JPH0415094B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a method of operating a printing press, that is, a method of registering the printing press, and more particularly to a printing press using a central impression cylinder having a plurality of printing decks around its periphery. [Prior art] The prior art to which this invention is applied is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
It is shown in the specification of No. 3041967. In this U.S. patent, the central impression cylinder receives ink impressions of generally different colors from six different printing decks, three on a side, as is relatively common in printing technology in this context. receive. Typically, each deck has a plate cylinder adapted to press a particular pattern on the web supported by the impression cylinder. Ink or color is usually “anilox roll”
The printing plate forming the desired pattern is transferred to a printing cylinder which supports the printing plate by a transfer cylinder called a transfer cylinder. The anilox roll receives ink from a fountain roll that operates within the ink or in conjunction with an ink source. Accordingly, three anilox rolls are placed on each deck to create a pattern, or "repeat" as commonly referred to by those skilled in the art. Here, the term "repeat" refers to the circumference of a plate cylinder on which a plate formed by a pattern is provided. The earlier U.S. patent deals with a mechanism that brings various printing press cylinders into contact to effect printing. However, when compared to the problems faced by those skilled in the art in replacing plate cylinders,
This is a relatively minor issue. It will be obvious that whenever a "repeat", ie, pattern change, the plate cylinder itself is also replaced. The main problem raised in this exchange is achieving registration of the various colors and patterns. Often, large and expensive mechanisms can be stopped for an hour or two while the printer adjusts the various printing decks to bring them into register. [Problem to be Solved by the Invention] The difficulty in implementing registration according to modern technology is apparent from the following sequence. In the first step all six printing decks are fitted with plate cylinders. There are usually three on one side, the first printing deck at the 10:30 o'clock position, the second printing deck at the 9 o'clock position, and the third printing deck at the 7:30 o'clock position. The fourth printing deck is at the 4:30 o'clock position, the fifth printing deck is at the 3 o'clock position, and the sixth printing deck is at the 1:30 o'clock position. The sequence for achieving registration is that the printer presses two buttons to normally start the first printing deck such that the plate cylinder and anilox roll are brought into approximate gear engagement. It will be appreciated that the central impression cylinder is usually provided with a large gear called a bull gear to drive the gear train of the plate and transfer cylinders of each printing deck in series. Therefore, the first step is to mesh the anilox roll gear with the plate drive gear and mesh the plate cylinder gear with the bull gear. To achieve gear meshing, the plate cylinder gears are gradually increased in mesh until proper meshing is achieved with the teeth of the bull gear. Furthermore, since these gears are helical gears that require fine adjustment, it will be understood that the meshing of the gear teeth cannot be easily detected by eye. In the same way, the anilox roll gear is gradually increased in engagement with the plate cylinder gear. The rolls of the first printing deck are then locked in position and nudged into the pressed position. This is normally determined by inserting a 3.175 mm (0.125 inch) distance gauge between the surface of the plate cylinder and the surface of the central impression cylinder; required along both ends. The same distance gauge measurements are taken at both ends of the anilox roll to ensure that the anilox roll is in the proper pressing position.
After this measurement, registration marks are applied to either the impression cylinder or the web when required. In some cases, even though the registration marks are visible on the web,
It is attached to both sides because it may slip against the impression cylinder. The next step includes indexing the impression cylinder until the registration mark is aligned with the contact point of the second plate cylinder to the central impression cylinder. The plate cylinder and anilox roll of the second printing deck are then placed in a substantially intermeshed relationship and moved in small increments to the pressed position using the gap gauge measurement described above. At this time, the plate cylinder is not locked to the plate cylinder gear, so that the plate cylinder can rotate until it is aligned with the previously placed registration marks. That is, the pattern of the plate cylinders of the second printing deck is matched to the pattern provided by the plate cylinders of the first printing deck.
This same sequence of steps performed on the second printing deck is repeated on the remaining printing decks, i.e. on the third to sixth printing decks.
This is also done for the printing decks, and that visual observation of the printed pattern must be made at each step to ensure that each of the impressions made by the six printing decks is accurately registered. be understood. This results in wasted time and waste in high speed printing machines with large printing capacity.
This is particularly the case in practice when short-term operations are carried out, since a changeover from one operation to another is necessary during the changeover process of the operation just described. The obvious solution to the registration process is
The central impression cylinder and the plate cylinder are provided with registration marks corresponding in advance to a given copy. However, this is rarely successful in practice due to the difficulty of using "repeat", ie the large number of marks required to cover the extent of the pattern. Additionally, the gear teeth are relatively small and mismatches of 1/4° or 1/2° are difficult to discern, so the wrong gear teeth often mesh. In this regard, non-normal spur gears further complicate the problem of ensuring that the teeth of the gear are selected to mesh with the correct tooth of the gear that mates to match the registration mark presented. It should be understood that it is a helical gear. A method of matched registration marks is shown in French Patent No. 76-26719,
This method cannot be applied in practice. This French patent teaches that the registration marks on the plate cylinder and the central impression cylinder should be matched after the gear teeth are meshed. This does not really solve the problem because it is difficult to know which helical gear teeth are preselected to match after the helical gear teeth have meshed. Means for Solving the Problem The present invention solves the above problem by orienting the plate cylinder gear in a predetermined direction and stopping the machine at this orientation. This eliminates the substantial time loss that is a feature of today's practice, and provides a controlled atmosphere in which registration is sought and adjustments or orientations can be made. Also, when the plate cylinder gear is attached to the plate cylinder, the plate cylinder can be moved by the linear movement of the printing deck alone, without the perturbed and uncontrolled axial movement proposed by other means, as in the above-mentioned French patent. This can be done with such precision that the gear can mesh with the bull gear. In particular, the method of the invention uses a registration device having a sleeve and a collar and gears that are adjustable relative to each other with respect to a machine stop and a predetermined position on the plate cylinder axis, the registration device being provided on the plate cylinder axis. At times, the plate cylinder provides not only accurate gear meshing but also, most importantly, accurate registration. Here,
It will be appreciated that after the printing press has been started, there will always be minor adjustments in registration due to small adjustments in the rotational position of the various plate cylinders, which can be accomplished by the axial sliding of the helical gears relative to each other. Should. When operated by a skilled printer, the required registration need only be achieved by slight displacements of the various helical gears to allow the printer to complete the registration process. The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. [Example] The center pressure printing section 20 in FIG. 1 includes a center impression cylinder 22.
Six printing decks 2 symmetrically arranged around the
1, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, and 21e. The printing press is supported on a conventional frame F. The sheets 23 to be fed are placed on and in firm contact with the surface of the central impression cylinder 22', and the six printing decks 21, 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 2
It is rotated through 1e and finally comes to 24. Between the color dryers, for example, printing decks 21, 21
Although it is often used during periods such as a, it is not shown for clarity. The printing decks for each color consist of similar members having respective plate cylinders 25 mounted on movable sub-frames 26 supporting brackets 27. A bracket 27 is movable independently from the subframe 26 and supports an anilox roll 28 and a fountain roll 29. Each bracket 27 supports an ink fountain (not shown) mounted directly below each fountain roll 29. Details of the individual printing deck constructions are shown in FIG. Since the printing deck for each color consists of the same parts, each part is given the same reference numeral. Where it is necessary to distinguish between the members of different printing decks, they are marked by numerals, such as, for example, the plate cylinder of printing deck 21b at the 7:30 o'clock position in FIG. 1 is designated by 25b. Brackets 27 associated with each sub-frame 26 are attached to frame extensions 30 and are movable relative to each other. In the first printing deck 21,
This movement is along line 31, and in other printing decks, for example line 31c on printing deck 21c.
along the lines of the pair. The operations and mechanisms associated with the linear actuation of the various dex cylinders into the pressed position will be described below with reference to FIG. Referring now to FIG. A schematic cross-sectional view of the plate cylinder 25 is shown together with the associated mechanisms for their operation. The plate cylinder 25 is made integrally with the central impression cylinder 2.
It has a journal or shaft 32 which is normally used to support a gear which rotates the plate cylinder 25 synchronously with the plate cylinder 25. For example, numeral 33 indicates a helical gear associated with plate cylinder 25, and numeral 34 indicates a central impression cylinder 22.
It shows part of the bull gear fixed to the. A further pair of gears, designated 33', 34' and with dotted lines, are associated with the form cylinder 25 and the central impression cylinder 22, respectively, for slightly different operations. Traditionally, flexographic printing machines are equipped with 10-pitch gears and 1/4-pitch ring gears.
Although the gears are not different, different types of repeat operations are provided, as is well known to those skilled in the art. A registration device inserted between the shaft 32 and the bull gear 34 and supporting the plate cylinder gear 33 is indicated at 35. This registration device 35 is connected to the shaft 3
2, the registration device 34 can be arranged in any desired configuration and configuration separately from the printing press to actually speed up the switching and timing of different repeats. For example, color-to-color registration, which is often used today, requires 15 to 30 minutes per color.
With a set time of approximately 1.5 to 3 hours or more and no wasted printing involved in the technical set time state, the novel method of this invention sets the machine to stop while printing is taking place. This can substantially increase printing time. Registration device 35 is shown in cross section in FIG. 3 and includes a number of mutually concentric members. The innermost sleeve 36 is slidably attached to the shaft 32 and is provided with an external spline 37 shown in the right-hand portion of FIG. FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the registration device 35 and the shaft 32, the shaft 32 being shown schematically in the leftmost portion of FIG. FIG. 4 schematically shows the left hand portion of registration device 35, with gears and certain concentric members omitted. Returning to FIG. 3, reference numeral 38 indicates the first sleeve 3.
The second sleeve is shown provided with internal splines to match the external splines 37 of 6. Movement of the sleeve 38 relative to the sleeve 36 is therefore limited in the axial direction and is used when the printing press is set up for fine adjustments of the registration device 35. For example, the registration gear 33 used by the novel method of this invention is axially centered within gear 34. Sleeve 3 to sleeve 36
The sliding of 8 moves the gear 33 to the right or left depending on the case, and the gears 33 and 34 are helical gears, and the central impression cylinder 2
2 has a bull gear 34 fixed to the central impression cylinder 22 so as to cause a slight rotation of the plate cylinder 25 with respect to the central impression cylinder 22 since there is no relative rotational movement between the gears 33 and 34. To do. Gear 33 is seen removably attached to sleeve 38 by bolt 39. A particular object of the invention is to provide a registration device, in particular for mounting the registration device 35 with respect to similar reference points on the plate cylinder 25, and in which the preselected teeth of the gear 33 are located between the preselected teeth of the bull gear 34. To orient the gear 33 relative to a reference point external to the printing press so that it can enter the valley. As previously mentioned, this is practically impossible to do by looking at the press, as is aligning reference points such as scribe lines 41 on the plate cylinder 25, central impression cylinder 22, or associated gears. It is. Gears have relatively small teeth, in this case the teeth are helical teeth at an 18° angle that are impossible to match visually. bull gear 3
The orientation of the registration device 35 is then considered so that the appropriate teeth of the gear 33 are positioned in exact alignment with the predetermined valleys between the teeth of the gear 33. Next, the means used to appropriately position bull gear 34 will be discussed. Regarding proper positioning of the plate cylinder 25 and the registration device 35, first, the plate 40 (the third
(see figure) is provided. In this case, the marking line is a line 41 that bisects the keyway 42 on the shoulder of the shaft 32 (left hand part in FIG. 4).
You can think about it. The keyway 42 can also be seen in the center left hand portion of FIG. As stated somewhat differently above, the objective is to position the precise teeth required for registration in exact alignment with the imaginary scribe line 41, ie, the keyway 42. More precisely, it is necessary to obtain an intermediate center of the helical teeth that is aligned to allow the fine adjustments mentioned above. Regarding the positioning of the plate cylinders, the various printing decks 21-21e have different angular relationships with respect to the center of the central impression cylinder 22, and phase differences exist between the various printing decks. is made even more complicated by Since the underlying purpose is to have the different cylinders of the different printing decks oriented accordingly, all can be brought into printing engagement at the same time and must be configured for this phase difference. However, before discussing the second printing deck where the phase angle is considered to be zero, namely printing deck 21
It is believed that consideration of a will help in understanding this invention. With respect to printing deck 21a, it will be appreciated that the line of operation along line 31a (center left hand portion of FIG. 1) passes through the center of central impression cylinder 22. In order to orient the registration device 35 associated with the plate cylinder of each printing deck, the left hand portion of the registration device 35, as seen in FIGS. used in connection with This positioning fixture arrangement is designated by the numeral 43 and can be seen in various forms in FIGS. 6-8. The positioning fixture device 43 has a base plate 44 and a support base 45 mounted on the base plate 44 (see FIG. 6). The support base 45 is provided with a bearing (not shown) and supports a shaft 32' corresponding to the shaft 32 of the plate cylinder, and the shaft 32' has a key groove 42' facing downward in FIG. is provided.
Further, a registration device 35 is removably attached to the shaft 32'. Referring to FIG. 7, which is a perspective view with the cover removed of the positioning fixture device 43 from the side opposite to FIG. A pair of brackets provided between 44 and support base 45 are shown. For this purpose, a worm gear 47 is provided on the shaft 32', and a worm gear 48 is provided on the worm shaft 49.
It's meshing with. As shown in FIG.
A handle wheel 50 is provided at the right end of the handle wheel 50, so that rotation of the handle wheel 50 causes the worm 4 to
8 and the worm gear 47 to rotate the shaft 32' and thus the registration device 35. As shown in FIG. 7, a counting drive gear 51 is provided at the left end of the shaft 49 and meshes with a counting driven gear 52. As shown in FIG. Counting follower gear 52 forms part of a counting device 53 mounted on one of the brackets 46. The rotation angle of shaft 32' is therefore represented on counting device 53. In operation of the positioning fixture device 43, the counting device 53 is set to zero, and in this state the steering wheel 50 is placed in the keyway 4 of the shaft 32' in a downwardly facing position.
2' is positioned. Registration device 35 is then slid onto shaft 32' by sliding sleeve 36 axially to bring pin 54 of collar 55 into general alignment with keyway 42' (see FIG. 3). In the left-hand part of FIG. 3, it is shown that the sleeve 36 at the end adjacent the plate cylinder 25 rotatably supports a collar 55, which collar 55 is provided with a pin 54. This is even more apparent from FIG. 4, where it can be seen that the sleeve 36 is provided with a radial enlargement 56. This enlarged portion 56 supports the collar 55 so that it can roll. The pin 54 extends through the enlarged portion 56 to enter the keyway 42', and for this purpose the enlarged portion 56 is provided with an arcuate groove 57, as shown in the central portion of FIG. . After the registration device 35 is mounted on the shaft 32' and the pin 54 is extended into the keyway 42', precise positioning of the preselected teeth of the gear 33 is performed. It is clear from the upper center part of Figure 3 that this depends on the center of the tooth, and the center of a particular tooth T is
Denoted by Tc. The purpose of this state of the method of this invention is to locate the center Tc of a particular tooth T on the virtual scribing line 41.
center impression cylinder 2.
Due to the displacement of the former plate cylinder 25a toward 2, the bull gear 34
The reason is that the teeth of the plate cylinder gear 33 mesh accurately with each other (see the center right part of FIG. 1). For this purpose, the positioning fixture arrangement 43 is provided with a gauge block arrangement 60. In particular, a pair of gauge blocks 61, 61' are provided for use with two gears 33, 33', with only one of these gears 33, 33' being used in a particular device. As mentioned above, a pair of bull gears with different tooth shapes are provided on the central impression cylinder 22.
It will be appreciated that when one bull gear 34 is selected for a printing operation, the plate cylinder gear 33 is used and gauged by the gauge block 61. Gauge block 61 is provided in gauge block assembly 60 for vertical operation via a gear train and linkage operated by a separate handle wheel 62, shown in the upper portion of FIGS. When the gauge block 61 is raised by rotation of the handle wheel 60, the gear 33 is positioned at a precise position between the positioning posts 63, 64 of the gauge block 61. This is permitted in the registration device 35 by an arcuate groove 57 shown in the central portion of FIG. In particular, gear 33 is secured to sleeve 36 by a spline connection between sleeve 38 and sleeve 36, which supports gear 33. On the other hand, the collar 55 is fixed in position by a pin 54 confined within the keyway 42'. The slight rotation angle of the gear 33 due to the groove 57 of the sleeve 36 causes the positioning post 6 to move upwardly when the gauge block 61 moves upward.
The teeth T can be engaged simultaneously by the positioning posts 63 and 64 until the gauge block 61 moves to the end of its upward movement when the teeth 3 and 64 are fully in the valley between the teeth T. At this stage, the center Tc of the tooth T is accurately aligned with the virtual scribing line 41. After that, color 5
The lock bolt 65 of No. 5 is the enlarged portion 5 of the sleeve 36.
Tightly attach the collar 55 to 6 so that it does not move (Fig. 4). This is achieved by a collar 55 which is split like 55' (center part of FIG. 4). As mentioned above, if the registration device 35 is attached to the second plate cylinder 25a, no action is necessary. However, this is not practical for the remaining printing deck plate cylinders which have different phase states. This is clear from the description of FIG. For the second printing deck of FIG. 1, printing deck 21a, the contact point or contact location 66 appears to be located on the printing deck movement line 31a. That is, the contact position 66 is located at the pressing point between the plate cylinder 25a and the central impression cylinder 22. However, the situation is different, as exemplified by the third printing deck 21b. In order to ensure that the contact point or contact position 67 is angularly offset from the printing deck travel line 31b and that certain teeth of the plate cylinder gear mesh between the teeth of the bull gear 34, the plate cylinder is Sketch line 4
must be rotated out of coincidence with 1. If not, the print deck is moved along the line of travel 31b and does not coincide with the associated valley between the teeth of the bull gear 34. The required rotation can be precisely determined trigonometrically. One of the factors necessary for adjusting the rotation of the gear 33 is that the line of movement 31b of the third printing deck 21b is at an angle of 15° with respect to the horizontal line, and the center of rotation of the central impression cylinder 22 is centered at an angle of 15° with respect to the horizontal line, as clearly shown in FIG. This is something that is not commonly understood. Another difficulty arises due to the mismatch between the center of the plate cylinder 25b and the center of the central impression cylinder 22. This means that when the gear teeth of each plate cylinder engage, there is an additional slight angle of rotation of the plate cylinder between engagement and full meshing of a value of approximately 1.5°. Also, this can be calculated accurately in advance. Therefore, by using geometry and trigonometric functions, it is possible to predetermine the exact rotational angle, or phase, of the gear associated with the plate cylinder 25b, which is then applied to the positioning fixture device 43 by rotation of the handle wheel 50. Since it can be introduced, the counting device 5
3 represents the exact rotation angle required. In particular, by the collar 55 fastened to the sleeve 36, the tooth T is pushed up to the upper position of the gauge block 61.
engage with. The wheel 50 is then rotated to rotate the registration device 35 in the required direction as indicated by the counting device 53. Contact position 6
The particular tooth T which is required to be located at position 7 is now in this position and must be changed to this position before the registration device is removed from the positioning fixture arrangement 43 and installed on the shaft 32 of the particular plate cylinder. Form a locking collar with a retaining device. Referring now to FIG. 3, it can be seen that the right-hand end registration device 35 is provided with another collar 68 which is rotatably mounted on the sleeve 38. The collar 68 has a plunger shaft 70 (sixth
A stop 69 is provided as shown in the lower right-hand portion of FIG. 3, which is rotatable into mating engagement with the rounded end of FIG. The plunger device 71 is pivotally mounted to the base plate 44 and is pivoted into a position mating with the stop 69 so that the ball end of the plunger shaft 70 enters the stop 69 when the collar 68 is rotated.
A portion of the collar 68 is split and is provided with a locking bolt 72 (FIG. 3) that is tightened to secure the collar 68 to the sleeve 38. Keyway 42
A reference stop is provided so as to orient the specific tooth T to a predetermined angular position with respect to the stop 69 when the virtual scribing line 41 coincides with the reference stop 69. A similarly configured plunger is connected to each printing deck 2.
It is provided in the frame F such as 1 and 21a. This plunger is indicated schematically by arrow 73 in the upper right portion of FIG. 2 relative to the first printing deck 21. Thus, on each plate cylinder of each printing deck, a fixed plunger device associated with each printing deck is used to hold the stop 69 in a reference position so that the scribe line 41, the keyway 42 and the particular tooth T is in a suitable angular relationship with respect to the stop 69 as indicated by the reference numeral 73. After this, the plate cylinder, provided with the registration device 35, which is preset to the same predetermined angle, is mounted on the secondary frame 26 and rotated until the ball of the frame plunger 73 engages the stop 69. After the teeth of the gears 33, 34 are fully engaged, the plunger device 71'
5 to disengage the stop 69. Accurate gear meshing and registration, which is subject to minor adjustments by the printer during actual operation, is achieved by the method of the invention. Plate 40 (third plate) on plate cylinder 25
) is positioned exactly on the marking line 41 of the plate cylinder 25 (FIG. 4). The registration device 35 is connected to the plate cylinder 2.
Pin 54 entering keyway 42 associated with axis 32 of 5
is precisely positioned relative to the scribe line 41. After the pin 54 is positioned in the keyway 42, another collar 74 (FIG. 4) is tightened to hold the registration device 35 on the shaft 32 of the plate cylinder 25. The collar 74 is a collar split at 75 and is provided with a lock nut 76 (FIG. 4). This color 7
4 is loosely attached to the left or inner end of the sleeve 36. The sleeve 36 has a grooved notch 7
7 so that when the lock nut 76 of the collar 74 is tightened, the collar 74 secures the grooved end of the sleeve 36 to the shaft 32. Therefore,
The registration device 35 and the most important gear 33 coincide with the keyway 42, and the key line 41 aligns with the plate 4 of the plate cylinder 25.
It has a fixed angular relationship with respect to 0. By virtue of the specific teeth T and the scribe line 41 in a predetermined angular relationship with respect to the frame reference 73, the plate cylinder 25 is moved along the operating line 31, 31a, etc. to achieve registration between all printing decks. Engagement of the cooperating central impression cylinder and preselected teeth of the plate cylinder gear can be effected with appropriate orientation of each plate cylinder to achieve this. Examples of various repeats used in flexographic printing machines are shown in Figures 11-14. In all of these four figures, the bull gear 34 (11th
Figure) is a gear with 10 diameter pitch and 600 teeth. The plate cylinder gears are for the different repeats, the operating line being in the position occupied by these repeats in the third and printing deck 21b, indicated by 31b. The example of FIGS. 11-14 shows a practical configuration in which the stop 69 is positioned at 90° to the actuation line 31b.
The positioning of the plunger device 71 at the bottom of the registration device 35 at a non-obtuse angle to the line of actuation is a matter of design choice and convenience in the printing deck 21b. Therefore, during setting and subsequent plate cylinder installation, the gear teeth T, keyway 42, and marking line 41 are located at the reference point 7.
It is rotated at an angle to 3, and this rotation is 7
3, 73a, 73b, 73c, etc.; contact points, such as contact positions 66-67; and most importantly, differences in effective repeat length between printing decks. The predetermined angle includes these additional differences when the angle is recorded in the counting device 53. The table below lists various values to show the difference in stop positions in different repeats.

Two further orientations are performed mechanically before the engagement of the various printing decks with the central impression cylinder 22. One is to position the bull gear 34, and the other is to position the anilox roll 28.
In order to better understand how such positioning applies to the overall operation, the construction and operation of a typical printing deck will be described with reference to printing deck 21 shown in FIG. As previously mentioned, each printing deck, such as the first printing deck 21, has a plate cylinder 2 engaged with an impression cylinder 22.
5, an anilox roll 28, a fountain roll 29, a sub-frame 26, and a bracket 27 which is a second sub-frame. An ink fountain (not shown) is mounted directly below a rubber coated fountain roll 29 which facilitates the transfer of ink to the anilox roll 28. The air cushion 78 connects the fountain roll 29 to the anilox roll 28.
individually variable presses to bring them into contact with. In the printing deck described, the bracket 27 accommodated in the guide 79 can be pushed and slid towards the stop 80 by the action of the cylinder 81 via the link shown in dotted lines. Bracket 27 is movable independently of secondary frame 26 to remove contact engagement between anilox roll 28 and plate cylinder 25;
Therefore, when the printing press stops operating, the plate cylinder 25
continues printing until the ink on the plate cylinder runs out. After some delay, the secondary frame 26 accommodated in the guide 82 can be pushed and slid towards the stop 83 by the action of the cylinder 84 via the links shown. Actuation of the subframe 26 and the bracket 27 of the second subframe pulls all supplementary rolls out of contact with the substrate W located on the central impression cylinder 22 to stop printing. A rotatable collar 85 on the screw 86 can be positioned such that a gap 87 forms the amount of actuation performed by the action of the cylinder 81 through the link. Similarly, collar 88 on screw 89
forms a gap 90 that determines the movement of the secondary frame 26 by the action of the cylinder 84 via the link. When the bracket 27 is moved outwardly until the collar 85 contacts the stop 80, it forms a reference point for positioning the anilox roll 28, a rearward position which will be used as a reference numeral. inward movement can be measured as the secondary frame 26 is moved outward until the collar 88 contacts the stop 83;
In this case, this rear position likewise forms the reference point for the reference numeral for positioning the plate roll. Since the gear ratio etc. between the thread per unit length of the screw 86 and the worm gears 91 and 92 are all fixed, a particular rotation angle of the motor 93 results in a known and measurable inward movement of the bracket 27. . In a similar manner, forward movement of secondary frame 26 can be measured and controlled by motor 94. motor 9
3,94 are count-controlled, and the brackets 27 are placed in known positions by the use of a counting device (not shown).
The anilox roll 28 can be determined in the same manner as the subframe 26 and the plate cylinder 25. Similarly, by knowing the distance between a given reference point and the center line of the plate cylinder 25, the secondary frame 26 must be moved a particular distance inward from the reference point to be pressed. Sufficient inward movement to achieve compression is provided by gear 3.
It will be clear that this cannot be achieved without the teeth of 3 and 34 accurately meshing, and therefore the positioning of the printing deck against sufficient pressure is a useful sub-effect of accurate gear meshing. Before describing FIGS. 9 and 10, a description will be given of FIG. 1 in which the printing deck 21a moves along the actuation line 31a. For initial setting of the tooth and valley sensing detectors, a fixture f (FIG. 17) having a horizontally extending pin P is attached to the shaft of the plate cylinder 25a;
It extends inward toward the central axis of the central impression cylinder. The tip of the pin P is shaped like a tooth of a gear, and comes into contact with the deck 21a at a contact position 66 when positioned inward. If the pin P is located exactly in the valley between the two teeth of the bull gear 34, no further adjustment of the sensor position is necessary, but if the pin in the tooth profile is not located exactly, the correct meshing relationship The sensor can be positioned and measured until this occurs as described below. The first two necessary mechanical alignments, ie, positioning the bull gear to receive the pre-positioned teeth of the plate cylinder gear, are accomplished by use of the machine of FIGS. 9 and 10. In these figures, frame F supports a horizontal shaft 94 attached to a support 95 shown only in FIG. This shaft 94 extends axially towards the two bull gears 34, 34' and connects the bracket 9 of the proximity switch 97, 97' of each gear.
6,96' is supported. The brackets 96, 96' holding the proximity switches 97, 97' are rotatable relative to the shaft 94 and slidably positionable along the shaft 94 so that the sensors 98, 98' of the proximity switches 97, 97' are connected to the bull gear 34. , 34'. When the brackets 96, 96' are rotated, the sensors 98,
A small gap is created between 98' and the bull gears 34, 34'. When energized, sensors 98, 98'
detects the difference between a metal gear tooth and an adjacent cavity, or valley, representing the edge of a bull gear tooth. First, if the gauge pin is not centered with the valley of the teeth of the bull gear, as at contact position 66 in FIG. 1, axial movement of the brackets 96, 96' (to the left or right in FIG. 10) causes the sensor 98 or 98' to detect either the presence of metal, ie, the tops of the teeth, or the absence of metal, ie, the valleys between the teeth. By detection and difference between metals and cavities, until the gauge pin at contact location 66 in FIG. 1 engages directly in the valley between the two teeth of the bull gear.
This signal can be used to drive the bull gear in one direction or the other. It will be noted in FIG. 10 that one of the brackets 96, 96' can move both axially. Since the teeth of the bull gear are helical, the sensor associated with the bracket is connected to the fluid motor H (first
An electrical error signal is applied to the circuit (FIG.) to move the bull gear 34 very slowly until the error signal is terminated. By moving the sensor a small amount in this manner, the valley between the two teeth can be accurately aligned with a gauge pin (not shown) on the plate cylinder at position 66 in FIG. Bracket 9 when the valley is exactly aligned with the gauge pin
6,96' is lockingly fastened to the shaft 94 and remains fixed in this position without the need for further adjustment. Therefore, after initial setup, the electrical error signal is always provided until detection of the edge of the tooth at the location shown in FIG. arise. The valley between the two teeth of the bull gear achieves the conditions necessary for proper engagement between the teeth of the bull gear and the plate cylinder gear, such that the teeth of the plate cylinder gear are in contact position 66 in FIG. Note that they are positioned to interlock horizontally. This is the reference position on the bull gear until deck 21a is used as a reference against which other angular errors are measured. In other words, if the bull gear is tightened and the valleys between the teeth of the bull gear are accurately aligned for gear meshing, then the calculation of the other printing deck angles will depend on the operating line relative to the axis of the central impression cylinder. Automatically capture differences. The second two mechanical operating directions required before gear engagement are in the anilox roll;
This will be explained in connection with FIGS. 15 and 16.
In FIG. 16, only a portion of the anilox roll 28 is shown at the right hand end. Further, a shaft 99 is supported by a bearing 100, and the bearing 100 is provided as a part of the second sub-frame 27. The shaft 99 extends beyond the bearing 100 and is connected to the gear 3 of the plate cylinder 25.
It supports a pair of gears 101 and 101' that mesh with gears 3 and 33'. Moreover, these pair of gears 101,
101' is a helical gear which allows ink to be transferred to the plate cylinder 25 in any direction without the registration problems in the anilox roll, but there is still the problem of achieving proper gear meshing. Of course, the purpose is cylinders 84, 81 (lower left hand part in Figure 2).
The aim is to reduce the engagement of the various cylinders due to the simple linear movement achieved by the actuation of the cylinder. Also, due to the action of the well-known plate cylinder gear 33,
Simple trigonometric calculations can be made to determine the orientation of the anilox roll gears 101 for smooth meshing. It thus forms the intended angular orientation of the gear 101 for the anilox roll that must be introduced into the printing press for each repeat. For accurate meshing of gear 101 and gear 33,
Dial 1 attached to gears 101, 101'
02 is provided. In particular, as shown in the left-hand portion of FIG. 16, the dial 102 consists of a plate with angular numbers on its outer surface. This plate includes a tubular member 10 bolted to a gear support 104.
Bolted to 3. Although the teeth of the gear can be selected for precise meshing engagement with the plate cylinder gear 33, the teeth are selected so that the number of angles can be determined from the display mark 105 shown at the top of FIG. The display mark 105 is a split collar 106 rotatably attached to the tubular member 103.
established in For example, if the teeth are selected to mesh 13° out of the exact alignment of the marking marks 105 and a repeat is required to provide that the dial is set to zero, then the visual determination relative to the marking marks 105 may be until the dial setting reaches 13° so that
Anilox roll 28 is rotated. If the anilox roll is placed at an angle such that when the ball 109 engages the stop 101, the zero reading of the dial coincides with the display mark 105, then the anilox roll or dial is placed at an angle relative to the predetermined angle. The angular rotation of will place the gear teeth at the same predetermined angle from the stop, thus placing the teeth in the correct angular relationship for gear engagement between both gears on the anilox roll and plate cylinder. In actual operation,
A card is provided for each repeat drum that records the anilox roll angle settings. Operation In the operation of the present invention, the response for plate mounting takes into account the change that follows the repeat. Therefore, six suitable plate cylinders are selected, during which time the press is operated in the previously selected repeat, and the positioning fixture arrangement 43 is used for precise orientation of the press and separate
A special registration device 35 is attached to the shaft 32' of the shaft 32'. In particular, lock bolts 6 of collars 55 and 74
5, 76 (FIG. 4) and the locking bolt 72 (FIG. 6) of collar 68 are loosened for free rotation. Registration device 35 is sleeved onto shaft 32' (FIG. 5) by pin 54 (FIGS. 3 and 4) in alignment with keyway 42' (FIG. 6). The keyway 42' is the same as the keyway 42 shown in the left hand portion of FIG. 4 and cooperates with the plate cylinder 25. This is based on the preselected special teeth T of the gear 33 (Figs. 3 and 6) aligned with the keyway 42', in particular:
The key line 41 bisects the keyways 42, 42'. To ensure accurate positioning of the scheduled tooth T, the center Tc (FIG. 3) is centered axially on the bull gear 34 or 34' and the handle wheel 62 is moved to lift the gauge block 61. It is passed around. Gauge block 61 or 61' (Fig. 5)
When the pillars 63 and 64 are lifted slowly,
(FIG. 8) The gear 33 is operated in such a way that special teeth T are placed at right angles between them. This is possible because the sleeve 36, which is the innermost part of the registration device 35 and supports the gearwheel 33, is provided with a groove 57 through which the pin 53 extends (third
figure). When the posts 63, 64 are at the base of the valley facing the selected tooth T, the tooth T is accurately centered;
Collar 55 (fourth
The lock bolt 65 is tightened so as to firmly fix the parts shown in FIG. Pre-selected tooth T is now marked line 4
It has a center exactly coincident with 1. All plate cylinder registration devices 35, except those associated with printing decks 21a, 21d, have a predetermined phase angle. This results in differences in the angular positioning of the printing deck as previously discussed. For example, printing decks 1, 3, 4, and 6 are arranged such that the line of actuation of the rollers does not pass through the point of contact with central impression cylinder 22, so that the appropriate teeth of gear 33 are aligned with the appropriate teeth of bull gear 34. The phase angle is derived to ensure meshing of the valleys. To derive this preselected angle, the gauge blocks 61, 61' are retracted to free the gear 33 in rotation. It will now be appreciated that the engagement of pin 54 with keyway 42' prevents registration device 35 from rotating relative to shaft 32'. Furthermore, the collar 55 is connected to the sleeve 36.
There is no appreciable rotational movement between pin 54 and gear 33 since it is tightly fastened. In order to derive the required phase angle, counter 5
Handle wheel 50 until 3 match the correct angle
is rotated. For example, for one selected repeat and printing deck 6, this angle is 113.2°. In the steering wheel car 50, this value is calculated by the counting device 53.
is rotated until it is recorded. Therefore, the loosely attached collar 68 (Figs. 3 and 6)
9 (FIG. 3) is rotated until engaged by the balled shaft 70 of the plunger 71. Lock bolt 72 is then tightly tightened to clamp collar 68 to outer sleeve 38, and sleeves 38, 36 are non-rotatably connected to each other by axial splines 37. When this operation is performed, the preselected tooth is now at a predetermined phase angle with respect to the stop 69. Registration device 35
The positioning of stop 69 ensures that the teeth of the intended gear are at the same phase angle relative to ball 70' when it is removed from fixture 43 and installed on the printing press as part of the plate cylinder. For this purpose, the registration device 35 is separated from the shaft 32' of the positioning fixture arrangement 43 and is mounted in sleeve-like fashion on the shaft 32 of the plate cylinder 25, as shown in FIGS. In particular, the pin 54 of the collar 55 is aligned with the keyway 42 of the shaft 32, which means that the preselected teeth are now in a predetermined fixed relationship with the plate 40 of the plate cylinder 25. There is. The lock bolt 76 of the collar 74 is the register device 3.
5 is fixed to the shaft 32. Since the plate 40 is now mounted on the plate cylinder 25 in a predetermined relationship to the scribe line 41, the plate 40 and the preselected teeth are now in the required relationship. To obtain the proper relationship between the selected teeth and the bull gear 34, a stop 69 is used as shown in FIG. A ball 70' is provided as part of the sub-frame 26 that supports the plate cylinder 25. Also referring to FIG. 3, a portion of the subframe 26 is shown in the lower left portion and can be seen to have a bearing 113 that supports the shaft 32 of the plate cylinder 25. Further, the secondary frame 26 has a positioning fixture device 43.
It has an arm 114 provided with a ball forming mechanism opposite to the required position of the arm 114. The arm 114 has a plunger 7 having a ball 70' that engages the stop 69.
It has 1′. Ball 70' is pushed upward by an air cylinder 115 supported by arm 114. When air cylinder 115 is energized, ball 70' is positioned above the outer surface of collar 68;
When the plate cylinder 25 is rotated, it comes into engagement with the stop 69. This ensures that the preselected tooth is oriented at the proper angle relative to the intended valley of bull gear 34. For this purpose, however, the outer sleeve 38 supporting the plate cylinder gear 33 is still free and can be moved at an angle with respect to the plate cylinder 25 by the splines 37 to the fixed inner sleeve 36.
A device is therefore provided to limit this axial movement, thereby positioning the center of the intended tooth T in alignment with the center of the corresponding valley of the bull gear 34.
This can be seen in the right hand part of Figure 3, where axis 3
There is a ball bearing 116 fixed to the end of 2. This ball bearing 116 is fixedly supported by a half-collar 117 which is pivotally connected to the arm 114. In particular, arm 114 is connected to arm 114 at 119.
It pivotally supports a bracket 118 which is pivotally attached to the bracket 118.
A locking lever 120 is provided to secure bracket 118 in the upper position to support ball bearing 116. When the plate cylinder 25 is placed in the subframe 26, the bracket 118 is moved from the horizontal position to the third position.
It is pivoted around half of the bearing 116 to the position shown. If bearing 116 is not accurately aligned with half-collar 117, collar 38 and collar 36
A spline connection between allows movement in either axial direction. This action ensures that the center of the plate cylinder gear is axially aligned with the center of the bull gear 34. After that, the locking lever 120
is tightened so that this position of the registration device 35 is maintained. After this, the registration device 35, previously locked to the entire plate cylinder, is moved so that the stop 69 is connected to the ball 70'.
This provides a precise rotation reference for the next gear engagement between the plate cylinder gear and the bull gear, and automatic coloring when the various decks are gripped and engaged. Achieve contrasting color registration. It will be appreciated that as a prerequisite for accurate gear engagement between the central impression cylinder gear and the plate cylinder gear, the central impression cylinder gear must be positioned at a very precise angle. Since the gear is a helical gear, it is therefore necessary to have a means for always positioning the plate cylinder gear at the axial center of the central impression cylinder gear, so that accurate angular rotation and accurate gear meshing can be achieved. The center of the gear is always used as the reference point. A centering device is provided for the plate cylinder in the form of a positioning device designated 123. Positioning device 123 includes a cam roller 124 mounted on bracket 118. A lamp 125 is provided on the half-collar 117, and when the cam roller 124 engages the lamp 125, the valve 126 is shut off to indicate that the fluid cylinder 121 is in the intermediate position; The half-collar 117 is now in a predetermined position relative to the center of the bull gears 34, 34'. When the plate cylinder 25 is mounted on the printing press together with the registration device 35, the groove 11 of the half color 117
A bearing 116 in 6' centers the plate cylinder gears 33, 33' in alignment with the centerline of the bull gear. If bearing 116 is not aligned with groove 116', axial movement of collar 68 and sleeve 38, which are attached together, will cause bearing 116 to align with groove 116'.
6' so that the gears 33, 33' are precisely axially aligned with the gears 34, 34' of the central impression cylinder. Since the fluid cylinder is in the intermediate stroke, when the printing press is in operation, the action of the fluid cylinder 121 moves the helical gears 33, 33' axially to the right or left to advance a small amount of angle. , that is, the bull gears 34, 34' are delayed. This is normal and well known to those skilled in the art. The bull gear 34 is now rotated to a predetermined position by the sensor 98 of the proximity switch 97 which senses the correct shape of the teeth so that when the plate cylinder is moved towards the central impression cylinder 22, the plate cylinder 25 and the impression cylinder The gear teeth associated with 22 mesh properly, but before these two barrels move, the anilox roll 2
8 is oriented at a precise angle in the manner previously described using the ball and stop devices 109, 110 described in connection with FIGS. 15 and 16. According to the invention, each printing press 20 and each plate cylinder 2
Positioning fixture device 43 for accurately positioning 5
First and second alignment devices are provided at both. The first alignment device has keyways 42, 42' that are engaged with pins 54. When the alignment devices are correctly positioned, a locking device in the form of a keyway 42 in the collar 55 locks the aligned members. The second alignment device has a stop 69 and balls 70, 70'. When aligned and positioned when the stop 69 is in the fixture 43, the collar 68 is attached to the secondary frame 26.
is locked to protect this alignment when the registration device 35 is moved. Balls 70 provided as part of the secondary frame 26 then effect the same orientation of the plate cylinder gear 33 as in the positioning fixture arrangement 43. A third alignment device is provided on each anilox roll in the form of a stop 110 and a ball 109, the stop 109 being locked in a predetermined rotation with the helical gear 33 of the plate cylinder by means of a collar 106. Figure 16). All requirements for automatic gear meshing and deck-to-deck registration are present, with proper linear operation of the transfer cylinder secondary frame 27 for plate cylinder gear meshing, and for plate cylinder gear and central impression cylinder gear. Linear actuation of the secondary frame 26 with proper gear engagement between the two can now be performed to complete the replacement. This is due to the rotation of the shafts 92, 92' by a handle wheel or motor, or the shafts 89, 86 of the sub-frames 26, 27.
This is done by the transformed rotation of . Since the axes 92, 92' produce a constant, determined value of linear motion of the sub-frame, the use of a fluid motor with a feedback signal to a well-known microprocessor allows different patterns, i.e. repeats, of a known value. The microprocessor can send a signal to the fluid motor to move the sub-frame to the pressing position and determine exactly when it should be deactivated. After the linear movement of the secondary frame 27 is completed, the secondary frame 27 is firmly locked to the secondary frame 26 by the cylinder 81, so that both secondary frames 27, 26 are locked to the central impression cylinder 22. be stopped. Details of such a locking device are shown in previously granted U.S. Pat. No. 3,041,967. To further illustrate the best mode embodiment, certain trigonometric calculations of the invention will be described. In this calculation,
A horizontal deck position was chosen for simplicity (2nd or 5th deck) as seen in Figure 18. The 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th decks require a different calculation formula because the deck positions do not pass through the horizontal center line of the central impression cylinder. It is position related and can only be added to these other deck positions. The following calculations actually determine the position of the scribe line and the special gear tooth position when the plate cylinder is aligned with the central impression cylinder, and the corresponding position of the plate cylinder gear when the deck is in the print press position. Position the gear teeth on the anilox roll so that they align exactly with the valleys. In Fig. 18, a certain symbol indicates the arc length,
It is understood that the arc length is at the periphery of the roll or shell. In either case, knowing the diameter of a given shell, the arc length and angle measurements are mutually determined. In fact, although the angle β is indicated as a measured angle, it can be converted to an arc length and is equal to A ₂ . In fact, when point 90 of the plate cylinder is rotated by an angle β, point 90 coincides with point 91, and these points 90, 91 coincide with the horizontal center line between the plate cylinder and the impression cylinder. These calculations allow a certain point on the downstream deck to be predetermined in advance of the time when automatic registration occurs as the special point 91 is rotated around the central impression cylinder to reach the various deck positions. It shows. Such calculations also determine the gear engagement between the anilox roll and the plate cylinder when the deck is operated by comparing the rotation angle and arc length to the number of gear teeth involved. It shows that the anilox roll can be rotated to the planned position as shown. 24.504″ Repeat version Body φ = 180° A ₁ = φ / 360 (2πRβ) = 180 / 360 (2π × 30) = 94.248 inches = 239.39cm A ₂ = 94.248 − (3 × 24.504) = 20.736 inches = 52.67cm β =20.736/24.504×360°=304.642° However, R is the radius of the plate cylinder. Anilox roll α=304.642°−180°=124.642° 124.462/360×78=27.006 teeth (plate cylinder gear) Na=270 /360×58 = 43.500 teeth (anirox roll gear) 0.500−0.006=0.494 teeth (out of phase) 0.494/58×360=3.066° In the above description, the detailed description of the embodiments of this invention is for illustration purposes only. Various modifications and changes in the details herein described may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG.
A schematic side view of a color flexographic printing press; Figure 2 is a partially sectional side view showing the plate cylinder mounting device and the remaining mechanisms used for deck positioning; Figure 3 is a side view showing the plate cylinder and registration device in relation to each other; 4 is a perspective view of the registration device, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the positioning fixture device of the registration device, and FIGS. 6 to 8 are FIG. 9 is a side view of a part of the bull gear and a proximity switch for accurately positioning the bull gear, FIG. 10 is a plan view of the proximity switch of FIG. 9, and FIGS. 11 to 14 are Side views of the gears at different repeats on the plate cylinder; Figures 15 and 16 are side and end views of a portion of the printing deck associated with the anilox roll; Figure 17 is a view of the equipment used to set up the printing press. The perspective view, FIG. 18, is a schematic diagram with the appropriate numbering used in the calculations to achieve registration. In the figure, 21: deck, 22: central impression cylinder, 25:
Plate cylinder, 26: Sub frame, 27: Bracket, 2
8: Anilox roll, 29: Fountain roll, 32: Shaft, 33: Gear, 34: Bull gear, 3
5: Registration device, 36, 38: Sleeve, 3
7: Spline, 41: Marking line, 42: Keyway, 43: Positioning fixture device, 46: Bracket, 50: Hand wheel, 53: Counting device, 54:
Pin, 55, 68, 85, 88: Color, 57:
Groove, 60: Gauge block device, 62: Handle wheel, 65: Lock bolt, 69, 83: Stop, 7
3: Plunger device, 81, 84: Cylinder, 9
7,97': Switch, 98,98': Sensor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A central impression cylinder 22 provided with a bull gear 34, a shaft 32 and a shaft 3 provided around the central impression cylinder 22.
a plurality of plate cylinders 25 having a helical gear 33 removably attached to the plate cylinder 2 and a reference point 41 provided on the shaft; and a stop 69 and alignment devices 36, 38 for adjustable positioning of the teeth of the plate cylinder.
Registration device 3 removably attached to 2
5, a shaft 32' corresponding to the axis of the plate cylinder, a reference point 42' corresponding to the reference point of the plate cylinder, engageable with a helical gear 32; Gauge blocks 61, 61' that can be raised and lowered
A positioning fixture arrangement 43 having a gauge block arrangement 60 with a gauge block arrangement 60 and a plunger arrangement 71 with a plunger shaft 70 engageable with a stop of the registration arrangement is installed separately in the printing press, The registration device 35 including the gear 33 is removed from the plate cylinder, and the registration device 35 is sequentially mounted on the shaft 32' of the positioning fixture device 43, and the alignment device 3 of the registration device 35 of each plate cylinder 25 is installed.
alignment of each registration device to position the reference point of the registration device 35 relative to the reference point 42' of the locating fixture device 43 when 6, 38 is attached to the shaft 32' of the locating fixture device 43; The gears 33 of each plate cylinder 25 position the device 36, 38, and the gear 33 of each plate cylinder 25
3, the plate cylinder gear of each registration device is positioned so that the reference point of the positioning fixture device and the preselected teeth of the plate cylinder helical gear are aligned. and providing a different predetermined angle relationship between the reference point of the positioning fixture arrangement and the alignment device of at least some of the registration devices when each registration device is attached to the positioning fixture arrangement. locating the reference point on the locating fixture apparatus relative to the alignment apparatus of the locating fixture apparatus as shown in FIG. Mounting: Rotate each plate cylinder relative to the alignment device of the printing press until the reference point of the plate cylinder has an angle in the same predetermined relationship with the alignment device of the printing press such that the alignment device is provided in the locating fixture arrangement. and moving the plate cylinder 25 toward the central impression cylinder 22 so that the helical gear 33 of the plate cylinder meshes with the bull gear of the central impression cylinder. 2. A central impression cylinder 22 provided with a bull gear 34, a shaft 32 and a shaft 3 provided around the central impression cylinder 22;
a plurality of plate cylinders 25 having a helical gear 33 removably attached to the plate cylinder 2 and a reference point 41 provided on the shaft; In a flexographic printing machine equipped with a registration device 35 having an alignment device 36, 38 and a stop 69 for adjustable positioning of gear teeth and removably mounted on the shaft 32 of the plate cylinder, the base plate 44; a support 45 on the base plate 44; a shaft 32' rotatably mounted on the support 45 to coaxially support the registration device 35 including the helical gear 33; a locking device 42' on said shaft 32' for preventing relative rotation between the register device 35 and the registering device 35;
a gage block device 60 having a liftable gage block 61, 61' that can be engaged with the helical gear 33 to position a preselected tooth T of the helical gear 33 relative to the helical gear 2'; After rotation of the registration device 35 with the shaft 32' to provide an angle with a predetermined relationship between the teeth T of the helical gear 33 and the preselected helical gear 33, the stop 69 of the registration device 35 and A plunger device 71 on the base plate 44 having an engageable plunger shaft 70, a counting device 53 for determining the position between the locking device 42' and the plunger device 71, and a handle for rotating the registration device 35 through a predetermined angle. A positioning fixture arrangement for a registration device of a flexographic printing machine, comprising a wheel 50 and a registration device of a flexographic printing machine.