Apparatus for Drying Ink on Freshly Printed Material

The present invention relates to apparatus for drying the ink on printed material, especially material printed on a silk-screen printing machine, said drying apparatus comprising a frame which supports a conveyor path for horizontal movement. Drying of the print is effected by heating air in said apparatus and passing said air through a plurality of nozzles, the exit orifices of which lie on a common plane above the horizontal plane of the upper conveying surface of said path.

It is known with such drying apparatus that the maximum efficiency of said apparatus is reached when the common plane of the nozzles exit orifices is spaced at a certain distance from the printed surface of the material,. Although this distance at which maximum efficiency is obtained largely depends upon the design of the nozzles and the speed at which the air exits therefrom, a distance of 15 mm has been found to constitute a practical value.

Since it should be possible to use a drying apparatus for printed material of different shapes and sizes, certain problems are encountered when the thickness of the printed material is excessive. It has previously been proposed that the common plane of the nozzles exit orifices shall be at such a distance from the horizontal plane of the conveyor path that material of considerable thickness is able to pass beneath the nozzles without hinder, although this affords the disadvantage when the ink on a printed sheet of normal thickness is to be dried in the apparatus, the common plane of said orifices is excessively spaced from the horizontal plane of the upper conveying surface of the conveyor path, with an impaired efficiency of the drying apparatus as a result.

To overcome these disadvantages, drying apparatus have been proposed in which the nozzles can be raised and lowered. thereby enabling the distance between the exit orifices of the nozzles and the printed material to be regulated to a pre-determined magnitude. Such a drying appratus, however, is extremely complicated with regard to all the measures which must be taken in order to raise and lower the nozzles and, moreover, to pass heated air therethrough.

An object of the invention is to provide a drying appratus in which the printed surface can be spaced a desired distance from the plane in which the nozzles orifices are located and in which regulation of said distance is effected with simple means.

These and other objects are fulfilled by the drying apparatus of the invention as hereinafter described with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows diagrammatically and in perspective a simplified drying apparatus according to the invention,

FIG. 2 illustrates diagrammatically the principle according to which the conveyor path can be raised and lowered with the aid of a frame structure and

FIG. 3 is a simplified cross-sectional view through part of the frame structure and a further frame structure placed therein, said Figure showing the further frame sturcture in full lines in its lowermost position and in dashlines in its uppermost position, this latter position being immediately adjacent the plane in which the nozzles orifices are located.

FIG. 1 shows in perspective a print-drying apparatus especially for use in conjunction with a silk-screen printing machine. The apparatus is shown resting on a supporting surface 1 and is generally identified at 2. The apparatus comprises a frame structure 3 which supports a horizontally movable conveyor path 4. The conveyor path 4 is intended to convey printed material, such as printed sheet of material, obtained from a printing machine, from a positition A in which the printed material is fed to the apparatus, to a position B in which the material is received by a stacking means, wet print on the material is dried as it passes thorugh the apparatus. To this end the drying apparatus 2 is provided with means (not shown) for producing hot air. These means may, to advantage, be arranged in the lower portion 3a of the drying apparatus. The hot air passes through passages (not shown) to an apparatus 3b where it is permitted to pass through a plurality of nozzles 5 located therein (FIG. 3), the exit orifices of which lie on a common plane 5a above the horizontal plane 4a of the conveyor path.

Since the printed material is discharged from the printing machine at a determined height above the means supporting said machine it follows that the portion 4b of the conveyor path 4 must be correspondingly arranged so that it can receive the printed material from the printing machine. This portion 4b must therefore be fixed. The portion 4c, which is the portion of the conveyor path 4 at which the printed material is discharged therefrom is also preferably fixed. As will be seen from FIG. 1, the upper conveying surface of the path 4 is positioned at a distance, marked "a", from the opposing surface of the portion 3b and from the common plane 5a of the exit orifices of the nozzles located within the portion 3b. This distance "a" must be sufficiently large to enable the printed material to pass into the drying apparatus even when said material is of considerable thickness. When the distance "a" is excessively large, it will be obvious that large heat losses occur, since heated air is able to pass through the gap formed between the conveyor path and the opposing surface of the apparatus portion 3b. Thus, it is desirable to be able to adjust the distant "a" in a manner such that the printed material is able to pass just beneath the edge 5a" which demarcates said opposing surface.

Since it is suitable for the distance from the common plane of the nozzles exit orifices to the printed surface of the material to be approximately 15 mm, it is expedient for said common plane to be approximately 15 mm higher than the edge 5a ".

As will be understood from the following, the conveyor path can be raised and lowered so as to enable the distance between the upper conveying surface of the conveyor path and the common plane of the nozzles exit orifices to be adjusted. This raising and lowering of the path 4 is initiated by moving a handle 6.

The reference numeral 7 indicates an operating panel. As indicated in FIG. 1, the portion 3b is hinged at 8 in a manner to permit said portion to be lifted to the position shown in dash-lines, thereby enabling inspection of the conveyor path and of nozzles mounted on the inside of the portion 3b.

FIG. 2 is a principle sketch of a linkage system with which the conveyor path can be raised and/or lowered relative to the nozzles. When the handle 6 occupies the position shown in full lines the distance "a " is the maximum obtainable, i.e. the drying apparatus is adjusted to dry printed material of excessive thickness. The handle 6 is connected to an arm 21 through a pin 20, the free end of the arm 21 co-acting with an operating rod 23 via a link 22. The operating rod 23 is rotatably mounted to a segment 25 through connecting means 24, said segment 25 serving as a lever arm. One end 25a of the segment 25 is rotatably attached to the frame structure, here marked 31, while the other end 25b of said segment is so arranged as to lift a U-shaped rail 32 when rotated.

The rotary movement of the segment 25 is transmitted to a further segment 27, which also serves as a lever arm, through a further operating rod 26. This further segment 27 is securely attached to a corresponding further segment 27 via a shaft 28, said corresponding further segment 27 being placed on the opposite side of the drying apparatus to the first mentioned segment 27.

Rotation of the arm 6 to the dash-line position shown in FIG. 2 will cause the operating rod to be moved to the right as seen in the Figure, which causes the segment 25 to rotate about one end 25a thereof about an axis 25d, which in turn causes the other end 25b of the segment 25 to lift as seen in FIG. 2. Simultaneous herewith, the operating rod 26 is moved to the right in FIG. 2, whereupon the end 27a of the further segment 27 moves to the right in FIG. 2, This rotary movement being transmitted by the shaft 28 to the segment 27 and, through the intermediary of an operating rod 26', also actuates the segment 25' for movement in the same manner as the segment 25. The portion 25b' of the segment 25 is thus also raised in a manner corresponding to the portion 25b of the segment 25.

A third operating rod 29 is arranged to co-act with a segment 25" in exactly the same manner as that described with reference to the segment 25.

It is assumed that the segments 25 and 25" are associated with one drying section of the drying apparatus. It is normal, however, for a drying appratus to comprise a plurality of drying sections, and in such a case the present invention enables a linkage system for one drying section to be readily coupled to a linkage system of another section through operating rod 29a which extends from the segment 25" associated with the first section to a segment 125 associated with said other section.

As will be seen from FIG. 2, the segments 25 and 25" are sequentially arranged on one side of the drying apparatus. These segments are intended to co-act with a U-shaped rail 32 shown in FIG. 3, similarly, segments 25' and a further segment (not shown) are provided on the opposite side of the drying apparatus to segments 25", 125, these former segments being intended to co-act with a U-shaped rail 32'.

The conveyor path 4 is arranged to pass a further frame structure arranged within the first mentioned frame structure adjacent the nozzles 5, said further frame structure comprising two parallel U-shaped rails which carry therebetween rollers for the conveyor path. These support rollers are referenced 33 in FIG. 3. Mounted on the U-shaped rail are further support rollers 33' for supporting the conveyor path during its return movement.

The two parallel U-shaped rails are arranged to co-act with the segment 25, 25' one end of each of which is pivotally mounted to the frame structure and the other end of each of which is arranged, when pivoted to lift the U-shaped rails and therewith also the rollers 33, so that said horizontal plane 4a is moved closer to the plane 5a on which the nozzle exit orifices lie.

Although the illustrated embodiment shows the provision of a further segment 27 for one U-shaped portion and that said segment shall be fixedly mounted to a pivot shaft with a corresponding further segment for the other U-shaped rails, and that the further segments are mounted to the segments 25, 25' through operating rods 26, 26', which segments upon rotation lift the U-shaped bar, it will readily be perceived that the segment 25 for U-shaped rail 32 can be fixedly mounted via a pivot shaft to corresponding segment 25' for the second U-shaped rail 32'.

Lifting of the further frame structure is thus directly dependent upon the position of rotation of the arm 6 and it is consequently proposed that the selected position of rotation of the arm 6 shall be lockable by means of locking devices not shown.

When the drying apparatus comprises a plurality of drying sections and each of said sections shall exhibit a further frame structure which is capable of being raised and lowered, it is suitable for at least one operating rod 29a to join the further frame structure in one drying section with the further frame structure in another drying section, this connection being effected between the segments 25' and 125.

The invention is not restricted to the described and illustrated embodiment, but can be modified within the scope of the following Claims.