EP2657023B1 - Rotary press including at least two printing towers and an elevator - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to the field of rotary presses, and in particular a rotary press comprising at least two printing towers.

A print tower has a high height. For the operation of the rotary press or its maintenance, it is necessary to have easy access to the upper part of each printing tower, for example to access printing units of the printing tower located high by ground ratio.

EP 2,195,163 discloses a printing tower comprising two frames movable relative to one another and several vertically superimposed printing units, each mounted partly on a frame and partly on the other frame, to allow the spacing of built to access print units between racks. The print tower includes two side elevators on the outside of the frames and a central elevator movable between the two frames apart from each other.

It is necessary to provide sufficient spacing between such printing towers to allow the moving frames of each printing tower to move in the open position. The rotary press composed of such printing towers must be installed in a building having significant dimensions, which can cause problems when the rotary press must be installed in an old building, for example in replacement of a watch rotary press.

EP 1 769 912 discloses a rotary press in which each printing unit is carried by a printing tower and forms a printing unit with a printing unit carried by another printing tower, the rotary press comprising elevators arranged between printing towers.

One of the aims of the invention is to propose a rotary press allowing a compact arrangement, while being easy to operate and maintain.

For this purpose, the invention provides a rotary press according to claim 1. Optional features are in claims 2 to 7.

The invention and its advantages will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and with reference to the single FIGURE illustrating a rotary press in side view.

As shown in the Figure, the rotary offset press 2 comprises a plurality of printing towers 4 each for offset printing of a respective continuous web 6, in particular a paper web.

The rotary press 2 conventionally comprises a set of combinations of the strips printed by the different printing towers 4 to ensure the meeting, folding and longitudinal and / or transverse cutting of the strips and / or fastening devices by stapling and / or gluing, for outputting notebooks or signatures.

The rotary press 2 conventionally comprises a unwinding device associated with each printing tower 4 to unwind the strip 6 from a reel.

Each printing tower 4 comprises printing units 8. Each printing unit 8 comprises at least one printing unit 10 for printing a face of the strip 6.

Each printing unit 10 comprises a shape cylinder 12, a transfer cylinder 14, an inking unit 15, a wetting unit 17, and a plate changing unit 19.

The shape cylinder 12 carries on its periphery the forms to be printed. The shaped cylinder 12 is for example a plate cylinder provided for the removable attachment of flexible plates (not shown) carrying the forms to be printed. The plates are changed according to the productions to be made. The shaped cylinder 12 carries one or more plates side by side axially along the axis of the cylinder. The shape cylinder 12 carries one or more turn plates, one behind the other on the circumference of the shape cylinder 12. The shape cylinder 12 is for example of the type 4x1, 4x2, 5x2, 6x2, the first number designating the number of plates side by side axially, and the second number the number of plates per turn.

The transfer cylinder 14 is arranged to be pressed against the forme cylinder 12 and to transfer ink of the forme cylinder 12 onto the strip 6. The transfer cylinder 14 is for example a blanket cylinder adapted to receive on its periphery a blanket (not shown).

The axes of the shape cylinder 12 and the transfer cylinder 14 are parallel.

In the illustrated example, each print tower 4 is a four-color front / back tower comprising four double-sided printing units in blanket blanket configuration. Each printing unit 8 is provided to print a respective color on the strip 6. The colors usually used are: black, cyan, magenta and yellow. Each printing unit 8 comprises two printing units 10 whose transfer cylinders 14 are pressed against each other and clamp the band 6 during the execution of print jobs. Each transfer cylinder 14 defines for the other a printing cylinder.

The printing towers 4 are aligned in a longitudinal direction L. The printing towers 4 are regularly spaced in the longitudinal direction L. The spacing E between each pair of adjacent printing towers 4 is constant.

The printing towers 4 define between them intermediate spaces 18. Each intermediate space 18 is delimited between two consecutive printing towers of the alignment of printing towers 4. The intermediate spaces 18 have lengths in the longitudinal direction L substantially equal to the gap E.

As illustrated in the Figure, the rotary press 2 comprises an alignment of four printing towers 4 defining between them three intermediate spaces 18.

Each printing tower 4 comprises a frame 20 supporting the cylinders 12, 14 of the printing units 8, each cylinder 12, 14 being rotatably mounted about its axis on the frame 20. The frame 20 of each printing tower 4 is stationary relative to the ground S. It is fixed rigidly to the ground S. Thus, each intermediate space 18 is of invariable length.

The frame 20 of each print tower 4 has two transversely spaced side frames 22, only one side frame 22 being visible in the Figure. The cylinders 12, 14 of the printing units 8 extend transversely between the two lateral frames 22 (perpendicular to the plane of the Figure) and being rotatably mounted at their axial ends on each of the two lateral frames 22.

The printing towers 4 have a height of several meters, for example a height of about four meters.

During operations or maintenance operations, it is necessary to be able to access the different printing units 8 of each printing tower 4, in particular the printing units of the upper part of each printing tower 4 , located at a height difficult to access by an operator from the ground S.

The rotary press 2 comprises at least one elevator designed for moving people (or elevator) mounted vertically movable along at least one printing tower 4 to allow operators to access the printing units 8 of the upper part of the printing tower 4.

The rotary press 2 here comprises several elevators, distributed so as to allow access to the upper part of each printing tower 4.

Each elevator is designed for the movement of people and also allows the movement of loads, especially for raising or lowering elements of printing units, such as rollers, blanket washing bars, plate change cassettes ...

The rotary press 2 comprises at least one intermediate elevator 24 disposed in the intermediate space 18 between two adjacent printing towers 4 and serving the two adjacent printing towers 4 delimiting the intermediate space 18. Each intermediate elevator 24 allows an operator to access the printing units of each of the two printing towers 4 between which it is arranged. Each intermediate elevator 24 has a width substantially equal to that of the intermediate space 18 in which it is received.

The rotary press 2 comprises an intermediate elevator 24 between each pair of adjacent printing towers 4.

Each intermediate elevator 24 is mounted vertically movable on the frame 20 of at least one of the two printing towers 4 that it serves. Each intermediate elevator 24 is movably mounted on the frame 20 of only one of the two printing towers 4 or on the frames 20 of the two printing towers 4.

Alternatively, each intermediate elevator 24 is movably mounted on a specific frame disposed between the frames 20 of the two printing towers 4.

The rotary press 2 further comprises two end elevators 30 each disposed along a printing tower 4 located at the end of the alignment of printing towers 4, on the side of the printing tower 4 opposite to the adjacent printing tower 4 of the printing tower alignment 4.

Each end elevator 30 is dedicated to an end print tower 4. It provides access to the associated print tower 4 on the side that is not served by an intermediate elevator 24.

Each intermediate or end elevator 30 comprises a platform 26 and a guard 28 to secure access thereto.

At least one elevator, and preferably each elevator is configured to move from an extreme low position to a first height H1 defining a maximum operating height, stopping systematically at the first height H1.

The race between the extreme low position and the first height H1 is chosen to allow an operator to access the highest printing units of the print tower to perform operations. The first height H1 makes it possible in particular to access the plate changing unit 19 of the highest printing unit.

At least one elevator, and preferably each elevator, is configured to move from the first height H1 to a second height H2 greater than the first height H1, preferably following a specific manual action of the operator. Such a manual action is, for example, a prolonged press on a lift control button of the elevator.

The second height H2 is chosen to allow an operator to carry out maintenance operations of the rotary press 2. It allows, for example between the completion of printing work, access to the upper part of the printing tower 4 , and especially above the highest printing unit of the printing tower, the passage of the strips and the environment of the printing tower 4.

In Figure 1 are shown, successively from left to right, an intermediate elevator 24 in extreme low position, an intermediate elevator 24 to the first height H1 and an intermediate elevator to the second height H2.

The first height is for example of the order of 3 meters and the second height of the order of 4 meters.

Fixed print towers have a limited footprint and require limited space between print towers. In particular, they require a smaller spacing than between printing towers comprising two parts that are movable longitudinally with respect to one another to allow access between the two moving parts.

The rotary press composed of fixed printing towers with a small gap has a small total footprint allowing its implantation in old or new buildings of reduced size.

The use of elevators to access the upper parts of the printing towers advantageously replaces the use of corridors defining an access stage to these upper parts, especially since the illustrated printing towers are vertically compact so that the height available at ground level, under the passageways, would be limited.

The intermediate elevator serving two adjacent printing towers allows easy access to the various printing towers while simplifying the rotary press and limiting its cost.

A rotary press according to the invention comprises at least two printing towers. It includes two print towers, three print towers, four print towers (as shown in the figure), or more.

The illustrated rotary press includes printing towers with four superposed double-sided printing units, each in a four-cylinder blanket blanket configuration.

The rotary press may comprise printing towers having superimposed printing units with different configurations. A rotary press may comprise, for example, printing towers with several printing units superimposed, in a simplex configuration, in a double-sided blanket blanket configuration or in a satellite configuration, one-sided or two-sided, with five, seven or nine cylinders.

Claims (7)

1. A rotary press comprising several print towers (4) aligned in a longitudinal direction, each print tower (4) having a frame stationary (20) relative to the ground, and at least one lift (24, 30) designed to move people, the rotary press comprising at least one intermediate lift (24) designed to move people, positioned vertically movably in an intermediate space between two adjacent print towers (4), and serving both print towers (4) between which it is positioned, characterized in that each print tower comprises several vertically superimposed print units (8), each printing unit (8) comprising at least one printing group (10).
2. The rotary press according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises an intermediate lift (24) between each pair of adjacent print towers (4).
3. The rotary press according to claim 1 or 2, comprising at least one end lift (30) mounted vertically movably along a print tower (4) situated at the end of the alignment of print towers (4), on the side of the print tower (4) opposite the other print towers (4) of the alignment.
4. The rotary press according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each intermediate lift (24) is movably mounted on the frame of only one of the two print towers between which it is located, on the frames of two print towers between which is located, or on a specific frame located between the frames of the two printing towers between which it is positioned.
5. The rotary press according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one lift (24, 30), preferably each lift, is configured to move from an extreme low position to a first height (H1) defining a maximum operating height at which the lift systematically stops, and to move from the first height (H1) to a second maintenance height (H2), the first height (H1) being lower than the second height (H2).
6. The rotary press according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each print tower comprises blanket-to-blanket double-sided print units (8).
7. The rotary press according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein each print tower comprises satellite print units, one-sided or two-sided, with five, seven or nine cylinders.

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