US2560774A - Driving and adjusting means for printing rollers in web printing machines - Google Patents

Description

July .W9 95E c. LUTTENAUER 2,56%774 DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING RoLLERs-IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet l Filed OCT.. 24, 1946 July 17, 195i c. LUTTENAuERf DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed OCL. 24, 1946 Juy l?, 19M c. LUTTENAUER 2,560,774

DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 24, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 0') se N f@ '1 0 HVI f s A N N i N July I?, IQSI c, LUTTENAUER 2,560,774 DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 24, 1946 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 'B7 EL? My WE c. LUTTENAUER DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 24, 1946 i4/ez, a; A052.

C. LUTTENAUER DRIVING AND AD JUNI' EK H953 2,56%?74 JUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINTING MACHINES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed OCT.. 24, 1946 atentec 17,

DRIVING AND ADJUSTING MEANS FOR PRINTING ROLLERS IN WEB PRINT- ING AMACHIN ES Carlos Luttenauer, Mulhouse, France Application October 24, 1946, Serial No. 705,290

In France February 16, 1946 It is known that in the machines used here- V tofore, the drive of the printing rollers is effected by means of a large central gear or crown wheel (or by two gears of this kind in so-called double-face machines) xed on a rotary shaft, near one of the side plates of the frame of the machine, and driving the whole group of small control pinions fixed on the ends of the shafts of the printing rollers which are mounted around the pressure cylinder. It has been admitted that, when the number of colours is large, the diameter of the central gear is very large relatively to that of the control pinions and that this consequently involves, when starting, a considerable expenditure of energy to overcome, rst of all the inertia, then the resistance caused by the pressure exerted on the printing rollers, which is a first drawback.

.Another drawback consists in the fact, that, owing to the various inclinations of the printing rollers relatively to the pressure cylinder and also to the variations of the distances of the axes of said rollers from that of the pressure cylinder due to the different diameters of the rollers which may have to be used, it is impossible to secure a correct meshing of the control pinions with the large central gear, so that the flanks of the teeth quickly become worn and require frequent replacements which involve considerable costs for upkeep.

On the other hand, as regards the bringing into step to secure the accurate registering of the patterns of the various rollers, it is known that this operation, in the known machines, is awkward and dangerous for the operator when it is. effected while the machine is in motion, owing to the fact that the operator has to act on small worms provided on each control pinion in order to impart to the printing rollers complementary rotations of very small amplitude in one or the other direction. This operation therefore requires very special skill and attention on the part of the operator, whose safety is thus seriously jeopardized in View of the high speeds of rotation at which there is a greater and greater tendency to operate rotary printing machines.

The invention has for its object to eliminate all these serious drawbacks and to provide, to

this end, a device for driving and adjusting the printing rollers which is mainly characterized in this that the said rollers are operated by a driving and adjusting station forming a separate unit from the machine and comprising a plurality of rotary driving members, the number of which is equal t0 that of 'the rollers and each of which is connected to the corresponding roller through the intermediary of a transmission which is housed in the said station and which comprises a universal joint connection and a telescopic intermediate shaft interposed between the shaft of the said rotary driving member and that of the said roller. V

Each rotary member of the driving and adjusting station which drives a printing roller preferably comprises a gear case which is furthermore provided with means enabling, bythe operation of an adjusting member provided at the said station and corresponding to the said roller, a complementary partial rotation in the desired direction to be imparted, for bringing the roller into step, to the gear case and, through the intermediary of the universal transmission, to the shaft of the printing roller.

At the drivingand adjusting station, the adjusting members for bringing the vrollers into step, for example hand wheels, are arranged, symmetrically and in the numerical order of the rollers, on a panel. Preferably, each wheel or other adjusting member, is combined with reference means (not shown) such as a pointer moving in front of a graduated dial, indicating to the operator the direction and the amplitude of the adjustment for each printing roller.

Each transmission comprising universal joints is preferably provided with a coupling or clutch enabling the corresponding printing roller to be made operative or inoperative atwill.

It will be readily understood that, by means of the driving and adjusting device, it will henceforth be possible to effect the bringing into step individually for the rollers by means of handwheels located in stationary positions during the operation of the machine, thereby greatly facilitating the adjustment and eliminating all risk of accidents for the operator. On the other hand, the transmission by means of universal joints and a telescopic shaft allows the axis of each printing roller to effect slight displacements so as to take up oblique positions with respect to the axis of the pressure cylinder. It furthermore allows of any variations of the distance between the axis of the pressure cylinder and that of the printing roller in the case in which said printing roller is replaced by a roller of different diameter, and it also allows of an axial displacement of the printing rollerin both clirections, either for the adjustment, or owing to expansion.

In order to make the invention more clearly understood, and merely by way of a non-limitative example, an embodiment thereof is described hereinafter and diagrammatically illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a View infront elevation, partly in vertical section, of the device for drivingand adjusting the printing rollers of a printing machine;

Fig. 2 is a partial view in horizontal section of the said device;

Fig. 3 is a view thereof in vertical III-III (Fig. l);

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the transmission section along comprising universal joints, interposed between the driving and adjusting device andthe shaft, shown in the operative position, of ione of the printing rollers;

Fig. 5 is a view of the coupling ofthe shaft of the printing roller, in a plane at right angle to thatof-.Fig 4;.;1.- i. l f i-Fig 671s aview, in the same plane as that of Figjs, ofthe coupling device, the shaft of the printing rollerlbeing. assumed to-.be inthe inoperative position;4 l

:Fig: 7 is a diagrammatic elevational view showing :the arrangementofthe gears of the driving station;.. Fig. 8 is a view in longitudinal vertical section of a gear case corresponding to one ofthe printing rollers and gFig. '9; is a detail view in transverse section of thegears housed inside the said case. :Inthese gures, l, 2` and 3 are the three first printing rollers located on the same sideof the verticalA plane ofgsyrnmetry of themachine, of a rotary printing machineY having six rollers; 'lis onegof the side frames acting as a support for the bearings 8 of the six rollers; 9 is the driving and adjusting` station ofthe machine, having on its front face a panel I0. on which are symmetricallyi arranged thehand-wheels lf, 2f, 3', 4, 5, 6 respectively serving for .the individualadjustment ofthe six printing rollers, for bringing them .into stepggl l. isa case which is fixed to the casing 9 of the station, by one of its walls l2,--and inside which are housed the universal jointconnections which .transmit the..drive'individually4 to each of tha-printing rollers; "I3-is the other end wall, or bottom, 4of thesaidcase,fopposite the frame 1. The driving and adjusting station,v 9l comprises a driving pulley I4 whoseifrnovement is-transmittedthrough a gear trainr I5 |6;,-.I1-l8-l9- 20-.-f2l to an intermediate gear 22 with which mesh controlpinions 23six` in number inthe example shown,,eachcorresponding to one of the printing rollers. .Y .Y

,.Between each of the control pinions 23 and the corresponding printing roller is interposed a transmission comprising universal joints -24.and Y 25 and a Atelescopic shaft 26 of which one of the portionsmvhich is of square cross-section-with canted corners, ,can slide in a bore of likecrosssection of the other portion. .This device enables,

as stated, the printing roller to take up oblique fspositions in the horizontal and in thevertical directions with respect-to the axis ofthe pressure cylinder; it furthermore allows of a variation of the, distance between the axis of `the printing rollerand the pressure cylinder, and alsoof. the

axialdisplacement of the printing roller... ...The device furthermore comprises a coupling sleeve, 21 controlled by afork 28 securedv to. an operating lever 29,. which enables. thesquare vend 30 of the shaft of the roller to be coupled to oi uncoupled from the universal joint transmission, a hand-wheel 3l acting on a conical compression device enabling the square end 30 to be locked.

With regard to the adjustment for bringing into step, it is obtained, for each roller, through the intermediary of a mechanism housed inside a case 33 secured to thecontrol pinion 23. Said case contains a worm wheel 34, which'is secured to the end of shaft 32 driven by the pinion 23 of the universal joint transmission, and which can be actuated by a worm 35 of which the shaft can be driven,xthrough the intermediary of gears 36, 31,-38fby apinion 48 meshing with the circular grooves 39a, forming rack teeth, of a cylindrical i rod 3$lf1whichv can be driven, in its turn, by a pinion 40 of a shaft4l which can be driven through the intermediary of gears 42, 43, 44, by the shaft 45 of the corresponding hand-wheel, 2 for example (the hand-wheels I and 3 acting in the same manner, whereas the shafts 45 of the handwheels 4, 5 and Bdrive directly' by means Vof their pinion 40 the corresponding'cylindrical rack During the operation of the machine, the control .fpinion 23V rotates continuously driving-the printing roller; thegear case33, withl all the members which it contains, including the worm wheel .34, rotates looselyabout. the axis ofthe cylindrical rack 39,.the pinion 38 likewise yrotating, with-its teethmeshing with the rack, without causingany rotary movement of the worm .wheel 34,. When the printing work requires oneof vthe rollers, 2 forexample, to be brought into step, the hand-wheel 2' is rotated in the required-direction, which produces an axial displacement of the cylindricalrack 39- and therefore a certain rotation of the rack pinion48.v Owing to this, through the intermediaryof the gears 38,31, 36, the worm 35 rotates and, consequently, the worm wheel 34 also rotates a certain amount and likewise `the stub-shaft 32 of -the universal joint transmission and, iinallyfthe printing roller effects the vdesired complementary partial -rotation rfor bringing it into stepw f,

.Thehhand-wheels l', 2. .6' therefore remainstationaryduring the operation of themachine and.- the adjustment can be marked by reference means (not shown), for example, .a pointer which-is secured-tothe hand-wheeland which co-operateswith a graduated .sectorir ..1

.Itis of course:understood-that'it is'possible, without exceeding the framework of the'invention, to imagine modications and improvements of details, and ,also to. make use of means forming equivalentsof those. rgiven by way .of examp1es y i,

I.claim:

1. Inaprinting machine having a plurality of .printingn-rollers, '.in.V combination, -a driving gear, a plurality of driven gears entrainableby said driving gear, coupling means connecting each of said driven gears.` with a respective printing roller and embodying-.mechanism for angular-lydisplacing saidprinting :rollers relatively to the respective driven gear and to one another, said -mechanism including a housing secured to each one of said driven gears andfrotatable` therewith, a shaft forming part of said coupling means: and non-rotatable with respect to the related printing roller, saidshaft extending into said housing. Aand being. rotatable relative to the latter,A a pinionv journaled` in Ysaid housing, to rotateabout an axis Anormal-.to the axis of rota.- tionof the latter, irreversible transmission means -coupling said pinion with said shaft so that said shaft normally rotates with said housing and may be angularly displaced relative to the housing by rotation of said pinion, and a non-rotatable cylindrical control member extending coaxially into said housing, said control member having peripheral grooves, said pinion having teeth adapted to lie idly in said grooves when said housing is rotated about said control member, said control member being axially displaceable relative to said housing so as to vary the angular position of said driven gear relative to said shaft.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein said shaft has a central bore, said control member comprising a non-rotatable cylindrical rod slidably extending into said bore.

3. The combination according to claim 1, comprising a rotatable operating member journaled in a stationary part of the machine, and a mechanical coupling between said operating member and said control member for converting the rotation of the former into an axial displacement of the latter.

4. In a printing machine having a plurality of printing rollers, in combination, a driving gear, a plurality of driven gears meshing with said 4driving gear, transmission means connecting each of said driven gears with a respective printving roller, said transmission means including a .shaft for each roller, a housing secured to each lof said driven gears, respectively, and rotatable therewith, the associated shaft extending into .said housing, a Worm wheel in said housing fixed zto said shaft, a worm journaled in said housing for rotation about an axis at right angles to .the rotational axis of said housing and meshing with said worm wheel, a pinion journaled in said housing rotatable about an axis paralleltothe axis of said worm, a gear means interconnecting said pinion with said worm, a plurality of non-rotatable cylindrical control members each extending into a respective one of said housings in coaxial relation thereto, said control member having peripheral grooves, each of said pinions having teeth adapted to lie idly in the grooves of the respective control member when the associated housing rotates about the latter, and a plurality of operating members for axially displacing said control members, respectively, whereby the relative angular positions of the printing rollers may be adjusted.

5. The combination according to claim 4 wherein said transmission means further includes a pair of telescoped drive members adapted for simultaneous rotation, a iirst universal joint securing said shaft to one of said drive members, and a second universal joint securing the printing roller to the other of said drive members.

6. kThe combination according to claim 5, further comprising a manually operable clutch for detaching each of said second joints from the respective printing roller.

CARLOS LUTTENAUER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 720,629 Sherwood Feb. 17, 1903 1,305,890 Flick June 3, 1919 1,305,891 Flick June 3, 1919 2,151,961 Erickson Mar. 28, 1939 2,298,492 Longeld Oct. 13, 1942 2,409,770 Lorig et al. Oct. 22, 1946

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