US2115975A

US2115975A - Drive for multicolor presses

Info

Publication number: US2115975A
Application number: US57542A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles W Harrold
Original assignee: Harris Seybold Potter Co
Current assignee: Harris Corp
Priority date: 1936-01-04
Filing date: 1936-01-04
Publication date: 1938-05-03
Anticipated expiration: 1955-05-03

Description

May 3, 1938. c, w. HARROLD DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CHARLE5 w. HARROLD m MM Mm ATTORNEYS May 3, 1938. c. w. HARROLD DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4, 1936 s sheet -sheet?- INVENTOR.

F CHARLES w. HARROLD m mamswadm ATTORNEYS May 3, 1938. c w HARRQLD 2,115,975

DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Filed Jan. 4, 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. CHARLES W. HARROLU m M & Kwh

' ATTORNEYS Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DRIVE FOR MULTICOLOR PRESSES Application January 4, 1936, Serial No. 57,542

19 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in drive for multicolor presses. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is applicable to other sheet handling machines wherever it is of importance to preserve accurate register of the sheets while different operations are being performed upon them.

Theusual method of driving a multicolor press having a series of printing and sheet carrying or transfer cylinders is by means of gears carried by each of the cylinders and forming an intermeshing train. Power is supplied to one of the gears and transmitted through the train to the other cylinders. In this type of drive the sheet carrying cylinders because .of the stresses incident to the transmission of power suffer deflections which vary with the load being transmitted, and hence with the speed at'which the press is operated. It may be seen therefore that registration between successive printings on a sheet' would tend to vary according to the-speed at which the sheet is printed.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a drive-such that deflection, back 5 lash and wear'in the various driving members will not affect the proper registering of successive printings upon the sheet.

Another object is to lessen the load on certain of the gears of a multicolor press or the like, by imparting driving force to the press at more than one point in thegear train. v Another Object is the provision of means whereby when two non-adjacent gears of a train are driven from the same source of power independently, there will be no tendency of the intermediate gears to bind, and at the same time there will be accurate positioning of thesegears with relation to each other at predetermined points in their rotation.

- Still another object of theinvention is to substantially relieve the transfer mechanism of driving load, so that any tendency to assume an outof-register relation under high speed operation of the press is minimized. Other objects and features of novelty will appear as I proceed with the description of those embodiments of the invention which, for the purposes of the present application, I have illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. 1 is a more or less diagrammatic side elevational view of a multicolor ofi-set printing press embodying the invention. r

Fig. 2 is a fragmental end elevationof the same.

rear and at other Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig 1 showing a ployed in connection with the invention; the cyl- 'inder being in a position'where a. sheet is being transferred thereto from a cooperating cylinder.

Fig. 6 is a similar view of the same partsafter a further rotation of 90. i

Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the gear units of Figs. 5 and 6, and i Fig. 8 is a detail view on a ing the angular displacement between the gear elements when the transfer cylinder is in the position of Fig. 6.

Referring to the three color off-set printing press wherein there are three printing units III, II and 12, each comprising a plate cylinder l3, a blanket cylinder ll and an impression cylinder l5. These cylinders are mounted in any conventional .manner, and upon each of the shafts upon which they are carried there is a drive gear indicated in the drawing as l3, l4 and 15', respectively. three cylinders of each unit are therefore geared together in the usual manner.

A motor 15 is employed to drive a multiple belt H or other suitable driving element, a pulley l8 keyed to one end of a shaft 19 arranged longitudinally of the press. This shaft has bevel gears 20, and; lfixed thereupon, one,for each printing unit. These gears mesh with other bevel gears 23, 2d andl lli;

11m li ofthatunit is keyed respectively to the shaft which the impression cylinder mounted. By this means each of the three printing units is driven directly rr m' shaft [I9 sheet transfer means is provided, which is oplarger scale show- The independently of each of thepth 'r'. unitsitliat does the driveiorlany given eratively connected withbothof lthc'iunitson opposite sides thereof. One element offthe transfer means is so constituted that at times it takes its driving force from theprintingfuniflt he times fromythexprintihg This specially cons'triicted jtra in advance. fer element provides gear which is utilized to prevent anylbindin'gdueto drive from opposite directions, and r1.-

siack take up Y i a l overlie the slots.

' ity of gears 36 and 3|.

received upon the roll 21 it is received at the l the gear 23',

structed to bring its sheet grippers into register first with the unit to the rear and then with the unit in advance, whereby there is no building up of any out-of-register tendency in the sheet transferring mechanism.

The sheet transfer mechanism between successive printing units in each instance comprises three cylinders or

rolls

26, 21 and 28. Fixed with respect to roll 26 there is a gear 26' which meshes with gear l5 of one unit, while a gear 28' on roll 28 meshes with gear I5 01' the next succeedtric. Directly in front of loose gear 30 there is an identical gear 3| which is provided with a shaft hole having the same eccentricity as that of gear 30. The gear 3| is keyed to shaft 29, as indicated at 32. In Figs. 5 and 6 the center of the shaft is marked 33 and the center of the gear 3| is marked 34.

Any suitable means may be provided for preventing relative longitudinal movement between the two gears 30 and 3|. The means illustrated herein consists of screws 35 which extend through slots 36 in gear 3| into threaded openings in gear 36. Washers 3-1 beneath the heads of studs Means are provided also .tending to displace the two gears 30 and 3| angularly with respect to each other. In the illustrated case this means consists of a plurality of headed posts 38 which are threaded into tapped openings in gear 30, the heads of the posts projecting into pockets 3! in the rear side of gear 3|. The head of each of the posts 33 has a smooth bore therethrough which slidably receives a pin 40. A coil spring 4| surrounds each pinlil, bearing at one end a ainst the head of post 36 and at the other end against the head of the pin. The latter is rounded as shown at 42, and is received in a socket formed in the gear 3| at the end of pocket 39. It will be apparent therefore that the springs 4| tend to expand and produce slight rotation of gear 30 with respect to gear 3| and shaft 29. Such angular displacement is illustrated in Figs. 6 and 8.

The double gear 30, 3| meshes with gears 26' and 26' on opposite sides. The two meshing points are shown separated by 180 in Figs. 5 and 6 for convenience in illustration, but it should .be understood that they-may be at various angles, as the design of the machine may dictate. Sheet grippers 43 are mounted on the roll 21 in radial alignment with the point 34 of greatest eccentric- Hence when a sheet is point of greatest eccentricity of the gears for the roll, and when it is delivered from that roll it is delivered from the point of greatest eccentricity.

At the position shown in Fig. 5 a sheet is at the point of being delivered from the roll 21 to the roll 23. At this time the two gears 30 and 3| have their high teeth, or teeth of greatest'eccentricity, in engagement with the teeth of gear 28'. Hence there is close meshing of the gears 36 and 3| with and accurate regtstering of the roll 21 with the roll 28. This close meshing draws the loose gear 36 into perfect alignment with the gear 3 against the action of springs 4|. When the sheet has been delivered in this manner the high point of gears 30 and 3| turns in the direction of the arrow in Figs. 5 and 6 until the gears reach the position illustrated in Fig. 6. At this point the meshing of the gears 30and 3|, not only with the gear 26' but also with the gear 26', is rather loose, and consequently the springs 4| are free to act. They therefore displace the gear 3| with respect to the gear 30 as indicated in Fig. 6, taking up all slack and preventing undue noise. The next quarter revolution brings the high point of these gears into mesh with gear 26', when again the gears 30 and 3| are brought into alignment and the register between rolls 26 and 21 becomes accurate. At this point a sheet is received by roll 21 from roll 26. The next quarter revolution carries the gears to another position of loose register,- where angular displacement takes up slack, and the final quarter revolution brings them again into the position of Fig. 5, completing the cycle.

The sheets to be printed enter the press from the feed table 44, pass through the press along' the path indicated by arrows in Fig. 1, and out by way of a delivery cylinder 45 which is driven by a gear 45 meshing with gear i5 of the last printing unit.

While the transfer mechanism as herein described comprises three cylinders, it is to be understood that other means may be employed without departing from the broad aspects of my invention. For example, the transfer means may comprise a continuous conveyor having sheet gripping devices, or may comprise any other number of transfer cylinders of any suitable size.

When the transfer mechanism comprises a single moving element such as a cylinder or a continuous conveyor, that element carries means for registering its grippers first with the previous printing unit and next with the succeeding printing unit,'whereas when more than one element is employed in the transfer mechanism the.

gripper registering means may be applied to any one of such elements. Furthermore, while I employ an eccentric gear to assure accurate registration of the sheet at the time it is taken by the intermediate transfer cylinder and again when it is delivered to the succeeding cylinder, this desired result may be accomplished in other ways, as for example by the use of adjustably fixed or spring actuated register segments, or by other means known to those familiar with the art. I

The modification illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 differs in no respect from that of the preferred form illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, except that the drive, instead of being communicated directly to one of the cylinders of each printing unit, is communicated to one of the cylinders of each transfer mechanism, while the eccentric gear is moved forward to the cylindernext in advance beyond that of Figs. 1 and 2, in order. that it may be midway between the successive .driven elements. Similarly, the drive could be transmitted to any one of the corresponding cylinders of the various printing units, as well as to any one of the elements of the transfer mechanism, although I prefer to transmit the drive to some cylinder of each printing unit and thereby to relieve the transfer mechanism of. the load imposed by the driving of the printing cylinders.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the cylinders of the printing units and of the transfer mechanisms carry the same reference numerals as in Figs. 1 and 2, but

' the transfer cylinder 21 has attached thereto a .next printing unit.

concentric gear 21 meshing with the gear 26' on cylinder 26, while cylinder 28 instead of having a fixed concentric gear is provided with the eccentric gears 3ll and 3| mounted as previously described, these latter gears meshing with gear 21' of the transfer mechanism and gear l of the Drive for the machine is furnished from a suitable source of power such as an electric motor 46 operating through a multiple belt 41 to drive a pulley 48 keyed to a shaft 49 extending longitudinally of the press. Upon this shaft are keyed at proper points bevel gears 50, 5| and 52. Gears 50 and 5| mesh with bevel gears 53 and 54 on cylinders 26 of successive transfer mechanisms, and bevel gear 52 meshes with a bevel gear 55 on delivery. cylinder 45, the gear 45' of which communicates driving force to the last printing unit.

It will be observed that I have provided a drive which is carried directly to each printing unit independently of the transfer mechanism, thereby relieving the latter of the function of transmitting power to the printing units. In particular this drive is independent of the devices employed for securing accuracy of registration of a;

sheet as it is transferred from one unit 'to the next. At the same time, however, each transfer mechanism is operatively connected at its opposite ends to corresponding elements of the printing units between which the transfer mechanism is located. Because of the eccentric gears on a transfer cylinder positioned midway between the successive printing units, a sheet handled on that cylinder will be taken by grippers correctly registered with the preceding printing unit, and will be delivered togrippers accurately registered with the succeeding printing unit. In other words, there can be no accumulation of slack in the gears of the transfer mechanism. The drive from the two printing 'units meets in the twopart gear of the intermediate cylinder, and because of the loose meshing of that gear with the gears on opposite sides, there is no jamming of the gears, while the angular play between the elements 30 and 3| of the two-part gear serves to take up the slack during the movement of the point of greatest eccentricity from meshing relation with one gear to meshing relation with the other gear.

I have disclosed herein specifically means for producing accurate register by special formation of the gears attached to one of the transfer cylinders, that is by so forming the gear at the gripper point as to produce close meshing relation at that point. However, it is possible to produce accurate register of'the grippers of a transfer cylinder with those of the preceding and succeedv ing cylinders, or accurate registration of the is of minor importance.

grippers of an endless conveyor with the grippers of preceding and succeeding elements, by means,

other than gear formation, and hence in certain broader aspects of the invention the particular means employed for accomplishing registration Having thus described my invehtionQI claim I. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate upon the sheets in registered relation, each of said units comprising a plurality of operating elements and adjacent units beingoperatively interconnected by means of said elements, means for imparting driving force tov a single element in each unit from which the otherelements of the units take their driving force, and means associated with said other elements for compensating from said single elements.

2. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate upon the sheets in registered relation, each of said units comprising a plurality of operating elements and adjacent units being operatively interconnected by means of said elements, means for imparting driving force to a single element in each unit from which-the other elements of the units take their driving force, one of said other elements in each unit comprising means for registering that element with the preceding element when it takes a sheet and registering it with the succeedingelement when it delivers a sheet.

3. In a drive for a sheet handlingmachine having a plurality of units adapted to operate upon the sheets in registered relation, each of said units comprising a plurality of operating elements and adjacent units beingoperatively interconnected by means of said elements, means for imparting driving force to a single element in each unit from which the other elements of the units take their driving force, and means associated with one of the other elements in each unit for causing it to take driving force from the preceding element at the instant when it takes a sheet fromthe latter element and for causing it to take driving force from the element in advance at the instant when it delivers a sheet to that element.

4. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality of transfer cylinders between successive units, the cylinders of each transfer cylinder group being geared together and to the said .units on either side thereof and driving connections for one of the transfer cylinders of each group such that driving force for that cylinder is taken a1- ternately in each revolution from the driving element to the rear and the driving element in advance.

5. In a drive for a sheet handling machine closely intermeshing with adjacent gears than the other portions thereof.

6. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality of transfer cylinders between successive units, the cylinders of each transfer cylinder group being geared together and to the said units on either side thereof,,the gear for one transfer cylinder of each group having a portion of its teeth extending further from the axis of rotation of the cylinder than the other portions thereof, and sheet grippers on said last named cylinder positioned substantially in a line with the high teeth of the gear for that cylinder. I

'I. In a drive for a sheet'handling machine having a plurality of units adapted to operate on the sheets in registered relation, a plurality of transfer cylinders between successive units,.the

-- of each group being mounted slightly eccentric of 1 the cylinder, whereby it meshes closely with adjacent gears on either side alternately during each revolution.

8. In a drive for a sheet handling machine having a plurality of units-adapted to operate on the sheets in registered of transfer cylinders between successive units, the cylinders of each transfer cylinder group being geared together and to the said units on either side thereof, thegear for one transfer cylinder of each group being mounted slightly eccentric of the" cylinder, whereby it meshes closely with adjacent gears on either side alternately during each revolution, and sheet grippers on said last named cylinder positioned substantially in line with the point of maximum eccentricity of the gear for that cylinder.

9. In a rotary multicolor press having separate printing units each comprising a plurality of cylinders, one of which in each unit is an impres sion cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring sheets from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising a transfer cylinder connected with the impression cylinders on either side thereof by gearing possessingslack, and said gearing comprising means for registering said grippers alternately with the grippers of the preceding and succeeding impression cylinders.

10. In a multicolor press having separate printing units, means for driving each unit independently of the others, sheet gripping means forming a part of each unit, and means for transferring sheets from one unit to another comprising grippers arranged to take a sheet from the gripping means associated with one unit and to deliver said sheet to the gripping means associated with the next adjacent unit.

11. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of interconnected sheet carrying members, sheet gripping means on said members, and driving means for said members arranged to impart driving force to two of the members independently of each other.

12. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impression cylinders, and operatively connected to both of said impression cylinders, and a drive for each unit independent of the transfer means.

13. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impression cylinders, and operatively connected ,to both of said impression cylinders,

a drive member for said units, and driving connections between said member and each of said units independent of the transfer means.

14. In a multicolor press having separate relation, a plurality printing units each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transfering a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impression cylinders, and operatively connected to both of said impression cylinders, and a drive for eachunit independent of the transfer means, one of the cylinders of said transfer means having sheet registering connections.

15. In a multicolor press having separate printing units each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means comprising a plurality of cylinders arranged in series between consecutive impression cylinders, and operatively connected to both of said impression cylinders, a drive for each unit independent of the transfer means, one of the cylinders of said transfer means having sheet registering connections adapted to act alternately as the sheet is received by said cylinder and delivered therefrom.

16. In a multicolor press, two sheet carrying cylinders, means for driving said cylinders, a

plurality of sheet transfer cylinders arranged in series between said driven cylinders, driving connections between each of said driven cylinders and the adjacent transfer cylinder, said driving connections comprising a gear with high teeth at one point, whereby it takes driving force alternately from the gears on opposite sides thereof.

17. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of multicylinder printing units, each unit comprising a sheet carrying cylinder, grippers on each of said sheet carrying cylinders, a driving member, separate drivingconnections between the driving member and two of the sheet carrying cylinders, gripper transfer means for transferring the sheet from the grippers on one of said driven cylinders to the grippers on the other, and means for driving the transfer means associated with both of said driven cylinders.

18. In a rotary multicolorv press having separate printing units each of which includes an impression cylinder, gripper transfer means for transferring a sheet from one impression cylinder to another, said means having slack therein and comprising means for removing slack at the point of transfer of a sheet to the forward impression cylinder whereby the sheet is accurately registered upon that cylinder, and a drive to each unit independent of the sheet registering means. I

19. In a rotary printing press, a plurality of interconnected sheet carrying members, sheet gripping means on said members, gripper transfer means for transferring sheets from the gripping means on one member to the gripping force to two of the members independently of each other.

CHARLES W. HARROLD.