A printing apparatus applies ink to a surface of a printing plate in the shape of a predetermined pattern and then transfers the ink to a substrate. The printing apparatus includes: an image recording section that applies the ink to the surface of the printing plate; a plate surface observation unit that acquires information about the surface of the printing plate; a storage section that stores information about a reference shape serving as a reference of the surface of the printing plate; and a determination section that compares the information about the reference shape stored in the storage section with the information about the surface of the printing plate, which is obtained by the plate surface observation unit, and determines whether or not the surface of the printing plate to which the ink has been applied is present in a predetermined range of the reference shape.

A cleaning fabric wound on a roll (12) is use for cleaning printing cylinders (2, 3, 4) of a printing system (1). The cleaning fabric (13) includes a liquid absorbable material configured to be soaked with a cleaning liquid containing a polar additive configured to make the cleaning liquid polar. The roll (12) of cleaning fabric (13) is included in a cleaning cassette (10) which is movable between an idle position out of contact with the printing cylinders, and an active position in which the cleaning fabric (13) included in the cassette (10) is in contact with a printing cylinder to be cleaned.

A cleaning fabric wound on a roll (12) is used for cleaning printing cylinders (2, 3, 4) of a printing system (1). The cleaning fabric (13) includes a liquid absorbable material configured to be soaked with a cleaning liquid containing a polar additive configured to make the cleaning liquid polar. The roll (12) of cleaning fabric (13) is included in a cleaning cassette (10) which is movable between an idle position out of contact with the printing cylinders, and an active position in which the cleaning fabric (13) included in the cassette (10) is in contact with a printing cylinder to be cleaned.

A cleaning device includes a cleaning unit, a movement mechanism, and a positioning portion. The cleaning unit includes a cleaning part that has a contact surface extending along an axial direction of a conveyance roller and cleans the conveyance roller, and a cleaning housing that supports the cleaning part. The movement mechanism moves the cleaning unit between a cleaning position and a mounting and removing position. The movement mechanism allows the cleaning part to be brought into contact with the conveyance roller at the cleaning position, allows the cleaning part to be disposed below the conveyance roller in a separated manner at the mounting and removing position and allows the cleaning unit to be mounted on or removed from the apparatus body. The positioning portion restricts a relative position between the cleaning part and the conveyance roller by being brought into contact with the cleaning unit.

A method for cleaning a printing fluid off a surface of at least one rotatable component of a printing press includes selecting and executing one of a plurality of predefined cleaning operations in an automated way. The selection is made on the basis of a predefined mathematical model executed on a computer and, when the model is executed, a parameter corresponding to an amount of the printing fluid present on the surface is calculated. The improved cleaning method may be applied in all modes of operation of the printing press and in particular allows detergent, cleaning cloth, and/or water to be saved.

A cleaning device includes a cleaning unit and a movement mechanism. The cleaning unit includes: a cleaning part that has a contact surface extending along an axial direction of the conveyance roller and cleans the surface of the conveyance roller by bringing the contact surface into contact with the surface of the conveyance roller from below, and a cleaning housing that supports the cleaning part. The movement mechanism moves the cleaning unit between a cleaning position and a mounting and removing position below the cleaning position. The movement mechanism allows the cleaning part to be brought into contact with the conveyance roller at the cleaning position, allows the cleaning part to be disposed below the conveyance roller in a separated manner at the mounting and removing position and allows the cleaning unit to be mounted on or to be removed from an apparatus body.

A vacuum wiper, comprising a housing, a connection port, multiple holes and a hole adjusting means; the housing contains a cavity; the connection port is disposed on the housing and is in communication with the cavity; the multiple holes are disposed on the housing in the length direction of the housing, such that the cavity of the vacuum wiper housing is able to be in fluid communication with the outside via the multiple holes. The vacuum wiper has a maximum vacuumizing length when all of the multiple holes are in communication with the outside. The hole adjusting means is configured to be capable of blocking one or more of the multiple holes in sequence from two ends in the length direction of arrangement of the multiple holes of the vacuum wiper, such that the vacuum wiper is able to adjust the vacuumizing length. The provision of the hole adjusting means enables the vacuum wiping apparatus to have an adjustable vacuumizing length, in order to match the wiping of stencils with different length specifications, thereby effectively increasing the vacuumizing efficiency of the vacuum wiping apparatus and reducing the production cost.

A vacuum wiper, comprising a housing, a connection port, multiple holes and a hole adjusting means; the housing contains a cavity; the connection port is disposed on the housing and is in communication with the cavity; the multiple holes are disposed on the housing in the length direction of the housing, such that the cavity of the vacuum wiper housing is able to be in fluid communication with the outside via the multiple holes. The vacuum wiper has a maximum vacuumizing length when all of the multiple holes are in communication with the outside. The hole adjusting means is configured to be capable of blocking one or more of the multiple holes in sequence from two ends in the length direction of arrangement of the multiple holes of the vacuum wiper, such that the vacuum wiper is able to adjust the vacuumizing length. The provision of the hole adjusting means enables the vacuum wiping apparatus to have an adjustable vacuumizing length, in order to match the wiping of stencils with different length specifications, thereby effectively increasing the vacuumizing efficiency of the vacuum wiping apparatus and reducing the production cost.

A cleaning device includes a controller configured to control cleaning of a conveyance roller by a web. The controller includes a separation and contact control unit, a conveyance roller rotation control unit, and a take-up control unit. The separation and contact control unit is configured to control a separation and contact mechanism so as to allow the web to be pressed to the conveyance roller when the conveyance roller is in a non-conveyable state. The conveyance roller rotation control unit rotates the conveyance roller in a state where the web is pressed to the conveyance roller. The take-up control unit is configured to allow the take-up roller to perform a take-up operation of taking up the web by rotatably driving the take-up roller plural times at a predetermined time interval within a cleaning time set in advance in a state where the conveyance roller is being rotated.

A cleaning device includes a controller configured to control cleaning of a conveyance roller by a web. The controller includes a take-up control unit and a web end determination unit. The take-up control unit controls the solenoid such that the web is taken up by rotatably driving the take-up roller in a state where the web is pressed to the conveyance roller. The web end determination unit determines whether or not an end of the web is exposed on a support roller by a take-up operation of the take-up roller. The web end determination unit determines that the end of the web is exposed on the support roller when a detection result of a detection unit is not changed in spite of a fact that supplying of electricity to the solenoid is performed.