US2824457A

US2824457A - Speed control for printing press

Info

Publication number: US2824457A
Application number: US424722A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert K Norton
Original assignee: Harris Intertype Corp
Current assignee: Harris Corp
Priority date: 1954-04-21
Filing date: 1954-04-21
Publication date: 1958-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 1975-02-25

Description

R. K. NORTON SPEED CONTROL FOR PRINTING PRESS Feb. 25, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 21, 1954 INVENTOR. ROBERT K AMT 0N ATTORAH'YKY Feb. 25, 1958 R. K. NORTON SPEED CONTROL FOR PRINTING PRESS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 21, 1954 INVENTOR.

ROBERT K NORTON BY 4; ,Q 4% AZYUBW Feb.,25,v 1958 R. K. NORTON 2,824,457

SPEED CONTROL FOR PRINTING PRESS Filed April 21, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN V EN TOR.

WEE/P7 ,KA'ORTON ATP? 5' Feb. 25, 1958 R. K. NORTON 2,824,457

SPEED CONTROL FOR PRINTING PRESS Filed April 21, 1954 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR. ROBERT. MUN BYfl Q I United States Patent SPEED CONTROL FOR PRINTING PRESS Robert K. Norton, Twiusliurg', Ohio, assignor to Harrisintertype Corporation; a corporation of Delaware ApplicationApril 21, 1954, Serial No. 424,722

17 Claims; (Cl. Ti -230.17)

This invention relates to improvements in speed control for a printing press, more particularly a means by which the operator may effect manual control of the press speed, the invention comprising also means for automatically shifting the control to cause the press to operate atits lowest speed when it is tripped to Impression off position.

One of the objects of the invention i the provision of a speed control for small presses which is of simple construction and lower cost than controls heretofore available, and one in which automatic action when impression is thrown off brings about press operation at a slow speed rather than astopping of the press, the latter action being inconvenient and time consuming especially in the case of offset'pr'esses in that a stopping'of such a press and a consequent interruption of the plate dampening operation necessitates gumm'ing up of the plate.

Another object is the provision of means within the centroid the operator'for' disabling the automatic means and permitting manual operation of the speed control during arr impression off period to effect a drive of the press at a speed higher thanthat to which the drive is thrown automatically, which is desirable at times when the 'wash-up'of pressp'art's is-to be undertaken.

A further object is the provision of means for automatically or manually te'nsioning a belt driven by an adjustable diameter pulleymounted on a motor shaft so as tocause changes in theelfective diameter of the pulley and'therefore' changes in the speed of the belt.

Stillanother'object' is the provisionof means for operating: the press at any predetermined speed within its speed range Whether for normalrunning' of the press or for wash-up.

Other objects and features of novelty will appear as lproceed with thedesc'ription of that embodiment of the invention which for 'the' purposes of the present application, I haveiillustrateddnthe-accompanying drawings, inawhich:

.Fig. 1 is a=side elevational view of a variable speed operating. means embodying the invention, certain parts being broken away to more; clearly illustrate the invention and-the control beingshown: in high speedposition.

Fig.- 2 is a similar view showing the parts in the position which they assume after the impression has been thrown oif. and slow speedoperation is in effect.

Fig. 3; is a further similar view with impression 01f and showing the parts-inthepositionito which the control may be manually shifted for-operating the press at some speed-greater than the slowest speed; as for example when the operatordesires' to wash-up'the inking rollers of the press, and

. Fig.4 is a transverse: vertical view, partly in section on the:line.44 of Fig. 2.

.Inthe drawings. a constant speedelectric motor is shown.at.10;. On the motor shaft there is mounted an adjustablediameter pulley 11 of the Reeves variable pitch type, the two si'desof which are-urged. toward each other under the influence of spring pressure in a conventional train of gears which includes a pinion 17 on shaft 1 3- meshing with a gear 18 that is keyed to a shaft 19 journalled in theframe wall 14. On shaft 19 there is a pinion 20' which meshes with a gear 21 on arshaft 22,

which may be the shaft of one of the printing cylinders of the press. r I

The speed control of the press ls'accomplished by moving the idler pulley 16 outwardly and downwardly from its Fig. 1 position of highest speed to its Fig. 2 position of lowest speed or to some intermediate position, as that of Fig. 3. The preferred means for varying this control is that illustrated in the drawings, where pulley" is rotatable with or upon a stub shaft 24 carried in thefree end of an arm 25. The inner end of this arm is fixed to a gear 26 that turns with or upon a stub shaft 27 journall'ed' in the frame member 14-. Meshing with gear 26 is a gear 28 that is fixed upon a shaft 29 which ex tends'across the machine and is slidable as well'as ro-' tatable in hearings in the frame member 14" and in the other side frame member 30; Gear 28 meshes normally with a gear 31 which is fixed to a shaft 32 journalled'ln frame member 14. Shaft 32 also has fixed thereupon a generally circular shroud 33 of greater diameter than gear 31', which however has a cutout 34 along one edge.

Shaft 29 is normally urged to the right as viewed in Fig. 4 by means of a coil spring 35 which bears against frame member 30 at one end and against a collar 36 pinned to the shaft at the other end. By this meansgear 28' is normally maintained in mesh with gear 31. When however the shaft 29, which is hereinafter termed the operating shaft, is pulled to the left as far as it will go, gear 28 is withdrawn from meshing relation with gear 31, but maintained in meshwith gear 26. To facilitate the axial and rotational movement of shaft 29' it carries" on one'end outsidethe frame member 30 a hub 37 which is pinned to the shaft, and from this hub there extends a handle 38. Extending outwardly from hub 37 there is also a pointer 39'which is adapted to run over a curved dialplate 40 carrying a series of graduations representing different press speeds.

Projecting from gear 31 there is a pin 41 which is'normally held in the position of Fig. 1 by a cavity in' one arm 42 of a bell crank, the other arm 43 of which e'xtends from their common shaft 44 at an angle to arm 42. Shaft 44 extends through and is rotatable in frame wall 14. The bell crank is biased toward the Fig. 1 position by a tension spring 45, the effect of which is limited by an adjustable stop 46.

Manual speed adjustment-The structure thus far described affords means for adjusting the speed of the press 31 by moving through the cutout 34. He then turns shaft 29 by means of the handle until pointer 39 is dis posed opposite graduation 5. Then spring 35 is permitted to shiftthe shaft 29 axially back toits former position; Different teeth of gear28 now-engage the lowermostteeth of gear 31 and the parts are held in this new position Patented Feb. 25, 1958 because of the fact that gear 31 is locked by pin 41 and bell crank arm 42. The rotational movement of handle 38 while free from the latching effect of gear 31, turns gear 26 and draws arm clown to swing idler pulley 16 crosswise of thelower run of belt 15, which places sulficient tension on-the belt to separate the two halves of pulley 11 far enough to reduce the. etfective diameter of the pulley to the extent requisite to reduce the. speed to that which corresponds with the pointer setting 5.

Automatic shift to slow speed.As previously stated one of the advantages of the invention is the automatic operation of the speed control to bring about slow speed operation when the printing is interrupted which, as is well understood in the art, may occur automatically by conventional means when there is a misfeed of sheets. Such automatic means may include a longitudinally movable rod 48 which moves upwardly, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, when the press is thrown off. At the lower end of this rod there is a hook 49 which engages a pin on bell crank arm 43. in the position of Fig. 1. When the throwoff occurs rod 48 moves upwardly to the position of Fig. 2, swinging the bell crank counterclockwise far enough to cause the arm 42 of thebell crank to release its hold upon pin 41. A heavy spring actuator indicated generally by the reference number 51 then acts to swing arm 25 clockwise about its shaft 27 to the position of Fig. 2. As this occurs gear 26, rigid with arm 25, turns gear 28, turning the handle 38 counterclockwise and throwing pointer 39 down to the speed indication marked 1, which is the lowest speed of'the machine. At the same time gear 28 turns the unlatched gear 31 and its shroud 33 so that the cutout 34 no longer clears gear 28.

This rotation of the gears and the consequent shifting to lowest speed is brought about by the heavy spring actu ator 51 which comprises a rod 52 that extends through a hole in a noddle pin 53, thatis oscillatably mounted in the machine frame. The term noddle pin is one that is well-known in the practical printing machine art and refers to a pin mounted to oscillate through a small angle due to the swinging action of a rod which passes loosely through a hole in the pin. A compression spring 54 surrounds rod 52 between noddle pin 53 and an adjustable nut 55 threaded on the rod. By means of nuts 56 and 57 rod 52 is adjustably connected to a bar 58 which is pivotally connected to arm 25 at the point 59. Movement of the rod toward the right as viewed in Fig. 1 is limited by a pair of nuts 60 which are adapted to engage noddle pin 53 as indicated in Fig. 2. Whenthe difficulty in sheet feeding has been corrected the rod 48 will be moved downwardly, permitting the spring 45 to swing the bell crank

lever

42, 43, clockwise back to its original position, whereupon the operator may turn handle 38 clockwise against the action of actuator 51 to the point of speed at which the press was running before the interruption; Assuming that this was maximum speed, the pointer will be returned to scale indication 10, at which time pin 41 will have turned counterclockwise to snap into the notch in bell crank arm 42. This will lock all of the gears and hold the idler pulley 16 in the position previously selected for press operation. It will be noted that it would have been impossible for the operator to set the control at some speed other than that previously selected for operation of the press because the gear 31 cannot be put in position to lock the gears at such other speed. However if some speed other than maximum speed had been selected for press operation, say for example speed corresponding to scale indication 8, different teeth of gear 28 would have engaged the teeth of gear 31 when the latter gear was latched against movement. Consequently when the press was thrown off gear 28 would have turned through a dilferent angle, that is from speed 8 to speed 1, and pin 41 would have turned clockwise through a correspondingly small angle. Hence, when the handle 38 was turned clockwise to return to Normally these parts are such selectedpress speed, the latching of the gears would have occurred when the pointer was returned to speed 8.

Wash-up speed.The wash-up operation may be performed when the press is in impression off condition, and at that time the rod 48 is in its upper position which throws the bell crank counterclockwise to the position in which gear 31 is unlatched. It is emential however to have the gear latched in order to maintain a selected speed. For this purpose there is provided a shaft having a handle 66 at one end and a cam 67 at the other end. By turning the handle to the position of Fig. 3, the cam 67 may be caused to deflect the lower part of the rod 48 toward the right, so that the hook 49 disengages the pin 50 and leaves the bell crank free to turn clockwise under the influence of spring 45, which returns the arm 42 of the bellcrank to its latching position. Now the operator can move the handle 38 around to turn the gears until the pin 41 engages the notch in arm 42, at which time the cutout 34 of the shroud will be in its lowermost position in which the gear 28 is cleared. If the operator wishes to perform the wash-up operation at the speed previously selected for running speed of the press everything will be in order for him to proceed with that operation. However if he wishes to do the wash-up at a somewhat lower speed, say that corresponding with the dial reading 5, he can pull the shaft 29 to ward the left to disengage gear 28 from gear 31 and then swing handle 38 to cause pointer 39 to register with that dial reading, after which he may permit spring 35 to move shaft 29 to the right to return gear 28 into mesh with gear 31, thus locking the parts in the desired speed setting.

It will observed therefore that the mechanism herein illustrated and described enables the operator to manually select any one of the several available speeds as press running speed, or any one of the several speeds as washup speed, impression being thrown off, while automatic means is provided to shift the control to lowest speed when impression is thrown ofl, this low speed operation being highly desirable over stopping the press entirely as it maintains the plate dampening means in operation and saves gumming up the plate as would be necessary if the machine stopped.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a printing machine, driving mechanism comprising driving and driven pulleys on fixed parallel axes, a belt running over said pulleys, one of said pulleys being adjustable as to its effective diameter in response to variations in the tension of said belt, an idler pulley over which said belt runs, spring means tending to move said idler to belt tensioning position and reduce the effective diameter of said adjustable pulley, manual means. for moving said idler to decrease belt tension and increase the diameter of said adjustable pulley, and latching means for preventing actuation of said spring means.

2. In a printing machine, driving mechanism comprising driving and driven pulleys on fixed parallel axes, a belt running over said pulleys, said driving pulley being adjustable as to its effective diameter in response to changes in the tension of said belt, an idler pulley on an axis parallel to the other named axes engaging the inner side of one run of said belt, spring means tending to move said idler pulley outwardly away from the op posite run of the belt for increasing the tension of the belt and reducing the effective diameter of said driving pulley, whereby the drive is biased toward low speed position, and means selectively operable against the pressure of said spring means for latching said idler in any one of a series of higher speed positions.

3. A printing press driving mechanism, substantially as defined in claim 1, wherein said manual means is adjustable to an intermediate position in which said idler exerts a partial tensioning of said belt, and means for disabling said latching means, said spring means being automatically operative upon the disabling of said latching means for shifting said idler to increase. its belt tensioning effect. 1

4. In a-printing'press', driving mechanism substantially as defined in claim 2, comprising means for disabling said latching means, said spring means being automaticallyoperative upon the disabling of said latching means for shifting said' idler outwardly to low speed position.

5. In a printing press, driving mechanism substantially as defined in claim 4 and comprising manual means for shifting said disabling means out of operative position.

6. A speed control drive mechanism for a printing press comprising in combination, a constant speed driving motor, a pulley on the shaft of said motor, a driven shaft forming part of the printing press, a pulley fixed on said driven shaft, a continuous belt traveling around said pulleys, the effective diameter of the pulley on said motor shaft being adjustable in response to changes in the tension of said belt, and means for deforming the path in which said belt travels to adjust the effective diameter of the pulley on said motor shaft and thereby vary the speed of the driven shaft, said deforming means comprising an idler pulley, means for positioning said idler pulley in any one of several locations, means for latching said idler pulley in said selected positions, means for disabling said latching means, and means automatically operative upon the operation of said disabling means for shifting said idler pulley to belt tensioning and low speed position.

7. In a printing machine, speed control mechanism comprising parallel driving and driven shafts, a pulley on each of said shafts, an idler pulley on an axis parallel to said driving and driven shafts, a belt trained over said pulleys, the effective diameter of said driving pulley being adjustable in response to changes in the tension of said belt, a train of gears comprising first, second and third gears, an arm fixed with respect to said third gear, said arm carrying said idler pulley, a lengthwise movable operating shaft upon which said second gear is fixed, said second and third gears being always in mesh, said operating shaft being adjustable lengthwise to engage or disengage said second gear from said first gear, means for latching said first gear in a single rotative position, a shroud fixed to said first gear having a cutout to clear said second gear when said first gear is in latched position and when said second gear is moved axially to disengage it from said first gear, whereby said operating shaft may be moved lengthwise to clear its gear from the first gear, turned to rotate the third gear and its arm to a selected position and then returned lengthwise to cause said second gear to engage said first gear in a relatively different angular position for locking the second and third gears in the newly selected position.

8. In a speed control mechanism substantially as defined in claim 7, means for unlatching said first gear, and means for turning all three meshing gears to a selected position and for turning said shroud to prevent axial movement of said operating shaft until the gears are rotated in the opposite direction to bring said first gear into latching position and said shroud into position to clear said second gear.

9. In a speed control mechanism substantially as defined in claim 7, means for unlatching said first gear, and automatic means functioning upon the unlatching of said first gear to turn said gears to a position for causing said idler to put maximum tension upon said belt for contracting the effective diameter of said driving pulley to cause slow operation of said driven shaft.

10. In driving mechanism of the character described, driving and driven pulleys on fixed parallel axes, a belt running over said pulleys, one of said pulleys being adjustable as to its effective diameter in response to variations in the tension of said belt, an idler pulley over which said belt runs, said idler pulley being movable in a direction generally normal to that run of the belt which 6, it engages for increasing belt tension to effective diameter of the adjustable pulley and change the speed of the driven pulley, means for actuating-said idler including a spring tending to move the idler to belt tensioning position and including manual means adapted to move the idler in opposition to said spring, means for retaining said actuating means in a selected fixed'position for producing a desired speed of the driven pulley, and means for disabling said retaining means to enable said spring to increase the tension on said belt with a consequent change of speed of the driven pulley.

11. In driving mechanism of the character described, driving and driven pulleys on fixed parallel axes, a belt running over said pulleys, said driving pulley being adjustable as to'its effective diameter in response to variations in the tension of said belt, an idler pulley over which said belt runs, automatic means tending to move said idler pulley in a direction to increase belt tension and diminish the effective diameter of said driving pulley with a corresponding decrease of driven pulley speed, means under control of the operator to move the idler in a direction to decrease belt tension and increase the effective diameter of the driving pulley, and means for retaining said idler pulley in a selected fixed position above minimum speed, said retaining means being releasable to permit said automatic means to move said idler pulley to increase the tension of the belt.

12. The invention substantially as defined in claim 11 and including means for releasing said retaining means.

13. In a speed control mechanism, parallel driving and driven shafts, a pulley on each of said shafts, an idler pulley on an axis parallel to said driving and driven shafts, a belt trained over said pulleys, the effective diameter of said driving pulley being adjustable in response to changes in the tension of said belt, a train of gears comprising first, second and third gears, an arm fixed with respect to said third gear, said arm carrying said idler pulley, a lengthwise movable operating shaft upon which said second gear is fixed, said second and third gears always being in mesh, means for latching said first gear in a single rotative position, said operating shaft being adjustable lengthwise to engage or disengage said second gear from said first gear, and means preventing disengagement of said second gear from said first gear except when said first gear is in latched position, said operating shaft when moved lengthwise to clear its gear from the first gear being manually rotatable to rotate the third gear and the arm and idler pulley to a selected position, return lengthwise movement of said operating shaft causing said second and first gears to mesh in a relatively different angular position for locking the second and third gears in the newly selected position.

14. In a speed control mechanism substantially as defined in claim 13, means for unlatching said first gear, and automatic means functioning upon the unlatching of said first gear to turn said gears to a position for causing said idler to put maximum tension upon said belt for contracting the effective diameter of said driving pulley to cause slow operation of said driven shaft.

15. In driving mechanism of the character described, driving and driven pulleys on fixed parallel axes, a belt running over said pulleys, one of said pulleys being adjustable as to its effective diameter in response to variations in the tension of said belt, an idler pulley over which said belt runs, said idler pulley being movable in directions generally normal to that run of the belt which it engages for varying belt tension to change the effective diameter of the adjustable pulley and thereby change the speed of the driven shaft, means for actuating said idler including a spring tending to move the idler in one direction and including manual means adapted to move the idler in opposition to said spring, means for retaining said actuating means in a selected fixed position for producing a desired speed of the driven pulley,

decrease the;

.7 and means for disabling said retaining means thereby causing the spring to move the idler pulley to change the tension on said belt and consequently change the speed of the driven pulley.

'16. The invention substantially as defined in claim 10 and including means for placing said disabling means in inoperative condition.

17. The invention substantially as defined in claim 15 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hofe Oct. 25, 1938 Hart Oct. 31, 1951 Braman Feb. 12, 1952