CA1133756A - Inking unit attachment for lithographic printing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

INKING UNIT ATTACHMENT FOR LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING MACHINES

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An inking-unit attachment for a printing press includes a fountain roller, a ductor roller for rocking movement between the fountain roller and a receiver roller, an idler roller in the nip between the receiver roller and an oscillator roller, and a pair of form rollers for trans-ferring ink from the oscillator roller to the plate cylinder of the printing press. The receiver and oscillator rollers rotate at different peripheral speeds to provide a skidding action between one or both of such rollers and the idler roller to provide an even distribution and an increased quantity of ink to the oscillator roller. A three-function cam serves to reciprocate the oscillator roller in an axial direction, rock the ductor roller between positions in engagement with the fountain and receiver rollers respec-tively, and intermittently to drive the fountain roller.
The form rollers are movable between a position in the nip between the oscillator roller and plate cylinder, a position spaced from the plate cylinder and engaged with the oscil-lator roller, and a lift position spaced from both the plate cylinder and oscillator roller. The inking-unit attachment is adapted to be releasably hung on the frame of the print-ing press, and to be driven from the plate-cylinder gear on the printing press through a shaft affixed to the plate-cylinder frame, where the shaft has an overload clutch to guard personnel from injury and the unit from damage. The form roller has positioning and adjusting means to permit its spacing with respect to the plate cylinder, indepen-dently of the attitude and position of the inking unit. The construction of the unit permits the isolation of the ink-carrying members and mechanism requiring lubrication, where-by contamination of the ink is minimized; the structural integrity of the unit minimizes ink spatter and misting on nearby objects. Access covers protect the ink from con-tamination from exterior sources and from exposure to in-cident radiation, and decrease the exposure of operating personnel to the hazard of moving parts.

Description

, BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
11 ,Field of the Invention 12 The present invention is in the field of devices 13 providing ink feed for printing presses. More particularly, 14 this invention is in the field of ink-feed devices for printing presses useful in direct and offset lithography.
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16 Description of the Prior Art 17 ~ Multicolored offset presses in some cases emplc~ a 18 common ~lanket cylinder disposed in a main frame. Plate 9 cylinders are conventionally arranged in a planetary man~er about the common blanket cylinder, and each plate cylinde~
21 i5 provided with its own inking unit. Thus, the inking 22 units transfer inks of selected colors to their associated 23 plate cylinders which, in turn, transfer the inks to the 24 blanket cylinder.
Gears from the blanket cylinder are employed to

2~ drive the plate cylinders and the rollers of the in~ing 27 units. The inking units, plate cylinders and drive mecha-' ':

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1 nisms therefor conventionally are attached to the main ~rame ¦ ` ~ of the printing press.

3 In the conventional arrangement for inking units

4 now employed in the field, the unit is disposed on the `~ 5 circumEerence of the plate cylinder, with the plate-cylinder 6 gear driving the inking unit through the form-roller gear, 7 or through a gear on a common shaft with the form roller.
This arrangement provides the proper direction and speed for 9 the form roller and the balance of the unit, but it has certain inherent disadvantages.
11 . In order to secure the inking unit to the press, a 12 common method is a bolt with adjustment means, adapted to be 13 secured to both the press and the inking unit. If the 14 operator determines that the pressure of the form roller on lS the plate cylinder is too little, he can adjust the bol s to 16 increase that pressure, by urging the unit into closer 17 contact with the plate cylinder. However, in so doing, the 18 gears must necessarily be brought closer together. If he 19 original spacing of the gears was correct, their closer 2~ proximity could then cause increased wear and possibly ; ~ 21 increased frictional loss in the main press drive. If ~he \ ~ 22 form-roller pressure on the plate cylinder is too high, i~
23 can be decreased by backing the unit away from the main 24 frame slightly. Again, initially correct drive gear spc~cing could then be lost; in the latter case, gear play and 26 backlash could then approach unacceptable limits, also 27 resulting in excessive year wear, but not any appreciab'e 28 frictional loss.
29 For multicolor presses, a number of units can be affixed to the press, in ~rder to provide inks of different ~3;37~

1 colors; or for other desired functions. Those skilled in 2 ;the art will realize that the problems associated with any d 3 single inking unit in combination with a press will be 4 multiplied when a number of such units are af f ixed to it.
; ~ 5 Thus, if all four inking units on a press are found to have 6 the form rollers exerting insufficient pressure, subsequent 7 adjustment to achieve the correct pressure could have the 8 effect described above, with a resultant unnecessary fric- ;
9 tional drag on the press mechanism. Further, the braking e~fect of the fountain roller can be transmitted to the 11 press mechanism through the gear train, adding more drag to 12 the entire apparatus.
13 Obviously, there is a point beyond which the ~14 physlcal interposition of the plate-cylinder gear and the form-roller gear will prevent any closer approach of the 16 form roller on the side where the two gears mesh. Howeve , 17 the oth~r end of the form roller is not under such con-8 straintr and can approach the plate cylinder more closely 19 Nevertheless, the problems of securing adjustment of the' inking unit on the press are clearly not ~ust those of 21 adjusting four units, but both sides of each unit, until \ 22 good printing copy is achieved.
~ Where an inking unit is removed for any reason, ;~. 24 such as repair, routine maintenance, cleaning or replace-ment, the removal itself destroys the adjustment, and whe~
26 the same or a different unit is placed back on the press, 27 the process of adjustment has to be followed for both sides 28 of the unit.
29 Existing inking units function adequately to perform the task of supplying ink to a press, but the time 1 `-between when the press is started and when the~ink reach s f' ': .
2 the plate cylinder is longer than is desirable. After 3 initial adjustments are made for the supply of ink to th 4 fountain roller, it may require many revolutions of the plate cylinder to bring enough ink to it to determine wh.t-6 ever further fine adjustments may be needed, and a simil-r, 7 though somewhat shorter, time to effect the individual f~ne 8 adjustments until the ink feed from a given unit is corr~ct.
9 A problem which has plagued inking units, and the printing industry, for a considera~le time is more precisely 11 defined as a two-component problem, with complementary 12 aspects: contamination of the ink, and the image producecL
13 thereby, with lubricant, and contamination of the lubriccmt 14 with ink, with rPsultant detrimental effects on the lu-bricating properties necessary to maintain the unit in 16 proper condition. No completely satisfactory solution to 17 thesf related problems has yet been found.
18 There are any number of devices for supplying ink 19 to a printing press known in the art; the problem of pro~er supply is one which has received much attention. For in-21 stance, Dahlgren et al., in U.S. Patent No. 4,041,864, 22 disclose an inking unit having a metering device and doctor-23 blade means for controlling ink-film thickness. While tl-24 Dahlgren device performs the functions for which it was designed, it has the disadvantage of being rather comple:.
26 Other devices are known, such as Brackett, U.S
27 Patent No. 3,593,659, and Keller, U.S. Patent No. 2,185, 42, 28 for supplying ink to printing presses. However, no devie~s 29 are known which have the advantage of ea y detachability ~nd replacement.

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SUMMARY OF THE ~NVENTION
The present invention is an inking unit for print-ing presses, having a fountain roller, reciprocating ductor roller, a receiver roller, an idler roller, an oscillator roller, and at least one form roller, disposed in a frame and driven by a shat powered from the plate-cylinder gear of the printing press, the shaft having overload-disconnect means, the frame having means to permit its quick attachment to and removal from the printing press and providing com-partmental integrity separating the inking function and mechanism from the power and drive functions, and being adapted to disconnect the power prior to removal of the unit from the press, the form roller having positioning and adjusting means, the fountain roller having indexing-ad-justment means, the receiver and oscillator rollers oper-ating at different peripheral speeds, the fountain roller, ductor-roller-reciprocating means and oscillator roller being driven by a three-function cam, and having covers or environmental isolation.
Additionally, an important feature of the present invention provides for uniorm ink distribution and in-creased ink flow from the fountain roller to the form rollers and consequently to the plate and blanket cylinders.
In the present invention, ink is transferred in sequence from a fountain roller to a ductor roller, a receiver roller, an idler roller, an oscillator roller and then to at least one, and generally a pair of form rollers for transfer to the plate cylinder. To accomplish uniform distribution of ink and increased ink flow, the peripheral speed of the receiver and oscillator rollers are preferably different one ~L ' " , ~,_ ~3375~
. ., 1 from the other such that a skidding action occurs betwe~n-_2 one or both of those rollers and the idler roller which i8 ` ~/
3 adjustably held in the nip of the receiver and oscillat~r 5,=
4 rollers in surface contact therewith. The receiver rolier 1-most preferably has a peripheral speed of approximately 107~
6 of the peripheral speed of the oscillator roller, whereby a --f ~ 7 skidding action at the interface of the receiver and idler 8 rollers and/or the idler and oscillator rollers or both is achieved. The peripheral speed of the receiver roller may, however, range from 50% to 150% of the peripheral speed of ~ ~ os~illator roller to achieve the skidding effect, and r~ 12 preferably, the receiver roller should rotate at a peri- -13 pheral speed of 90% to 120~ of the peripheral speetl of the 14 receiver roller. Although the 107% speed differential is most preferred, ~he result in any case prov~de~ uniform di~-16 tribution of ink on the form rollers and minimizes ink 17 starvation or ghosting. The precise mechanism of the ;- 18 împroved effect resulting in uniform distribution of in and 19 prevention of ink starvation is not known; it is suffic ent to note, however, that the mechanism of the present in-~-- 21 vention is effective in significantly reducing former r, \ 22 problems of the control of ink feed which have heretofo-e 23 led to starvation and ghostint3.
~4 A feature of the presen~ invention reslde~ in a - !
~ 25 unitary cam whi~h reciprocates the oscillator roller ~n an , - 26 axial direction, rocks the ductor roller to transfer in:c ? -~
27 from the fountain roller to the receiver roller, and int~.exes 28 t~e fountain roller. This i8 achieved by a three-function 29 cam driven by gearing on the inking-unit attachment which, in turn, i6 driven from a gear of the printing press, most ~337s6 .

1 freyuently the plate-cylinder gear. ~ !
2 The inking-unit attachment of the present inven- !
3 tion comprises a frame, a fountain roller carried by the 4 frame for rotation about its axis, means carried by the frame for supplying ink to the fountain roller, a receiver 6 roller carried by the frame for rotation about an axi~
7 parallel to the axis of rotation of the fountain roller and B means for transferring ink from the fountai~ roller to the 9 receiver roller, including a ductor roller rotatable about an axis parallel to the axes of rotation of the fountain 11 roller and the receiver roller and in surface contact with 12 the fountain roller and the receiver roller whereby ink is I3 transferable in sequence from the fountain roller to the .
:14 ductor roller, to the receiver roller, to an idler roller, ~hen~.to an oscillator roller and then to at least one form 16 r~lle~ for transfer to the plate cylin~er of a printing 17 press, the ink-transfer means including means for rotati~ ! _ 18 at least one of the rollers at a peripheral speed differ~.t 19 from the periphexal speed of another of the rollers in suxface contact with the one roller ~o provide a skidding 21 action between the contacting surfaces of the ~atter two 22 rollers.
23 In accordance with another aspect of the presen~
24 invention, the lnking-unit attachment for a printing press having a plate cylinder comprises a frame, a form roller 26 carried by the frame~ means for supplying ink to the form 27 roller including a plurality of roller~ in ink-tran~fer 28 relation one to the other and to the form roller, and means 29 carried by the inking-unit attachment for releasably se-curing it to the printer with the form roller in ink-trans-~ ; r--3;3756 .`
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r~ ~ ation to the plate cylinder carried by the 2 printing press.
3 ,~ In accordance with a still further aspect of he 4 present invention, the apparatus for supplying ink to a printing press comprises a frame includlng a pair each of 6 inner and outer frame plates spaced one from the other and 7 defining a pair of outer compartments and an intermedia1e 8 compartment, a fountain roller carried by ~he frame a~d 9 disposed in the intermediate compartment, the fountain roller being carried by the frame for rotary lndexing m~jve-11 ment, a receiver roller carried by the frame and disposed in 12 the intermediat~ compartment, a ductor roller carried by the 13 fràme and disposed in the intermediate compartment, the 14 ductor roller being carried by the frame for rocking move-ment between positions engaging the fountain roller-and 16 recelver roller for transferring ink from the fountain 17 roller to the receiver roller, an oscillator roller carried 18 by the frame and disposed in the intermediate compartment, 19 the oscillator ro~ler being carried by the frame for axial reciprocating movementj an idler roller carried by the frame 21 and disposed in the intermediate compartment in ~urface 22 engagemeht with the recel~er roller and the ~scillator 23 roller for transferring ink ~rom the receiver roller to the 24 oscillator roller, means carried by the fr~e in one of the ^
2~ outer compartments for driving the recei~2r roller and t~e 26 oscillator roller, and unitary mean~ coupled to the dri~ !
27 means and carried by the frame in one of the compartment, 28 for indexing the fountain roller, rocking the ductor rolLer, 29 and reciprocating the oscillator roller.
A pair of side-plate extensions is provided fo~

_g_ ~L~33756 1 rig1d attachment to the printing press, generally to the 2~t plate-cylinder frame. The side-plate extensions have an 3 ~upper recess into which a coupling means of the attachment 4 fits, and a lower stop means against which a lower brace rests. A shaft is disposed between the side-plate exten-6 sions, and is driven by a gear on the shaft in mesh with the 7 plate-cylinder gear. Another gear on the same shaft is - 8 disposed to drive the oscillator and receiver roller through 9 gearing in the inking-unit attachment. An overload clutch on the shaft disposed between the side-plate extensions i~
11 connected with either gear on the shaft in such fashion that 12 the mechanism of the inking-unit attachment may be stopped 13 while the plate-cylinder gear continues to move, without 14 injury to personnel or machinery.
The coupling means, lower brace and the shaft 16 disposed between the side-plate extensions are juxtapose in 17 a fashion which requires that the inking-unit at~achment be 18 raised from the rear in a hinging manner to remove it fr,m 19 the printing press. In the act of raising the rear of tle attachment, the driven gear in the attachment is moved a~ay D
21 from the driving gear on the shaft disposed between the 22 side-plate extensions. I~ is thus impossible to remove he 23 attachment without first disconnecting thé power; it is al90 24 impossible to connect the attachment whlle it is running, because the driving and driven gears cannot mesh until the 26 lower brace of the attac~ent is virtually in contact with 27 the lower stop means of the side-plate extensions.
28 The side-plate extensions are adjustable-to permit 29 prope~ spacing of the pitch diameters of the plate-cylinder gear and the gear on the sh?ft disposed between the side-31 plate extensions. The spacing of the upper recess, lower _ la- ~, ~r7 ~3~375~ ~
1,., s 1 stop means, coupling means, lower brace and the driving a~l 2 dril~jen gears between the side-plate extensions and the 3 attachment is chosen to cause the pitch diameters of the 4 driving and driven gears to mesh at the optimum when the attachment is affixed to the side-plate extension5.

7 Figure 1 is a fragmentary top elev~ational view 8 with.parts broken out and in cross section of a printing 9 . press having an inking-unit attachment disposed thereon;
Figure 2 is an enlarged cross--sectional view of an 11 inking-unit attachment hereof and ta~en generally a~ong line 12 2-2 in Figure l;
13 Figure 3 is an enlarged schematic illustration of 14 the relative arrangement of the various rollers forming the inking~unit attachment hereof, and including a portion of 16 the plate cylinder of the printer;
17 Figure 4 is an enlarged schematic illustration of 18 the gearing arrangement for driving the rollers and the 19 three-function cam;
Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan vie~
21 of the attachment with portions of the roller broken out 22 for ease of illustration;
23 Figure 6 i5 a fragmentary enlarged Ride eleva-24 tional view of the attachment illustrated in Figure 5 with parts thereof in cross-section;

26 Figure 7 i3 a perspective view of the three-27 function cam;
~8 Figure 8 i8 an enlarged fragmentary siae ele-29 vational view of an adjustment and positloning mechanism for ~i ~337~
, ., ` :h. ~y i ,;

1 the form rollers of the inking-unit attachment hereof;
,~
2 Figure 9 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sec- -.
3 tional view of the adjustment and positioning mechanism 4 taken generally along line 9-9 in Figure 8;
Figure 10 is a fragmentary side elevational vie~
~ with portions broken out and in cross-section illustratinc 7 the positioning mechanism for the form rollers in an "on"
8 condition;
9 Figure 11 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a portion of the positioning mechanism of Figure 9 and taken ,, 11 generally along line 11-11 in Figure 9;
12 Figure 12 is a view similar to Figure.10 illus-13 trating the positioning mechanism in an "off" condition;
14 Figure 13 is a view similar to Figure 11 illus-trating the positioning mechanism in the off condition;
16 Figure 14 is a view similar to Figure 10 illus-17 trating the positioning mechanism in a "lift" condition;
18 Figure 15 is a view similar to Figure 11 illus-19 trating the positioning mechanism in the lift condition;~
Figure 16 is a cross-sectional view of the atta(~-21 ment taken generally along line 16-16 in Figure 9; and 22 Figure 17 is a fragmentary side elevational vie~
23 similar t3 Figure 10 and illustrating the adjustment mech-24 a~ism;
Figure 18 is a side elevational view showing th~
: 26 attachment means and the gear drive of the present inven-27 tion;
28 Figure 19 i5 a fragmentary top elevational view 29 showing the sear drive and th~ overload clutch of the present invention.

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1 DESCRIP~ION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
2 Referring now particularly to Figure 1, there is 3 illustrated a printing press, generally designated 10, 4 having a central blanket cylinder 12 disposed in a main frame 14. Frame 14 has a spaced side frame plate 16 which 6 extends from the central ~rame 14 housing blanket cylind~r 7 12. Side frame plate 16 houses a plate cylinder 20, as ~
8 as devices, described in detail hereinafter, for releasa~1y 9 attaching an inking-unit attachment, generally designatec 18, to the printing press. A plurality of the inking-uni_ 11 attachments 18 may be hung from the central frame 14; ho~-12 ever~ the operation of the present invention is independe~t 13 of the number of inking-unit attachments secured to the 14 press.
It will be appreciated that each inking-uni~
16 attachment 18 is designed to apply a specified color of ink 17 to the plate cylinder disposed between it and blanket 18 cylinder 12. Thus, blanket cylinder 12, in the illustrated 19 form, can pick up a four-color image from four plate cyl-inders as it rolls in contact with the plate cylinders. The 21 blanket cylinder 12 then applies this wet-ink multi-colored ~2 image to an object to be printed by rolling contact between 23 it and the object. For ex~mple, a bottle or a can lid may 24 be disposed on a conveyor, no~ shown, below blanket cylinder 12 such that the multi-colored inking images carried by 26 blanket cylinder 12 can be applied directly by rolling 27 contact with the items as ~hey move in contact with bl~nket 28 cylinder 12 along a conveyor, not shown, for example, in -he 29 direction indicated by the arrow C.
3~ Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, the relative j, 1 arrangement of the various rollers and other elements of one `~ ~of the inking-unit attachments 18 of the present inventi~n 3 i illustrated ParticularLy, form rollers 22, spaced o~e 4 from the other, are disposed for engagement with the cor~e-sponding plate cylinder 20 on the side thereof opposite 6 blanket cylinder 12 as shown in Figure 1 when attachment 18 7 is appl1ed to printing press 10. In the nip of form rolLer~
8 22 and on the side of form rollers ~2 opposite plate cyl-9 inder 20 is an oscillator roller 26. An idler roller 28 bears in the nip of oscillator roller 26 ana a receiver 11 roller.30 spaced from oscillator roller 26 on the opposite 12 side thereof from form rollers 22~ As described in detail 13 hereinafter, a duc~or roller 32 is carried for swinging 14 movement between positions respectively engaging receiver roller 30 and a fountain roller 34. It will be appreciated 16 that ink supplied from a reservoir, not shown, to fountain 17 roiler 34 is transferred from the fountain roller 34 in 18 succession to the ductor, receiver, pressure, oscillator and 19 form rollers and then to the plate cylinder 20 for appli-cation, in turn, to blanket cylinder 12.
21 As illustrated in Figure 4, attachment 18 is \~ 22 driven from main drive shaft 36 suitably connected to a 23 drive from the printing press 10, such as, e.g., from a 24 gear, not shown~ coupled to plate cylinder 20. Main dri e shaft 36 carrie~ a driving gear 38 in mesh with a larger 26 gear 40 mounted on an oscillator roller shaft 42. A cam 27 drive shaft 44 is rotatably carried by attachment 18 and 28 carries a gear 46 in me~h with gear 40. Gear 46 als~ me hes 29 with a gear 48 carried on a shaft 50, carrying receiver roller 30. As explained :Ln detail hereLnafter, a drive ~33~75~ii 1 mech~ism is provided for intermittently rotating fountain ~o'ller-34 as a result of the driving connection between it 3 an~ the cam-drive shaft 44. Also, ductor roller 32 is 4 mounted for free rotation in brackets 92 carried by a ~haft 94 which is oscillated by cam-drive shaft 44 in a manner explained hexeinafter. Consequently, it will be appreciated 7 that the oscillator and receiver rollers 26 and 30 respec-8 tively have a continuous rotary motion as a result of the 9 drive from the printer. The oscillator and receiver roller~
26 and 30 respectively drive the idler xoller 2B and the 11 form rollers 22 by contact between their respective sur-12 faces. Ductor roller 32 is driven by fountain roller 34 13 when the two are in contact by the operation of cam-drive 14 sha~t 44; ductor roller 32 is driven by receiver roller 3 through the engagement of their respective peripheral 16 sur~aces when ductor roller 32 is oscillated to contact 17 receiver roller 30.
18 Referring now to ~igures 2 and 5, each attachm~t 19 18 is divided into three compartments by pairs o~ inner ~d o~ter frame plates 52-i and ~2-o, respectlvely. The cent~r 21 compartment defined by the inner pair of side plates 52-i 22 houses the roLlers 22, ~6, 28, 30, 32 and 34 while the t~o 23 outer compartments defined between each spaced pair of ~de 24 plates 52-i and 52 o house the gears, cams and other opera-ting mechanisms. Thus, all ink-carrying roller~ are i~o-26 lated from parts requiring lubrication and, conversely, all 27 parts requiring lubrication are isolated from the parts 28 carrying the ink.
29 Referring now to Figures 5-7, a three-function cam, generally designated 54, is provided to reciprocate 1;~ r~
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~33~5~

1 oscillator roller 26 in opposite directions along its axis, 2 to drive ductor roller 32 between positions respectively 3 engaging the fountain and receiver rollers 34 and 30, and to 4 rotate fountain roller 34 intermittently.
Three-function cam 54 comprises a spool or barrel t 6 having inner flange 56 and outer flange 58 defining a groove 7 60 therebetween. Groove 60 is formed on cam 54 such that it 8 ~ has constant width but wobbles, or shifts axially upon , ,>....................................................... i 9 rotation of cam 54. On ons side of flange 56 is rigidly carried a gea~ 62 (see Figure 5). Gear 62 has an axially 11 projecting stub shaft, not shown, rotatably mounting gear 62 12 and cam 54 for rotation in the frame plate 52-i on the fr~nt 13 side of attachment 18. Gear 62 is driven by a gear 64 14 (Figure 4) mounted on cam-drive shaft 44 and located in t e 11 front compartment of the attachment. Consequently, the ~, 16 drive from the printer, particularly the drive from the 17 oscillator to the receiver rollers through the cam drive 18 shaft 44, also rotates ~hree-function cam 54.
19 To reciprocate oscillator roller 26 in an axial !
directlonj a bracke~ 66 (Figures 5 and 6) i5 secured to tle 21 out~idé of front frame plate 52-i. AII arm 68 is pivotall, 22 secured at one end by pivot pin 70 ~o bracket 66. The 23 opposite end of arm 68 carries a rgller 72 which engages in 24 a groove 74 (Figu~-e 5~ of a spool 76 carried on the end of oscillator roller shaft 42. Oscilla~or roller shaft 4~ is 26 axially slidable in bushings 78 carried by the frame plates 27 52-i.
28 To impart an oscillatory motion to arm 68 about 29 the pivot pin 70 and consequently oscillate or reciprocate oscillator roller 26 in a direction parallel with its axis, ~16-1 a roller 80 is pivotally carried by arm 68 intermediate its 2 ends. Roller 80 engages in the groove 60 of cam 54. C,~n- -3 sequently, as cam S4 is rotated by the drive imparted t rough 4 gears 38, 40, 46 and 64, shaft 44 and gear 62, roller 8 will follow groove 60 to oscillate arm 68 in a generall 6 horizontal direction about pivot pin 70. Since roller 2 is 7 carried by the free end of arm 68, its-engagement in sp-ol 8 76 causes shaft 42 carrying oscillator roller 26 to rec3p-9 rocate in an axial direction. ~ear 40 and shaft 42 are fixed one to the other and the gear 40 slides axially 11 relative to gears 38 and 46, whereby~oscillator roller ~6 iB
12 continuously rotated as it reciprocates in an axial direc-13 tion. Gear 40 and shaft 42 may be splined one to the other, 14 if desired, to enable shaft 42 and oscillator roller 26 to I5 reciprocate in an axial direction relative t~ gear 40 while 16 roller 26 continues to rotate.
17 Three-function cam 54 also serves to oscillate 18 ductor roller 32 between positions alternately engaginy 19 receiver roller 30 and fountain roller 34. As illustrate~
in Figure 3 and 6, ductor roller 32 is carried by stub 21 shafts 90 recéived in slots in the upper ends of a pair of 22 axially spaced brackets 92 disposed inside frame plates 52-3 i. Brackets 92 are carried on a shaft 94, journalled in 24 frame plates 52-i. A plate 95 is suitably cla~ped or other--25 wise affixed to shaft 94 and projects forwardly toward t}~
26 printing press and carries a laterally pro~ecting stub s}lft 27 96. Shaft 96 rigidly carries an arm 97 which also projec_s 28 toward the pxess. The distal end of arm 97 carrie~ a 29 roller 98 in engagement with cam surfaces carried by the flange 58 of three-function cam 54. Arm 97 is biased, as ~3~

1 illustrated in Figure 6, for movement in an upward direction 2 by a spring 100 coupled between a pin 101 carried by plate 3 95 and bracket 66 on frame plate 52-i.
4 Referring now to Figures 6 and 7, the outer flange 58 of three-function cam 54 has an axial projection in the 6 ~ge~err,al form of a truncated triangle with the base of the 7 triangle forming the arc of a circle-having its axis coin-8 cident with the axis of rotation of three-function cam 54.
9 That is, the arcuate cam surface 102 of the axial projection from flange 58, together with the surfaces 104, 106 formed 11 by the sides of the triangle and the flat 108 formed by the 12 truncated top of the triangle, form cam surfaces fo~ roller 13 98. ~hus, roller 98 is biased by spring 100 into following 14 engagement with one of the cam surfaces 102,. 104, 106 or 108, depending upon the rotary position of three-function 16 cam 54. Consequently, when roller 98 moves from arcuate am 17 surface 102 onto one of the surfaces 104 or 106, dependin 18 upon the direction of rotation of the three-function cam 4, 9 the bias of spring 100 causes arm 95 and brackets 92 to ,. . ~ , - .
pïvot in a counterclockwise direction as illustrated in 21 Figure 6 to displace ductor roller ~2 away from receiver 22 roller 30 and toward fountain roller 34. When roller 98 23 engages and tries to follow cam surface 103, ductor rolle 24 32 is pivoted and maintained in engagement with fountain roller 34. ~hen the rollex 98 engages surfaces 10~ ~d 1('~
26 upon continued rotation of three-function cam 54, plate 3r 27 and brackets 92 are rota~ed about the axis of shaft 94 in a 2~ clockwise direction as illustrated in Figure 6 to di~place 29 ductor roller 32 away from fountain roller 34 and toward receiver roller 30. When roller 98 engages arcuate surface 1 102 of the three-function cam 54, ductor roller 32 is ~ ~n~a ~ in engagement with receiver roller 30.
3 The three-function cam 54 also serves intermit-4 tently to rotate fountain roller 34; a circular ratchet S wheel 112 is disposed on shaft 110 carrying fountain rolle 6 34. Rotatably carried on shaft 110 is a rocker plate 114, 7 the upper end of which, illustrated in Figure 6, carries a 8 pin 116 on which a pawl 118 is rotatably carried. The tip 9 120 of pawl 118 is adapted to engage the ratchet teeth 122 Spring 124 connects between a pin 126 carried ~y pawl 118 11 and pin 130 carried by rocker plate 114.
12 A rocker arm or crank 131 is pivotally con~ected 13 ~ at onè end to the lower side of rocker plate 114; its 14 opposite end is pivotally connected to the outer axial face 134 of three-function cam 54 by a pin 136. ~he rotation of 16 three-function cam 54 thus causes rocker plate 114, through 17 rocker arm 131, to oscillate about shaft 110. When rocker 18 plate 114`pivots in a clockwlse direc.tion as illùstrated in 19 Figure 6, the tip 120 of pawl 118 rides over teeth 122.
.When rocker plate 114 pivot~ about shaft 110 in the opposite 21 direction, tip 120 of pawl 118 engages teeth 122 to drive 22 fountai~ roller 3.4 carried by shaft 110 in a counterclock- ;
23 wise direc~ion, as shown in Figure 6; however, the.direction _. s ~
24 of rotation is not critical to ~he operation of the presen invention.
26 To adjust the extent of the angular rotation of 27 fountain roller 34, a pawl ~hield 140 is rotatably carried 28 on shaft 110 in side-by-side relation with ratchet wh~el 1 2 29 and in a position to underlie part of the tip 120 of pawl 118. Pawl shield 140 has a circular outer surface 142 whi~h --19-- ~

, . . . - 1 ~337~G

1 extends for approximately 270. The remaining outer surface 2 comprises a flat 143, e.g., the chord of a circle. The 3 diameter of surface 142 is slightly larger than the diameter 4 of ratchet wheel 112 such that when part of the tip 120 of pawl 118 bears on the surface 142 of pawl shield 140, pawl 6 `~118 is maintained out of engagement with ratchet teeth 122.
,. ~f .
7 However, when the shield is rotated such that flat 143 is 8 located below the tip 120 of pawl 118, the~bias of spring 9 124 urges tip 120 into engagement with ratchet teeth 122 and, upon rotation of rocket plate 114, drives fountain 11 roller 34.
12 The rotary position of shield 140 about ~haft 10 13 is maintained by detent 144 engageable in one of several 14 openings 146 formed in the peripheral surface 142 of paw 15 shield 140. sy rotating pawl shield 140 about the axis f 16 shaft~llO, through operation of handle 145, and locking he 17 shield ~`0 ln a selected angular position, the extent o 18 engagement of the tip 120 of pawl 118 with ratchet teeth 122 19 during angular movement of rocket plate 114 can be adjus-ed.
consequently, the extent of angular xotation of fountain 21 roller 34 for each rocking movement of plate 114 can be 22 adjusted from zero to a practical maximum of about 45 23 degrees of arc.
24 ~eferring now to Figures 8-15, there is illus-trated a form-rbller positioning mechaniæm for moving the 26 form roller into a selected one of three position~: an "on"
27 position in engagement with both the oscillator roller 26 -28 and plate cylinder 20; an "off" position dicengaged-from 29 plate cylinder 20 and remaining engaged with oscillator roller 26; and a "lift" position for moving the form roller 31 out of engagement w~th both the oscillating roller ~nd plate ~L3~

. ~ .
1~ cylind,~r to enable the rollers to be cleaned.
``;'~ T~ Y ''''~ ~r.
~ Referriny now to Figures 9, 11 and 16, form r(ller 3 22 is provided with stub shafts 151, shown in Figure 16 4 at its opposite ends which are suitably secured to the rotatably carried by the ends of a pair of support arms 152.
6 The opposite end of each support arm 152 is freely rotat:able 7 about eccentric shaft 154 which extends through suitable 8 openings 164 formed in the opposite inner frame plates 52-i 9 of the attachment unit. Each support arm 152 is spaced from the associated frame plate 52-i by a collar 158. For rea-11 sons which will become apparent from the ensuing descrip-12 tion, collar 158 is secured to eccentric shaft`l54.for 13 rotation therewith and carries a lift stop 160 (Figure 11) 14 which projects outwardly of its periphery for engagement li with a stop pin 162. Stop pin 162 projects laterally 16 outwardly from support arm 152. As best illustrated in 17 Figure 6, openings 164 in frame plate 52-i are sufficiently 18 large to permit movement of shaft 154 in a direction no~mal 19 to its axis.
As shown in Figure 9, a stub shaft 166 having ~
21 smaller diameter than shaft 154 is suitably secur~d to ~ch 22 of the opposite e~ds of shaft 154. Stub shaft 166 are 23 eccentric to the axis of shaft I54. Stub shafts 166 ar~
24 aIso rotatably carried in eccentric bushings 168 secured to frame plate 52-o at opposite sides of the attachment uni~.
26 That is, the cornrnon axis of the bores of bushings 168 is 27 offset from the cornrnon axis of the outer surfaces of the 28 bushings. ~ach bushing mounts a collar 170 inwardl~ of the 29 outer frarne plates 52-o for reasons described hereinafter.
At the control or front side of unit 18, each stub ~3~7~6 ; ~ , ... . .
1 ~ shaft 166 is provided with a collar 172 which carries c i2 ! lever 174. The distal end of lever 174 carries a knob 176 3 which serves to control a spring-loaded pin 178 which can be 4 inserted into and withdrawn from any one sf three openings 180, 182, or 184 provided in outer front frame plate 5~-o, 6 and which openings correspond to on, off and lift position~
7 of the form roller respectively. Thus, lever 174 can be 8 disposed and maintained in any one of the ~three positiGns by 9 operation of knob 176. Movement of lever 174 between the on, off and lift position~ caused stub shafts 166 to rotate 11 in the bores of bushings 168. Consequently, eccentric shaft 12 154 is rotated, and its axis is displaced along an arc 13 having the axis of rotation of stùb shafts 166 as its 14 center.
Referring now particularly to Figures 10 and 11, 16 ~orm roller 22 is illustrated in the one position, in en-17 gagement against both oscillating roller 26 and plate cyl-18 inder 20. Knob 176 locates pin 178 in the correspondinJ
19 opening 180, holding stub shafts 16~ and eccentric sha~ 154 in a fixed rotary positionO The support arms 15~, fre~ y 21 rotatable on eccentric sha~t 154, enable roller 22 to l e in 22 a position maintained in engagement with the oscillator 23 roller and plate cylinder. A spring-loaded ~in 186, ca-ried 24 by the attachment-unit frame along each of its opposite sides, bears on an inclined surface of the correspondin~
26 support arm 152 to maintain the form roller 22 in positlon 27 engaged with both oscillator roller 28 and plate cylind~r ~8 20.
29 To back form roller 22 away from the plate cyl-30~; inder and consequently move the attachment unit to the of~

31 position, lever 174 is rotated, for example in a counter-.

7~ :

1 clockwise direction, ~rom its position illustrated in-Fi~ure ~ ~ o the position illustrated in Figure 12. Knob 176 i 1-3 thus operated to located pin 178 in the second opening 1 2 4 in frame plate 52-o. By rotating lever 174, and consequ~ntly stub shafts 166, shaft 154 is swung along the arc of a circle having its center of rotation coincident with the 7 axis of rotation of stub shafts 166. Thus, shaft 154 is 8 displaced in discrete distance along an arcuate path in a 9 direction away from plate cylinder 20. As illustrated in 10 . Figures 12 and 13, this displacement of eccentric shaft 154 11 moves the support arms 152 in a like direction, causing form 12 roller 22 to move away from plate cylinder 20 and along the 13 surface of oscillator roller 26. Consequently, form roller 14 22 is spaced from plate cylinder 20 and is 31ightly elevated with respect thereto as illustrated in Figures 12 and 13~
16 Pins 1~6 continuously engage support arms 152 to maintain 17 the form roller in engagement with the oscillator roller 26 18 when the attachment unit is in the off position.
19 To place the form roller in the lift position, lev~r 174 is rotated further counterclockwise to the position 21 illustrated in Figure 14, and pin 178 is the lift positi)n.
22 By rotating lever 174 to the lift position, eccentric shlft 23 154 rotates further about the common axis of ~3tub shafts 24 166. While rotating, the lift stops 160 carried by colllrs 158 engage stop pins 162 carried by support arms 152. A3 26 shown in Figure 15, further rotation of eccentric shaft !$4 27 thus causes Lift stops 16D to lift support arms 152 and corm t 28 roller 22 therewith. In the lift condition, form ~ller 22 29 is spaced from both plate cylinder 20 and oscillator rolLer 22. As previously noted with reference to Figures 11 and 9 ~3~6 ,, ..~` ... .
~ 13, pins 186 are spring-loaded, and retract so that arm: 154 "'2 may move into their lit positions.
3 Another feature of the present invention resi es 4 in the capability of adjusting the ax.is of the form rol er to ensure parallelism with the axis of plate cylinder 2 , or 6 lack thereof, if this condition is desirable. This adjlst-7 ment feature is best illustrated in Figures 8, 9, 16 an( 17.
It has been described how bushings 168 have eccentric b~res 9 for mounting stub shafts 166. Also, each bushing 168 is rigidly coupled to a surrounding `collar 170.- As illust3:ated 11 in Figure 16, collar 170 is rigidly secured to bushing :68 12 and has a threaded hole for receiving the threaded end of a 13 threaded bushing 190. Threaded bushing 190 is adapted to 14 recei~e a threaded shaft 192, on the upper end of which is an adjusting knob 194. By rotating knob lg4 and threaded 16 shaft 192, threaded bushing 190 is displaced, thus rotating 17 collar 170 and the attached eccentric bushing 168. By 18 .rotating bushing 168, and recognizing that stub shafts 166 19 lie in the eccentric bore of bushings 168, it can be seen that the stub shaft 166 and bracket 152 at each of the 21 opposite sides of the attachment-unit frame may be displaced 22 jointly along the arc of a circle having the axis of b~shing 23 168 as its center, or separately, such that opposite encs of 24 the form roller 22 are movable substantially towar~ or~'-~ay from plate cylinder 20. In this manner, any desired de(ree 26 of parallelism of the form rollers can be adjusted relative 27 to the ax.is of the plate cylinder 20.
28 Those skilled in the art will realize that fo~
29 roller 22 can be single or multiple; the foregolng desclip-3G tion of the positioning and adjustment means is applica~le iS ~3~
'3 ' 1 to each form roller which may be used in the apparatus of 2 the present invention.
3' In summary, the gear 38, through the attached 4 gearing arrangement illustrated in Figure 4, drives both the oscillator and receiver rollers in the same rotational 6 direction, and simultaneously rotates the three-function cam 7 54 in the opposite direction. By rotating the three-function 8 cam 54 as the oscillator and receiver rollrr are rotated, 9 oscillator roller 26 is simultaneously rotated about its axis and reciprocated in an axial direction. The oscillator 11 roller 26 is reciprocated axially by the engagement of 12 roller 80 between the flanges 56 and 58 of,cam 54 which 13 oscillates arm 68 about piYot pin 70. Roller 72 on the ~nd 14 of arm 68 engages spool 76 on sha~t 42 to reciprocate os il-lator roller 26 in an axial direction.
16 ~hen roller 98 engages cam surface 102 of ~hre~-17 function cam 54 at a location adjacent cam surface 106, 18 ductor roller 32 engages receiver roller 30. Upon furth~r 19 rotation of three-function cam 54, for example ln a coun:er-clockwise direction as illustrated in Figure 6, arm 131 21 rotates rocker plate 114 in a clockwise direction to reti-ac~
22 the tip 120 of pawl 118 a?ong ratchet tee~h 122. Upon 23 further ro~ation of three-~unction cam 54, roller 98,bears 24 against surface 104 and spring 100 moves bracket 92 mounting 25 , ductor roller 32 in a counterclockewise direction as seen in 26 Figure 6 to displace ductor roller 32 into engagement with 27 the fountain roller 34. Continued rotation of cam 54 in a 28 counterclockwise direction brings roller 98 into engagement 29 with cam surface 108 to maintain du~tor rollex 32 in en-gagement with fountain roller 34, and causes arm 131 to ~~

~3~6 rotate rocker plate 114 in a counterclockwise direction, as 2 ~illustrated in-Figure 6, to index fountain roller 34 in a 3 counterclockwise direction while ductor roller 32 is ma n- i ., j ..j~
4 tainèd in engagement against fountain roller 34. Thus, ink received from an ink reservoir, not shown, by fountain 6 roller 34 is transferred to ductor-roller 32. Further 7 rotation of cam 54 brings cam surface 106 into engageme t 8 with roller 98 causing auctor roller 32:to~pivot a~out .xis : 9 94 against the bias of spring 100. This pivoting actio displaces ductor ~oller 32 away from fountain roller 34 into 11 engagement with receiver roller 30. Simultaneously, arm 131 12 displaces rocker plate 114 in a clockwise direction as 13 illustrated in Figure 6 to withdraw the pawl 118 about 14 ratchet teeth 122. Consequently, the rotary movement o:E the 1~ re~eiver roller 30 causes ductor roller 32 to rotate wi-h 16 receiver xoller 30. With ductor roller 32 held against 17 receiver roller 30 by the cooperation of cam surface 102 and 18 roller 98, ink is transferred from ductor rolIer 32 to , 19 receiver roller 30.
Idler roller 28 is maintained in engagement v ~
21 against both receiver roller 30 and oscillator roller 26 by-22 means, such as suitable clamps, screws or springs, not 23 shown, but well known ~o those skilled in the art. Ink is 24 accordingly transferred fro~ the receiver roller 30 to the idler roller 28 and subsequently to oscillator roller 2l~.
26 Oscillator roller 26, in turn, applies the ink to form 27 roller 22 for subsequent applicat.ion to the plate cylin er 2B 20 and blanket cylinder 12.
29 The peripheral speeds of the receiver roller ~nd oscillator roller are preerably different ~ne from the ~3~7~ , "-1 other such that a skidding action occurs between the re-2 ceiver and idler rollers or the idler and oscillator roller~, 3 or both. This skidding action, in effect, smears and work~
4 the ink as it is transferred from one roller to the next, and ultimately provides a uniform distribution of ink on the 6 form rollers as well as delivery of a greater quantity of 7 ink to the form rollers. The ink is thus fed to the oscil-8 lator roller in a greater quantity and with a more uniform 9 distribution than would otherwise be the case with simple rolling contact between the surfaces of the-idler and 11 receiver rollers or the idler and oscillator rollers or 12 both. The oscillator roller thus delivers sufficient irc to 13 the form roller so that the latter is not s~arved for in~.
14 The peripheral speed of the receiver roller is different from and preferably greater than the peripheraL
16 speed of the oscillator roller. It has been found that he 17 peripheral speed of the receiver roller should lie withil a 18 range of 90% to 120% of the peripheral speed of the osci 1-19 lator roller, and preferably should be a~out io7~ of the peripheral speed of the oscillator roller~ To accomplish 21 this, gea~ ~8 is smaller than gear 40 for the oscillator 22 roIler. Thus, the shaft 50 carrying the receiver roller 23 rotates at a higher rate than the sha~t 42 carrying the 24 oscillator roller. While the diameter of the receiver roller 30 is s~aller than the diameter o~ the oscilla~or 26 roller 26, the decrease in diame~er of the rece~ver roller 27 relative to the oscillator roller is insuficient to com-28 pensate for the d~creased diameter of the gear 48 for the 29 receiver roller relative to gear 40 for the o~cillator roller. Thus, the peripheral speed of the receiver roller . -~7-~33~56 !
1 30 exceeds the peripheral speed of the oscillator roller.
Since the idler roller 28 lies in constant surface contact 3 with both the receiver and oscillator rollers, a skidding 4 action occurs between one of the receiver or oscillator rollers and the idler roller, or both of the receiver and 6 oscillator rollers and idler roller.
7 Various methods can be employed to provide the 8 described difference in peripheral speed. For example the 9 idler roller could be driven, rather than idling, and a- a different speed from one or both of the receiver or osc 1-11 lator rollers, to provide a skidding action between the 12 contacting surfaces to achieve the desired results of 13 uniform distribution of ink and distribution of a great~r 14 quantity o~ ink on the form rollers. - -Referring now to Figure 18, the inking-unit a-tach-16 ment 18 is shown affixed to plate cylinder side frame p:ate 17 16. The attachment of the unit 18 is by means of coupl:ng 18 means 200 resting in upper recess 208 of side-~late ex-19 tension 206. The side-plate extensions 206 are fastenecl in paLrs to the side frame plates 16 of plate cylinder 20;
21 lower brace 211 of the attachment 18 rests against lower 22 stop means 210 of the side-plate extension 206 to provide a 23 positive spacing. Side-plate extensions 206 are provided 24 with adjustment means 212, shown here as elongated holes, to permit the plate to be ~ffixed to the individual plate 26 cylinder side frame for optimum spacing of adapter gear 214 27 with respect to plate cylinder gear 216. Fastening means 28 218, shown here as screws with recessed heads, serve to hold 29 slde-plate extensions 206 to side-frame plate 16 through adjustment means 212. Adapter gear Z14 runs on drive shaft ~3~375~

6, which is carried between side-plate extensions 206.
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2 Those skilled in the art will note that the ad-3 justment feature of the side-plate extension permits uni L 18 4 to be set at optimum spacing for pressure and alignment of form roller 22, and that the setting will not thereafter 6 ~ change as long as the extensions 206 are not moved. The 7 removal of unit 18 is easily and safely achieved by~lifting 8 it in an arc, pivoting on coupling means 200, cau~ing lower 9 brace 211 to swing away from lower stop means 210. As will be noted with reference to Figure l9, this movement of the 11 unit 18 causes gear 38 to move away from driving gear 38, 12 disposed on the opposite end of drive shaft 220 from adapter 13 gear 214. In this manner, the unit can be removed from even 14 a running press, and another one substituted immediately.
Cover 224, maintained in place to protect the machinery from 16 damage and to protect personnel from injury, is preferab y 17 removed before detaching unit 18 from the press.
18 In Figure 19, the unit 18 is shown from the to~, 19 affixed t~ the press, with form roller 22 running in con-act with plate cylinder 20. Adapter gear 214, driven from 21 plate-cylinder gear 216, ~rives shaft 36 through overloa( 22 clutch 226 to driving gear 223 in mesh with gear 3B. OVt r-23 load clu~ch can be coupled to either of the gears 214 or 38, 24 as long as t~e clutch i~ interposed between the driving force of the pl~te-cylinder gear 216 and gear 4Q in some 26 fashion for machinery and personnel safety~ ~s noted abc)ve, 27 on the rotation of unit 18 about coupling means 200, driving 28 gear 38 lifts away from gear 40, and the power to t~e 29 inking unit is disconnected.
3~ While adapter gear 214 and driving geax 33 are ~ 2 ~ _ ~ 375~ , 1 shown in Figure 19 as being disposed on oppo~ite end~ /~f 2 ~ aft 36, those skilled in the art will realize that b~th 3 gears could be at the same end of the shaft. Similarl , 4 although the various gears have been illustrated as spur ge~rs, other kinds of gears are generally u~eful, such a~, e.g., bevel, hypoid or worm, depending on the applicat.on.
7 Further, shaft 36 could be driven-in some other fashiorl than by direct gear drive from the plate cylinder a flexible 9 shaft from the axis of the plate cylinder, a chain or belt drive from the plate-cylinder gear, or intermediate gearing 11 from the main drive of the printing press to shaft 220 i8 12 within the scope and spirt of this inven~ion.
13 Another impo3tant aspec~ of the present invention 14 resides in the isolation or compartmentalization of the irollers on the one hand, and the gearing and drive mechanisms 16 on the other. It will be appreciated that the xollers are 17 disposed in the intermediate compartment between inner frame 18 plates 52-i while the drive mechanism is disposéd in on~ or 19 the other of the outer compartments of attachment 18, Thu6, ink and solvents u~ed for cleaning the roller~ do not 21 lntermingle with lubricants u~ed in the drive mechanism and, 22 conversely, the lubricant~ of the drive mechanism are 23 isolated from the ink and solvents usëd ln thé rollers.
24 Thi~ feature, in combinatlon with the environmental i80 lation provided by cover 224, permit~ singularly clean 26 operation of the unit with respect to the exterior envi30n-27 ment, i.e, the area around the printing pres~, and further 28 s~rves to maintain the interior of the inklng unit~free of 29 contaminatiOn.
- ~odification , changes and improvement~ to the ~L~3~S6 !
present forms of the invention herein disclosed, described 2 and illustrated may occur to those skilled in the art who 3 come to understand the principles and precepts thereof.
4 Accordingly, the scope of the patent to be i~sued herein should not be limited to the particular embodiments of the 6 invention set forth herein, but rather should be limited by 7 the advance by which the invention has promoted ~he art.

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Claims (3)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An apparatus for providing ink to a printing press having a plate cylinder, said apparatus having means thereon for removably affixing said apparatus to said press;
a fountain roller;
a ductor roller;
a receiver roller;
an idler roller;
an oscillator roller; and at least one form roller, said rollers being disposed within said frame, said receiver roller and oscillator roller being driven by drive means from a drive source and controlled by a three-function cam-means, said fountain roller being intermittently driven by said drive means from said drive source, said ductor roller being driven by intermittent frictional contact with said oscillator and receiver rollers, and said form roller being driven frictionally by direct contact with said oscillator roller, said fountain roller being provided with adjustable indexing means, said ductor roller inter-mittently contacting said fountain roller and said receiver roller, said oscillator roller reciprocating axially, the indexing of said fountain roller, intermittent contact of said ductor roller with said fountain roller and said receiver roller, and reciprocation of said oscillator roller being simultaneously controlled by said three-function cam means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said three-function cam means has a groove defined by an inner and an outer flange, surfaces adjacent said outer flange consisting of an arcuate surface and a plurality of flat surfaces, and a pin affixed normal to said arcuate surface.

3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein said fountain roller is adjustably indexed by the rotation of said three-function cam means having a pin affixed, said pin being pivotally affixed to one end of a rocker arm, said rocker arm being pivotally affixed at the opposite end thereof to a rocker plate, said rocker plate having affixed thereto a pawl and being pivotally affixed to a shaft, said fountain roller being rotatably disposed on said shaft, said pawl being urged into contact with a circular ratchet wheel, said ratchet wheel adapted to drive said fountain roller, said ratchet wheel having juxtaposed an adjustable pawl shield, said ductor roller being moved into intermittent contact with said fountain roller and with said receiver roller by the operation of said three-function cam means, said cam means having an arcuate surface and a plurality of flat surfaces, said surfaces having in contact therewith a roller carried on an arm, said arm being urged into following contact with said surfaces by a spring, said arm being pivotally affixed to a bracket, said bracket disposed to carry said ductor roller, said oscillator roller being recip-rocated axially by an arm having a spool affixed to one end thereof, said spool running in a groove in one end of the axis of said oscillator roller, said arm having a roller intermediate the ends thereof, said roller following a groove in said three-function cam means, said groove being defined by an inner and outer flange, said arm being pivotally affixed to a bracket at the end opposite said end having a spool affixed, and said bracket being rigidly affixed to said frame.