referring initially to fig1 there may be seen , generally at 01 , a roller in accordance with the present invention . the roller 01 , which is partially represented in fig1 has a rotatably seated roller body 02 , whose outer circumferential surface can be placed against a counter - pressure roller , which is not specifically represented in fig1 . the roller 01 is fastened on a press frame 04 of a printing press by the use of a bearing element 03 . the roller 01 , which may be , for example an application roller , can also be seated in levers for engagement and disengagement with the counter - pressure roller . in this connection , the bearing element 03 can be displaced by remote control for accomplishing a movement of the roller 01 in relation to the press frame 04 , or to change the contact pressure between the roller 01 and the counter - pressure roller which is not specifically shown . the roller body 02 is rotatably seated on shafts 07 , only one of which is shown in fig1 by the use of two bearings 06 , for example two rolling bearings 06 , each of which is arranged in the area of an end face of the roller body 02 . alternatively to the preferred embodiment represented in fig1 it is , of course , also within the scope of the present invention to provide rolling bearings 06 in the bearing element 03 for the rotatable seating of the rolling body 02 , in order to permit rotatory relative movements between each shaft 07 and the associated bearing element 03 . each shaft 07 is embodied as a spring element , for example as a bar spring . this is constructively accomplished in that the shaft 07 has a spring element 08 , for example a bar spring element 08 , which can be elastically deformed transversely to its longitudinal axis 11 . the bar spring element 08 is rigidly clamped to the bearing element 03 at a first end , and its second , opposite end is rigidly fastened on the end face of a sleeve 09 . if a force acts on the roller body 02 radially in respect to the longitudinal axis 11 of the roller 01 , the bar spring element 08 is at least slightly elastically deformed by this force , so that a spring force is created , which spring force is directed opposite to the force acting on the roller body 02 . the spring element 08 can also be embodied as a hollow spring element 08 in order to make possible the inlet and outlet of a cooling medium - conducting roller body 02 . the flexural strength of the bar spring element 08 has been selected to be such that a defined force is generated largely independently of its bending . a damping element 12 is provided in a gap between the sleeve 09 and the bar spring element 08 . this is constructively achieved in that the gap between the sleeve 09 and the bar spring element 08 is filled with a suitable oscillation - damping material . the bar spring element 08 , as depicted in fig1 has a cross section in the shape of a circle so that , in the situation of the placement of the roller body 02 against two counter - pressure rollers , the same characteristic spring curve results in both placement directions . if the roller 01 is set with the correct flattening against a counter - pressure roller by the use of generally known engagement devices , this setting is also maintained with a constant force by the bar spring element 08 even under dynamic stresses . occurring oscillations are kept below a tolerably threshold by use of the damping element 12 . [ 0029 ] fig2 shows an inking unit 13 for use with a plate cylinder 14 , and including two distribution cylinders 16 and 17 , a first roller 18 , for example an inking roller 18 , and a second roller 19 , for example an application roller 19 . starting at the distribution cylinder 17 , ink is transferred to the plate cylinder 14 via the inking roller 18 , the distribution cylinder 16 and the application roller 19 . the shaft of the inking roller 18 has a spring element 21 in the shape of a circle , for example a bar spring element 21 , so that the characteristic spring curve of the inking roller 18 , when placed against the distribution cylinders 16 and 17 , is approximately the same in both engagement directions 22 and 23 . in contrast to the shaft spring element 21 of the first , inking roller 18 , the shaft of the second , application roller 19 has a rectangular spring element 24 , for example a bar spring element 24 . because of the rectangular cross - sectional shape of the bar spring element 24 and because of its correspondingly suitable mounting arrangement , it is achieved that , when application roller 19 is placed against the plate cylinder 14 in the engagement direction 26 , the bar spring element 24 makes possible a substantially rigid seating of the roller 19 against the cylinder 14 with a very steep characteristic spring curve . in other words , this means that the application roller 19 can only be displaced in the engagement direction 26 by correspondingly large forces . to set the flattening force of the application roller 19 against the plate cylinder 14 , it is necessary for the bearing element 03 to be embodied so as to be displaceable in the engagement direction 26 . in that case , the bar spring element 21 can again be twisted in the engagement direction 26 for fine adjustment . when the application roller 19 is placed against the distribution cylinder 16 in the engagement direction 27 , the application roller 19 is relatively easily resiliently compressed , since in this direction the bar spring element 24 has its narrowest width . in the situation of an asymmetric spring element , the spring element can be embodied to be rotatable , so that the contact pressure , viewed from the basic setting , can be increased , as well as reduced . in this case , the bearing element 03 is embodied in such a way that the spring element can be clamped . a roller combination , including a roller 28 which is placed against two rollers 29 and 31 , for example two counter - pressure rollers 29 and 31 , is represented in fig3 . since the counter - pressure roller 31 is arranged below the roller 28 , a force of weight 32 caused by the weight of the roller 28 acts on the counter - pressure roller 31 . so that , as the end result following the installation of the roller 28 , the same engagement forces 33 and 34 act on the counter - pressure rollers 29 and 31 , the roller 28 , whose shaft has a spring element 36 , for example a bar spring element 36 , is mounted in such a way that the bar spring element 36 is differently pre - stressed along the engagement directions 37 and 38 . it is possible , by a suitable selection of the difference between the pre - stresses along the engagement directions 37 and 38 , to compensate for the force of the roller weight 32 acting on the counter - pressure roller 31 , so that as a result the engagement forces 33 , or 34 , agree , as desired , in their amounts . by an appropriate selection of the pre - stress , it is , of course , also possible to set a different ratio of the various forces acting between the rollers 28 , 29 , 31 . the shaft 07 and the roller body 02 may be connected with each other , for example , so they cannot rotate in respect to each other . in another embodiment , the roller body 02 may rotate in relation to the shaft 07 . the spring element 08 typically has a flat characteristic spring curve . the force generated by the spring element , for example an engagement force against a counter - pressure roller and / or counter - pressure cylinder , is almost independent of bending . for example , the force change is less than 50 % in the area of the bending which occurs . while preferred embodiments of a roller , in accordance with the present invention , have been set forth fully and completely hereinabove , it will be apparent to one of skill in the art that various changes in , for example , the overall size of the roller , the specific material utilized for the roller body and for the oscillation dampening material , and the like could be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention , which is accordingly to be limited only by the appended claims .