US2085833A

US2085833A - Printing press mechanism

Info

Publication number: US2085833A
Application number: US700416A
Authority: US
Inventors: Burt D Stevens; Edward F Dudley; Ernest A Verrinder
Original assignee: Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Co
Current assignee: Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Co
Priority date: 1933-12-01
Filing date: 1933-12-01
Publication date: 1937-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 1954-07-06

Description

July 6 1937- B'. D. STEVENS ET Al. 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Deo. l, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet l July 6, 1937.

B. D. STEVENS ET Al.

PRINTING PRESS` MECHANI'SM 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. l, 1935 July 6, 1937. B. D. STEVENS ET Ax.

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Dec. l, 1933 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 m m m m m f @MQ v m hHHU..|H. im@ 1 www QN B. D. STEVENS. ET AL 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM July 6, 1937. l

Filed Dec. l, 1953 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 l f In 'M July 6, 1937. E. E. ETEVEE ET AE 2,085,833

PRINTING PRESS MEcHANIsM Filed Dec. 1, v1955 7 sheets-sheet 5 July 6, 1937. B. D. STEVENS ET Al. 2,085,333

PRINTING -PRESS MECHANI S M lFiled Deo. 1, 1935 7 sheets-sheet s l gmmm 11s 157 1665512@ Jae .127' y 5, .JEU JE jf/uenlfnj:

Baril] Slaven/6*,

July 6, 1937.

` E. D. STEVENS ET A1.

PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Filed Dec. l, 1955 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Cil Patented July d, 137

a UNITED STATES PATENT vOFFICE ansa-sas y PRINTING PRESS MECHANISM Burt D.`Stevens, Evanston, Edward F. Dudley,

Oak Park, Ill.,`and Ernest A. Ven-index', Redlands, Calif., assignors to- The Miehle Printing Press and Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 1, 1933, Serial No. 700,416

zo claims. (c1. 10i-189)' the bed-and-cylinder class, a transfer, cylinder is arranged between the impression cylinders of two adjacent printing units'for the purpose of -transferring the slieets from the impression cylinder of one color unit, after having received their first impression therefrom, to the impression cylf meer of the other unit to-receive their second color impression.

Such arrangements have the disadvantage for instance that any variation in the register which frequently develops during the printing of a job due to shrinkage or stretching of the stock and other causes, cannot be corrected without considerable loss of time, because on that type of presses such correction requires accurate and tedious readjustments of the sheet controlling means and other parts involved.

Furthermore, because of the several color impressions being applied to the'sheets in quick with the printed side of the sheets facing the transfer cylinder.

Moreover, it is impossible to observe the first f impression and color setting on a sheet, because the sheet, at the time it again becomes visible to the pressman, after having been fed tothe press, has received the impressions from all of the color units.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages referred to above by the provision of a press in which for the conventional transfer cylinder a novel sheet transfer and controlling means is substituted which will make it possible to observe the impression of a sheet as it comes from the rst color unit, provide ample time for the ink ofthe first or any preceding impressions to dry before a succeeding impression is applied, as well as to readily correct any variation in the register of the impressions.

Another object of the invention is to arrange the units of such a press in a manner that the 'J vital operating parts thref are rendered readily accessible to the pressman.

A further object consists inthe provision of means whereby the sheets to be printed will be under positive control during their passage through the'press.

Another object resides in the provision of mechanism whereby the sheets, as they approach the registering guides, will be eiectively slowed down to assure accurate registering.

`A still further object of the invention resides in means whereby a pressman `may disconnect any one of the printing units from the power drive of the press so that makeready and other work can be performed on any disconnected unit regardless of the other units.

'Ihese and other objects set forth hereinafter are accomplished by the arrangement disclosed in the following description and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of two single color printing units combined into a two-@color printing press ang embodying the features of this invention;

Figure 2 is an outline in plan view of the printing press rillustrated in Figure'l, showing more particularly the arrangement of the power drive connections for the two units;v

Figures 3 and 4 illustrate the relative position of the type forms of the two units during a printing cycle of the press;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the forwarding table which receives sheets from the'delivery conveyor of the rst unit and on which the sheets bearing the first impression are again registered before they are passed into the second unit to receive v the second color impression;4

Figures 6, 7,'and 8 are sectional views taken along `lines VI-VI, VII-VH, and VIII-VIII the driving` mechanism;

Figure 11 is a cross section taken along line IH-XI of Figure 9; v

Figures 12 and 13-areide`tails of wheel arrangement used for forwarding and conthe suction 50 I trolling the sheets of stock while passing ovexl thel 1 power drive; and

Figure 20 is a section taken along line XX-XX of Figure 19.

Referring now to Figure 1, each printing unit has a

frame

20, 20 respectively, which frames are rigidly held in spaced relation to each other by means of a base plate 2|. The iirstunit A is provided with an automatic feeder 22 from which.

sheets of stock to be printed are fed to the impression cylinder 23 inany known conventional manner. After a sheet has received its impression from the formr on the bed 24 of the rst unit, the sheet is taken over by the delivery conveyor 25 which in the preferred form illustrated is of the endless chain and gripper type. This conveyor deposits the sheet bearing the first impression onto a forwarding table 26 on which the sheet will be slowed down and re-registered prior to receiving its second impression, as will be explained hereinafter in detail.

Upon having been properly registered on said forwarding table, the sheet isl transferred to the impression cylinder. 23 of the second unit by any convenient means, preferably, however, by a rotary or an oscillatory stop gripper mechanism,

whereby the sheet is engaged while at rest in -registered position on the forwarding table and transferred to the impression cylinder grippers at impression cylinder speed. After the sheet has received its second impression on the unit B, it is taken over by the delivery conveyor 25 .of the second unit, and subsequently deposited onto the pile delivery 21.

By the provision of a forwarding table between adjacent printing units, in addition to theendless conveyor shown, ample time is provided for the ink of one impression to dry before a sheet receives its, successive impression. The pressmanwarding table, which means may be of any con.

ventional type, variations inthe register, that might developduring printing, can be convenientlycorrected with the least possible loss of time.

Preferably both units are driven by means of a line shaft drive which receives its power from a single motor, as illustrated in FigureZ. The driving motor -28 is mounted in a convenient position at the gear side of the press so that it will not inl terfere with the accessibility of the space provided between the two units, i. e. between the delivery end of the first unit and the feeder 'end of the vsecond unit, in order that a-pressman may conveniently attend-to makeready or other work a j that station'.

The line shaft 29, which extends in both direc-v tions of the motor 28, is connected to the moto'r by any suitable means.; such as by achain or beltl drive 30 and rotation-is transmitted simulta# neously to the drive shafts 3|, 3 I of the two units,

preferably by

bevel gears

32, 33 and 32'l and 33 respectively. For the purpose of disconnecting either one of the printing units from its respective drive shaft, .so that makeready and other work vtrated'in Figures 19 and 20, will be explained in detail hereinafter.4

Referring to Figures 3 and 4, the diagrammatic views of the printing couples forming part of the units A, B are intended to illustrate the direction and extent of travel of the forms of the respective units during a printing cycle of the multicolor press.

'I'he inking mechanism whereby a lm of ink is applied to the type form 34, 34' respectively, may be of any conventionalkind and may include a fountain and fountain roller 35, a ductor roller 36, an ink'distributing drum 31, a second ductor roller 38 mounted to rotate about the axis of the drum 31 and remaining in constant contact with said drum, steel vibrator rollers 39, rider roller 40 and two or more form rollers 4|.

In the unit A shown in Figure 3 the printing couple is illustrated during. its printing stroke, namely during that stroke on which the impression cylinder 23 is o'n impression on the form 34, the form traveling and the cylinder rotating in the directions indicated by the arrows. 'I 'he extent of the full travel of -the bed 34 is'indicated in .broken lines and shows that when the form has reached its end position prior to` reversing, the inner edge of the form will have passed beyond itsv point of contact with the cylinder. Prior to the yreturn stroke of the form, the cylinder 23 of the impression cylinder 23,l is tripped off the form 34' y and the form traveling in the direction shown by the arrow receives its supply of ink from the vthe direction shown in Figure 3, the formi. e..the

bed on which the form is mounted, isreversed and' will then travel in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4. In that flgure the impression cylinder 23 is shown as having been lowered ontothe fform so as to effect an impression onto the sheet During that part of the. .1 printing cycle of the two units, the bed 34 of the unit A-i's' on its return stroke and the impression 'cylinder 23'is tripped off the form and the latter carried by said cylinder.

receives a `111m of ink from the forml rollers 4i. During the entire printing cycle of the units A andrB.

th'e impression cylinders

23 and 23 continue to rotate in the same direction.

. Withthis relative-'timing of the printing units,

. it .willbe seen that at no time will the :impression cylinders of the two units be on impression simultaneously; in other words, while one cylinder is on impression during the printing of a sheet on that particular unit, the impression cylinder of the other unit will be olf impression, i. e. tripped off the form. This is 8f feature of importance because it avoids any overload on the mo'tor which obviously would occur ifboth impression cylinders were on impression simultaneously.

By reciprocating the forms of the two units, i. e. the type beds on which the 'forms are mount# ed, in opposite directions, a counterbalancing effect is produced which will absorb the stresses that would otherwise be transmitted to the structure of the press by the reciprocation of the type beds.

The forwarding table 26, a plan view of which is shown in Figure 5, has mounted thereon a series of sets of'suction i. e. forwarding

Wheels

42, 43 and 48, preferably of the construction shown in Figures 12 to 15, which figures will be described later. The latter two sets of said wheels are rotated at a uniform speed, while the wheels 42 are given a variable speed of rotation in order to slow down a Sheet prior to it reaching its 4 registering position.

Rotation is imparted to all of said forwardingv wheels from any convenient part of the press drive, preferably by means of a shaft 85 and bevel gear 46, see Figure 8, which gear extends into the drive case 41 mounted on one side of the table 26,

vsee Figure 5.

The shafts-88 and 69 which carry the

suction wheels

43 and 88 respectively, extend through the side wall or flange 56 of the forwarding table 26, and the bevel pinions 5l, 52 keyed .to the free ends of said shafts mesh with complementary bevel pinions 53 and 58 carried by the shaft 55, which is continually rotated at a uniform speed from the drive shaft 45, through the intermediary ofthe bevel pinion 56, pinion 51 and bevel pinions 58 and 59.

As indicated above, the suction wheels 82,A

constitutes the drive shaft for said mechanism,

carries at one end a helical gear or worm wheel 6 I, see Figures 9 and 10, which wheel meshes with i a helical gear or Worm 62 provided on the continually rotating shaft 55. At the other free end of the shaft 60 is mounted a centroidal gear 63, see Figures 5 and 6, which in turn meshes with a complementary centroidal gear 64 mounted for rotation, together with a pinion 65, on a stud 66 threaded into the side of the table 26. Pin-ions l61 and 68, which are integral and mounted for rotation on stud 69, preferably driven intoa bore in the table 26, transmit a variable rotation to the solid shaft 18 and therewith to the suction wheels 42, by means of a pinion 1l which is secured by any convenient means to the reduced free end of the solid shaft 10. The timing of the-centroidal gears of course is such that the suction wheels 42 rotate at top speed at the moment when a sheet reaches them, while from then on until the leading edge of a sheet is presented to the front guides, the rotation of said wheels will be decelerated so that they will have assumed their lowest speed and thereby have suiciently slowed down the sheet by the time it reaches the front registering guides to assure smooth contact of its leading edge with said giudes. The train of gears whereby this variable rotation of shaft 18 is produced may be covered by a guard C.

Suction is applied to the forwarding wheels 42, 43, and 44 in timed relationship and preferably controlled by the means illustrated in Figures 5 and 8 to 11.

In the housing 12 is provided a bore 13, see

' Figures 9 and 11, into which is threaded a nipple 18 for connection with the main air line 15, which leads to any conventional vacuum system such by means of a. cover plate 86 secured to the houso ing 12 preferably by bolts 81 and suitably spaced from the face 11 in any convenient manner so that said gears will be Afree to rotate 'between the face 11 and the plate 86. Each one of said gears functions as a Valve to control the vacuum to the respective suction wheels in the forwarding table 26, and for that purpose air openings 88 are provided in said gears in such position that once during every revolution of a gear the opening 88 u therein will alignV itself with its corresponding air vent in the housing 12.` In the cover plate 86 and in alignment with said air vents 16 are tapped holes 89 into which are secured nipples 96 of air lines 8i, which latter lead to the respective suction wheels in the forwarding table 26. It will be understood therefore that vacuum will only then be applied to said suction Wheels when the y holes 8.9 in the cover plate, air openings 88 in the valve gears and air vents 16 in the housing 12 are in alignment.

Said valve gears intermesh and are driven to rotate continually in one direction by a gear 92, see Figures 9 and 10, carried by the cam shaft 68 and held against rotation on the hub 93 of the worm Wheel 6| by means of a pin 94 driven into said hub, the worm wheel 6I being splined to the shaft 68 by a key 95 and secured in position by a set screw 96 in said hub and bearing against said key. v

The speed at which the air control valve gears 83, 84, and are driven is such that for every ,sheet fed to the printing couple of the second wheels and indicated in Figure 9, `vacuum will first be applied to the wheel 83 during -that period when its air opening 88 is in alignment with its corresponding air vent 16 in the housing 12 and with its corresponding tapped hole 8 8 in the cover plate 86. At that time no vacuum will be applied through the air openings 88 eitherl in Wheel 84 or wheel 85. When the opening` 88 in wheel 83 is about to pa'ss beyond its corresponding air vent 16, then the opening88 in wheel 84 will commcnce to move into alignment with its correspending air vent 16 and through its air line 9| will apply vacuum to the second set 43 of the suctime the vacuum to the suction wheels. is out off by the continued rotation of the valve gear 84, the opening 88 in gear 85 will have moved into alignment with its corresponding air vent 16 and thereby apply vacuum to the front suction wheels 42 'in the forwarding table through the air line 9| leading thereto.

As indicated in Figurec9, the opening 88 in the wheel 85 is of an elongated shape, the purpose of which will be apparent from the following de- -l'O scription.

The suction wheels 43 and 44 function merely to advance the sheets over the forwarding table 26, while the wheels 42, in addition to advancing the sheets over said table, act to control them during that period when the sheets are being given their front and side registering movement. In order tol accomplish this, it is essential that means. be provided whereby the air pressure i. el the vacuum, to the wheels 42 can be -suitably varied to accommodate stock of different weights. I'he preferred form of -such means is illustrated inFigure 8 of the drawings and includes a bypass tube 91, which provides a direct connection between the main air line 'l5 and the front suction wheels 42. The air pressure within the tube 9'| is` controlled by means of a pet cock 98, which together with a relief valve 99 are interposed, between said tube and th'e main line 15. A second relief valve |00 is mounted on the cover plate 12 and has for its purpose to establish direct communication to the atmosphere througg an airport provided in said plate and locate in such position' that once during every revolution of the air control valve gear 85, it will come into alignment with the air opening` 88 in said gear` and thereby brake the vacuum to the suction wheels 42. The timing of the relief valve |00 with the opening 88 in the gear 85 being such that when the leading edge of a sheet is 0 about one-half inch from vthe front registering guides of the press, the vacuum applied to the wheels 42 will be relieved for the purpose of avoiding buckling of the sheet when its leading edge reaches the front registering guides.

By the time the -sheet has reached its registering position, vacuumthrough the valve gear 85 will have been cut off completely and the wheels 42 will thereuponbe in direct communication with the main air line 'I5 through the auxiliary by-pass tube 91.' 'Ihe amount of suction applied to the sheet through said tube is controlled by the setting of thepet cock 98, only sufficient suction being required to hold the sheet down after it hasbeen registered and to thereby prevent displacement of the sheet, also to prevent the side guides from pulling the sheet away from its front registering guides during registering movement of said side guides.

The setting of the pet cock 98 is constant for the majority of stock handled on presses of this -f type, but for extremely light stock for instance, or for cardboard, the volume of air pressure in the bypass tube 98 may be suitably varied.

The relief valve 99 is used for relieving the 65 suction in the main line 'l5 and thereby in `the suction tubes on the forwarding table when exceedingly light stock, such as tissue paper, is handled on the press. By suitable adjustment of the re- -lief valve 99, the vacuum can be held to a mini- 0 mum so that during the forwarding of such, ex-

ceptionally light stock, the paper will not be sucked into the air vents of the suction wheels.

It might also be mentioned here that the vacuum at the air wheelsV 44 is so timed with the grippers on the delivery. conveyor 25 that before said grippers release the sheet, suction will have been applied to said wheels so that the sheet may be under positive control during-its transfer from the delivery conveyor to the forwarding table 26,

In order that sheets to be registered will not 5 be thrown out of alignment with the vfront registeringguides duringthe side registering .of the sheets, the front suction wheels 42, in addition totheir rotary motion are imparted a lateral movement while a sheet is under their control, which movement is accomplished by means of a cam I0| mountedl on the cam shaft 60,' see Figure 5, a rocking lever |02 pivotally mounted on a bracket |03 secured to the side of the forwarding table and which lever at one end carries a roller |04 engagingV in the cam groove |05 of the cam |0 I, while the other end of said lever is provided with a gear sector |06 engaging the teeth of a. rack member |01 secured to the hollow shaft 08 on which the suction wheels 42 and associated parts are arranged as a unit to move therewith laterally.

In order that the wheels 42, which rotate with the shaft l0, may readily slide longitudinally of said shaft to follow the lateral movement of the 25 shaft |08, they may be splined to the latter shaft 1 by means of a key and key way or in any other preferred manner. During the rotation of the Ashaft Which-carries the cam |0I, the lever |02 .will be rocked and consequently the wheels 42 30 will be moved laterally to and fro on the shaft '|0.

lThe lateralvmovement of said wheels of course Cil under the control of the wheels 42. Furthermore, 3

it will be readily understood that the suction in the wheels 42 will be timed so that during the returnl lateral movement of said wheels, namely during the in movement to the left as viewed in. Figure 5, no suction will be applied to said wheels. i

fThe side guide |09 which may be of any wellknown conventional construction, is imparted its lateral movement preferably by means of a cam IIO pinned to the cam shaft 60, which cam engages a roller I|| mounted on a stud I |2 carried by a fork 3, the stem II4 o'f which is pivotally connected to a bell crank lever H5, one arm of which' is provided with a gear sector I I6 engaging in a rack bar Il adapted to reciprocate in the front end of the forwarding table 26 and one end o-f which carries the side registering guide |09.

The arrangement illustrated in Figures 5 and 7 functionsto side register a sheet in a direction to the right of Figure 5. 'Ihis condition, however, may be reversed simply by turning the cam |06 180 on the shaft 60 and by also mounting the side registering guides |09 at the left hand side of the rack barA ||'l instead of at the right hand side as shown in Figure 5.

While any suitable type of suction wheels may be used in connection with this invention, a preferred construction is illustrated in Figures 12 to 15 inclusive, according to which each forwarding wheel unit comprises a series of discs l I8, provided wi'th perforations I|9 and slots |20, one of `which extends from every perforation to the periphery of the discs. Each one of said discs is secured to the shaft 'l0 preferably-by a key |2`I in order to rotate with said shaft. On the hollow stationary shaft |08 are mounted connecting brackets |22 which are secured against lateral displacement on said shaft by means of set screws |23 or the like and in such position that the bore |24 provided in each bracket will communicate witha port hole |25 in said shaft'. Lateral air 75 vided in the discs |20. By means of these discs an air tight seal is provided between the bracket |22 and the discs or wheels H8. The outerfaces of said wheels are sealed by means of discs |3| loosely mounted on the shaft 10. In order to maintain constant sealing condition between the bracket |22, wheels ||8 and sealing discs |28 and 13|, compression springs |32 are interposed between the latter discs and retention collars |33 which are adjustably mounted on the shaft 10 and are held in position by means of set screws |34, whereby the tension of said springs and therewith the degree of pressure applied between said wheels and sealing discs may be .suitably varied. -With this arrangement it is possible' to readily dismantle the entire suction wheel unit for replacement of any parts or for cleaning purposes.

In order to facilitate cleaning out of the bore |24 in the brackets |22 an opening is provided to communicate with the inner end of said bore and which opening is normally sealed by means of a screw |35.

It will be apparent from this disclosure that l. during the rotation of the shaft 10 and therewith of the wheels i8, the perforations H9 in the latter will successively comeinto alignment with the ports |21 in the discs |28 so that suction will be applied through the corresponding slot |20 of each perforation as it passes the port |21. Each hollow shaft |08 of the different suction wheel units is connected to its respective suction controlling means by way of air lines 9| as indicated in Figures 5 and 11.

Referring now to the arrangement according to which, as shown in broken lines in Figure 1, the delivery conveyor 25, together with the forwarding table 26 and its associated parts, may be swung up out'of their operative position so that a pressman will have convenient access between the two units for makeready and other work, the preferred means whereby these comparatively heavy parts may be manipulated with ease and safety to the pressman, are illustrated in Figures 16 to 18.

'I'he mechanism for accomplishing this includes L substantially'yertically extending rack bars |36 and |31, the. upper ends of which are pivotally secured in any convenient manner either to the delivery conveyor 25 or to the forwarding table 26 at each side of the press. The lower portions of said rack bars are arranged to slide within guide members |38 and |33, both of which are loosely carried on a shaft |40 mounted at each end in the sides of the frame |4| of the unit A. Pinions |42 and |43` are keyed to said shaft to rotate therewith and are positioned within said guidemembers to be in constant-mesh vwith the. racks |36 and |31 respectively so that, depending on the direction of rotation of shaft |40, the racks and therewith the delivery conveyor and forwarding table are moved either up or down.

'Said disc is rigidly mounted on the shaft |40 while during the upward movement of said parts, I

the power stored up in the tensioned spring will be transmitted to the racks |36 and |31 by means of the pinions |42 and |43 respectively and thereby act as a counterbalancing means for'the parts to be moved. It will be understood that any convenient means may be used for adjusting the tension of the spring |59.

The mechanism whereby any one of the press units may be disconnected from its respective driving shaft in order to render a unit inoperative for the purpose set forth hereinabove, is illustrated in Figures 19 and 20.

The ily wheel shaft |10, which is supported in suitable bearings |1| in the press frame 20 and through which the bed motion mechanism of a unit is driven, carries at its free end a fly wheel |12,whi le a pinion |13'is keyed to that portion of said shaft which is located between the press frame and said fly wheel. The pinion |13 meshes with a pinion |14, which latter is mounted on. the free end of the shaft 3| to rotate freely thereon. .The hub |15. of the pinion |14 is formed with a recess |16 which extends laterally .across the entire face of said hub so as to form a clutch member. A complementary clutch member |11 with a projection |18 extending across the inner face thereof and adapted to engage said recess |16 in the hub |15, is splined onto the extreme enclv of the shaft 3| by means of a key |80, see Figure 2d, recessed in said clutch member .|11 so that the latter may beslid Vlongitudinally of the shaft end into and out of its. operative position with reiation to the pinion |14, i. e. the recess |16 in its hub |15.

Asishown in Figure 20, a spring actuated plunger |8 having an operating knob |82, is provided in the clutch member |11, which plunger, when said member is in its operative position, engages a recess |83 formed in the shaft v3|-in order to prevent the projection |18 from becoming dis- Iengaged from its complementary recess in the bers while a pressman is attending to certain work on the respective unit..

In order to facilitate the manipulation of the member |11, a handle |85 is provided thereon which the pressman engages, after having withdrawn said plunger |82 to move said member into its required position, that is either into or out of its operative position. 'A pin |86 driven into the extreme end of the shaft 3| serves to retain the clutch member |11 on said-shaft.

It will therefore be seen that upon disengagement of the clutch' member |11 from the recess |16 in the hub |15, the pinion |14, which is` mounted free on the shaft 3|, will not drive the pinion |13 on shaft |10 and therefore therespective unit will be disconnected from the power drive of the press. The operator working on that .particular unit,'however, may if necessary turn over the press by hand by rotating the ily wheel |12.

We claim:

1. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem, each of said units having a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, an endlesschain gripper conveyor on one printing unit, a forwarding table associated with said conveyor to receive printed sheets in timed sequence therefrom, and means on said table for controlling sheets and registering them beforethey are fed into an adjacen unit.` 2. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a, plurality of printing units arranged `for-successive printing operation, each of said' units having a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating printing form carrying member, a pivoted endless chain gripper conveyor on one printing unit and adapted to be moved out of its operative position, a forwarding table associated with said conveyor to move therewith and to receive printed sheets in timed sequence therefrom, and means on said table for controlling sheets and registering them before they are fed into an adjacent unit.

3. Ina multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in ,i

tandem, each of said units having a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, a delivery gripper conveyor on one printing unit, a forwarding table rigidly associated with said conveyor to receive printed sheets therefrom, and means for moving said conveyor and table as a` unit into and out of their operative position.

4. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in l tandem, each of said units havinga printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a cooperating type bed, a delivery conveyor on one printing unit and adapted tobe movedl out of.

-2,osis',`sss

'any accidental engagement of the clutch memwith said conveyor to receive printed sheets therefrom and to move therewith, and means for balancing said conveyor and table, during their movement out of their operative position.

6. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem and each having an impression cylinder, a delivery gripper conveyor arranged to'remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one unit, a forwarding table associated with said conveyor vto receive a sheet therefrom, suction wheels to engage and advance sheets deposited l onto said table by said conveyor, and means to control the suction on said wheels so that the latter will engage a sheet before it is released by said conveyor.

7. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said /units, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto the registeringtable associated with an 'adjacent unit, said sheet conveying means maintaining positive control of the sheet while transferring the same from said printing unit to said registering table.

it onto the registering table associated with an adjacent unit.

9. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units vand deposit it onto the sheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit.

10. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables, and endless gripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said umts and deposit it onto the sheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit.

11. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables and comprising rotary suction members, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the suction members of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit.

12. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and cooperating type bed, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables and comprising rotary suction members adapted to slow down sheets for iront register and move sheets laterally for side register, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the suction members of the registering table associated with an' adjacent unit.

14. In a multicolor printing press', the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, and means provided by said sheet conveying means maintaining positive control of the sheet while the same is being transferred from said printing unit to said registering table, the registering table and the sheet conveying means which operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing as a unit out of their operative position for the purpose ofproviding convenient access to both type beds of said units.

15. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it ontothe sheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit,4 the registering. table and the sheet conveying means which operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing as a unit out of' their operative position for the purpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of said units.

16. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables and comprising rotary suction members, and endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the suction members of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, the registering table and the sheet conveying means which operate between adjacent printing units being -arranged to swing as a unit out of their operative position for the purpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of said units.

1'7. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem and each comprising an impression i cylinder and a reciproc-ating type bed cooperating 10 therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, and endless gripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, the registering table and the endless gripper chains which operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing as a unit out of their operative position for the purpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of said units.

18. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed cooperating therewith, a registering table` associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding means carried by said registering tables, and endless gripper chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the sheet forwarding 30.

means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, the registering table and the endless gripper chains which operate between adjacent printing units being arranged to swing as a unit out vof their operative position for the purpose of providing convenient access to both type beds of said units.

19. In a multicolor printing press, the cornbination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder'v and a type bed co- 40 operating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, endless sheet conveying means adapted to remove a printed sheet from one of said printing units and deposit it onto the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, means provided by said sheet conveying means maintaining positive control of the sheet when the same is being transferred from said printing unit to said registering t-able, power driving means for said units, and means for disconnecting any one of said units from said drivmg means.

20. In a multicolor printing press, the combination of a plurality of printing units, each comprising an impression cylinder and a type bed co-v operating therewith, a registering table associated with each one of said units, sheet forwarding lmeans carried by said registering tables, endless gripper'chains adapted to remove a printed sheet from the impression cylinder of one of said units and deposit it onto the sheet forwarding means of the registering table associated with an adjacent unit, power driving means for said units,

and means for disconnecting any one of said units from said driving means.

BURT D. STEVENS. EDWARD F. DUDLEY. ERNEST A. VERRINDER.