1. In combination with a printing or coating machine possessive of a plurality of printing cylinders and delivery means for withdrawing printed or coated sheets from the printing cylinders, an air knife for preventing the sheets from contacting components making up the delivery means of the machine while the sheets are still wet, said air knife comprising:
a housing comprising a plenum with an air inlet and an air outlet formed therein, said housing comprising at least one convex surface thereon;
a fairing configured to cover said air outlet and spaced relative thereto such that a gap formed between them permits air passing through said air outlet to be discharged through said gap and along said at least one convex surface; and
means for varying the thickness of said gap such that upon passage of a flow of air from said plenum and discharge through said gap, the fairing cooperates with said at least one convex surface to provide a Coanda effect on the discharged flow, said fairing and said at least one convex surface further aerodynamically cooperative with one another such that the Coanda effect imparted to the discharged flow further entrains at least a portion of ambient air surrounding at least one of said housing and said fairing such that said discharged flow and said entrained ambient air flow substantially together in a generally sheet-like pattern.
2. The air knife of claim 1, further comprising means for changing the angular orientation of said air knife relative to the machine.
3. The air knife of claim 1, wherein said means for varying the thickness of said gap comprises a sheet of material placed between opposing surfaces of said fairing and said housing.
4. The air knife of claim 3, wherein said sheet of material includes at least one flow channel formed therein such that said passage of a flow of air from said plenum and discharge through said gap takes place through said flow channel.
5. The air knife of claim 4, wherein said sheet of material comprises mylar.
6. A delivery system for a printing device with rotatable printing cylinders, said delivery system comprising:
a plurality of drive wheels at least one of which is rotatably mountable adjacent the rotatable printing cylinders;
a conveyor coupled to said plurality of drive wheels and responsive thereto;
at least one gripper bar coupled to said conveyor, said at least one gripper bar comprising at least one gripper thereon such that upon receipt of a sheet from the rotatable printing cylinders, said at least one gripper engages the sheet so that said conveyor transports the sheet from a first end of said delivery system adjacent the rotatable printing cylinders to a second end away from the rotatable printing cylinders; and
an air knife fluidly coupled to said first end of said delivery system, said air knife comprising:
a housing comprising a plenum with an air inlet and an air outlet formed therein, said housing comprising at least one convex surface thereon;
a fairing configured to cover said air outlet and spaced relative thereto such that a gap formed between them permits air passing through said air outlet to be discharged through said gap and along said at least one convex surface; and
means for varying the thickness of said gap such that upon passage of a flow of air from said plenum and discharge through said gap, the fairing cooperates with said at least one convex surface to provide a Coanda effect on the discharged flow, said fairing and said at least one convex surface further aerodynamically cooperative with one another such that the Coanda effect imparted to the discharged flow further entrains at least a portion of ambient air surrounding at least one of said housing and said fairing such that said discharged flow and said entrained ambient air flow substantially together in a generally sheet-like pattern.
7. The delivery system of claim 6, wherein said plurality of a plurality of drive wheels are rigidly coupled to one another with a rotating shaft that extends between them, said rigidly coupled plurality of drive wheels defining a delivery path that is substantially the same width as the adjacent rotatable printing cylinders, and wherein said air knife is disposed relative to said rotating shaft such that upon discharge of said generally sheet-like pattern of air from said air knife, the sheet that is engaged by said at least one gripper avoids contact with said rotating shaft.
8. The delivery system of claim 6, further comprising an air regulator for varying the amount of flow of air entering into said plenum.
9. The delivery system of claim 8, further comprising a switching mechanism cooperative therewith to selectively operate said air discharged through said gap.
10. The delivery system of claim 9, wherein said switching mechanism comprises:
at least one sensor placed in signal communication with at least one of said plurality of drive wheels, conveyor and at least one gripper bar; and
a controller signally responsive to said at least one sensor such that upon receipt of a control signal therefrom, said controller selectively enables or disables a supply of air to said air knife.
11. A printing device comprising:
a sheet feeder station;
a sheet receiving station;
a sheet delivery station operatively situated between said sheet feeder and said sheet receiving stations, said sheet delivery station comprising:
a plurality of drive wheels;
a conveyor coupled to said plurality of drive wheels and responsive thereto; and
at least one gripper bar coupled to said conveyor, said at least one gripper bar comprising at least one gripper configured to engage the sheet so that said conveyor transports the sheet from a first end of said delivery station to a second end;
a printing station comprising a plurality of rotatable cylinders for imparting at least one of a printing and a coating to the sheet, said printing station configured to cooperate with said sheet feeder station and said sheet delivery station to deliver a printed sheet to said sheet delivery station; and
an air knife fluidly coupled to said first end of said delivery system, said air knife comprising:
a housing comprising a plenum with an air inlet and an air outlet formed therein, said housing comprising at least one convex surface thereon;
a fairing configured to cover said air outlet and spaced relative thereto such that a gap formed between them permits air passing through said air outlet to be discharged through said gap and along said at least one convex surface; and
means for varying the thickness of said gap such that upon passage of a flow of air from said plenum and discharge through said gap, the fairing cooperates with said at least one convex surface to provide a Coanda effect on the discharged flow, said fairing and said at least one convex surface further aerodynamically cooperative with one another such that the Coanda effect imparted to the discharged flow further entrains at least a portion of ambient air surrounding at least one of said housing and said fairing such that said discharged flow and said entrained ambient air flow substantially together in a generally sheet-like pattern toward said printing station.
12. The printing device of claim 11, wherein said printing device comprises a printing press.
13. The printing device of claim 11, wherein said printing device comprises a coating machine.
14. The printing device of claim 11, wherein said conveyor comprises an endless conveyor.
15. The printing device of claim 11, further comprising a device coupled to said air knife such that the angular orientation of said generally sheet-like pattern of air flow being directed toward said printing station can be varied.
16. A method for supporting and conveying a wet sheet which has been discharged from a printing device, said method comprising:
receiving said sheet from at least one rotatable printing cylinder;
transporting said sheet away from said at least one rotatable printing cylinder with a delivery system such that an air knife cooperative with said delivery system imparts an airflow to said sheet so that said sheet avoids contact substantially from the time it leaves the at least one rotatable printing cylinder until said sheet is engaged by at least one gripper on said delivery system, said air knife comprising:
a housing comprising a plenum with an air inlet and an air outlet formed therein, said housing comprising at least one convex surface thereon;
a fairing configured to cover said air outlet and spaced relative thereto such that a gap formed between them permits air passing through said air outlet to be discharged through said gap and along said at least one convex surface; and
means for varying the thickness of said gap such that upon passage of a flow of air from said plenum and discharge through said gap, the fairing cooperates with said at least one convex surface to provide a Coanda effect on the discharged flow, said fairing and said at least one convex surface further aerodynamically cooperative with one another such that the Coanda effect imparted to the discharged flow further entrains at least a portion of ambient air surrounding at least one of said housing and said fairing such that said discharged flow and said entrained ambient air flow substantially together in a generally sheet-like pattern; and
delivering a source of pressurized air to said sheet through said air knife.
17. The method of claim 16, further comprising varying the thickness of said gap such that said generally sheet-like pattern of airflow being delivered by said air knife is optimized for a particular sheet.
18. The method of claim 16, further comprising varying the angular orientation of said air knife relative to said sheet through a pivotal mounting of said air knife.
19. The method of claim 16, further comprising varying the linear placement of said air knife along said delivery device.
20. The method of claim 19, wherein said varying the linear placement of said air knife along said delivery device is through a linearly adjustable mounting bracket.
21. The method of claim 16, wherein said delivery system comprises an endless conveyor cooperative with the at least one rotatable printing cylinder.
22. The method of claim 16, further comprising varying the amount of flow of air entering into said plenum through operation of an air regulator.
23. The method of claim 16, further comprising operating a switching mechanism to selectively operate an air source used to provide air to said air knife.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An archery bow yardage tape apparatus, for attachment to a new or existing archery bow sight having a movable alignment pin positioned in relation to a display surface on the archery bow sight apparatus, comprising:
a) one or more set-up tapes, each set up tape with a plurality of selectively incremented indicia, the set-up tape adapted for securement to the display surface on the archery bow sight apparatus, the display surface sized to substantially cover the entire range of movement of the movable alignment pin;
b) mark the set-up tape at a first known distance to a target, then mark the set-up tape at a second known distance to the target, and use the difference to determine the tragectory required at other selected distances from the target;
c) select a distance yardage tape from a plurality of distance yardage tapes, each distance yardage tape selectively incremented with indicia representative of the setting of the alignment pin on the archery bow sight apparatus at the two known distances; and
d) position and secure the selected distance yardage tape over the set-up tape to enable a user to accurately determine the elevation required to reach a specific target at other distances to the target.
2. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein the distance yardage tapes are selectively designed for use with one of: a side mounted circumferential display, a front face circumferential display and an arcuate display.
3. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set-up tapes are preferably numbered from at least 0 to 80, for use with one of a front face circumferential display and a side mounted circumferential display.
4. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set-up tapes are preferably numbered from at least 0 to 65, for use with an arcuate display.
5. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 4, wherein the indicia on at least one of the set-up tape and the distance yardage tapes is preferably selectively color coded.
6. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein a first known tested distance to the target is twenty yards, and a second known tested distance to the target is sixty yards.
7. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 6, wherein a first known tested distance to the target is twenty yards, and a second known tested distance to the target is alternately selected to be forty yards.
8. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein clear tape is used to secure the distance yardage tape over the set-up tape.
9. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 8, wherein the clear tape has a top side and a bottom side, and the bottom side has adhesive thereon, with a removable protective cover on the bottom side to protect the adhesive prior to securement of the clear tape to the selected distance yardage tape.
10. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein the set-up tapes, the conversion chart, the plurality of distance yardage tapes, and the blank set up tapes are stored together in a suitable container kit.
11. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 1, wherein a conversion chart is used to select a distance yardage tape based on the difference between two marks made on the set-up tape at selected distances to the target, and the difference used to identify a selected distance yardage tape from a plurality of distance yardage tapes.
12. An archery bow yardage tape apparatus, for attachment to a new or existing archery bow sight, comprising:
a) one or more set-up tapes, each set up tape selectively incremented with indicia thereon, the set-up tape adapted for securement to one of, an arcuate side mounted arcuate display;
b) a plurality of distance yardage tapes preferably numbered from 29 to 72, each distance yardage tape selectively incremented with indicia representative of the setting on the archery bow sight apparatus at a given distance to the target;
c) a conversion chart to identify a selected distance yardage tape by subtracting the smaller number marked on the set-up tape from the larger number on the set-up tape to obtain a conversion number, and the conversion number is used to select the distance yardage tape from the plurality of distance yardage tapes provided; and
d) the selected distance yardage tape is positioned and secured over the set-up tape to locate the target tragectory from any one of multiple distances.
13. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 12, wherein a selected distance yardage tape is positioned and secured over the set-up and secured thereto with clear tape.
14. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 12, wherein the indicia on the conversion chart identifies the distance between first and second distances to the target, and the shorter distance is subtracted from the greater distance to obtain a conversion number, and the conversion number is used to select the distance yardage tape from the plurality of distance yardage tapes provided.
15. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 12, wherein the indicia on the distance yardage tapes is selectively color coded.
16. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 12, wherein the two scanned distances from the bow yardage tape apparatus to the target are selected to be twenty yards and sixty yards.
17. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 12, wherein the two scanned distances from the bow yardage tape apparatus to the target are alternately selected to be twenty yards and forty yards.
18. An archery bow yardage tape apparatus, for attachment to a new or existing archery bow sight apparatus, comprising:
a) One or more set-up tapes configured for attachment to one of: an arcuate side mounted display, a front face circular display, and a side mounted circumferential display;
b) said set-up tapes of sufficient size and shape to cover the entire range of movement of the movable alignment pin on said archery bow sight;
c) said set-up tapes having a scale comprising a series of equally spaced, consecutively numbered indicators;
d) a plurality of distance tapes, each distance tape having a plurality of equally spaced, distance indicators;
e) and each consecutive distance tape being one increment longer than the previous distance tape, when measured from the shortest distance mark to the longest distance mark; and
f) each distance tape bearing an identifying number corresponding to the total number of increments between the closest distance mark and the longest distance mark.
19. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 18, wherein the set-up tapes are preferably numbered from at least 0 to 80, for use with one of a front face circumferential display and a side mounted circumferential display.
20. The archery bow yardage tape apparatus of claim 18, wherein the set-up tapes are preferably numbered from at least 0 to 65, for use with an arcuate display.