US2268985A - Method and apparatus for drying printing ink - Google Patents

Description

F. O. HESS Jan. 6, 1942.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PRINTING INK Filed Dec. 29, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR BY M 0.1%

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Jan. 6, 1942. F. o. HESS 2,268,985

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DRYING PRINTING INK Filed Dec. 29, 193'] 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 may/m iazzz-W INVENTOR BY Wm.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 6, 1942 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR rnm'rma nu:

DRYING I Frederic 0. Hess, Germantown, Pa., assignor, by

mesne assignments; to Intel-chemical Corporation, New York, N. Y., acorporationof Ohio Application December 29, 1937, Serial No. 182,210

8 Claims.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for drying printing ink and aims to accelerate the process of printing upon a. material which is injured by a moderate amount of heat.

A serious limitation upon the speed at which printing presses could be operated has arisen from the inability to dry with sufficient rapidity the ink whichis applied to the printed material in the press This difficulty has been remedied in the printing of most materials through the use of so-called "quick-drying inks which areset by the application of intense heat to the ink during a very brief period. These quick-drying printing inks contain a solvent which is substantially non-volatile at ordinary press room temperatures C.) and which volatilizes very rapidly at about 150C. When a quick-drying ink is applied to a material such as ordinary paper, it is dried by subjecting the printed surface of the material during a' very brief period to heat of such great intensity that the solvent is volatilized instantly and the solvent vapor is removed. The heat applied to-the printed surface of such material is well above the burning point of the material, but the period of its application is so brief that the material is not charred or burned. However, some heat is absorbed by the material during the application of this intense heat to its printed surface, preventing the utilization of this quick-drying process upon materials which are injured by a' moderate amount of heat.

I have discovered that a material, such as waxed paper or paper having a coating of glue on its unprinted surface, which is injured by a moderate amount of heat may be prevented from becoming too hot while its printed surface is subjected to heat ofsuch great intensity that ,the solvent of a quick-drying ink is volatilized instantly. I In carrying out my method, an ink containing a volatilizable solvent which has been printed upon a material which is subject to injury by.

a moderate amount of heat is dried by cooling the material and, simultaneously with the cooling of the material, subjecting its printed sur- -face to heat of such great intensity that the A specific embodiment of apparatus for carrying out my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a drier mounted upon the frame of a printing press;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the drier shown in Fig. 1; and i Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of drier.

an ordinary typographic press 5 for printing upon a web delivers the printed material 6 with its printed side uppermost. As the printed material is delivered from the press, it travels in the direction indicated by the arrows through a drier, to be described, and thence over guide rollers I, 8, 9, l0 and H to arewind roller l2.

The drier illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a cooling roller 14 journalled in a frame (not.

shown) to rotate with the traveling printed material. The cooling roller [4 is of a conventional type and may be chilled by cold water, brine or the like. A furnace I5 having anopen side is mounted above the cooling roller l4, so that a segment of the cooling roller projects into furnace l5 through its open side and guides the printed material 6 through the furnace. Communicating with the interior of furnace I5 is a suction duct l6.

In the drier illustrated in Fig. 3, a series of transverse conduits I! for cooling gas, such as cool, dry air, are mounted below the path of the printed material 6, and nozzles 18 project from each of those conduits toward the unprinted surface of the material 6 to project streams I9 of cool gas against that surface. A furnace I5 is mounted above the path of the web opposite conduits I1 and has a suction.duct l6 communicating therewith. 7

Each of the furnaces i5 and I5 is similar to the furnace described in F. O. Hess Patent No. 2,210,032, dated August 6, 1940, and heat is gen- I erated therein by like means: Manifolds 2|, which are mounted within the furnace, have burners 22 attached thereto so that a supply of fuel is fed from the manifolds to the burners through valves 23. 'Iheburners 22 are preferably formed of a refractory material and, as the printed material Ii travels from the printing press 5 through the drier, the burners, heated to incandescence, are directed toward the printed surface of the material to subject that surface to heat of great intensity. Overheating of'the burner manifolds In accordance with my invention, a printing press is equipped with a drier located in the path of the printed material. .This drier comprises means for directing intense heat upon the printed surface of the material and means for withdrawing heat from the material through its opposite surface.

2| is prevented by meansof a partition formed of insulating strips 24 between the manifolds 2| and burners 22. a

When a material, such as waxed paper, upon .which a quick-drying ink has been printed, is

delivered from the press, it is caused to travel about the cooling roller ll with its unprinted In the apparatus illustrated in the drawings,

surface in contact with that roller and its printed surface passes through the furnace IS. The intense heat to which the printed surface of the material 6 is subjected as it passes through the furnace is suflicient to volatilize instantly the solvent of the ink and burn substantially all the solvent vapors. Products of combustion and any unburned solvent vapor are withdrawn through suction duct l6. At the same time that intense heat is applied to the printed surface of the material 6, the cooling roller ll in contact with the opposite surface of the material withdraws heat from the material so that it is prevented from becoming too hot.

Some moisture may condense upon the surface of cooling roller 4. If the ink be printed upon a material, such as paper having a coating of glue on its unprinted side, which contains a substance that must be kept free from moisture, a

drier such as that illustrated in Fig. 3 should to travel away from the apparatus in which the ink is applied, and simultaneously subjecting the printed surface of the material to heat of sumcient intensity to volatilize the solvent of the ink and ignite the solvent vapor and projecting a stream of cool, dry gas against the opposite surface of the material.

4. The combinationwith a printing press, of a drier spaced from the printing means of saidprinting press but located in the path of the printed material and comprising a furnace adapted to subject the printed surface of the material to intense heat, cooling means adapted to connace l5. At the same time, the material is prehave described without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. The method of drying an ink containing a volatilizable, inflammable solvent which is substantially non-volatile at room temperature after such ink has been printed upon a material which is subject to injury by heat, which consists in causing the material to travel away from the apparatus in which the ink is applied, subjecting the printed surface of the material to heat of suflicient intensity to volatilize the solvent of the ink and ignite the solvent vapor at a point in the travel of the material and projecting a stream of cool gas against the unprinted surface of the materiaLat the same point in its travel.

2. The method of drying an ink containing a volatilizable, inflammable solvent which is substantially non-volatile at room temperature after such ink has been printed upon a material which is subject to injury by heat, which consists in causing the material to travel over a cooling roller with its unprinted surface in contact with the roller, and subjecting the printed surface of the material to heat of suflicient intensity to volatilize the solvent of the ink and burn the solvent vapor at a point in the travelof the material over said cooling roller.

3. The method of drying an ink containing a volatilizable, inflammable solvent which is sub- .tact the opposite surface of the material, and a said printing press but located in'the path of the printed web and comprising a furnace having an open side and adapted to subject the printed surface of the web to intense heat, a cool roller having a segment extending into said furnace through its open side and engaging the other surface of the web to direct said web through the furnace and withdraw heat from the web material, and a suction duct communicating with the interior of said furnace.

6. A method of drying atypographic printing ink containing a volatilizable, inflammable solvent which is substantially non-volatile at room temperature, which consists in causing the web to travel away from the apparatus in which the ink is applied, subjecting the printed surface of the web to heat of sufficient intensity to volatilize the solvent of the ink, while simultaneously supporting said web and maintaining the unprinted side thereof at a relatively low temperature, burning the solvent vapors, and removing the burned solvent vapors from the region of said web.

7. The combination with a web printing press, of ,a drier spaced from the printing means of said printing press but located in the path of travel of the printed web and comprising a roller for supporting the web and maintaining the unprinted side thereof at a relatively low temperature, a furnace including a plurality of gas burners disposed adjacent said roller and the printed side of the web, and a suction duct communicating with the interior of said furnace.

8. The combination with a web printing press for applying to a surface of the web a typographic printing ink containing a volatilizable, inflammable solvent which is' substantially nonvolatile at room temperature, of a drier spaced from the printing means of said printing press but located in the path of travel of the printed web andcomprising 'a roller for supporting the FREDERIC o. HESS.

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