Electrostatic Control of Ink Misting on High-Speed Printing Presses.

Ink misting from the nip of printing-press ink rolls, especially in newspaper presses, has been an annoying and expensive problem since the advent of high-speed presses. Various attacks have been made on the problem like the devising of special low-misting inks and the use of hoods to collect the mist. However, such methods have been only partially successful and, in general, are quite expensive. Now a special application of electrostatic principles has made it possible to direct virtually all of the mist back on the rolls thus eliminating the problem at its source. The theory and the practical application of the process are presented.