DESC:FIELD OF INVENTION:
The present invention relates to an equipment for the screen printing ink / offset ink production. The present invention particularly relates to a protective equipment and/or a guard for triple roll mills involved in the screen printing ink/ offset ink production and an auto scrapping mechanism to scrap the rolls to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
The production process of the screen printing ink, involves use of different types of equipment. One of them is Triple Roll Mill. The Triple Roll Mill is an equipment consisting of three rolls in which the premixed ingredients are milled for reducing the particle size to zero microns.
TRM (Triple Roll Mill) is used for grinding and dispersing of inks, the machine consists of three rolls operating at different speeds. The material is fed between the first and second roll and is discharged from the third roll by a scrapper/doctor blade. The ink passing between the rolls is subjected to high stress and frictional forces resulting in the breaking up and separation of the particles to produce a fine dispersion of inks. The gap adjustment between the rolls can be done manually or hydraulically. The hydraulic pressure kept is 2000 psi/140 kg/sq.cm. The rolls are independently cooled with the help of chilled water of temperature 12-15 deg C. The temperature of rolls should be always maintained below 25 deg. C
During its operation, the operator working on that machine is directly exposed to the said rotating rolls and VOC.
Thus, there arises a need in the state of art to create a guard which can provide safety to the operator without hampering the process and reducing the VOC in the milling area as well as reducing the fire risk. The said guard also helps to overcome the pinching hazard caused during scrapping of rolls manually to the hands of the operator when they are exposed to the rolls.
Manual scrapping of rolls
The rolls are usually scraped manually using hand scrappers. During this operation, the operator needs to be very careful as there are chances of pinching hazard. To overcome this issue, a new automatic ink scrapping mechanism is designed.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention is directed towards an equipment preferably a protective equipment and/or a guard for triple roll mill involved in the screen printing ink/offset ink production process.
The main object of the present invention is to design a protective equipment and/or a guard for the triple roll mill involved in the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process.
An object of the present invention is to provide a protective equipment for triple roll mill designed to overcome the hazards of direct exposure, VOC and Pinch during manual operations of screen ink/ offset ink production process.
An object of the present invention is to design a protective equipment customized to guard all rolls of the screen printing ink machine.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an auto scrapping mechanism to scrap the rolls to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process.
Another object of the present invention is to overcome the high risk of health effect to occupational operators due to exposure to high VOCs concentration.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS:
The details of the present invention, both as to its structure and operation, may be gleaned in part by study of the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:
Figure 1 illustrates triple roll milling machine as disclosed in the detailed description of the present invention.

Part List:

110: Protective equipment / guards
111: Screen printing ink machine
112: A window in the center of the protective equipment/ guard
113: Triple roll mills
114: Ink collection tub
115: Doctor blade
116: Pair of hinges
117: Back side of the protective equipment/guard
118: Front side of the protective equipment/ guard

Figure 2a illustrates representation of TRM scrapper mechanism in accordance with another embodiment as disclosed in the detailed description of the invention, in which:
Part list:
1: Limit switch 1
2: Limit Switch 2
3: Roll
4: Screw
5: Flame proof panel
6: Flame proof electric motor
7: Scrapper
Figure 2b consists of a pictorial representation of TRM scrapper mechanism in accordance with another embodiment as disclosed in the detailed description of the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates graphical representation of the VOC data before and after installation of the protective equipment as disclosed in the detailed description of the invention.
Figure 4 illustrates a pictographic representation of an automatic ink scrapping mechanism in accordance with one of the embodiments as disclosed in the detailed description of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:
The present invention is best understood by the description set forth herein.
Embodiments of the invention are discussed below. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the detailed description given herein is for explanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limited embodiments.
VOCs exposure poses a higher threat to the workers in the occupational environment. Accidental or short-term exposure to high concentration of VOCs may cause irritation of eyes, nose, throat, and lungs as well as damage to the liver, kidney and central nervous system. Long term exposure to even low level of concentration could results in asthma, reduced pulmonary function, cardiovascular disease and serious cancers. Inhalation is the main exposure pathway to the VOCs. In order to overcome the said serious implications, a protective equipment / guard is designed which proves a boon to the operating individuals and also guard all rolls of the screen printing ink machine. In a preferred embodiment of the screen printing ink production process and with reference with figure 1, a fixed customized protective equipment and/or guards (110) is designed on the superficial surface of the triple mill rolls of the screen printing ink machine (111). The said protective equipment and/or guard (110) is preferably made of stainless steel 316 which is compatible and anti-corrosive in nature during operations. According to one of the preferred embodiments, the protective equipment comprises: a Front side of the protective equipment/ guard (118), a back side of the protective equipment/guard (117), a window in the center of the protective equipment/ guard (112), Doctor blade (115) and a Pair of hinges (116). The backside of said protective equipment / guard (117) (ref. figure 1) measures preferably 1000mm x 800mm, with a 150mm base area fitted to the TRM printing machine frame. The said fitment arrangement is made by means of pair of hinges (116) which are partly fitted on the base of the machine frame and partly on the base of the protective equipment/ guard (110). The front side of the protective equipment/ guard (118) is hinged at four parts for proper fitment of the protective equipment covering the entire open operating portion of the triple roll mill. According to one of the preferred embodiments when the base width of the protective equipment measures 860 mm, the specifications of the protective equipment/ guard are first pair of hinge arrangement measuring at 100mm from the base fitted to the machine frame, second pair of hinge arrangement measuring at 150mm from the first pair of hinge arrangement, third pair of hinge arrangement at a distance measuring of 220 mm from the second one and the fourth one at a distance measuring of 140mm from the third one. The said protective equipment and/or guard (110) has a small window in the center (112) from which the material is dispensed onto the rolls. The material when dispensed, passes through the triple mill rolls (113) and is collected in the ink collection tub (114) by means of doctor blade (115) which is in fluid communication with the triple mill rolls (113). The said protective equipment and/or guard (110) prevents the pinching hazard which may cause serious injury to the operator. During the manual scrapping operation carried out by the operator, his fingers or spatula are directly in contact with the rotating rolls. The said protective equipment (110) prevents the said pinching hazard which may cause a serious injury to the operator. Further a safety interlock with an alarm is fixed for all the triple roll mills (113). When the material volume of the machine decreases it avoid dry running of the machine and can avoid fire risk, and damage to rolls and its components.

Kindly note that the specifications and product parameters of the protective equipment differ as per the specifications of the machinery.
The said protective equipment (110) for triple roll mill is designed to overcome the hazards of direct exposure, VOC and Pinch during manual operations of screen printing ink production process. It guards all rolls of the screen printing ink machine.
The following illustration validates the effectivity of the protective equipment.
Illustration 1:
Aim/ object: To validate the effectivity of the triple roll mill covers/ protective guard by means of VOC data before and after installation of the protective guard as illustrated in figure 3.
Observation and Results:
May Sep
48.10 33.10
49.50 30.10
46.20 33.50
48.70 37.10
51.40 35.70
48.20 32.60
46.50 35.60
49.20 34.40
48.90 35.50
49.20 32.10
47.80 33.60
48.90 36.70
51.90 35.10
51.20 30.10
48.30 30.90
49.50 34.20
48.70 33.20
45.60 33.80
48.90 33.70
47.20 34.90
46.70 31.20
Average: 48.48 Average: 34.01
Before installations of the protective guard, over a period of 21 days in the month of May the VOC emission levels were higher, on an average of 48.48, whereas in the month of September after the installations of the protective guard the average was reduced to 34.01 VOC emission levels. Lower the VOC emissions, healthy is the operating individual.
The said lower VOC levels are due to the protective guard designed for the triple mill rolls. The said illustration thereby validates healthy working operating conditions for the operators, provide safety to the operator without hampering the process and reducing the fire risk as well.
The terminology used in the present disclosure is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment, and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The particular order of steps disclosed in the method and process of the present disclosure is not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance as described or illustrated. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed. It is understood that many modifications and variations may be devised given the above description of the principles of the invention.
As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
Illustration II
Manual scrapping of rolls
The rolls are usually scraped manually using hand scrappers. During this operation, the operator needs to be very careful as there are chances of pinching hazard. To overcome this issue, a new automatic ink scrapping mechanism is designed.
Automatic ink scrapping mechanism
As shown in figure 4 an automatic roller scrapping mechanism is installed. This mechanism consists of two lead screw type bars those are driven by flameproof motors. The scrapper is mounted on these screw type bars.
The scrapper moves in reciprocating action over the first and third roll to scrap the excess ink from the rollers. The ink from the first roll is pushed over the second roll with the help of the auto scrapper. And the scrapper present on the third roll helps to scrape and push the ink from third roll to doctor blade. This mechanism has saved a lot of time including the operator efforts and ensures a safe scrapping operation.
The said scrapper mechanism is explained further with reference to figure 2a and figure 2b. Figure 2a consists of a representation of triple roll mill scrapper mechanism and figure 2b consists of a pictorial representation of triple roll mill scrapper mechanism.
With reference to figure 2a, the said mechanism consists of a scrapper (7) made of soft teflon material that continuously reciprocates over the roll. This reciprocating movement is made possible with the help of screw (4) and flameproof motor (6) as shown in figure 2a. There are two limit switches (1 & 2) located at left and right ends of the rolls (3). These limit switches help to restrict the scrapper (7) reciprocating movement at the end of rolls.
This mechanism helps the scrapper (7) to slide over the rolls(3), which is useful in spreading of ink over the rolls during production and scrapping of rolls after completion of production process.
Ensures operator’s safety:
During production process, the operator needs to continuously operate the manual scrapper for spreading of ink over the rolls to ensure uniform distribution of ink all over the area. This operation is now carried out using auto scrapping mechanism, and this is carried out more uniformly due to the automatic scrapping system.
During cleaning process, the operator initially needs to remove the deposited ink on rolls. Normally this ink layer is a bit hard to clean manually. Now with the help of automatic scrapping system operator cleans these rolls easily with this automatic mechanical system keeping his hands safe from the rotating rolls of the triple roll mill. Operator only wipes the thin layer of ink stains from the rolls to avoid contamination of the last inks batch to the next batch and thus we are maintaining the high-quality production in the TRM section. Thereby ensuring a safe operating practice during TRM production / cleaning process.
Kindly note that the specifications and product parameters of the scrapping equipment differ as per the specifications of the machinery.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT INVENTION:
The present invention envisages a protective equipment for triple roll mill designed to overcome the hazards of direct exposure, VOC and Pinch during manual operations of screen printing ink/ offset ink production process.
The present invention provides a protective guard in the screen printing ink/offset ink process which is preferably designed to provide safety and to overcome the health hazards to the operators, thereby it proves as a boon to the end user.
The present invention provides an auto scrapping mechanism to scrap the rolls to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen-printing ink/offset ink production process.
The present invention provides scrapper to slide over the rolls, which is useful in spreading of ink over the rolls during production and scrapping of rolls after completion of production process.
,CLAIMS:We claim:
1) A protective equipment for triple roll mill designed to overcome the hazards of direct exposure and high VOC’s concentration, and an auto scrapping mechanism to scrap the rolls, to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process and preventing the pinching hazard which may cause a serious injury to the occupational operators, further avoiding dry running of the machine when the material volume of the machine decreases thereby avoiding fire risk and damage to rolls and its components
2) The protective equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the protective equipment for triple roll mills comprises:
A front side of the protective equipment/ guard (118)
A back side of the protective equipment/guard (117)
A window in the center of the protective equipment/ guard (112)
Doctor blade (115)
A Pair of hinges (116)
wherein the said protective equipment is placed on superficial surface of the triple roll mill wherein the front side (118) and the back side (117) of the stainless-steel protective equipment are fused in together with the help of hinges (116) to form a curved V (an arc) structure which can be fitted onto the triple roll mill involved in the screen printing ink /offset ink production process

3) The equipment/ guard as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the said protective equipment and/or guard (110) has a small window in the center (112) from which the material is dispensed onto the rolls, the material when dispensed, passes through the triple roll mill (113) which is collected in the ink collection tub (114) by means of doctor blade (115) which is in fluid communication with the triple rolls mill (113)

4) An automatic roller scrapper as claimed in claim 1 to scrap the rolls and to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process comprises:
Limit switch 1(1), Limit Switch 2(2), Rolls (3), Screw (4) Flame proof panel
(5), Flame proof electric motor (6) and scrapper (7);
the said scrapper (7) is made of soft teflon material that continuously reciprocates over the roll(3), the said reciprocating movement is made possible with the help of screw (4) and flameproof motor (6) the two limit switches (1 and 2) located at left and right ends of the rolls (3) help to restrict the scrapper (7) reciprocating movement at the end of rolls (3), the said mechanism helps the scrapper (7) to slide over the rolls(3), which is useful in spreading of ink over the rolls during production and scrapping of rolls after completion of production process
5) An automatic roller scrapping mechanism as claimed in claim 1 to scrap the rolls and to eliminate the manual operations involved during the screen printing ink/ offset ink production process, the said mechanism consisting of two lead screw type bars driven by flameproof motors, the scrapper is mounted on the screw type bars, the scrapper moving in reciprocating action over the first and third roll to scrap the excess ink from the rollers, the ink from the first roll is pushed over the second roll with the help of the auto scrapper, the scrapper present on the third roll helps to scrape and push the ink from third roll to doctor blade;
6) An equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said protective guard is designed and customized in varying sizes to fit, operate and guard all rolls of the triple roll mill machine of varying sizes, the said guard lowers VOC levels thereby validating healthy working operating conditions for the operators, the said guard provides safety to the operator without hampering the process and reducing the fire risk as well
7) An automatic scrapping equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the specifications and product parameters of the scrapper differ as per the specifications of the machinery, the said mechanism eliminates the manual operations involved during the screen-printing ink/offset ink production process and ensuring a safe scrapping operation for the operators