NON-POROUS Inking System

BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION

Inks designed for printing on non-porous surfaces contain very fast drying alcohol solvents, a component to impart color which can be either a liquid “dye” or a finely ground solid or “pigment”, and a resin material which binds the color medium to the material surface. When the printed marks are applied by the coder, the solvents rapidly evaporate from the surface of the material leaving only the dried resin and color.

Preventing rapid solvent loss from the inking system, which would cause the coder to stop printing, has tradition- ally been a very difficult task. Universal’s patented Non-Porous Inking System design has overcome this problem by enclosing all of the inking system components in a tightly sealed housing. This unique design offers the capabilities of a flexographic printer without the limitations associated with having an open well of ink. The advantages of this design include minimal maintenance requirements, unrestricted mounting configurations and the ability to rapidly change ink colors.

The inking system is comprised of two main com- ponents as shown in Figure 29. The ink roll serves as a reservoir for the ink, and a transfer or “anilox” roll transfers the ink from the ink roll to the face of the printing dies. To prevent the loss of ink solvent through evaporation, these rolls are mounted in separate precision machined cavities in a sealed aluminum housing. The integrity of the housing is such that the system can be left idle for days with- out risk of the ink roll drying out.

The ink roll is installed on an eccentric mounted axle which enables the roll to be adjusted into con- tact with the transfer roll. The surface of the transfer or “anilox” roll is finely engraved with thousands of microscopic cavities which picks up ink from the ink roll and transfers it to the surface of the printing dies. Since the transfer roll applies a very thin film of ink to the die face, the printed marks dry very rapidly.

INK ROLL

ECCENTRIC

4 OZ. RESERVOIR INK CARTRIDGE

PLASTIC BALL

TRANSFER

ROLL

FIGURE 29

USING THE 4 OZ. RESERVOIR INK CARTRIDGES

It is important to note that the Reservoir Ink Cartridge shown in Figure 29 is not considered to be an integral part of the inking system but is used only to re-ink the XF neoprene ink roll when needed. The 4 Oz. Reservoir Ink

Cartridges should be installed only after the ink supply in the XF neoprene ink roll has been depleted and the printed marks indicate a need for more ink. Depending on the amount and size of the text being printed and number of imprints being applied per hour, the ink capacity of the XF neoprene ink roll may last anywhere from 1 hour to several days of continuous operation. Installing a 4 ounce Reservoir Ink Cartridge prematurely may result in over saturation of the XF neoprene ink roll and flooding of the inking system. 4 Oz. Reservoirs Ink Cartridges are not compatible with ketone or petroleum based inks and cannot be refilled after use.

Note: The MT Ink Roll is disposable by design and is not to be used with the 4 oz. ink cartridge. When the ink is depleted from the MT Ink rolls they are to be discarded.