The invention relates to a device for suspending a squeegee in a cylindrical screen of a rotary screen printing machine, in which the ends of the cylindrical screen are accommodated in drive and support units, and the squeegee extends in a longitudinal direction inside the cylindrical screen, which device comprises two squeegee supports, each disposed near one of the drive and support units, and each provided with an accommodation opening for the accommodation of one end of the squeegee.
Such a device is known in practice.
In rotary screen printing machines color paste is supplied by means of a squeegee to a cylindrical screen. The squeegee consists of a distribution system for distributing the color paste over the width of the squeegee and a squeegee blade which serves to force color paste through the screen.
In the case of the known device, when the squeegee is being mounted in a screen suspended in the drive and support unit, the squeegee is slid into the cylindrical screen from one side, following which the ends of the squeegee are mounted in the accommodation openings of the two squeegee supports disposed near the ends of the cylindrical screen.
The known device for suspending a squeegee has the disadvantage that the squeegee has to be mounted by two people, one on each side of the cylindrical screen. The first person slides the squeegee, which can be 3 to 3.5 meters long, into the cylindrical screen from one side. When the squeegee has been slid fully into the cylindrical screen, the second person, at the other side of the cylindrical screen, picks up the end of the squeegee slid through the screen and fixes it in the squeegee support situated at the side in question. The first person then fixes the other end of the squeegee in the appropriate squeegee support. During the mounting of the squeegee the two people often have to assume an awkward position and lift quite a heavy weight. In addition, there is the danger that when the squeegee is being mounted in the squeegee supports, the squeegee could fall and damage the screen.