The Inkatron Automatic Ink Control System.

The problem of monitoring and controlling ink film thickness on sheet-fed presses is outlined. A brief history of the problems and the resulting equipment and its application to sheet-fed presses is explained. The Inkatron serves as a continuously operating densitometer, which measures ink film density on the printed sheet and automatically adjusts ink flow from the fountain to maintain the color at predetermined standards. The system is far more sensitive than the human eye. In actual production it has been shown that the system can provide automatic ink control through long press runs without visible color variations, sheet to sheet. The control measures ink density at a single control area in each color. Extensive operations in actual production has shown that measurement at a single control point is sufficient for fountain wide adjustment of the ink. By automatically holding the ink to very close tolerance at the control area, color variations across the sheet can be held to a level at which they are invisible to the human eye. Although the Inkatron has been developed with sheet fed offset presses in mind, it is adaptable to all types of sheetfed presses.