Self-tensioning printing plate saddle

Claim 1

A self-tensioning saddle for holding a flexible printing plate and adapting it to conventional printing press cylinder rotatable around an axis of rotation, said saddle comprising a saddle body of partially cylindrical extent having circumferentially spaced leading and trailing ends and having cylindrical outer and inner surfaces of curvatures adapted to be coaxial with the axis of rotation of the press cylinder and with said inner surface having a curvature adapted to mate with the cylindrical outer surface of the press cylinder, means at one end of said body for securing one end of the printing plate thereto, said body having parallel elongated circularly arcuate guideways therein adjacent the other end of said body and of curvatures coaxial with the outer and inner surfaces of said body, elongated arcuate guide members of curvatures mating with the curvatures of said guideways arcuately slidable in said guideways in a direction circumferentially of said body, means for retaining said arcuate guide members in arcuate sliding engagement with said arcuate guideways, a cross member secured to said guide members adjacent said other end of said body and movable in a circumferential path with said guide members towards and away from said other end of said body, resilient means on said body resiliently urging said cross member away from said body, and means on said cross member for securing thereto the other end of the printing plate.