US2659305A

US2659305A - Multicolor rotary, intaglio, letterpress, and offset printing press

Info

Publication number: US2659305A
Application number: US140029A
Authority: US
Inventors: Giori Gualtiero
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-01-23
Filing date: 1950-01-23
Publication date: 1953-11-17
Anticipated expiration: 1970-11-17

Description

NOV. 17, 1953 GIORI 2,659,305

MULTICOLOR ROTARY INTAGLIO, LETTERPRESS, AND OFFSET PRINTING PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 25, 1950 R m m N 0 w m I m n HHmH m H L A w 3 1 mm mm mw mm M mm E 8 hm .Q 22 mm Q 5 an G b 2 2 N8 2 m w ATTORNEYS 2,659,305 EgSERPRESS, AND

Nov. 17, 1953 G. GIORI MULTICOLOR ROTARY INTAGLIO, LE

OFFSET PRINTING PR 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 23, 1950 IN VENTOR GUAITIERO GIORI QZZAZIWM ATTORNEYS NOV. 17, 1953 GIOR] 2,659,305

MULTICOLOR RO Y INTAGL LETTERPRESS, AND

OF T PRINTI PRESS Filed Jan. 23 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 "'Ifllllll'jjj 1,;

58 49 INVENTOR GUALTIERO GIORI 7 BY i W/M ATTORNEYS Nov. 17, 1953 G. GIORI 2,659,305

MULTICOLOR ROTARY LETTERPRESS, AND

INTAGLIO OFFSET PRINTING PRESS 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Jan. 23, 1950 INVENTOR GUALTIERO GIORI ATTORNEYS Nov. 17, 1953 G. GIORI 2,659,305

MULTICOLOR ROTARY INTAGLIO, LETTERPRESS, AND OFFSET PRINTING PRESS Filed Jan. 23, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 IN VENTOR CuAmERo atom BY M /M ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MULTICOLOR ROTARY, INTAGLIO, LETTER 'rnnss, AND orrsnr rnmrmornnss GualtieroGiori, BuenosAires, Argentina Application January 23, 1950, Serial No. 140,0 2 9 .2 Qlaims. (Cl. 101"-1 75) This invention relates to printing presses, and more particularly to a multicolour printing press. specially fit for printing securities by letterpress,

intaglio or indirectprinting'.

One objector this invention is toprovide a new printing press which eigccutes the multicolourindirect printing with superimpose impressions or the multicolour intagl io or letterpress printing with adjacent colours from a single engraved plate and in a ingleoperationf A further object of the invention is .to provide a multicolour printin g'press having means for inking printing plates with one or more colours, or means for-printing rubberblankets' with one or more designsjand colours, meansto obtain a perfect registration ,of the colours to be deposited on the printing .plate or on the transferring rubber blanket, ineansf or taking out any surplus of ink f fQm the intaglio pr'inting plate, and means to repeat the printing operation in a continuousway.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a printing presshaving mean for carrying the printed sheets from the printing means to a receiving table in such away that they do not enter into contact with any part of the machine that could blur or soil-the fresh printing.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide means 'for cleaning the intaglio plate inked with one or more colours.

Still further objects of the invention willappear from the description given hereinafter.

Securities andbanknotes are usually printed by superimposing several impressions which are obtained through different processes.

Some zones, called protection plains or backgrounds, are printed by letterpress printing or by offset, with a view tomake their counterfeiting almost impossible'ibecause of the difficulty to select, by photography, the elements which,'in

several colours, compose said'backgr'ounds', and because of the perfect register with which they have to'be printed. .Other impressions, superposed on said backgrounds, constitute the .main part of the printed security and are usually made through the intaglio printing, which, beginning from originals engraved by tool on copper or steel, allow the attaininent of a high technical and artistic degree of' perfection, as Well as a good protection from counterjfeiters.

The printing of securities may be also obtained through a single kind of printing butft hey evidently, for safety reasons, have generally backgrounds. printed -by letterpress printing or by onset with superposed colours and designs, and the plate or other) and this i ink necessary -fo ing element;

generally main part by intaglio printing with a single colour... 3 A t It is well known that letterpress and intaglio printing are based on the following principle an inking device inks a printing element (cylinder, executes the printing when put in eontact with the paper.

The indirect printing, on the contrary, is based on the following principle: an inking device inks an engraved eleme'n't' (plate, cylinder or other), and this transfers'the design on a sheet made from rubber or any other suitable material, which sheet, on its turn," executes the printing when put into contact with the paper. Now, processes" for multicolour printing have been known for many years. One of the most common, consists' in printing on a sheet of paper, or any suitablematerial, a number of superposed coloured images by 'meansofas manyengraved cuts or plates asare the colours to be printed. In all .of the processes of this-kind the principal difiiculty' to deal with is the correct registration of the severalsuperimposed designs, each onegorw'mch is'generally printed with a different colour.

- Another known process for multicolour printing consists in inking a single e'ngraved plate or cut with several inks of different colours, disseparate' areason theplate, and then tributed in v printing on the p'aper or anyother'suitable mw 'terial,' in' a single operation,-"all the adjacent colours with whichthe plateis inked. This proc- 'ess was firstdescribed' in- P;Bonniers U. S. Batent No. 1,108,063, Of August- 18th, 1914. Said printing processes, completely different one from the other, were in needof fdifierent pres'sni foir .or more colours printed by'two" or"more"printing elements of 't'he same press is impossible.

design and colourstill fresh} contacts another printing element, and thererorenot only gets dirty, as 'a consequence o'f th'e gr'atamount of r :intaglio printing'; but 'also dirties "the printing 1i element (plate, cylinder 61' other) causing a blurring of colours and designs.

Actually, while :ror letterpressfland 'in'direct printing there are-multicolour pr s 'es'witn many printingeIement's; rorm'ulticomur intaglio printing there are nopre ses'with' more tnan'oneprim- It is' well known that the-intaglio printing is s executed with paper pre'viousl'y campen'ed: is due to the fact that in intaglio plate because they,

- several colours may printed by another.

printing the paper has to be depressed into the grooves of the plate to cause the paper to take up the ink therein. This operation requires a high degree of pressure between the pressure cylinder, known as D roller, and the printing plate through which the paper passes during the printing operation. When dry paper is used, and since the paper for printing securities must have a high degree of resistance which gives it great hardness, the pressure required from the intaglio printing press is enormous. Aside from the fact that presses which may afford suflicient pressure are very few, the paper, when submitted to this high pressure, alters its size: this does not permit a great number of intaglio printings with dry with dampened dampening and It is well known paper.

Manifold intaglio printings paper require logically successive drying operations on the paper.

that dampening and drying operations alter the size'of the paper in such a, way that there is a diiference between the sheets. Consequently it is not possible to obtain a perfect register among the several superimposed designs and colours.

It follows, therefore, that when dampened paper is used, the intaglio printing with superimposed designs and colours may be obtained for a restricted number of them, while the multicolour printing by means of a single plate inked with adjacent inks of several colours may be obtained. The printing plate executes the printing in only one operation.

It is well known that during the intaglio printing the plate surface is cleaned by wiping and polishing prior to taking of each impression in order to eliminate the ink laid by the inking and not compressed in the engravings.

Said cleaning so far, has been executed by successive rubbing of blades, cloths, paper, rollers, or other material on the printing plate, some of which could be united. These polishing devices did not permit the multicolour printing with several adjacent colours from only one engraved by force, as a consequence of their rubbing action and of their having to execute manifold passages, caused a mixing of the several colours retained in the engraving of the plate.

The cleaning operation, executed by means of a single wiping cylinder rotating at the same relative velocity of the printing element (as in other known processes), cannot be done because the wiping cylinder must have a velocity greater than that of the printing element.

In fact, as the inks for the intaglio security printing have to be very dense, it is difficult to remove them from the printing plate and, therefore, a rubbing of the wiping cylinder against the printing element is necessary so that, along the ideal contacting line, the removal of the excessive ink laid on the intaglio plate, inked with be executed.

It is obvious that the greater velocity of the wiping cylinder in comparison with that of the printing element is the factor which determines the perfect cleaning of the intaglio plate inked with several colours.

Furthermore, it is well known that the sheets, the intaglio printing process, contain an amount of ink, determined by the depth of the engraving. as this amount of ink requires a, certain period of time to dry, it is necessary to interpose a sheet between one printed sheet and The interleaving operation has always been done by hand with the constant risk that mounted on a, cart, to

.view of the printing the interleaving sheet might scrape the printed sheet and ruin the print.

So far no press could execute the multicolour intaglio, letterpress or indirect printing changing no mechanical part; this press executing a multicolour direct print from a single intaglio or letterpress plate and an indirect print with superimposed designs and colours from more plates or other printing elements.

In the field of securities so far no press could execute the multicolour printing of backgrounds by letterpress or indirect printing and the multicolour printing of the main part by intaglio printing. Therefore the paper had to be printed by successive printings in different presses.

Now I have invented a press, particularly apt to print securities, and which eliminates all the above mentioned inconveniences.

The printing press I have invented, and to which this patent refers. essentially consists of a paper feeder device for feeding the sheets-to be printed; a first drum of great diameter upon which printing plates for direct printing (or rubber blankets in substitution thereof for indirect printing) may be fixed; a pressing cylinder or drum (commonly known as D roller"), having the same diameter as the first one but rotating in contrary direction; a number of inking rollers for inking the printing plates (or a number of engraved rollers for printing the rubber blankets for indirect printing); a wiping cleaning device for taking of! ink in excess from the surface of the printing plates; an interleaving device; an endless conveyor to carry the printed sheets from the D roller to the interleaving device and cooperating with the latter for interleaving paper sheets between the printed sheets; air blower, ejecting air blasts in the path of the printed sheets carried by the endless conveyor; a delivery table to receive the printed sheets and the interleaving sheets; and a number of inking groups,

ink the inking rollers.

For the better understanding of my invention a preferred embodiment of my press is shown in the accompanying drawings. In these drawings for clarity sake, gearings and shafts interconnecting different parts of the press, and some other parts, have been omitted; but all of them will be obvious to those persons skilled in the art.

In these drawings, Figure 1 shows a lateral press partly in cross section; Figure 2 is a cross section of the cleaning and wiping device; Figure 3 is a lateral view of the interleaving device, partly in section; Figure 4 shows one of the pincers of the endless conveyor when it passes near the D roller for taking the .printed sheet; Figure 5 shows one of the pincers of the endless conveyor when it takes the interleaving sheet; Figure 6 is a section of the part of the pressure cylinder with the mechanism for taking the sheet from the feeder and for giving same to the pincers of the endless conveyor; Figures '7 and 8 show the way in which the inking rollers ink a plate (the length of the plate has been somewhat exaggerated) Figure 9 is the .section of an inking roller mounted on an eccentric support; Figure 10 is the section of the line A-A' of Figure 9; Figure 11 is a lateral view of the cover of the eccentric support mounted on the frame of the press and provided with handwheel, graduation and index for the regulation of the pressure.

As it will be seen in the drawings th press comprises a frame I on which a plate bearing cylinder 2 (Fig. is rotatably mounted on shaft I 21. This liquid 3. This cylinder has two opposite seats 4 and 5 on which

printing elements

6 and 1 may be fixed. Screws 8, 9, l6 and H acting on clamps l2, l3, l4 and I5, securing printing or transferring

elements

6 and 1, allow the registering of their position on cylinder 2. To this purpos a millimetric rule is engraved on the borders of the sectors of cylinder 2. Shaft 3 is connected to the shaft of the motor of the press by means of a suitable shafting, both not shown in the drawing because it is obvious. I s

On frame I five supports [6, I1, [8, l9 and are mounted. When the press prints multicolour printing from a single printing plate inked by inking rollers, then the inking rollers 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25 are rotatably and removably mounted on said supports. The same inking rollers may be used for letterpress or intaglic printing. For printing in indirect printing, instead of mounting inking rollers on supports I6, I1, l8, l9 and 20, engraved cylinders for indirect printing are mounted.

A wiping and cleaning device is mounted on frame I in the position shown in Fig. 1. It substantially consists of (see Fig. 2) a Wiping cylinder 26 coatedwith, or made from, resilient material, rotatably mounted in the framework of the press. This cylinder 26 rotates in the same direction as cylinder 2 and it is connected by means of suitable shafting to the motor of the press. Furthermore it has a seesaw movement not in phase with its rotation and rotates at a predetermined peripheral speed greater than that of plate bearing cylinder 2. The wiping cylinder executes a rubbing action on the surface of the plates every time it has to clean the plates. The contact between cylinder 26 and the plate on cylinder 2 is virtually a line and, therefore, the wiping operation takes placewithout taking away and without mixing the several colours compressed in the engravings of the plate by the inking rollers. The regulation of the pressure of cylinder 26 against the printing plate on cylinder 2 is obtained by means of an eccentric support in which the shaft of cylinder 26 rotates. A metal cylinder 27, mounted on frame l of the press is in the position shown in Fig. 1. The diameter of cylinder 27 (Fig. 2) is greater than that of cylinder 26 so as to have a greater surface wiping cylinder 26; this, and the greater speed of cylinder 2'! make the ink, taken away from cylinder 26, adhere in a very thin layer on the surface of cylinder 27. The regulation of the pressure of cylinder 2'. against cylinder 26 is obtained by means of an eccentric support in whichthe shaft of cylinder 21 rotates. This cylinder 2'! rotates in the same direction of cylinder 26 but a determined peripheral speed greater than that of cylinder 26.

Cylinder 21 has not a seesaw movement because it profits by the seesaw movement of cylinder 26. Its rotation is obtained through cylinder 26 by means of suitable gears. The wiping of cylinder 26 is executed by cylinder 27 based on the same principle which causes the cleaning of the printing plate by means of cylinder 26.

A set of nozzles 28 located along all the Width of cylinder 27 in the position shown in Fig. '2. These nozzles throw a violent liquid jet on cylinder 27 so that the direction of them is lightly sec'ant to the periphery of cylinder 21 and in contrary direction to the peripheral speed of cylinder jets take away the ink from cylinder 21 in consequence of the mechanical action caused by the violence, pressure and directibil of thejets. I

A screen having an exhaust pipe 29 collects all the liquid, and all the ink, taken away from cylinder 27 by liquid jets, to carry them into exhaust pipe 29.

A scraper 30 which has a seesaw movement is placed in tangent contact with cylinder 21 in the position shown in Fig. 2 and is mounted on a support 3| having adjusting

screws

32 and 33. This scraper prevents a possible ink veil to return on cylinder 26 should it have remained on cylinder 2! notwithstanding the cleaning operation.

A set of nozzles 34 is placed between scraper 30 and the contact point of cylinder 26 with cylinder 2'! (Fig. 2). These nozzles have to throw a plurality of warm air jets to eliminate the moisture possibly still on the surface of cylinder 21.

Therefore the wiping operation is as follows: cylinder 26 cleans the plate placed on cylinder 2; cylinder 27 cleans cylinder 26; the liquid jets thrown by nozzles 28 clean cylinder 21; scraper 30 ends the cleaning of cylinder 27; the warm air jets thrown by nozzles 34 dry cylinder 21.

By means of this wiping and polishing device the operation takes place uninterruptedly.

A pressure cylinder 38 (Fig. 1) having the same diameter as cylinder 2, is rotatably mounted on frame .I in such a way as to exercise a regulable pressure against cylinder 2. This cylinder 38 has at one end a toothed rim which comes into engagement with the toothed wheel of cylinder 2 so as to berotated by this latter and, logically,

in a contrary direction. On cylinder 38 there are some pincers which take the paper sheet from the feeder and hold it on its surface until said sheet, after the printing operation, passes to the pincers, mounted on chains, which carry it to the delivery table. 7

Automatic feeders 39 and 9| (Fig. 1) of'the paper to be printed and of the interleaving sheet are of the sheet by sheet reloading type wit-h. suckers to forward the sheet. They work with dry or dampened paper and feed the press in case of printing with one or two plates. These feeders are provided with mechanisms to forward the sheet in perfect register and square. Incline 46 leads the paper sheet to the upper part of D roller 38. There is a bar 4| rotatably mounted on an axle 42. Bar 4i is controlled by a rod 43 articulated at the end of lever which is fixed on shaft 45. On shaft 46 another lever, which is not shown in the drawing, is mounted: said lever contacting an eccentricsector mounted on cylinder 38 rotates, and consequently lever 44 rotates, and rod 43 moves, and bar 4| is rotated. In this way a paper sheet, which had been stopped by bar 4i, is free to pass when .bar 4| rotates.

On a cart 5|, running on rollers 52 upon tracks made in frame i (Fig. 1), five inking groups are mounted. This cart may be anchored in working position by means of pins 53 (one on each side of the cart) engaging hooks 64. Fig.1 shows four inking group-s in lateral view and one in cross section. Each group consists of an upsetting ink container 55, which feeds ink to roller 56; and a set of

rollers

51,58, 59,60, 6|, 62, 63 and 64, which transfer the ink from roller 56 to rollers and 66. Rollers 58, 59 and 66 are mounted so to be given also an alternative lateral motion, in order to uniformly distribute and grind the ink. Rollers 6!, 62, 63 and 64 serve to carry the from roller 58 to roller 60.

Rollers 85 and 88 are rotatably' mounted on r'eg'ulable swinging supports so as to obtain a perfect contact between rollers 85 and 88 and inking

rollers

2I, 22, 23, 24 and 25, furthermore they have a micrometrical regulation of the ink passage.

When cart 5| is hooked to hook 54, one or more of the inking groups may be put out of motion simply by opening the corresponding support 81 and 88 or declutching those groups by means insertion 18.

These gears and shafts driving rollers are closed in

crankcases

89 and 1|. These gearings are connected to a transmission endless screw, parallel to the track of cart 51, and connected to the motor of the press.

It is to be noted that the inking groups may work when the cart is put in its working position as well as when it is removed from the inking rollers which permits the automatic washing of the inking groups and the first regulation thereof.

The inking groups of this press allow the perfect inking for letterpresses, intaglio or indirect printing. They have a considerable adjustability as it is required for letterpress and indirect printing being able, also, to feed the inking roller with the amount of ink necessary to fill the hollows of the engraved plate (intaglio printing). Moreover, in said groups the ink passage may be micrometrically regulated, which guarantees for ever the identity of the inking and, consequently, of the printing. Therefore, this possibility allows any work to be printed in five colours by letterpress, intaglio or indirect printing with the same press, and without changing mechanical parts.

On opposite sides of cylinder 38 (see Fig. 6) two axles I38 and I31 are mounted. Along these axles a set of pincers is mounted, Fig. 6 shows one pincer 58 mounted on shaft I38 and another I35 on shaft I31.

On shaft I38 two arms I38 and I39 are fixed in different planes. Similar arms I48 and HI are fixed, in the same way, on shaft I31. Furthermore, arms I42 and -I43 are fixed to shafts I31 and I38. Arms I42 and I43 are connected together by means of a device exercising opposite forces on arms I42 and I43. This device consists of a rod I44 articulated by one end to arm I42 by means of an axle I45; the other end enters tube I48, which is connected to arm I43 by means of an axle I41. In this way rod I44 may slide into tube I48. Tube I48 has a seat I48, and a flange I49 is fixed on rod I44 by means of a screw I58. Between seats I48 and flange I49, and surrounding rod I44, an expansion spring .I I is placed. Two pins I52 and I53 are fixed to frame I of the printing press; pin I52 is located next to the lower end of incline 48 of feeding device 39; and pin I53 is placed next to the border of conveyor 13 (Fig. 1). As may be seen in Fig. 6, when arm I4I, during the rotation of cylinder 38, hits pin I53, shaft I31 is rotated and pincer I35 takes the position the drawing 8 shows for pincer 58. Simultaneously, arm I38, hitting pin I52, makes pincer 58 press its seat -I55 taking the position the drawing 8 shows for pincer I35. A similar seat I54 is in correspondence of pincer I35.

An endless conveyor 13 (Fig. 1) formed from two parallel chains is mounted on wheels 14, 15, 18, 11, 18 and 19. Wheel 18 is provided with means for tensioning the chains. These tensioning means consists (Fig. 3) of a frame 88, fixed on frame I of the press, and having arms 8| and 82 which embrace a block 83. In this block shaft 84 of wheel 18 is mounted. A screw 85 may push block 83. Screen 88, fixed by means of a rod to block 83, prevents sheets from striking the interleaving device. On the chains of the endless conveyor pincers 81 are mounted. These pincers are spaced apart at a distance equal to the peripheral distance separating pincers 58 and I35 of cylinder 38 (Fig. 1). The endless conveyor moves in the direction shown by arrow A in Fig. 1 at a speed equal to the peripheral speed of cylinder 38. A suitable gearing connecting cylinder 38 with driving wheel 14 insure that speed. Below endless conveyor 13, a number of air blower nozzles is placed. These nozzles point their air blasts in an upward direction, contrary to that of the conveyor motion. A tank of air under pressure, not shown in the drawings, provides the necessary air. The endless conveyor carries the printed sheet to an interleaving device disposed as shown in Fig. 1 and illustrated in Fig. 3. This device comprises an incline 98, connected to an automatic feeder 9I (Fig. 1) that may be of any known type. In the drawing, the feeder is of the same kind as feeder 39. A shaft 92 is mounted in frame I below incline 98 and is connected by means of a suitable gear to the motor of the press in such a way that whilst cylinder 2 performs a complete revolution, shaft 92 performs two. Two

opposite cams

93 and 94 are fixed on shaft 92. Said cams are not in the same plain. Cam 93 acts on a roller rotatably mounted on one end of lever 98 rotating around the axle 91 (Fig. 3). The other end of lever 98 has an arched surface 98 on the same lever with incline 98 and a projection I84 holding a plate I85 for retaining the paper sheets. A spring I82, acting on lever 98 forces roller 95 towards shaft 92. Cam 94 acts on a roller 99 mounted on one end of lever I88 rotating on axle WI. The other end of lever I88 is connected, through rod I82, with lever I83, having a curved part I83 to raise up the roller I88. Said roller I88 is mounted on a rod I81 which is mounted in a casing I88 fixed to frame I. A spring placed into casing forces rod I81 downwards. A spring II4 acts upon lever I83 and forces roller 95 towards shaft 92. Roller I88 extends across the path of the sheet on incline 98. In the position shown in Fig. 3, a sheet of paper coming on incline 98 may pass between roller I88 and incline 98; it is stopped by plate I85. When shaft 92 rotates, cam 94 raises roller 99 and, consequently, lever I83 also rotates with the consequence that roller I88 gets in contact with arched part 98 of lever 98 pressing, thus, the paper sheet. As the revolution of shaft 92 goes on, cam 93 raises roller 95 and then lever 98 rotates on axle 91.

Simultaneously, plate I85 descends and the paper sheet is driven forwards by arched part 98 and by roller I88. The sheet is then taken by pincers 81 in the way it will be explained later.

Pincers 81 are more clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. They are mounted, in series, on shafts carried by two chains so as to be fixed on a same transversal line to the conveyor. These pincers consist of a frame or body II5 on which shafts H8, H1 and H9 are fixed. Said shafts are common to the other pincers located between the two chains on the same line of that shown in Fig. 4. On shaft II8 a ring H9 is fixed and it has a projection I28 which presents a rubber or the like seat I2I, on which the ends of fingers I22 and I23 rest. Finger I22 is fixed to shaft II1, which is rotatably mounted on frame II5.

An arm I24 is also fixed to a shaft II! and has a roller I25. mounted at its end. A spring I26 forces shaft Ill, and consequently finger I22, against seat I2I. Finger I23 is fixed to shaft I I8, which is rotatably mounted on frame II5. An arm I21 is also fixed to shaft H8 and has a roller I28 mounted at its end. A corresponding spring I29 forces finger I23 against seat I2I. Arms I24 and I21 are not in a same plain, although they are parallel. It may be seen that when arms I21 and I24 are pressed downwards, fingers I22 and I23 separate from seat I2I. The working of these pincers is as follows: around the shaft of driving wheel 14 (see Fig. 4) .two parallel cams I30 and HI are placed in such a way that when each group of pincers 81 arrives to pressure cylinder 38, said cams push simultaneously rollers I and I28, thus separating fingers I22 and I 23 from their common seat At this moment the device on cylinder 38 deposits a printed sheet in the space comprised between seat I2I and fingers I22 and I23. As soon as the action of cams I and I 3I ceases, fingers I22 and I23 close and hold the sheet against seat I2I.

The group of pincers 81 works, at the interleaving device, as shown in Fig. 5. Around shaft 84 of wheel 16 a cam I32 is fixed. This cam is in the path of arm and roller I28, but not in the path of roller I25. When a group of pincers arrives at the interleaving device, arm I21 is pushed down through roller I 28 and finger I23 opens, while finger I22 continues holding the printed sheet of paper. At this moment, as explained above, plate I05 descends and allows an interleaving sheet to glide on incline 90 and to enter the space comprised between finger I23 and seat I2I. As soon as the action of cam I32 ceases, finger I 23 closes and retains the interleaving sheet. Same is carried by finger I23 together with a printed sheet carried by finger 122. Around the shaft of wheel 11 two cams I33 and I34, of a same shape as cams I30 and i'3I, are fixed. When rollers I25 and I28 are pushed down by said cams, they open the fingers of the pincers and, thus, the printed sheet and the interleaving sheet are freed and may fall upon table IIO.

Delivery table I it (Fig. l) is located in such a way that it can receive the interleaved and printed sheets, laid by pincers 31 when they arrive at wheel 11.

The delivery table must descend as the sheet piles up upon it, in order to keep the top of pile on a level lower than that of incline 90 (see Fig. 3). To this purpose delivery table H0 is fixed to a ratchet mechanism HI acted by lever II 2 connected to an arm I [-3 fixed to lever 96. When lever 96 rotates, letting in an interleaving sheet, lever I I3 also rotates and transmits a' rotation to shaft I through lever H2. The rotation of shaft I35 lowers delivery table H0.

The inking rollers (or the engraved rollers) are mounted as shown in Fig. 9, where a section of an inking roller (or an engraved cylinder) with all the make shifts securing its radial, circular and axial movements, is shown.

Shaft 231 (Fig. 9) of the inking roller is mounted in support 200 of which ball. bearing 253i is shown. Flange 2H1 serves to block ballbearing 20! on support 220.

A gear 2II is fixed on shaft 281. This gear comes into engagement with the. toothed wheel of cylinder .2 so as the inking roller is rotated by this latter and, logically, in contrary direction.

Bearing 200 is mounted on frame I of the press and has a cover 2I2. A hand-wheel 203 is lo-- cated on cover 2I2. Said hand-wheel is integral with a gear '2I6 lowered by toothed sector 2I'1 placed on eccentric bearing 283.

As a consequence of this speed-lowering between .the gears of hand-wheel H6 and toothed sector 2, a rotation of the hand-wheel causes a ,micrometrica'l movement of the eccentric support and, thus, a micrometrical approaching or removal of the inking roller from the bearing plate cylinder.

Cover 2!.2 with hand-wheel 203 are shown in Figure 11. This cover is fixed to the frame of the press by means of nuts 2I3, furthermore a graduation 2M and an index 2I5 are on this cover to measure the pressure of the inking roller against the printing plate.

In Fig. 9 it is possible to see that shaft 201 of the roller is blocked in support 200 by means of a screw 204. This screw 204, which is also on the other side not shown in the design as obvious, may be screwed or unscrewed determining the micrometrical axial movement of shaft 201 and hence of the inking roller with regard to cylinder 2.

In Figure 9 a section of the inking roller with its main parts is also shown. As it will be seen it comprises a tubular section, which hereinafter will be called tube 233, and is the main part of the roller; a

resilient material coating

205 and 206 in accordance with the printing kind; two flanges 221, on the border of tube 209, which permit the blocking .up of tube 209 on shaft 201.

These two flanges 221 have two rods 2].! .and 2| 8 which are better shown in Fig. 10. These two rods 2.I1 and 2 I8 have two micrometrical and indented screws 2I9 and 220 which press on .a.

protruding bolt 224 which makes with flange 22.! one sole body. When screw 2I9 is screwed and screw 220 is unscrewed or vice versa, flange 221 is micrometrically rotated. As fiange 221 blocks tube 209, same causes the micrometrical rotation of the whole roller on shaft 201 and, thus, the

perfect positioning of the roller coating is possible with regard to the engraving of the plate.

Two pointed teeth 22I, pressed by

springs

222 and 223 against the teeth of screws 2I9 and 220 avoid the unscrewing of same during the mo-- tion of the press.

When the perfect positioning of the resilient material coating the inking roller has been obtained, two

screws

225 and 225 block the whole that forms the roller.

In a few words, the inking rollers for the letterpress or intaglio printing or the engraved cylinders for the indirect printing, have a radial movement by means of the eccentric support, this permits the variation of their pressure against the printing plate or the transferring element. The inking rollers or the engraved cylinder have also an axial and a circular movement for their exact positioning with regard to the printing plate, as it will be explained later on.

During the letterpress or intaglio printing op,-

eration the resilient material, coating the live inking rollers of the press, is left only on the parts which have to take ink and give it again to the corresponding parts of the printing plate. Consequently, it is possible to print securities in a single operation thread of the engraving (design) and changing and from a single engraved plate, thus obtaining the continuation of the the colours at the desired spots. Furthermore, during the printing operation, it is possible to obtain the desired degrees of pressure of the inking roller against the printing plate. This causes the always identical crushing of the resilient material with which the roller is coated and, consequently, an always identical colouring of securities printed by intaglio or letterpress printing. The perfect registry of the indirect printing with superimposed designs and colours is always guaranteed because five engraved cylinders 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25 are rotated by a single gearing mounted on cylinder 2. This determines that the engraved parts on cylinders 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25 always contact the same identical points of

common transferring elements

6 and 1, which transfer to the paper the composite image at a single operation.

The operation of my press in intaglio printing is as follows: intaglio printing plates 6 and 1 (Fig. 1), are mounted on cylinder 2 in the desired position employing, the millimetric rules, marked on the borders of bearing plate sectors 4 and 5, and the reference lines engraved on the plates, which are then fixed to sectors 4 and 5 by means of clamps I2, I3, I4 and I5. Inking rollers 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25, prepared following a process which is an object of another application of patent, are mounted in their supports l6, l1, I8, I9 and 20, and their regulation is executed by means of eccentric supports I6, I1, I8, I3 and by means of the proper mechanisms which allow the micrometrical axial and circular movements of the inking rollers.

After, the first regulation of the inking groups, mounted on cart 5|, is executed so as to have on rollers 65 and 66 the amount of ink which is necessary for intaglio printing.

Cart 5|, carrying the inking groups, is approached to the inking rollers and it is hooked at hook 54 by means of pivot 53.

Then the final regulation of the inking is executed until inking rollers 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25 have the amount of ink necessary to fill the grooves of the intaglio plates.

When the perfection of inking is assured, the regulation of the cleaning of plates is executed. This regulation is obtained varying the pressure of cylinder 26 against the plates until the wiping cylinder executes perfectly its function. After the above mentioned operations the printing is begun.

A paper sheet (dry or dampened) fed by feeder 38, slips down on incline 40 and is detained by bar 4|. When said bar, connected with a suitable shafting, rotates on its axle 42, the sheet is free to pass and it is taken by the set of pincers I35 which close and carry it on cylinder 36. It is clear that this operation is preceded by the perfect putting in register and square of the sheet: this operation is obtained by means of suitable mechanisms.

Simultaneously to the above mentioned operation, cylinder 2 rotates, and printing plate 1, fixed on it, contacts inking rollers 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25 in succession. Each of these inking rollers deposits a difierent ink on printing plate 1. As it may be seen in Figs. 7 and 8, each inking roller has its surface worked off so as to provide protruding and inking zones I56, I51, I58, I53 and I40 corresponding in shape exactly to the zones to be inked on the printing plate (l55e, I55a, l55b, I55c and I55d). As the printing plate advances, the inking rollers roll upon it and deposit the inks in the proper places. Of cour e. h se n 12 may be formed in accordance with any known method but the best effects are obtained, through my press, if they are made in accordance with a process of my invention, which is object of another application.

Coming back to Fig. 1, printing plate 1, thus inked with the several inks, goes in contact with wiping cylinder 26, which removes from plate surface the surplus of ink not compressed in the engraving of the plate: this without taking away and without mixing the inks contained in the engraving. Yet more, the wiping cylinder, in consequence of its working as above described, besides the cleaning of the plate surface, compress more the inks contained in the engraving.

Printing plate 1, so inked and cleaned, meets then the paper sheet carried and pressed by cylinder 38, and makes a print on it.

The result will be an intaglio printing with five adjacent colours distributed on the desired areas.

The paper sheet is still held by pincers I35 until their arm I4I hits pin I53 opening the pincers (see Figs. 1 and 6). At this moment a group of pincers 81 rotates around wheel 14, its arms I24 and I21 (see Fig. 4) have contacted cams I30 and I3I and have momentarily open fingers I22 and I23. So they take, by pressing it against seat I2 I, the printed sheet. The group of pincers 81 carries the sheet following the course shown by arrow A in Fig. 1 until it arrives to wheel 16. At this moment as above described, finger I23 of pincer 81 (Fig. 5) opens to take the interleaving sheet forwarded by feeder 9I so that the printed sheet and the interleaving one are carried by the same group of pincers until wheel 11. Then pincers 61 open and contemporaneously leave both sheets which, so freed, lie down upon delivery table III).

It is to be noted that the printed sheet follows the course shown by arrow A with the printed side turned down, it overturns on wheel 16 so that the interleaving sheet comes to be on the back (not printed) of the sheet. When both sheets lie down upon the delivery table, they place upon the previously deposited sheets exactly in pile and, thus, scraping is avoided.

While the sheet is carried by the conveyor, it is held by air jets blown from nozzles 69.

The operation repeats indefinitely and two sheets are printed by

plates

6 and 1 during every revolution of cylinder 2. It is clear that the press can work with one plate too.

During the letterpress printing the press works in the identical manner as above described the following changes excepted:

(1) Feeder 9| is put off;

(2) The wiping device is eliminated;

(3) Intaglio plates are substituted by letterpress plates.

During the indirect printing the press works in the identical manner as an intaglio printing, the following changes excepted:

(1) Elimination of feeder 6|;

(2) Elimination of the wiping device;

(3) Application of two rubber blankets or of any other suitable transferring material able to execute the indirect printing, in the place of

intaglio plates

6 and 1;

(4) Assembling of five cylinders (these may be of copper, zinc, brass or of any other suitable material) previously engraved in accordance with one of the many known processes for the indirect printing, in the place of the inking rollers.

During the indirect printing. the inking groups ink the engraved cylinders, these cylinders print ing rollers on the rubber blankets, fixed on sectors 4 and 5 of cylinder 2, their own design and colour in succession, and the rubber blankets transfer the ink design to the paper obtaining, thus, a print in five colours which may be superimposed or adjacent.

During the printing operation,

sectors

48 and 49 of cylinder 38 (see Fig. 1) which carry the making-ready, are prepared in accordance with the known art for the different printing kinds because it is possible the making-ready of each rubber.

From the operation of the press as above described it is clear the simplicity and velocity with which it is possible to pass from one to another printing process without changes of mechanical parts.

The press and all the above described make shifts have been studied by me particularly for printing securities but it is obvious that they may be utilised for prints of different kinds, e. g. maps or others, as well as for printing on other materials as cloths, plastics, etc.

Of course, a number of modifications, alterations and mechanical improvements may be made to my printing press, always within the province of the invention.

Having described and specified the printing press I invented, what I claim as being my invention and exclusive property is:

1. A printing press for printing multicolor intaglio, letterpress impressions from a single intaglio plate, letterpress cut inked with several adjacent colors, oil-set printing from a single rubber blanket or transfer element provided with several superimposed or adjacent designs and colors by a plurality of engraved cylinders, comprising in combination a rotatably supported drum, means positioned on said drum capable of holding either an intaglio printing plate, a letter-press out, a rubber blanket or transfer element on the same supporting surface of said drum, a second rotatably supported drum of the same diameter as said first mentioned drum being in pressure contact therewith for rotating at the same speed but in an opposite direction thereto, a sheet feeder positioned above said second drum, means on said second drum for taking from and holding on its surface sheets fed by said sheet feeder, an arcuate support positioned adjacent said first drum, a plurality of equally spaced roller holding members mounted on said support capable of interchangeably holding a series of inking rollers to apply each a different ink to the intaglio printing plate or the letterpress out on said first drum and a series of printing rollers to print each a different color in the blanket on said first drum while circumferentially spaced with respect to said first drum, a movably mounted carriage, a series of inkers arcuately mounted on said carriage in such a manner that one inker will be placed in cooperating relation with a corresponding inking roller or printing roller when on said arcuate support upon the moving of said carriage adjacent said holding members, a cleaning cylinder being positioned adjacent the periphery of said first drum for cooperating therewith for taking off the excess ink from the intaglio plate when on said first drum, a rotatably mounted cylinder for taking the ink off said cleaning cylinder, the said second drum, roller holding members and cleaning cylinder being positioned around the pcriphery of said first drum in that order.

2. A printing press as claimed in claim 1, wherein conveyor means are provided for taking printed sheets from said second drum and a second sheet feeder is mounted for feeding interleaving sheets to said conveyor whereby said conveyor can deposit printed sheets with said interleaving sheets on a delivery table.

GUALTIERO GIORI.

Huebner June 19, 1951