Micro-fiber anilox roll cleaning plate

Abstract

A micro-fiber cleaning plate comprising: a micro-fiber sheet including fibers that extend outward from a surface of the microfiber sheet in a uniform direction; a leading edge locking strip connected to the micro-fiber sheet along a first edge; and a rear edge locking strip connected to the micro-fiber sheet along a second edge opposite the first edge, wherein the leading edge locking strip engages to the rear edge locking strip to secure the micro-fiber cleaning plate to a roll of an anilox print system.

Claims

1. A micro-fiber cleaning plate comprising: a micro-fiber sheet including a sheet body and a plurality of fibers that extend outward from a surface of the sheet body at a uniform angle relative to a normal vector extending from the surface of the sheet body; a leading edge locking strip connected to the micro-fiber sheet along a first edge; and a rear edge locking strip connected to the micro-fiber sheet along a second edge opposite the first edge, wherein the leading edge locking strip and the rear edge locking strip removeably engage with a roll of an anilox print system to secure the micro-fiber cleaning plate to the roll of the anilox print system.

2. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, further including a cushioning layer connected to the micro-fiber cleaning plate parallel to the surface of the micro-fiber sheet.

3. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the fiber diameter is approximately 0.05 mm.

4. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the fiber diameter is in the range of 0.05 mm to 0.10 mm.

5. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate is between 0.185 and 0.300 inches.

6. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate is between 0.185 to 0.280 inches.

7. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the fiber height is between one millimeter and one-and-a-half millimeters.

8. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the micro-fiber sheet includes between sixty to eighty million fibers per square meter.

9. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the height of the micro-fibers is between one-and-a-half and two-and-one-tenths millimeter.

10. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the uniform angle is along the direction of rotation.

11. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the uniform angle is between five degrees and twenty degrees.

12. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the uniform angle is between 8 and 12 degrees.

13. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the sheet body includes a fiberglass layer.

14. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the leading edge locking strip and the rear edge locking strip include a J-bar locking strip to secure the micro-fiber cleaning plate to a roll of the anilox print system.

15. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the leading edge locking strip and the rear edge locking strip include a T-bar locking strip to secure the micro-fiber cleaning plate to a roll of the anilox print system.

16. The micro-fiber cleaning plate of claim 1, wherein the leading edge locking strip and the rear edge locking strip are independently selected from a T-bar locking strip and a J-bar locking strip, wherein the leading edge locking strip and the rear edge locking strip removeably engage with at least one locking notch of the anilox print system to secure the micro-fiber cleaning plate to the roll of the anilox print system.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The drawing figures depict one or more implementations in accord with the present concepts, by way of example only, not by way of limitations. In the figures, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.

(2) FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a micro-fiber cleaning plate including a leading edge locking strip and a trailing edge locking strip.

(3) FIG. 1B illustrates an example of a micro-fiber cleaning plate lacking a trailing edge locking strip.

(4) FIG. 2 illustrates a printing system in which the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate is installed on a plate cylinder to clean an anilox roll.

(5) FIG. 3 illustrates a printing system with a microfiber cleaning roll in which the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate is installed on a microfiber cleaning roll to clean an anilox roll.

(6) FIG. 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a portion of a microfiber cleaning plate illustrating the orientation and angle of the micro-fibers.

(7) FIG. 5 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the leading and trailing edges of a microfiber cleaning plate that does not include a mounting plate.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(8) FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrates an example of a micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 for cleaning anilox and other printing rolls. As shown in FIG. 1A, the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 includes a micro-fiber sheet 20 including micro-fibers 30 (also known as micro-fibre). As shown in FIG. 2, in an embodiment, the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 may be installed on a plate cylinder 110 of a printing system 100 to clean an anilox roll 120.

(9) In an embodiment, the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 may include a micro-fiber sheet 20. The micro-fiber sheet 20 may include micro-fibers 30 that extend radially outward in a uniform direction when mounted on a plate cylinder 110 for cleaning. The micro-fibers 30 may engage with and clean the surface of the anilox roll 120. In an embodiment, the micro-fiber sheet 20 may include approximately seventy million 100% nylon fibers per square meter. And, in an embodiment, the micro-fiber sheet 20 has a height of 2.1 mm (0.083) with an intermediate fiberglass layer and a recycled closed cell vinyl cushioned backing with total thickness (micro-fiber and cushion) of 0.17 (4.3 mm).

(10) The micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may be mounted in the same manner as a printing plate cylinder 110, for example, the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may include a leading edge locking strip 40 to hold the cleaning plate 10 to the plate cylinder 110.

(11) As shown in FIG. 1A, the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 may include a 0.0030 (0.76 mm) PVC mounting plate 50. In the embodiment shown, the Micro-fiber sheet 20 is mounted to the PVC mounting plate 50. The mounting plate 50 may include a surface area that is larger than the micro-fiber sheet 20 to fully secure it. In an embodiment, the mounting plate 50 is stiffer than the microfiber sheet 50 and has a curved shape. Accordingly, in some embodiments, when including the mounting plate 50, the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 is naturally curved to cylinder shape by the curve of the mounting plate 50. The micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 including a mounting plate 50 may be used for bigger circumference 86, 66 and 50 rolls.

(12) On one end the mounting plate may include a leading edge locking strip 40, with a trailing edge locking strip 60 on the opposite edge. In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1B, the trailing edge locking strip 60 may be omitted and the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may be secured on that edge with tape or a rubber fastener. The width and circumference of the micro-fiber plate 10 may be made to machine print cylinder specification. In an embodiment, the total thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 is between 0.185 to 0.300. In another embodiment, the total thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 is between 0.185 to 0.280 (4.57 mm to 7.11 mm).

(13) In an embodiment, no double faced tape, adhesives or glue is required to stick the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 to the plate cylinder 110 because the plate is equipped with a leading edge locking strip including T-bar or J-bar mounting strip for securing the the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 to the plate cylinder 110 quickly and easily. In some embodiments, the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may also be made with 0.0925 inch thick, or 0.500 inch width, 92 inch length mounting strips for the leading edge locking strip 40 and the trailing edge locking strip 60. And, in some embodiments, the trailing edge locking strip 60 has either T-bar/J-bar mounting strip or 1 slotted trailing edge strip for quickly securing the plate 10 to plate cylinder 110. Additionally, in some embodiments, the leading/trail edges of the Micro-Fiber are sealed with Green die sealer. Further, the T-bar/J-bar mounting strips may be stuck (for example, using two sided tape) and sewed to 0.030 PVC or Polyester 0.014 Mylar carrier.

(14) On one side of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10, extra cushioning in the form of bottom padding 70 may be present. The bottom padding 70 may be secured using glue, or otherwise bonded to the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 on the side opposite the micro-fiber sheet 20. The exact thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may be chosen by varying the thickness of the bottom padding 70 to size it for the particular machine it is being used on. In some embodiments, the bottom padding 70 may be omitted to minimize the thickness of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10. In some embodiments, the bottom padding 70 may be any thickness in the range of negligible thickness (such as omitting the padding) up to a thickness of 0.100 (2.54 mm). Likewise, the width and diameter dimensions may be varied based on the size of the anilox roll 120. In some embodiments, the bottom padding 70 may be placed between the micro-fiber sheet 20 and the mounting plate 50.

(15) For example, in an embodiment, the micro-fiber sheet 20 is glued and sewed to a 0.030 PVC layer underneath the entire micro-fiber sheet 20 plus extra inches for both a leading edge locking strip 40 and a trailing edge locking strip 60. In another embodiment, the micro-fiber sheet 20 is glued and sewed to a polyester 0.014 Mylar layer. The Micro-Fiber may be glued and sewed to compressible cushion plate backing foam material of variable thickness (for example, in various embodiments, 0.090, 0.100 or 0.120 inches thick) for height control contingent on the machine specification. Total thickness of a finished micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may be between 0.180 to 0.280.

(16) Turning back to FIG. 2, the micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 may be installed on a plate cylinder 110 of a printing system 100 to clean an anilox roll 120. Once the cleaning plate 10 is installed, the printing system 100 may then be run, as if a print job was being run, to permit the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 to come into contact with the anilox roll 120 as they rotate. A detergent cleaner 170 may be used in substitution for the ink to further assist the cleaning action. As the rolls turn, micro-fibers on the surface of the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 come into contact with the cells of the anilox roll and scour out dried ink.

(17) In some embodiments, the invention may be embodied in an anilox printing system with a special purpose micro-fiber cleaning roll (anilox printing system 200), as shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the anilox printing system 200 may include an impression cylinder 130, a plate cylinder 110, an anilox roll 120, a micro-fiber cleaning roll 210, metering blades 150 and doctoring blades 160 for the application of ink.

(18) The micro-fiber cleaning roll 210 may be mounted next to anilox roll 120. To clean the anilox roll 120, a micro-fiber anilox cleaning plate 10 may be attached to the micro-fiber cleaning roll 210 and secured at a locking notch. Detergent 170 may be run through the ink supply system to enhance the cleaning. To resume printing, the micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 may be removed from the micro-fiber cleaning roll 210.

(19) Turning to FIG. 4, shown is a cross-sectional view of a microfiber cleaning plate 10 to illustrate the orientation, size, and other properties of the micro-fibers (FIG. 4 is not shown to scale.) In an embodiment, a fiber diameter 420 of a micro-fiber 30 is approximately fifty microns. In another embodiment, a fiber diameter 420 of a micro-fiber 30 is in the range of fifty to one hundred microns. Since one anilox roll cell is approximately 100 microns, the mechanical action of the relative rotation of the anilox roll 120 and the plate cylinder 110 or the micro-fiber cleaning roll 210 may force the micro-fibers 30 into the cells to remove dried ink within.

(20) A micro-fiber height 430 of the micro-fibers 30 may be chosen to trade-off stiffness, penetrating depth, and to maximize contact. In an embodiment, the micro-fibers have a micro-fiber height 430 between one millimeter and one and a half millimeters. In a preferred embodiment, the microfiber sheet 20 may be a modified sheet of Flotex brand micro-fiber flooring material having approximately 70 million fibers/m.sup.2. In the preferred embodiment, the micro-fiber height 430 of the micro-fibers are shaved down from two and one tenth millimeters to between one millimeter and one and a half millimeters to increase stiffness and to achieve a desired height, leaving a total thickness of the microfiber sheet of approximately 0.110 (2.79 mm). By shaving down the micro-fibers, they become more firm and abrasive to help further penetrate deep into the anilox roll cells. In other embodiments, where less stiffness is desired or less height is needed, the height of the micro-fibers 30 may be between one and a half millimeters mm and two and one tenth millimeters.

(21) Additionally, in an embodiment, the micro-fibers 30 may be slightly angled at a micro-fiber angle 410 that is measured from the normal vector of the surface of the micro-fiber sheet 20. (The normal vector is a vector that points radially outwards from the origin of a circle defined by the cross-section of the roll.) For example, in an embodiment, the micro-fibers 30 may be angled at a micro-fiber angle 410 between zero to twenty degrees from the normal vector. In a preferred embodiment, the micro-fibers are angled at a micro-fiber angle 410 that is between eight and twelve degreesthat is, approximately ten degrees from the normal vector. The direction in which the fibers are angled is the leading edge of the microfiber sheet 20. In an embodiment, the leading edge is oriented along the direction of rotation 440 of the plate cylinder 110 or the microfiber-cleaning roll 210 to increase the likelihood of the penetration of the anilox cells.

(22) The micro-fiber cleaning plate 10 of FIG. 5 omits a mounting plate 50 extending from the leading edge locking strip 40 to the trailing edge locking strip 60. By omitting the mounting plate 50, these embodiments have increased flexibility for printing systems 100 with smaller diameter rolls. As shown in FIG. 5, the cleaning plate 10 may include a foam cushion bottom padding 70 to control the height of the cleaning plate 10, and may include 0.010 to 0.015 Polyester Base Film Carrier Sheet at the leading and trail edge but not in the middle to increase flexibility.

(23) The flexible cleaning plate 10 of FIG. 5 may include polyester 0.014 Mylar carrier built into only the front (lead edge) and back (trailing edge) with only the micro-fiber sheet 20 and a compressible cushion plate backing foam material, the bottom padding 70, in between. By omitting the mounting plate 50, the cleaning plate 10 has increased flexibility for the smaller diameter rolls such as 37 circumference and smaller.

(24) It should be noted that various changes and modifications to the presently preferred embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.