Ink pad

There is disclosed web feeding apparatus and method for feeding a web from a web roll to a utilization device. The paying out of the web from the web roll into a U-shaped buffer loop is assisted by a pair of cooperating feed rolls which engage the web along the buffer loop. When the loop decreases to a certain extent, a sensing member causes the feed rolls to rotate to pay additional web material out of the web roll until the loop has increased to a certain extent. The web material extends from the buffer loop over the web roll and is guided to the utilization device, for example, a printer. The feed rolls can be caused to rotate when a manually engageable lever is moved in one direction. Alternatively the feed rolls can be separated and caused to rotate when the member is moved in the opposite direction. The apparatus also includes a reel assembly having a reel for handling web rolls having a variety of different widths. The reel includes a side member slidably mounted on a shaft and clutched to the shaft at a variety of selected positions in accordance with the roll width. The apparatus also includes an arrangement for rendering the printer inoperable whenever the web roll on the reel is of a different width than the width for which the printer controls are set.

Web feeding method and apparatus for a printer

There is disclosed web feeding apparatus and method for feeding a web from a web roll to a utilization device. The paying out of the web from the web roll into a U-shaped buffer loop is assisted by a pair of cooperating feed rolls which engage the web along the buffer loop. When the loop decreases to a certain extent, a sensing member causes the feed rolls to rotate to pay additional web material out of the web roll until the loop has increased to a certain extent. The web material extends from the buffer loop over the web roll and is guided to the utilization device, for example, a printer. The feed rolls can be caused to rotate when a manually engageable lever is moved in one direction. Alternatively the feed rolls can be seperated and caused to rotate when the member is moved in the opposite direction. The apparatus also includes a reel assembly having a reel for handling web rolls having a variety of different widths. The reel includes a side member slidably mounted on a shaft and clutched to the shaft at a variety of selected positions in accordance with the roll width. The apparatus also includes an arrangement for rendering the printer inoperable whenever the web roll on the reel is of a different width than the width for which the printer controls are set.

There is disclosed a print head with toothed drive wheels for advancing respective printing members such as printing bands. The print head has one or more blank elements or spacers having toothed surfaces defining a gap or space which enables an indexing gear to be shifted smoothly relative to the toothed drive wheels.

Endless band printer with spacers between drive wheels

There is disclosed a printing, feeding and severing method and apparatus for carrying out the method. The apparatus includes a print head assembly and a platen assembly movable relatively toward and away from each other into and out of printing cooperation, mechanism for inking the print head assembly, mechanism for feeding a web of record members to between the print head assembly and the platen assembly, the web being in roll form and there being means to assist the gradual unwinding of the roll with gradual paying out of web material from the roll to the feeding mechanism, an idler contacting the web and disposed at a slight angle to the direction of feed of the web to cause the web to follow a feed edge, record severing means disposed downstream of the print head assembly and the platen assembly, and a modular support assembly of a print head of the print head assembly.

Inking mechanism

There is disclosed printing apparatus having a pivotally mounted print head which cooperates with a platen, a cam shaft to which a cam is secured for actuating the print head and to which another cam is secured for driving an operating lever. The cam means is part of a lost-motion connection which couples the slide to the inker. As the operating lever is cammed in one direction to move the feed finger forward, the inker is moved into and out of inking cooperation with the print head assembly. Both an ink cartridge and an ink pad assembly are mounted on yieldable supports to promote uniform pressure contact and hence uniform inking. The print head is provided with toothed drive wheels and one or more intervening blank elements or spacers each having tooth surfaces defining a gap or space which enables an indexing gear to be shifted smoothly relative to the toothed drive wheels.

Printing apparatus

A printing plate is mounted on a driven print cylinder, and ink is applied to the face of the plate by an ink applying roll which forms a nip with an ink distributing roll positioned below and horizontally offset from the ink applying roll. The rolls are driven in timed relation by a set of connecting gears and are adjustable as a unit independently on opposite ends for selecting precision uniform contact of the ink applying roll with the printing plate. In addition, the ink distributing roll is adjustable on opposite ends independently relative to the ink applying roll for precisely adjusting the nip between the rolls without changing the drive relationship. The ink is supplied to the rolls by an ink recirculating pump actuated by a cam driven by the same motor which drives the print cylinder, the ink rolls and an optional web cut-off unit. The ink recirculating pump includes a reciprocating plunger-type ink supply tube disposed concentrically within an ink return tube, and the concentric tubes depend from a manifold and cap assembly into an ink supply container. A set of molded plastic check valve bodies snap-fit onto the lower end portions of the concentric tubes, and reciprocation of the inner valve body within the outer valve body produces a flow of ink upwardly through the ink supply tube while excess ink returns between the inner and outer tubes.

Ink fountain and supply system for a printing press

There is disclosed printing apparatus having a pivotally mounted print head which cooperates with a platen, a cam shaft to which a cam is secured for actuating the print head and to which another cam is secured for driving an operating lever. The operating lever is coupled to a slide which drives a feed finger and cam means for actuating an inker. The travel of the feed finger is selectively variable by changing the position of the pivot on which the lever is mounted. The cam means is part of a lost-motion connection which couples the slide to the inker. As the operating lever is cammed in one direction to move the feed finger forward, the inker is moved into and out of inking cooperation with the print head assembly. Because of the lost-motion connection adjustment of the pivot does not affect the length of travel of the inker. When the inker is in inking position the inker is supported at both sides of the platen thereby leaving the platen accessible during threading of the apparatus with the web of record members. The print head assembly includes a pair of print heads, each print head having at least one series of rotatably mounted drive wheels and a support. A plurality of printing bands having different printing elements are trained about the support and respective drive wheels. Each support of each print head is adjustable by exerting forces at opposite ends of the support so that all the printing elements at the support are disposed in a common plane parallel to the platen. The print heads are rigidly interconnected by plates. Set screws threadably received by one of the plates are accessible from about the print head and act on adjusting plates which exert forces at opposite ends of the respective supports.

Growing community of inventors

Vandalia, OH, United States of America

Raymond L Kirby, Jr