Table of Contents
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 components
as shown in Figure 23 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 without
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 contact with the trans-
fer 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 sur-
face 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.
USING THE 4 OZ. RESERVOIR INK CARTRIDGES
Note: The MT Ink Roll is disposable by design and is not to be used with the 4 oz. ink cartridge. When the ink
It is important to note that the Reservoir Ink Cartridge shown in Figure 23 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.
BASIC PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
THE NON-POROUS INKING SYSTEM
is depleted from the MT Ink rolls they are to be discarded.
INK ROLL
ECCENTRIC
14
4 OZ. RESERVOIR
INK CARTRIDGE
PLASTIC BALL
TRANSFER
ROLL
FIGURE 23
Table of Contents
