US3774536A

US3774536A - Printing press control system

Info

Publication number: US3774536A
Application number: US00170048A
Authority: US
Inventors: F Raymond; R Vogler
Original assignee: Rockwell International Corp
Current assignee: Boeing North American Inc
Priority date: 1971-08-09
Filing date: 1971-08-09
Publication date: 1973-11-27
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-27

Abstract

A printing press control system for controlling a press having a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders, with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position. An ink supply system is associated with each printing cylinder in the press, and includes means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of the column positions. The control system includes means for generating an electrical signal representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate. Press adjustments other than in the ink supply system can also be controlled. The control system further includes receiver means associated with each of the printing units and responsive to the generated electrical signals for enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions. The receiver means also energizes the selected adjusted means in the desired direction until an adjustment of the desired magnitude is effected, and then automatically deenergizes the adjusting means.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 1111 3,774,536 Raymond et al. [4 Nov. 27, 1973 1 PRINTING PRESS CONTROL SYSTEM [22] Filed Assignee:

North American Rockwell Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.

: Aug. 9, 1971 Appl. No.: 170,048.

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 735,621, June 10,

- 1968, abandoned.

[52] US. Cl. 101/207, 101/365 [51] Int. Cl B4lf 31/04 [58] Field of Search 340/147, 163, 172.5; 101/365, 247, 366, 206-210 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,497,648 2 1950 Worthington 101/365 2,902,927 9/1959 ROSS 101/365 3,110,254 11/1963 Davis.... 101/365 3,110,885 11/1963 Gibson et al 340/163 X 3,134,325 5/1964 Worthington etaL. 101/365 3,200,377 8/1965 Frank, Jr. 340/147 3,397,386 8/1968 Bishup et al; 340/163 3,370,289 2/1968 Hedgcock et al 340/347 3,414,785 12/1968 Orahood et a1 318/18 3,444,521 5/1969 Breese 340/163 3,435,416 3/1969 Kretsch et al... 340/163 3,466,517

Leenhouts 318/18 Primary Examiner-Al. Reed Fisherv Att0rney.lol'm R. Bronaugh et a1.

[5 71 1 ABSTRACT A printing press control system for controlling a press having a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders, with each cylinder hav ing a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position. An ink supply system is associated with each printing cylinder in the press, and includes means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of the column positions. The control system includes means for generating an electrical signal representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate. Press adjustments other than in the ink supply system can also be controlled. The control system further includes receiver means associated with each of the printing units and responsive to the generated electrical signals for enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions. The receiver means also energizes the selected adjusted means in the desired direction until an adjustment of the desired magnitude is effected, and'then automatically de-energizes the adjusting means.

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PRINTING PRESS CONTROL SYSTEM CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of our pending application Ser. No. 735,621, now abandoned, filed June 10, 1968.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to printing presses and, more particularly, to an improved printing press control system for automatically adjusting variable press functions such as the ink supply rate and the like, both in the presetting of the press and during the operation thereof.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved automatic control system for a printng press which is capable of making precisely controlled automatic adjustments at any of many specific locations in the press, from a single control station remote from the press, and in response to a few simple input instructions. A related object of the invention is to provide such an improved control system which is readily adaptable to a computer-controlled input.

Another object of the present inventon is to provide an improved automatic control system for a printing press of the foregoing type which is capable of controlling virtually any press function that can be made responsive to an electrical signal. A more particular object of this aspect of the invention is to provide such an improved control system for controlling the ink supply system, compensator settings and both axial and circumferential cylinder positions.

It is a further object of this iventionto provide an improved automatic control system for a printing press of the type described above which is capable of controlling the ink supply rate, or other press variables, at a specific portion of the press printing a particular page, by simply supplying an input representing the page number and the type of adjustment desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such an improved automatic control systemffor a printing press which is capable of presetting the press for a printing run, as well as making adjustments during a printng run. In this connection, a related object is to provide such a control system which is capable of automatically selecting the presetting stations in the press in response to input data representing the page numbers and the press settings therefor.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an improved automatic control system for a printing press which is highly reliable and accurate, and yet can be efficiently and economically manufactured and maintained.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a printing press and associated control system embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a keyboard for supplying input signals to the control system of FIG. l to effect desired adjustments in selected press variables;

FIGS. 3a and 3b are a schematic diagram of the input and transmission portion of the control system;

FIGS. 4a and 4b are a schematic diagram of the receiver portion of the control system; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a plate cylinder and mechanism for adjusting the axial and circumferential positions of the cylinder.

While the invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative forms, certain specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosd, but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

It is well known by those familiar with the art of printing presses that a printing press of the type used to print newspapers comprises a series of printing units for printing the various pages of the newspaper, and at least one folding unit for receiving the printing pages and folding them to form thejnewspapers. Each printing unit includes at least one printing couple and typically from two to four printing couples, depending upon whether it has a single color deck, a double color deck, or no color deck at all; each printing couple has a plate cylinder which is typically four pages wide and two pages around so that it is capable of printing eight pages, although it is to be understood that the present invention is applicable to printing couples having virtually any number of pages along its width and/or around its circumference. If a printing cylinder has a four-page width, it is generally considered to have four plate positions, although the cylinder is actually capable of receiving eight or more printing plates, i.e., two or more at each plate position. The four-plate positions are generally identified as "near, near center, far center and far.

For the purpose of supplying ink to the printing rolls, each printing cylinder is conventionally associated with an ink fountain having an adjustable means for controlling the rate at which ink is supplied. To permit adjustment of the ink supply rate, the adjustable means is typically provided with a number of separate adjusting stations spaced along the length of the cylinder. As is well known to those familiar with the press art, both blade type and injector or pump type ink supply systems are conventionally used with printing presses, and the present invention is equally applicable to any of these systerns.

are cut and folded by the folder unit, each printing cylinder also has associated with it a compensator unit which can be actuated to shift the longitudinal position of the particular pages being printed to achieve the desired register of all the printed pages at the folder unit. Other adjusting stations are provided to control the cylinder register, including both sidelay" (axial) register and circumferential register, i.e., to position each printing cylinder properly with respect to other cylinders or other portions of the press.

Turning now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 there is illustrated an exemplary printing press with an associated control system in block diagram form. The press includes a plurality of printing units 10 each of which has one or more lower printing cylinders or couples 10 a, and some of which have deck" cylinders orcouples 10b. One of the printing units has a center color cylinder 10c. For the purpose of folding the various webs To control the registering of the printing pages which printed by the units 10, the press also includes two folding units 11.

As will be described in more detail below, there are a number of different adjusting stations located throughout the press for controlling press variables such as the ink supply rate and the like. In order to provide automatic control of these adjusting stations, a separate unit receiver UR or folder receiver FR is operatively associated with each unit, and each of these receivers is operatively connected to one of two press consoles 12 and 13. Each

console

12 and 13 receives input data from a teletypewriter l4 and a keyboard (FIG. 2) located on the console, and transmits electrical signals to selected receivers UR or FR to automatically effect desired adjustments at selectd adjusting stations throughout the press. The electrical system included in each

console

12 or 13 is shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b, while the electrical system of a typical receiver UR is shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b, which will be described in detail below.

In accordance with the present invention, a control system is associated with the printing press comprising means for generating an electrical signal representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate. The control system also includes receiver means associated with each printing unit and responsive to the generated electrical signal for enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions, and for energizing the adjusting means in the selected direction until an adjustment of the selected magnitude is effected and then automatically de-energizing the adjusting means. Thus, in the illustrative embodiment of the control system illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, a teletypewriter 20, or an equivalent device, is used to feed information concerning a particular printing run into a computer 21, such as the SPC-l2 Stored Program Controller manufactured by General Automation, Inc. The SPC-l 2 is a binary, parallel, single address processor with the capability of addressing eight-bit bytes of data stored in a memory, and data may be loaded from the memory into the central processing unit either twelve bits at a time or eight hits at a time. In addition, the SPC-12 may perform arithmetic (add, subtract), logical, store, shift, test, and input-output operations on a byte basis. Further information on this particular stored program controller is, of course, readily available, and such information will not be repeated herein.

Assuming that the particular press variable to be controlled by the illustrative system shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is the ink supply rate, the informationinitially fed into the controller 21 via the teletypewriter for any given printing run, is the number of each page to be printed, the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each page is to be printed, the color (if any) to be printed on each page, and the setting for the ink supply system at each column position within the plate position where each page is to be printed. In response to this input data, the controller 21 stores data in its memory correlating the numbers of the pages to be printed with the particular printing units, cylinders, and plate positions at which each of the pages is to be printed. At this point, the controller 21 is programmed to adjust the press variables, such as the ink supply rate, automatically in response to input signals representing the adjustments desired either for presetting the press or for making adjustments during a printing run. For example, to preset the ink supply system in the press, the teletypewriter may be operated to feed the controller 21 input data representing each page number and the ink setting for each column position for each page, and the controller 21 is programmed to automatically transmit a signal representing each such setting to the specific receiver associated with the particular printing unit at which the corresponding page is being printed. That is, the controller 21 responds to the input data to produce a series of output signals representing the receiver to which each instruction word is to be transmitted; the cylinder, plate position, and column position to which the instruction word applies; and the magnitude and direction of the adjustment to be effected.

Each output signal generated by the controller 2] appears as an eight-level binary output signal on lines 22a through 22h. When the particular controller employed is the SPC-12 identified previously, the eight lines 22a through 2211 comprise eight of the twelve available input/output bus lines. The eight-level binary signal generated by the controller 21 is transmitted via data bus lines 22a through 22h to a function address register 24 and a transmission register 25. The first output signal generated by the controller 21 is strobed into the function address register 24 in response to a function address pulse, referred to hereinafter as the FAP pulse, generated at the FAP terminal of the controller 21; the PAP terminal is a conventional part of the SPC-l 2 controller identified previously, and produces a signal which strobes the information on the eight input/output lines 22a through 22h into the corresponding eight bits Al-A8 of the register 24. The first three bits (A1, A2 and A3) of the function address register 24 are connected to a conventional binary to octal converter 26, such as a Signetics N8250A converter, for example. The converter 26 is also connected to the transfer output pulse terminal of the controller 21; the transfer output pulse terminal, referred to hereinafter as the TOP tenninal, is a conventional part of the SPC-12 controller identified previously, and produces a singal which strobes the information on the lines 22a through 22h of the input/output bus into the portion of the transmission register or receiver selector register selected by the outputs from the converter 26. More particularly, whenever an output pulse is produced by the transfer output pulse terminal of the controller 21, the converter 26 produces an output signal on one of the seven output lines 27a through 273 representing the data stored in bits A1 through A3 of the function address register 24, and this signal is transmitted via data bus lines 27a through 27g to enable a selected portion of the transmission register 25, the receiver selector register 28, a transmit register 29, or a pair of AND

gates

30 and 31. More particularly, a signal appearing on one of the first four lines 27a through 27d enables a corresponding one of four AND

gates

32, 33, 34 and 35 connected to the respective lines 27a through 27d, and the enabled gate in turn enables a corresponding group of eight bits A9-Al6, A17-A24, A25-A32, or A33-A36 of the transmission register 25. A signal appearing on the fifth line 27e enables an AND gate 36 associated with the receiver selector register 28; a signal appearing on the sixth line 27f enables an AND gate 37 associated with transmit register 29; and a signal appearing on the line 27g enables the two AND

gates

30 and 31.

As mentioned prevously, the information that is intially fed into the controller 21 via the teletypewriter 20 determines the initial settings to be made on the press via the automatic control system. For' example, if the particular variable being controlled is the ink supply rate, the initial information might establish the precise settings to be made at each of the adjustment points on the ink fountain blade, or other adjustment means in the ink supply system. To permit subsequent adjustments during a press run, a manually operated keyboard 40 is connected to the contoller 21 via an eightlevel encoder 41 and the input/output lines 22a through 22h. An illustrative keyboard design shown in FIG. 2, although it is to be understood that a number of different keyboard designs may be utilized to permit different types of information to be fed into the controller 21. Operation of the keyboard shown in FIG. 2 can be most easily understood by reference to a specific example. Thus, if the-operator wishes to increase the ink supply rate to

column positions

1 and 5 for the first page, he depresses a key representing the page number 1, and then an enter" key 54 which causes the controller 2l'to search its memory to determine the particular portion of the press where the page selected by key 50 is being printed. Next the operator depresses key 51 representing the direction of the adjustment desired, namely, an increase in the ink supply rate; then

keys

52 and 53 representing the selected column positions; and finally key-55 representing the magnitude of the desired adjustment. The operator then again depresses the enter key 54, which signals the controller 21 that the data input for this particular adjustment has been completed.

In the exemplary key operation described above, depression of the key 50 causes the controller to locate the particular cylinder and plate position where black ink is being printed on page number 1. If a-color is also being printed on the same page, depression of the key 50, representing the page number, plus one of four color selector. keys 56, causes the controller to locate the particular cylinder and plate position where the selected color is being printed on the selected page. If an error is made by the operator depressing the keys, he simply presses a clear" key 57 to clear the data fed into the controller before occurrence of the error.

Additional keys on the keyboard shown in FIG. 2 permit the operator to select an adjusting station in the press by selecting a particular unit, cylinder, and plate position rather than a page number. More particularly, the unit is selected by depressing a unit key 58 plus one of the numbered keys such as the key 50, the cylnder is selected by depressing one of four cylinder selector keys 59, and the plate position is selected by depressing one of four plate position selectorkeys 59a. For example, if the operator wishes to make an adjustment at the near plate position of the left deck cylinder of unit 1, he depresses keys 58 and '50, the left side deck" key 59, and the near plate position selector key 59a. The magnitude and direction of the adjustment to be effected at the selected position is then selected in the same manner described previously, e.g.,

, by depressing

keys

55 and 51.

through A6 (bits A7 and A8 are reserve bits) of the function address register 24 supply control signals to a binary to octal converter 43, which responds to the signals from bits A4 through A6 to produce an enabling signal on either of two

output lines

43a or 43b. If an enabling signal appears on line 43a, all of the gates associated with the converter 26 are enabled, so that the particular gates selected by the eight-level output signal from the converter 26 actuate the registers associated therewith to receive an instruction word from the controller 21 in response to the next TOP pulse. More particularly, if the converter 43 produces an enabling signal on line 43a, and if gate 32 is enabled by a signal on line 27a, the next TOP pulse causes the data bits on lines 22a through 22h to be strobed into bits A10 through A16 of the transmission register 25. Similarly, if enabling signals are produced on lines 43a and 27a, gate 36 causes the data on lines 22e through 22h to be strobed into bits A37 through A40 of the output selector register 28 in response to the next TOP pulse. The other output from the converter 43, Le, the output signals on line 43b, are used to enable the encoder 41 to permit data to be fed into the controller 21 in response to operation of the keyboard 40.

It will be appreciated from the description thus far that several instruction words may have to be produced by the controller 21 on the lines 22a through 22h in order to provide all the necessary information for a complete instruction in the bits A10 through A40. in this case, of course, it is necessary for the controller 21 to transmit several instruction words to the bits A10 through A40, with a different function address word being transmitted to the function address register 24 in response to an FAP pulse preceding the transmission of each instruction word to the bits Al0-A40. It will be understood that the controller 21 will be programmed to automatically carry out thenecessary cyclic transmission in response to input data from either the teletypewriter 20, for presetting the press, or the keyboard 40, for making adjustments during a press run.

The specific information represented by the bits A10 through A36 of the transmission register will be described hereinafter in connection with the receiver system for decoding such bits and actuating the appropriate press adjustment means in response thereto. At this point, it will suffice to state that bits A10 through A36 correspond to bits B] through B27 of the receiver system to be described below. The receiver system will be described with specific reference to an instruction for controlling the ink supply rate to the various printing cylinders, but it will be understood that the system pro- -vided by this invention may be used to control virtually any press function which can be made responsive to an electrical signal, by simply programming the controller 21 to produce the necessary data bits in response to appropriate input data derived from the teletypewriter 20 or the keyboard 40. It should also be noted that bit A9,

is not used in the illustrative system, and simply comprises a reserve bit for use in modifications of the illustrative system, such as feeding data serially into the transmission register 25.

The receiver system to be described below in connection with FIGS. 4a and 4b serves only a single printing unit. Since a typical press involves multiple printing units, as mentioned previously, it is necessary for the transmission system-to select the particular receiver to which each instruction stored in the transmission register 25 is to be transmitted. This selection is made in response to the data stored in the receiver selector register comprising bits A37 through A40. More particularly, bits A37 through A40 supply signals to a pair of binary to

octal converters

60 and 61, which respond to the signals from bits A37 through A40 to actuate a receiver selector 62 to select any one of a number of different receivers. In the particular system illustrated in FIG. 3b, the

converters

60 and 61 and the receiver selector 62 are adapted to choose any one of sixteen different receivers, but it will be understood that the system may be readily modified to serve a larger or smaller number of receivers, depending upon the particular press being controlled. The receiver selector 62 may comprise a series of relays which are energized in response to different signals received from the

converters

60 and 61 to automatically connect the transmission system to the particular receiver system designated by the data stored in bits A37 through A40.

After a complete instruction has been stored in the transmission system, including a receiver selection signal in the receiver selector register 28, the controller 21 sends a function address signal to the function address register 24 to actuate the transmit register 29, via AND gate 37, in response to the next TOP pulse. More particularly, when the AND gate 37 receives enabling signals both from the converter 43 and from the converter 26, in response to a TOP pulse, it triggers the flip-flop 29 to supply a signal to the shift enable" input of each of the four-bit registers included in the transmission register 25, e.g., register A33-A36; the shift enable input is a conventional input in such four-bit registers, such as the Signetics 8271 four-bit register. The output signal from the flip-flop 29 also actuates a shift pulse generator 70 to supply shift pulses to the transmission register 25 so as to shift the bits A10 through A36 out of the transmission register 25, in serial fashion, into a data and shift pulse mixer 71. As the data pulses representing the bits A10 through A36 are supplied to the mixer 7], shift pulses are also supplied thereto from the shift pulse generator 70, and the mixer 71 responds to the incoming data and shift pulses to produce an output signal comprising a series of alternate data and shift pulses. For example, each data pulse may be a negative-going pulse, and each shift pulse a positive-going pulse, it being understood that data pulses appear only between selected pairs of successive shift pulses according to the data stored in bits A1- -A36. This output signal is transmitted serially to the receiver selector 62, which directs the signal to the particular receiver system selected by the bits A37 through A40 via the

converters

60 and 61.

When the entire instruction has been shifted out of the transmission register 25, an AND gate 72 senses identical signals from all the bits A through A36, and responds thereto to return the flip-flop 29 to its original state, thereby removing the enabling signal from the shift enable input to the transmission register 25 and de-actuating the shift pulse generator 70. Consequently, it can be seen that the transmission of each signal to a selected receiver is controlled by the flip-flop 29, which in turn is controlled by signals from the two

gates

37 and 72. 1

To prevent the controller 21 from transmitting instructions while an instruction previously stored in the bits A10 through A40 is being transmitted to a selected receiver, the AND gate 30 is enabled by the same output signal from the flip-flop 29 which actuates the shift pulse generator 70. The other inputs to this gate 30 are connected to the line 43a from converter 43 which controls the loading of the various registers, and to line 27g from the converter 26 which is responsive to the TOP pulses. If the flip-flop 29 has not been triggered to actuate the shift pulse generator 70, the gate 30 is disabled and has no effect on the controller 21, so that loading of the bits A10 through A40 may proceed. If, on the other hand, the flip-flop 29 has been triggered to actuate the shift pulse generator 70, the AND gate 30 is enabled to produce an output signal which is applied to the controller via input line 22b to prevent the transmission of any instructions from the controller 21. A similar function is served by AND gate 31, which receives the same two input signals received by gate 30 from lines 27g and 43a. The third input to AND gate 31 is derived from a receiver status detector 73 which detects whether the particular receiver selected by the receiver selector 62 is already carrying out a press adjustment in response to a previous instruction. As will be described below, the receiver system includes means for generating a busy signal as long as a press adjustment is being carried out in response to a signal previously transmitted to that particular receiver system. This busy signal is transmitted back to the receiver selector 62 and detected by the receiver status detector 73. The detector 73, in turn, enables the AND gate 31 in response to such a busy signal, and the AND gate 31 produces an output signal which is transmitted to the controller 21 via input line 22a to prevent the transmission of a further instruction to the busy receiver until the pending adjustment is completed.

It will be appreciated that an output signal from either of the

gates

30 and 31 only prevents the controller 21 from transmitting instructions. That is, the controller 21 is still able to receive input data from the keyboard 40 while.

gate

30 or 31 is producing an output signal. Also, the receiver status detector 73 and its associated gate 31 only prevent the transmission of a signal to the particular receiver system which is busy; that is, signals may be transmitted to other receiver systems which are not producing busy signals. In other words, the receiver selector 62 is normally connected to only one receiver system at any given time, so that a busy signal is detected by the detector 73 only if such signal is received from the same receiver to which the next instruction is to be transmitted, as determined by the data stored in bits A37 through A40 of the receiver selector register.

At this point, it will be recognized that the controller 21 receives inputs from several different sources, including the teletypewriter 20, the keyboard 40, the AND gate 30, and the AND gate 31. However, as mentioned previously, the presence of an input signal from one of these sources does not necessarily disable the controller 21 for the duration of such signal. For example, while the controller receives a signal from

gate

30 or 31, it cannot transmit any further signals to the transmission register, but it can still receive an input from the keyboard 40. Thus, the controller 21 is programmed to scan all the available inputs cyclically so that it operates at maximum efficiency.

Turning now to the receiver system illustrated in FIGS. 40 and 4b, whenever an instruction word is transmitted to the receiver, a series of data pulses and shift pulses are transmitted serially over a single line to a pulse detectorand separator 111. The detector and separator 111 separates the data and shift pulses and passes the data pulses on through a pulse shaper 112 to a 27-bit (Bl-B27) shift register 113. Each word fed into the shift register 113 comprises 27 bits, corresponding to the 27 bits Al-A36 of the transmission register 25, so that each word fills the shift register 1 13. It will be understood that each of the 27 bits 81-327 in the shift register 113 has two outputs referred to hereinafter as the 1 output and the 0 output. In the initial or reset state of the register, all the bits contain zeros, but when the first data pulse and shift pulse is applied to the register, the first bit B1 receives and stores a one, indicated by a 1 output. The second data pulse and shift pulse then transfer 1 output of B1 to the next bit B2 and store the next data'bit in B1, thereby shifting each data bit along the shift register until 27 shift pulses have been received. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, each data pulse is negative-going, and each shift pulse is positive-going, so that each negativegoing pulse between a pair of successive positive pulses represents'a logic I, and the absence of a negative pulse between successivepositive pulses represents a logic 0.

When a complete 27-bit instruction has been stored in the register 1 13, bits Bl, B26 and B27 are used to determine whether the instruction is a legitimate one. More particularly, the 1 output from bit B1, the 0 output from bit B26, and the 1 output from bit B27 are all connected to a NAND gate 115 having a fourth input connected to a NAND gate 138 to be described in more detail later. When bits B1 and B27 contain ls, bit B26 contains a zero, and an enabling signal is received from gate 138, gate 115 supplies a disabling signal to one of two inputs to an AND gate 117. As will be apparent from the ensuing description, if all the necessary inputs are not supplied to the NAND gate 1.15, e.g., if bits B1, B26 and B27 do not contain 1, O, 1, respectively, the resultant enabling of gate 117 causes a reset pulse to be applied to the shift register 113, thereby indicating that the instruction supplied to the register was not legitimate.

Turning now to the receiver system illustrated in FIGS. 4a and 4b, whenever an instruction word is transmitted to the receiver, a series of data pulses and shift pulses are transmitted serially over a single line 110'to a pulse detector and separator 111. The detector and separator 111 separates the data and shift pulses and passes the data pulses on through a pulseshaper 112 to a 27-bit (BL-B27) shift register 113. Each word fed into the shift register 113 comprises 27 bits, corresponding to the 27 bits AA36 of the transmission register 25, so that each word fills the shift register 1 13. It will be understood that each of the 27 bits 81-827 in the shift register 113 has two outputs referred to hereinafter as the 1 output and the 0 output. In the initial or reset state of the register, all the bits contain zeros, but when the first data pulse and shift pulse is applied to the register, the first bit B1 receives and stores a one, indicated by a 1 output. The second data pulse and shift pulse then transfer 1 output of 81 to the next bit B2 and stores the next data bit in B1, thereby shifting each data bit along the shift register until 27 shift pulses have been received. In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, each data pulse is negativegoing, and each shift pulse is positive-going, so that each negative-going pulse between a pair of successive positive pulses represents a logic 1, and the absence of a negative pulse between successive positive pulses represents a logic 0.

Whena complete 27-bit instruction has been stored in the register 1 13, bits B1, B26 and B27 are used to determine whether the instruction is a legitimate one. More particularly, the 1 output from bit B1, the 0 output from bit B26, and the 1 output from bit B27 are still connected to an NAND gate having a fourth input connected to an NAND gate 138 to be described in more detail later. When bits B1 and B27 contain ls, bit B26 contains a zero, and an enabling signal is received from gate 138, gate 115 supplies a disabling signal to one of two inputs to an AND gate 117. As will be apparent from the ensuing description, if all the necessary inputs are not supplied to the NAND gate 115, e.g., if bits B1, B26 and B27 do not contain 1, 0, 1, respectively, the resultant enabling of gate 117 causes a reset pulse to be applied-to the shift register 113, thereby indicating that the instruction supplied to the register was not legitimate. To prevent the enabling of AND gate 117 during the shifting of an instruction into the shift register 1 13, a single shot multivibrator 132 is triggered by the first data pulse from thepulse shaper 112. The resulting output signal from the multivibrator 132 supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate 117 for a predetermined time interval longer than the time required to .feed a legitimate instruction into the shift register l 13; If a legitimate instruction is received, the gate 1 15 supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate 117 before the termination of the time interval measured by the single shot multivibrator 132. If a legitimate instruction is not received, the enabling signal from gate 1 l5 continues, so that when the time interval measured by the multivibrator 132 is terminated, gate 1 17 will be enabled thereby applying a reset pulse to the shift register 113.

Returning now to the shift register 113, bits B2 through B9, which correspond to bits A10 through A17 of the transmission register 25, are used to select any of .eight column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted within a given plate position, at a given impression cylinder, by automatic control of the ink supply system. Bit B10 is provided to permit selection of a ninth column position when necessary, but will not be referred to again herein because the illustrative system is to be described with particular reference to'a press having only eight 'column positions within each plate position.

The illustration system is designed for use with a fountain adjusting mechanism of the type described in US. Pat. No. 2,572,554 to E. M. Worthington, but it will be understood that the invention is equally applicable to any other type of adjusting means that is capable of being controlled by electrical signals. In the system described in the aforementioned patent, blade adjusting screws are advanced or retracted, to adjust the flexure of the fountain blade, by means of a shaft which is coupled to selected adjusting screws by actuating solenoids associated with the respective screws. When the shaft is turned in one direction, any adjusting screws coupled thereto are advanced during the interval that the actuating solenoids are energized; when the shaft is turned in the opposite direction, the actuated adjusting screws are retracted during the interval that the solenoids are energized.

In FIG. 4a the circular symbols Sla, S1b, Slc 82a, 82b, 82c 83a, 83b, 83c etc. represent the actuating solenoids associated with the adjusting screws at the eight column positions at each of the eight plate positions for the two printing cylinders in one printing unit. More particularly, the first four solenoids at each column position, e.g., Sla-Sld, actuate the near, near center, far center, and far adjusting screws, respectively, associated with one printing cylinder at that particular column position, and the last four solenoids, e.g., Sle-Slh, actuate the near, near center, far center, and far adjusting screws, respectively, associated with the other printing cylinder at the same column position. In other words, the vertical position of any given solenoid in the illustrative solenoid matrix determines the printing cylinder and the plate position, while the horizontal position determines the column position. Although the illustrative solenoid matrix is designed for use with a printing unit having only two printing cylinders with eight column positions within each of the four plate positions along each cylinder, it will be understood that any desired number of solenoids may be provided to control a corrresponding number of adjusting screws in different types of printing units, i.e., having different numbers of printing cylinders and/or column positions.

When an instruction word is transferred out of the shift register 113, bits B2 through B9 determine which of the eight column positions, represented by the eight horizontal positions of the solenoids in the illustrative matrix, are to be enabled. More particularly, any of the bits 82-89 that contains a l supplies an enabling signal to a corresponding column solenoid driver 114a-l l4h which amplifies the signal to the level necessary to enable the corresponding solenoids. As can be seen in FIG. 4a, an output signal from any one of the bits B2-B9 enables all eight solenoids at that particular column position simultaneously; that is, an enabling signal from bit B2, for example, enables the first column position solenoid for all eight plate positions, i.e., solenoids Sla through 5111. Consequently, some further selection is required to permit adjustment at only selected ones of the eight plate positions.

Accordingly, the eight solenoids for each plate position, e.g., solenoids Sla-88a, are connected to a corresponding plate position solenoid driver 121, e.g., solenoids Sla-88a are connected to driver 121a. The solenoid drivers 121, in turn, are enabled by signals from (I) bit B23 selecting the right or left section of the printing unit; (2) bit B24 selecting the upper (deck) or lower cylinder of the printing unit, and (3) bits B19-B22 representing, respectively, the near, near center, far center, and far plate positions for the selected printing cylinder. To permit selection of only one printing cylinder in response to the signals from the cylinder selection bits 823 and B24, the enabling signals from these two bits are applied to four AND gates 141 through 144 representing, respectively, the right deck cylinder, the left deck cylinder, the lower right cylinder, and the lower left cylinder. Thus, the AND gates 141-144 respond to the four different possible combinations of output signals from the bits B23 and B24 to select one of the four different printing cylinders. For example, if a signal is received from both bits B23 and B24, AND gate 144 produces an output signal to enable the solenoid drivers 121a-121d associated with the left printing cylinder. Similarly, if a I signal is received from bit B23 and a 0 signal from bit B24, AND gate. 143 produces an output signal to enable the solenoid drivers 121e-121h associated with the right printing cylinder. The

gates

141 and 142 are not connected to any solenoid drivers in the illustrative system because the solenoid matrix is designed to serve only two cylinders, but, as mentioned previously, the solenoid matrix can be readily expanded to serve additional cylinders selected by the

gates

141 and 142. It will also be noted at this point that each of the AND gates 141-144 receives a third input signal, the source and function of which will be described below As indicated above, the four bits B19-B22 select the particular plate position or positions at which the adjustment is to be made along the cylinder selected by bits B23 and B24. More particularly, bit B19 enables drivers 121a and 1212 associated with the two near position solenoid groups Sla-88a and S1e-S8e in the illustrative embodiment, bit B20 enables

drivers

121b and 121 f associated with the two near center solenoid groups S1b-S8b and S1 f-S8f, bit B21 enables drivers 121a and 121g associated with the two far center solenoid groups S1c-S8c and S1g-S8g, and bit B22 enables drivers 121d and 121k associated with the two far solenoid groups SIdASSd and Slh-S8h. The other enabling input to the drivers l21a-121h is supplied by the cylinder selection bits B23 and B24, AND gate 143 enabling drivers 121e-121h associated with the right printing cylinder, and AND gate 144 enabling drivers 121a-121d associated with the left printing cylinder.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that even though the group of eight solenoids at a given column position are all enabled by a signal from one of the bits B2-B9 of the shift register 113, any given solenoid within that group cannot be energized unless it also receives an enabling signal from the corresponding plate position solenoid driver 121. If an enabling signal is received from driver 121a, for example, any of the near plate position solenoids for the first cylinder (solenoids Sla-88a) that also receives an enabling signal from one of the column position bits B2-B9 may be energized. In response to the energization of any given solenoid, the corresponding adjusting screw is automatically coupled to the motor-driven shaft as mentioned previously, and as described in more detail in the aforementioned Worthington U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,554. As will be apparent from the ensuing description, any adjusting screw that is coupled to the motor-driven shaft is not actually turned unless the driving motor is energized by further selective control functions to be described below.

The signals described thus far serve to select the particular printing cylinder, plate position, and column positions at which the automatic adjustment of the ink supply rate is to be effected. In addition, the magnitude and direction of the adjustment must be selected. For the purpose of selecting the desired direction of the adjustment, bit B25 supplies enabling signals to selected motor

control solenoid drivers

124, 125, 126 and 127 which in turn control the energization of corresponding

motor control solenoids

124a, 125a, 126a and 127a to control the direction of rotation of the two drive motors associated with the two printing cylinders. More particularly, if the ink supply rate is to be increased, bit B25 enables motor

control solenoid drivers

124 and 126; if either of these drivers also receives an enabling signal from one of the AND gates 143 and 144, the corresponding

motor control solenoid

124a or 126a is energized to drive the corresponding motor in a first direction for retracting the adjusting screws associated therewith. If the adjusting screw is to be advanced to decrease the ink feed rate, bit B25 enables motor

control solenoid drivers

125 and 127; if either of these drivers also receives an enabling signal from one of the AND gates 143 and 144, the corresponding motor control solenoid 125a or 127a is energized to drive the corresponding motor in the other direction for advancing the adjusting screws associated therewith. It will be understood that the two output signals from the one bit B25 can be used as the two direction control signals because only one of the two motor control solenoids associated with each motor, e.g., solenoids 124a or 125a,

can be energized during any given adjustment.

For the purpose of controlling the magnitude or degree of any adjustment initiated by the control system described above, a conventional down counter 130 is preset by bits 811-318 in the shift register 113. This counter 130 counts pulses generated in response to rotation of the motor-driven shaft controlling the adjusting screws, e.g., at a rate of one pulse per revolution, with the count stored in the counter being reduced from the preset count in response to each input pulse, until it reaches zero. When the count reaches zero, an output signal is generated and fed to terminate the adjustment and reset the shift register 113, as will be dc scribed in detail below.

When an instruction word is fed into the shift register 113, bits B11 through B12, which correspond to bits A19 through A26 of the transmission register 25, represent the magnitude of the desired adjustments in the form of a binary number which is strobed into the down counter 130 simultaneously with the initiation of the desired adjustment. More particularly, enabling signals from the bits Ell-B18 are applied to corresponding AND gates 131a through 131h, which also receive input signals from an AND gate 133. This AND gate 133 receives an input signal from the single shot multivibrator 132, which enables the AND gate 133 during the time interval measured by the multivibrator 132 after it is triggered by the first data pulse from the pulse shaper 112. When the gate 115 determines that a legitimate instruction has been received, it supplies an enabling signal to the second input AND gate 133, via inverter 116, thereby producing an output signal from gate 133. Thus, it can be seen that the AND gate 133 does not produce an output signal until it has been confirmed that a legitimate instruction word has been stored in the shaft register 113 (indicated by the output signal from AND gate 115) and this output signal will continue only for the duration of the time interval measured by the multivibrator 132. In response to the outgates 141 through 144 which also receive enabling sigput signal from the AND gate 133, AND gates 131a counter may be used for this purpose.

The single shot multivibrator 132 also functions to initiate the adjustment operation by controlling the energization of the selected column solenoids and the selected motor control solenoids 124-127. More particu larly, after termination of the time interval measured by the single shot multivibrator 132, an enabling signal is supplied to an AND gate 140, which also receives an enabling signal from the inverter 116 when a legitimate instruction word has been stored in the shift register 1 13. Thus, after a complete word has been stored in the shift register 113, and after the preset count has been strobed into the down counter 130, the AND gate 140 produces an output signal which enables'the four AND nals from bits B23 and B24 as described previously. Thus, regardless of which printing cylinder is selected by bits B23 and B24, the selected motor control solenoid and column solenoids are not energized until the AND gates 141-144 receive the enabling signal from the AND gate 140. In other words, the solenoids will be energized at the end of the time interval measured by the single shot multivibrator 132.

After energization of the selected motor control solenoid, count pulses, which are generated in response to rotation of the motor-driven shaft controlling the adjusting screws, are received at an input terminal 135 and pass through a pulse amplifier and shaper 136 to the counter input 137. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the count stored in the counter 130 is progressively reduced in response to the input pulses until it reaches zero, at which point a NAND gate 133 senses a zero signal from each of the eight flip-flops comprising the counter 130. The resulting output signal from the NAND gate 138 disables NAND gate 115, thereby enabling AND gate 117 to apply a reset signal to the shift register 113 and to the down counter 130 via OR gate 146.

The resetting of shift register 1 13 disables the gates 141-144, thereby deenergizing the previously selected adjusting motor, and the entire receiver system shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b is then in condition to receive the next instruction word.

To insure that the shift register 113 and the down counter 130 are in the reset state whenever power is applied thereto, a power on reset pulse generator 147 produces a reset signal in response to application of the power. This signal is passedthrough the OR gate 1 to both the shift register 113 and the down counter 130.

For the purpose of generating the busy signal referred to previously in the description of the transmission system of FIGS. 3a and 3b, the NAND gate supplies an enabling signal to a busy signal generator 1511 during the same interval that it supplies a disabling signal to the AND gate 117. Consequently, a busy signal is generated and transmitted back to the receiver status detector 73 via line 1 10 and receiver selector 62, continuously from the time the NAND gate 115 detects a legitimate instruction until the receiver system is reset. As described previously, this busy signal prevents the transmission of another instruction to the receiver as long as a press adjustment is being carried out in response to a signal previously transmitted to that same receiver.

Although the invention has been described with particular reference to the use of the illustrative control system to control the ink supply rate, it will be apparent that the system provided by this invention is equally applicable to the control of other press variables that can be made responsive to electrical signals, either for presetting the press or for making adjustments during a press run. For example, both sidelay register and circumferential register of the printing cylinders can be controlled by the system of this invention. A typical mechanism for adjusting both sidelay register and circumferential register is illustrated in FIG. 5, in which a plate cylinder 210 is journaled at one end for rotation in a housing 211. Bearings 212 are secured within the housing 211, and the entire housing 211 is mounted for movement axially in response to axial movement of a shaft 213 which is threaded into a stationary bracket 214 connected to the press frame. Axial movement of the shaft 213 and the housing 211 is effected by means of a gear 215 connected to the free, outer end of the shaft 213, the gear 215 meshing with a gear 216 driven by a reversible electric motor 217. As the motor 217 drives the shaft 213 via

gears

215 and 216, the housing 211 and thus the plate cylinder 210 are moved in the axial direction so as to effect axial or sidelay register of the plate cylinder. It will be understood that sidelay registration is typically utilized in a press to achieve proper alinement of each plate cylinder with respect to other plate cylinders in the press as well as the web that is being printed.

To effect circumferential register of the plate cylinder 210, the opposite end thereof is connected to a motor-driven mechanism for displacing the cylinder 210 in the circumferential direction. This end of the plate cylinder 210 is joumaled in a housing 218 which is also mounted for axial movement relative to the press frame so as to accommodate adjustments in the axial position of the cylinder as effected by the motor 217. To adjust the circumferential position of the cylinder 210, the end of the plate cylinder projects beyond the housing 218 where it carries a drive gear 219 which is splined to the cylinder shaft so that the cylinder is free to move axially relative to the gear. The gear 219 is a helical gear and meshes with co-acting gears in the drive train.

The hub 220 of the gear 219 is connected through a bearing 221 to a shaft 222 that is threaded through a stationary bracket 223 secured to the press frame. The free, outer end of the shaft 222 is connected to a reversible drive motor 224. Consequently, when the drive motor 224 is energized in either direction, the gear 219 is moved axially relative to the plate cylinder journal, and since the gear 219 is of the helical type, the axial movement thereof advances or retracts the plate cylinder 210 relative to the drive train and the cylinders of adjacent units to bring the printed impressions into register with each other.

As can be seen from FIG. and the foregoing description thereof, in order to effect sidelay register of the plate cylinder 210 it is necessary to energize the reversible motor 217 in a selected direction for a selected time, and to effect circumferential adjustment of the cylinder it is necessary to energize the reversible drive motor 224 in a selected direction for a selected time. It is also necessary to select the drive motor 217 and/or 224 associated with the particular plate cylinder to be adjusted. In the illustrative control system described previously, these variables can all be automatically controlled by using the bits in the output selector register to select the particular receiver system (or printing unit) to which each instruction signal is to be sent, using bits B23 and B24 in the receiver system to select the particular cylinder to be adjusted at the selected printing unit (either for presetting or for adjustment during a run), using bits B11-B18 to select the magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select the direction of the cylinder adjustment. An additional bit may be provided in both the transmission and receiver systems to discriminate control signals forcylinder registration adjustments from control signals for adjusting other press variables. Other aspects of the system, including use of the stored program controller 21 to select a specific cylinder in response to an input signal representing a page number, are the same as described above for control of the ink supply rate, except that there is no need to select column and plate positions.

Similarly, the illustrative control system may be used to adjust the compensators which control cut-off" or longitudinal register of the printed webs. Compensator adjustment mechanisms are well known in the art, and are exemplified by Frommer US. Pat. No. 3,031,118 and Corlett U.S. Pat. No. 2,521,691, for example. As in the case of the cylinder registration system described above, the bits in the output selector register may be used to select the particular receiver system (or printing unit) to which each instruction signal is to be sent, using bits B23 and B24 in the receiver system to select the particular compensator to be adjusted at the selected printing unit (either for presetting or for adjustment during a press run), using bits B1 1-818 to select the magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select the direction of the compensator adjustment. An additional bit may be provided in both the transmission and receiver systems to discriminate control signals for compensator adjustments from control signals for adjusting other press variables. Other aspects of the system, including use of the stored program controller 21 to select a specific compensator in response to an input signal representing a page number, are the same as described above for control of the ink supply rate, except that there is no need to select column and plate positions.

Other press functions that can be controlled by the illustrative system are margin control" (transverse register of the printed web), web tension, folders and the like; as in the case of the cylinder register and compensator adjustments, each of these functions can be controlled by using bits A37-A40 of the output selector register to select the particular receiver system to which each instruction signal is to be sent, using bits B23 and B24 to select the particular adjusting mechanism to be actuated by the instruction signal (either for presetting or for adjustment during a run), using bits Bl1-B18 to select the magnitude of the adjustment, and using bit B25 to select the direction of the adjustment. Also, as in the case of the cylinder register and compensator, additional bits may be provided in both the transmitter and receiver systems to discriminate among the control signals for the various adjusting mechanisms and to direct each signal to the appropriate adjusting station in the press. Such additional bits may be included in the instruction signals generated by 4 stations spaced along the width of a printing cylinder,

and does not necessarily correspond to the actual columns on the printed page. Indeed, in the printing of a tabloid newspaper, it is conventional to have the columns extending across the width of the web, so there is no relationship whatever between the printed columns and the column positions in the press.

We claim as our invention:

1. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, an

ink supply system associated with each printing cylinder in said press and including means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of said column positions, means for generating a first digital electrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected page number and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate, control means including a storage unit for storing data correlating the numbers of pages being printed with the particular printing cylindersand plate positions at which the respective pages are being printed, said control means being responsive to said first electrical signal for generating a second digital electrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate, and receiver means associated with each printing unit and responsive to said second electrical signal for automatically enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions, and for automatically energizing said adjusting means in theselecteddirection until an adjustment of the selected magnitude is effected and then automatically deenergizing said adjusting means.

2. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, an ink supply system associated with each printingcylinder in said press and including means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of said column positions, a solenoid matrix' including a multiplicity of solenoids for actuating the multiple adjusting means in the ink supply system, with the position of each solenoid in. a first direction determining the cylinder and plate position of the adjusting means associated therewith, and the position of the solenoid in a second direction determining the column position of the adjusting means associated therewith, drive means for driving said adjusting means when actuated by said solenoids, and. digital electronic control means connected to said solenoid matrix and responsive to a digital electronic signal containing a plurality of data bits, said control means including means for enabling all of said solenoids corresponding to a selected column position in response to a first data bit in said signal, means for enabling all of said solenoids corresponding to a selected cylinder position in response to a third data bit in said signal, and means for energizing said drive means in a selected direction in response to a fourth data bit in said signal.

3. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, means for generating a first digital electrical signal representing a plurality of pages to be printed and the printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of said pages is to be printed, means for storing said first signal, means for generating second digital electrical signals representing the number of a selected one of said pages, the magnitude and direction of a desired adjustment in the printing of said selected page, and the column positions at which said adjustment is desired, means responsive to the second electrical signal representing said selected page for producing third digital electrical signals representing the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where said selected page is being printed in said press, means responsive to the third electronic digital signal representing the particular printing unit at which said selected page is being printed for transmitting the other third signals and said second signals to said particular printing unit, and

means responsive to said other third signals and said second signals for effecting a press adjustment of the magnitude and direction represented by the second signals at the column positions represented by said second signals and at the cylinder and plate positions represented by said other third signals.

d. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a pluraL ity of column positions within each plate position, electronic digital storage means containing electronic signals representing the pointing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of a plurality of pages is to be printed, electronic digital control means operatively responsive to said output signals for automatically transmitting said signal representing the magnitude and direction of the desired adjustment to said particular'

Claims

1. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, an ink supply system associated with each printing cylinder in said press and including means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of said column positions, means for generating a first digital electrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected page number and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate, control means including a storage unit for storing data correlating the numbers of pages being printed with the particular printing cylinders and plate positions at which the respective pages are being printed, said control means being responsive to said first electrical signal for generating a second digital electrical signal comprising data bits representing a selected printing cylinder, a selected plate position, and selected column positions at which the ink supply rate is to be adjusted, and a selected direction and magnitude for the adjustment to be effected in the ink supply rate, and receiver means associated with each printing unit and responsive to said second electrical signal for automatically enabling the adjusting means at the selected cylinder, plate position, and column positions, and for automatically energizing said adjusting means in the selected direction until an adjustment of the selected magnitude is effected and then automatically deenergizing said adjusting means.

2. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, an ink supply system associated with each printing cylinder in said press and including means for separately adjusting the ink supply rate at each of said column positions, a solenoid matrix including a multiplicity of solenoids for actuating the multiple adjusting means in the ink supply system, with the position of each solenoid in a first direction determining the cylinder and plate position of the adjusting means associated therewith, and the position of the solenoid in a second direction determining the column position of the adjusting means associated therewith, drive means for driving said adjusting means when actuated by said solenoids, and digital electronic control means connected to said solenoid matrix and responsive to a digital electronic signal containing a plurality of data bits, said control means including means for enabling all of saiD solenoids corresponding to a selected column position in response to a first data bit in said signal, means for enabling all of said solenoids corresponding to a selected cylinder position in response to a third data bit in said signal, and means for energizing said drive means in a selected direction in response to a fourth data bit in said signal.

3. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, means for generating a first digital electrical signal representing a plurality of pages to be printed and the printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of said pages is to be printed, means for storing said first signal, means for generating second digital electrical signals representing the number of a selected one of said pages, the magnitude and direction of a desired adjustment in the printing of said selected page, and the column positions at which said adjustment is desired, means responsive to the second electrical signal representing said selected page for producing third digital electrical signals representing the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where said selected page is being printed in said press, means responsive to the third electronic digital signal representing the particular printing unit at which said selected page is being printed for transmitting the other third signals and said second signals to said particular printing unit, and means responsive to said other third signals and said second signals for effecting a press adjustment of the magnitude and direction represented by the second signals at the column positions represented by said second signals and at the cylinder and plate positions represented by said other third signals.

4. A printing press control system comprising the combination of a plurality of printing units each of which has at least two printing cylinders with each cylinder having a plurality of plate positions and a plurality of column positions within each plate position, electronic digital storage means containing electronic signals representing the pointing unit, cylinder, and plate position where each of a plurality of pages is to be printed, electronic digital control means operatively connected to said storage means and programmed to respond to a series of applied signals representing the number of a selected one of said pages, the magnitude and direction of a desired adjustment in the printing of said selected page, and the column positions at which said adjustment is desired to produce a corresponding series of output signals representing the particular printing unit, cylinder, and plate position where said selected page is being printed in said press, the column positions where the adjustment is desired, and the magnitude and direction of the desired adjustment, means responsive to said output signals for automatically transmitting said signal representing the magnitude and direction of the desired adjustment to said particular printing unit, cylinder, plate position and column positions, and means responsive to said signals representing the magnitude and direction of the desired adjustment for effecting said adjustment in the press.