US3667354A

US3667354A - Web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system

Info

Publication number: US3667354A
Authority: US
Inventors: Floyd Steinmetz
Original assignee: ROTOGRAPHIC MACHINERY CO
Current assignee: ROTOGRAPHIC MACHINERY CO
Priority date: 1969-01-30
Filing date: 1969-01-30
Publication date: 1972-06-06
Anticipated expiration: 1989-06-06
Also published as: CH500895A; DE2003468C3; NL166666C; DE2003468B2; DE2003468A1; GB1217656A; NL6911923A; NL166666B; FR2029658A6; JPS5242953B1; BE735356A; SE342179B

Abstract

A web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system is provided for the packaging industry which is to be fed from a web stock of material either printed or unprinted or both. This system consists basically of a pair of large diameter, very heavy walled drums on which can be mounted a pair of cutting and creasing dies. These dies are in the form of a sheet metal blanket into which the shape to be cut and creased have been chemically milled. The dies are mounted on these two drums so that as they rotate together, the dies will match one another in a registered position. A feeder is provided for the die cylinders which has the qualities of feeding a selected length of material, yet is continuously supplied from roll web stock of material. A crank working directly from the die cylinders wraps a storage integral of the web about a drum, then unwraps and advances it periodically. Swing rolls are oscillated by the crank arm and these are geared to a mechanism for advancing or retarding the fed portion of the web of material in accord with registration marks on the web stock.

Description

United States Patent Steinmetz [72] Inventor: Floyd Steinmetz, Timonium, Md.

[73] Assignee: The Rotographic Machinery Company,

Baltimore, Md.

22 Filed: Jan. 30, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 795,326

[ 52] US. Cl. ..93/58.2 R, 53/51, 83/313, 93/1 G, 93/33 R, 226/142 [51] Int. Cl. ..B3lb l/l6, 1331b 17/14, B65b 57/00 [58] Field ofSearch .93/58, 58.2, 58.3, 80, 93 DP,

- 93/1 G, 33;226/1l3,1l4,141,142,156,160;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS R25,736 3/1965 Willbrandt ..53/51 2,977,730 4/1961 Ardner..... ....53/51 3,252,640 5/1966 Huck ...53/51 X 3,383,991 5/1968 Sarka ..93/1 G 3,438,310 4/1969 Woodruffi; ..93/33 X WEB FED ROTARY VARIABLE REPEAT CUTTER-CREASER SYSTEM [451 June 6, 1972 Primary Examiner-Wayne A. Morse, .lr. Attomey-Walter G. Finch ABSTRACT A web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system is provided for the packaging industry which is to be fed from a web stock of material either printed or unprinted or both. This system consists basically of a pair of large diameter, very heavy walled drums on which can be mounted a pair of cutting and creasing dies. These dies are in the form of a sheet metal blanket into which the shape to be cut and creased have been chemically milled. The dies are mounted on these two drums so that asthey rotate together, the dies will match one another in a registered position. A feeder is provided for the die cylinders which has the qualities of feeding a selected length of 18 Claims, 8 Drawing figures PATENTEDJUN 61972.

sum 1 or 4 I INVENTOR FLOYD STE/NMETZ ATTORNEY PATENTEDJUN 6 I972 3 667. 3 54 SHEET 2 or 4 CRANK PA 7'H DIE DRUMS GUIDE BARS 28 OSCILLAT/NG DRIVE ROLLS FIG. 2. BEGIN FORWARD MOT/0N curn va 0,5

W FIG. 3.

BEGIN our WEB SPEED=DIE DRUMS SPEED 29 ['76. 8. 86 94 REGISTER COMPENSATOR CONTROL SENSO\ ACTUATOR 96 INVENTOR OPERATORS 92 PANEL AND FLOYD STEI/VMETZ CONTROLLER ROLL ANGULAR POSITION MON/TOR m ATTORNEY PATENTEBJun we SHEET 3 BF 4 FIG. 4.

STOP FORWARD MOT/0N V STARTREARWARD MOT/0N.

END our INVENTOR FLOYD STE/NMETZ ww m w/r/JmAw WEB TTORNEY WEB FED ROTARY VARIABLE REPEAT CUTTER- CREASER SYSTEM This invention relates generally to cutting and creasing machines, and more particularly it pertains to a web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system for use in the packaging industry. This invention is an improvement over the invention of a co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 743,748, filed July 10, 1968 by Henry D. Ward, Jr., and Floyd (n.m.i.) Steinmetz entitled Web Fed Rotary Variable Repeat Cutter- Creaser System."

One of the major unsolved problems facing industry today relates to die cutting, creasing, embossing, or printing continuous webs of material with an infinite variety of repeat lengths.

In the past, the method for producing a variable cut or print length on a web stock of material has been to either change the diameter of the printing or cutting cylinder of the machine to suit the repeat length that is being produced on the web, or secondly to feed a variable length of web material between two heavy tables or platens which can then cut the particular length of web fed between them. At that point, the platens open again, and again a length of web of material is fed into them.

Another method to accomplish the above has been to first cut the web of material into sheets of the length required and then to feed the sheets through a platen or between rotary drums. in this last method, of course, there is no problem with feeding a variable sheet length. Whatever sheet is fed into the machine, can simply pass straight on through the machine and it is only necessary to feed one sheet per revolution of the machine to produce a variable cut or print length.

To clarify matters, it is well to define variable repeat length" here. By this, it is meant that adjustments can be made to a cuttencreaser type system to cut any length of stock required within the specific limits. Out of the material that is being fed through the system, the length of cut must be variable in the direction of sheet travel and if a web stock of material is being fed through a cutter-creaser, this stock may be printed with a repeat pattern, with one printed pattern appearing, for example, every 25 inches on the sheet.

if the sheet is to be cut into paperboard containers, such as for ice cream containers, the cut length must be positioned directly and exactly on the printed matter and the cut length must be exactly the length of the repeat of the printing without cumulative error. The next order, for instance, could be bacon board made from a different and unprinted roll of paper stock, and the repeat might by 38 inches long, for example.

Basically, the problem is to produce this variable repeat length of cut accurately. To produce the highest running speeds, it is desirable to use a pure rotary motion for the cutting action. This is because the cutting and creasing loads are of a fairly high magnitude and this means that the structural members, such as the platen tables, which are used in platen presses, have to be extremely massive to be rigid enough to resist deflection under the cut and crease loads and, therefore, a reciprocating motion of the cutting mass and limits the physical speed of the machine. For this reason, it was found that a pure rotary motion of a pair of drums lends itself to much higher running speeds.

Secondly, it was deemed essential that there be a smooth feed of the web stock of material into the system. On a platen press, for example, the stock must be fed into the machine while the platen tables are open. The web stock of material has to be stopped and held in a stationary position while the platens are brought together for the cutting operation. This, of course, means that the running motion of the machine has momentarily stopped and therefore, production has, in effect, been lost. Thirdly, it was necessary to use drums of a fixed diameter on which there are mounted cutting dies or perhaps printing plates or dies of different lengths to eliminate the requirement to physically change drums in order to produce a different drum circumference which, in turn, would produce a different sheet length or repeat length.

It is common, for instance, on milk container rotary cuttercreasers to manufacture the entire machine for a specific sheet length, with a specific diameter of drum being used.

On various web printing presses in order to change repeat lengths, it is necessary to change the entire drum which carries the printing dies or plates to obtain the exact repeat length desired. in a regular jobbing shop for producing a variety of different types and kinds of boxes, this conversion or interchange of drums is a time consuming operation and is undesirable because of high cost.

It is also highly desirable to have a web fed machine rather than a sheet fed machine in order to allow the most economical use of paper stock. Quite often the shape which is to be cut from the paper stock is irregular and it is often designed so that the cut patterns will interlock with one another, thereby reducing the amount of waste paper around the edge of the cut.

Obviously, if the stock must be cut into sheets and then printed and die cut, these sheets will be rectangular and all of the material around the edges of these irregular blanks will be lost. On the other hand, if a regular web fed machine is used, the irregular cuts can be planned to interlock with one another and reduce the waste stock to a minimum.

In boxes of this type, the cost of the material itself is a large portion of the cost of the box and any savings that can be introduced into the operation through a reduction in the amount of material used has a very real and very direct effect on the cost of the boxes themselves.

In the initial design disclosed in our co-pending application, Ser. No. 743,748 filed July 10, 1968 entitled Web Fed Rotary Variable Repeat Cutter-Creaser System, a free storage loop was formed in the incoming web. This resulted in an unsupported web length between the feed rolls and the swing rolls which repeatedly built up and collapsed. This slack web has been found troublesome to accurate edge guiding and required a rather elaborate photoelectric loop scanner. Further, the feed rolls which introduced the web to the loop had to be synchronized to the main drive motor and there was always a possibility of slippage of the web in the nip.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a cutter-creaser system which positively feeds more accurately predetermined isolated increments of continuous web stock into the die rolls.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved variable repeat cutter-creaser system which feeds a predetermined length of patterned material in register into the dies which are mounted in the die cylinders.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved feeder system for die cylinders which has the qualities of individual blank feeding, yet is continuously supplied from web stock without reliance on synchronized nip roller feed.

Other objects of this invention are to provide a web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system in which variable repeat lengths of cut are made at the highest running speeds of the system. The variation being absorbed by predetermined wrap action of stock about a drum.

To rovide a web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system which is continuously fed with web stock of material without use of a first loop is still another object of this inventron.-

Other objects and attendant advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent and understood from the following detailed specification and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a slide elevation in diagrammatic form embodying the components of a web fed variable repeat cutter-creaser system;

FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are diagrammatic views showing in sequence, the stages of one cycle of operation of the members ofthe system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a graphical representation of a curve showing increase in web speed versus crank angle from the cuttercreaser system of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic of a control arrangement for the web fed variable repeat cutter-creaser system of the present invention.

Referring now to the details of the invention as shown in FIG. 1, reference numeral indicates generally a preferred embodiment of the novel web fed rotary variable repeat cutter-creaser system of this invention. This system 10 will first be described generally and then followed by a detailed description of the main parts thereof. A main drive 12 attached to the structure S of the system is the prime power source at variable speed for the cutter-creaser system 10.

A main drive gear 13 on the drive 12 meshes with an idler gear 14 on a shaft 16. This idler gear 14 meshes with a gear 18, which is secured to an upper die drum 20 carrying dies 22 for creasing or cutting operations.

Another gear 24 meshes in l to 1V ratio with gear 18 and it is secured to a lower die drum 26 carrying the lower dies 28.

It should be understood the lower drurn 26 is adjustable ver tically, longitudinally and circumferentially by means not shown, to accommodate respectively different web thicknesses of material and to register the dies 22 and 28.

The idler gear 14 also meshes with an input gear 30 of a positive infinitely variable drive 32. Because this drive 32 has a limited speed range, a set of change gears 34A, 34B...etc. (only one of which is used at any given time) is supplied for taking off the output of the drive 32.

To mesh with the different diameters of these change gears, an idler gear 36 is provided, which is joumaled on a trunnion 38. The trunnion 38 is fastered to a saddle 40 which pivots about a shaft 52. A yoke 42 which is joumaled with the idler gear 36 has an adjusting screw 44 extended through a threaded post 46. Post 46 is pivotally secured to the structure S of the system 10. In this manner, by advancing the adjusting screw 44, the idler gear 36 can be advanced from the position shown in solid lines to the position 36A shown in phantom lines to accommodate the largest diameter gear 34A or the smallest gear 34B of the change gear set previously mentioned.

The idler gear 36 further meshes with a gear 48 secured on one end of a drum 49. The diameter of drum 49 equals the pitch diameter of the gear 48 and both rotate co-axially on the shaft 52. Oscillating arms 50 also pivot on the shaft 52 and they carry a pair of swing feed rolls 54 and 60. The upper swing feed roll 54 has a gear 56 which is meshed with the gear 48 and also meshes with a gear 58 on the lower swing feed roll 60, the latter in 1 to 1 ratio.

A connecting rod or crank 62 from a pivot 64 on the oscillating arms 50 extends to a crank disc 66 and is coupled thereto by a crank pin. This crank disc 66 is attached by bolts 70 to'the end of the diedrum 20. This attachment is circumferentially adjustable through the medium of arcuate slots 68 for the bolts 70 and thus varies the relative phase angle between the sweep of the crank 62 and the rotation of the dies 22.

The strobe length of the connecting rod or crank 62 is adjustable by means of a slot 72 which receives the crank pin and allows the pivotal radius to be selected.

A buffer or air cushion is provided at reference 74, the cylinderof which is pivoted at 76 from the machine structure S. The piston rod 78 of this air cushion 74 is attached to the oscillating arms 50 with a connecting pin 80.

Reference numerals

82 and 83 designate idler rolls over which in named sequence the roll stock material web W passes in the direction of the arrows. It then passes as shovm, first over the drum 49 and then upper swing feed roll 54. The web W is carried halfway around the latter to pass through the

nip comprising rolls

54 and 60 in conjunction. A guide 88 defines a path for the web stock W to the engagement line of

die drums

20 and 26. Clearance grooves 90 in the swing feed roll 60 are provided for the guide 88 with the latter having a suitable, radius of curvature to accommodate the sweep as arms 50 oscillate. A negative air pressure is maintained within the extended length of guide 88.

This air pressure is communicated to the web stock W through means not shown in the guide 88 such as open tops or perforations.

A register control sensor 86 which through well-known means such as printed marks on the web stock W viewed by light sensitive cells, signals the positive infinitely variable drive transmission 32 to cause a readjustment of the speed of output to correct misregister of printed matter on the web stock W with the dies 22 and 28.

The drum 49 is provided to allow a first reservoir length of web stock, to accumulate thereabout from the web stock W at certain times in the cycle of operation. Midway in the cycle of operation, this reservoir length of web transfers to form a raised loop over the discharge end of guide 88 as noted by comparing FIGS. 2 and 4. in FIGS. 5 and 6, the drum reservoir length is being accumulated, while FIG. 3 shows the system 10 in the position of the beginning cut.

The type of dies 22 and 28 envisioned for use on this cuttercreaser system 10 are of the chemically etched or milled type as described in US. Pat. No. 3,244,335 issued Apr. 5, 1966, entitled Method for Forming Severance Lines," issued to R. H. Downie. Of course, it is not essential that the cutter-creaser system 10 be limited to these specific dies 22 and 28. Conventional rotary dies such as are used for the manufacture of milk containers would be perfectly satisfactory for mounting on the die drums 20 and 26.

Fixed ahead of these

rotary drums

20 and 26 as previously indicated by reference to FIG. 1 are the pair of swing feed rolls 54 and 60, which are mounted on the pair of oscillating arms 50 which, in turn, are linked together with the heavy torque shaft 52 to make sure that the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 rock back and forth and remain parallel to the two die

drums

20 and 26.

The swing feed rolls 54 and 60 are geared together and are driven by the large gear 48 which is mounted on the center line of the torque shaft 52 previously mentioned. As the two swing feed rolls 54 and 60 rock back and forth on their arms 50 about the center of the torque shaft 52, their gears also rock back and forth around the large drive gear 48.

This means that a web stock W of material which is gripped between these two swing feed rolls 54 and 60 is driven by a speed which is the sum of the rotational speed of the large gear 48 plus the additional speed imparted by the rotation of the roll drive gears 56 and 58 about the large gear48 plus'the linear forward displacement of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 themselves so that what is produced is a curve of motion which is the sum of a continuous speed which is the average speed of the web stock W and which is then modified by a speed which varies somewhat like a sine wave, upwards and downwards once each revolution of the

main drums

20 and 26, as best illustrated in FIG. '7. It is assured that this wave is produced once each revolution of the die drums 20 and 26 because the arms 50 on which the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 are mounted are linked back to the crank pin on the drum 20.

It should be pointed out that the large gear 48, which is sometimes called a bull gear and which is mounted on the torque or rocker shaft is also geared back through the gear train and the variable speed transmission 32 to the

gears

30, 14 and 13 which drive the two main cutting drums 20 and 26. This allows a variation of the speed of the bull gear 48 and, therefore, the average feeding speed of the twoswing feed rolls 54 and 60 by varying the gear ratios in the gear train and also by varying the drive ratio through the variable speed transmission 32.

Turning now to the speed curve ofFIG. 7, there is shown, for example, a condition in which the

main drums

20 and 26 are running at such a speed as to produce a surface speed on the dies 22 and 28 of 980 surface feet per minute at a predetermined speed. If, for example, a repeat length on the web stock W of 57.7 inches is to be cut, the gear ratio would be adjusted by the variable-speed transmission 32 to produce an average feed into the system 10 of 750 feet per minute surface speed on the feed rolls 54 and 60. This produces a dif ferential in feeding speed of the web stock W relative to the cutting dies 22 and 28 of 230 feet per minute.

This speed of 230 feet per minute is then added to the feeding speed of the web stock W by the forward rocking motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 about the torque shaft 52. This means that at the instant of the beginning of the cut, the web stock W of material will be entering the cutting point directly between the two die

drums

20 and 26 at substantially the surface speed of the cutting dies 22 and 28.

If, then, it is desired to change the system to produce a cut repeat length of 28.8 inches, this would, of course, necessitate changing the length of the cutting dies 22 and 28 on the drums and 26 to new dies which are 28.8 inches long. The varying cut length is produced by simply varying the length of the cut pattern on that die 27 and 28.

Let is now be assumed that a die 22 .and 28 have been mounted on cutting

drums

20 and 26 which cutting length is 28.8 inches. The gears can be changed, together with the setting of the variable speed transmission 32 to produce a web speed of 375 feet per minute. This produces a speed differential if the

drums

20 and 26 are run with the surface speed of 980 feet per minute as previously mentioned. This produces a differential of 605 feet per minute between the die speed and the web speed. The motion of the arms 50 can be adjusted to cause the addition of 605 feet per minute by moving the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 forward at a corresponding speed, so that once again the web stock W is inserted into the leading edge of the cutting dies 22 and 28 between the two

drums

20 and 26 at a net 980 feet per minute.

The correcting action of the swing fed

rolls

54 and 60 and their affect on the web stock W can be adjusted by selecting a different point on the speed curve of FIG. 7. This is, done by moving the crank pin which is mounted on the end of cutting drum 20. The angular relationship of that crank pin to the leading edge of the cutting dies 22 and 28 can be moved. This in effect means that the web stock W is inserted between the cutting dies 22 and 28 at a higher point on the speed curve of the roll motion to produce a greater speed correcting action, such as is required for short cut lengths. Or, the crank pin can be adjusted to a different position to cause the web stock W to be inserted between the cutting dies 22 and 28 at a lower point on the speed curve such as a point near the end of the roll stroke where the forward motion of swing feed rolls 54 and 60 is relatively much smaller. This would be the case for instance when a longer cut length is being fed.

In the particular design of system 10, the crank pin which produces the rocking motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60

drums

20 and 26. For this reason, a series of vacuum bars 88 were added along the track of the web stock W from the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 into the die cut

drums

20 and 26 and these bars 88 are equipped with a perforated surface through which a slight suction is applied. This suction effort will be just enough to be sure that the web stock W of material is held firmly along the surface of the guides and yet will still be free to. slide. This will have the effect of definitely controlling the position of the web stock W and will impart a certain amount of support to the web stock W to prevent buckling as the protruding end of the web stock W is accelerated forward into' the nip of the cutting dies 22 and 28. In addition, the curve of the guides will impart a slight curve to'the web stock W to increase its stability.

As previously indicated, a series pair of idler rolls 82 and 83 are provided to obtain maximum angle of wrap of the web on the drum 49. The drum 49 operating at a constant predetermined speed will pull the ,web stock W of material from the primary roll or other source. The material would be lead through an edge guiding and tension controlling set of equipis mounted on the end of the rotary cutting drum 20. Of

course, it is not necessary that this crank pin be located there. it could be mounted on any gear in the drive train which makes one revolution per revolution of the cutting drum 20. A

simple crank motion has been used for the connecting rod or crank 62 such as shown in FIG. 1, materially for simplicity. It would also be possible to drive the oscillating arms 50 with a cam mechanism or any similar device.

In system 10, a combination of changed gears together with a variable speed transmission 32 produces the varying driving speed between the die cut

drums

20 and 26 and the bull gear 48.

This was done specifically this way because the change gears give an absolute speed ratio. Unfortunately, one set of change gears must vary from the next by a fixed increment of whole numbers of teeth and here it was desirable to have an infinitely variable ratio without steps from one cut length to another. Therefore, the variable speed transmission 32 was introduced into the creaser-cutter system 10. Its speed adjustment range is quite narrow and its purpose is simply to allow for a slight modification to the particular gear ratio which has been selected so as to give a smooth and infinite transition of speed ratios from that which is produced from one change gear set to the next.

It is to be noted that one problem foreseen'in inserting the web stock W into the cutting dies 22 and 28 is the fact that a relatively long free end of web stock W is being pushed from the drum 49 and swing feed rolls 54 and into the die cut ment which is conventional in the industry.

System 10 was developed as afpure rotary machine, with no high accelerations and decelerations to throw off the accuracy 1 of the machine with the sole exception of the rocking motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60.

In order to smooth out the affect of the acceleration of the rocking mechanism, a link from the rocking or oscillating arms 50 was added which carry the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 back to the frame of the system 10. This link is in effect the air cushion cylinder 74 which operates more or less like a shock absorber. The compression of air in the air cushion cylinder 74 on the return stroke of the

rolls

54 and 60, for instance, will contribute to decelerating the rocking or oscillating arms 50 and the swing feed rolls 54 and 60. On the feed stroke, of course, the pressure which has been built up against the swing of arm 50 will assist in accelerating it and the

rolls

54 and 60 in the forward direction.

Generally, a printed repeat patternis provided on the web stock W of material being fed into the system 10. A set of change gears has been provided, together with a speed ratio in the variable speed transmission32 so as toproduce the same cut length in the system 10 that occurs in the web stock W on the printed matter. Of course, this can only be done to a certain degree of accuracy. This error would occur for instance, in the setting of the variable speed transmission 32.

It may also occur in the length of the printed repeat on the web stock W. For example, if the material of the web stock W stretches or shrinks slightly through its length due to changes in moisture content, the repeat length will change slightly and it is necessary for the system 10 to automatically correct itself as it runs so that each cut will be located directly on each printed pattern.

For example, if only one thousandths of an inch error is being made in cut length, after one thousand cuts, one whole inch of material would be out of register unless a continuous correction were made.

Thus, to remedy this error, the scanning eye or register control sensor 86 has been added. This register control sensor .86 is a photocell which is located directly over the web stock W where is applies upon drum 49. This eye would pick up a register mark which is part of the printed matter. It picks up the position of the printing on the web stock W. An additional sensor or roll angular position monitor 92 is provided as shown in FIG. 1 on the end of one of the cutting drums, for example, drum 20 which continuously senses the position of the cutting drum 20 in the system 10, that is, its rotary or angular position. A signal from each of sensor 86 and monitor 92 is then fed back into an electrical control system 96, as shown in FIG. 8, which is more or less a computer which then, taking these two sensing signals, can detect any error in the desired position of the cutting

drum

20 and 26 relative to the printed web stock W.

At this point, an error signal can be sent to a small motor or compensator actuator 94 which, in turn, controls the speed ratio setting in the variable speed transmission 32 causing the transmission to introduce a correction into the gear train which is driving the swing feed rolls 54 and 60. This, in turn, will advance or retard the material of the web stock W slightly so that the'cut will then be continuously re-registered to the printed matter on the sheet at each cut. This will insure that although some error does occur, or can occur, in each cut length, this'error can be limited to within a very small margin. It is to be noted that this system 10 has been developed to detect a printed register mark on the web stock W of material.

. Of course, this mark need not be a printed mark or even a mark at all. It can, for example, be a magnetic impulse which is imparted to the web stock W of material at the required intervals or it could be a hole punched through the web stock W of material.

In the cutter-creaser system 10 described so far, there are two drums and 26 involved, each of which carries a sheet metal type cutting and creasing die 22 and 28, respectively. Of course, the general principles of this system 10 can be applied, for-example, to a variable repeat web fed printing press in which one drum would simply be a smooth cylinder to back up the web stock W of material. The other drum, for example, would carry the printing dies or plates which would be inked by a'conventional inking mechanism. Or, if, for example, the system were to be used as a somewhat simplified form of cutting and creasing system, a single set of dies could be made by inserting a cutting rule in the curved plywood for example.

This type of die is currently being used on sheet fed rotary die cutters for corrugated board and the like.

In that particular instance, the system would be designed so that one drum would accept the curved plywood die. The opposed drum would then be covered with a continuous blanket of resilient material such as polyurethane and this would allow the cutting blades in the die to drive through the web stock being cut into the polyurethane.

Another possible variation of the cutter-creaser system 10 would be as asheeter. A sheeter is a machine which takes a web stock of material and simply cuts it into sheets. In this case, for example, there need only be one drum which would carry a blade running along its length. It is common in sheeters for the matching blade to simply be a beam with a cutting edge on it mounted under the drum. As the cutting edge of the blade passes over the corner of the beam, a shearing cut is produced. In this type of design of the system, for example, there would onlybe one drum involved and a fixed beam would supply the other cutting member. In the case of the sheeter with only one drum, the rest of the mechanism that has been described here would still be used to produce the variable length of sheet feed per cut.

. There is another possible version of system 10, for example, where the two

drums

20 and 26 would be the main blanketcovered drums of an offset press. In this example, the top and bottom of the sheet could be printed on and the printed matter could be applied to both drums at the same time be a regular offset printing press mechanism.

Of course, with that kind of an application the change gears and variable speed transmission 32 and the rest of the feeding mechanism would still be the same. The only thing that would change would be the particular surface configuration of the drums themselves.

Another possible variation to this design includes the variable speed ratio equipment between the cutting

drums

20 and 26 and the bull gear 48, with a combination of change gears and a variable speed transmission 32 being used. It is known that infinitely variable speed transmissions have a small percentage of error of the speed ratio through the transmission 32. In this instance of the present system 10, transmission 32 has been used to give a speed variation in very small increments which can be obtained by making a small change in the change gear ratio. Using the system this way, any error which matures through the variable speed transmission 32 is only a to use change gears at all. The total control of sheet lengthrange could be obtained by taking the entire drive ratio change in the transmission 32 itself and any slight errors which this extremely accurate transmission might produce would then be controllable by the atuomatic scanning and correcting devices, previously mentioned.

There is one other modification which is desirable to be made to the cutter-creaser system 10 under certain circumstances, which is the ability to adjust the radius of the crank pin at the end of the connecting rod 62, that is, the radius from the center of the crank pin to the center of the drum 20. This crank pin, through the connecting rod 62, drives the rocking motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60. It may be desirable to change this radius of the crank pin for difierent sheet length conditions, in order to produce the very minimum necessary acceleration in the rocking mechanism for each particular sheet length. This adjustment will only be necessary in case it is desired to run the system 10 at very high web speeds such as in the neighborhood of 1,000 feet per minute or better. i

As previously mentioned, the oscillating arms 50 which carry the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 are connected to the shock absorbing type cushion cylinder 74'to help absorb or level out the accelerating and decelerating forces which are produced by the linear back and forth motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60 themselves. Of course, these swing feed rolls 54 and 60 are also accelerating and decelerating in a rotary direction about their own centers because their driving gears are rocking back and forth around the bull gear 52' which drives them.

This introduces also a rotary accelerating and decelerating force back and through the gear train and for extreme accuracy it is desirable to absorb and level out back load. 7

To do this, an extra gear (not shown) has been connected to the bull gear 48. This extra gear drives a hydraulic pumping system. The valving in this system is such that once each revolution the connections through the hydraulic system are reversed so that the pump which is connected to this extra gear alternately becomes first a pump and then a hydraulic motor; so, during that period 'of the cycle in which the full gear 48 is attempting to accelerate the swing feed rolls 54 and 60, the hydraulic system is valved to produce an auxiliary assist to the driving motion, and it helps to smooth out theloads back" through the gear train. During that portion of the cycle when the bull gear 48 is attempting to decelerate the rotary motion of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60, the valving is then reversed so that this gear becomes the drive gear for a pump and it then absorbs the energy which is produced by the deceleration of the swing feed rolls 54 and 60.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is,

therefore, to be understood that within thescope of the ap-- pended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described. i

What is claimed is:

1. In a variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web having structure including a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, the improvement comprising a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member for accumulating and storing thereonan integral of said web stock and advancing said integral of web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing thereon said integral and controlled by said structure having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed the integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

2. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web comprising, structure including a work member positioned thereon for working on a continu ously supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate and store thereon an integral of said web stock and advance said integral of web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing thereon said integral and to said structure having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed said integral of said web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

3. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, meansincluding a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, store thereon and feed an integral of said web stock and ad- Vance said web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing said integral and to said means having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed said integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

4. A rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including at least one rotary drum having a work member positioned thereon for working on a web stock fed to said drum, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of said web stock, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drum, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said rotary drum to cause said feeding means to feed said integral of web'stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said rotary drum at substantiallythe surface speed thereof for operation thereon by said work member on said rotary drum.

5. A rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including at least one rotary drum having a work member positioned thereon for working on a web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed to said drum; a pair of spaced guide rolls for guid- 'ing web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of said web stock to said rotary drum, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drum, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said rotary drum to cause a change in the feeding action of said feeding means to correct for misregister between said spaced indicia on said web stock and the work member on said rotary drum.

6. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary drums having work members positioned in register with one another thereon for working on a web stock fed between said rotary drums, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of said web stock between said rotary drums, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drums, and means coupled to said feeding means and to one of said rotary drums to cause said feeding means to feed said integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said rotary drums at substantially the surface speed thereof for operation thereon by said work members.

7. In a web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 6, wherein said feeding means which accumulates and stores thereon said integral of said web stock includes a pair of spaced members mounted thereon for receiving and feeding said web stock to said rotary drums.

8. In a web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 7, wherein said means coupled to said feeding means which accumulates and stores thereon said integral of said web stock and to one of said rotary drums includes a variable ratio drive mechanism.

9. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary drums having work members positioned in register with one another thereon for cutting and creasing sections from a web stock having spaced indicia thereon and fed between said rotary drums, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of web stock to said rotary drums, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drums, drive means coupled to said feeding means and to one of said rotary drums, and means for sensing said spaced indicia on said web stock and the angular position of said rotary drums and for signaling said drive means to cause a change in the feeding action of said feeding means in order to correct for misregister of said spaced indicia on said web stock and said work members on said rotary drums.

10. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, wherein said feeding means which accumulates and stores thereonsaid integral of web stock is pivotally mounted and includes a pair 'of feed rolls for receiving and feeding said web stock to said rotary drums at substantially the surface speed thereof.

11. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, wherein said drive means is of the variable ratio type.

12. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, and additionally means for cushioning the movements of said feeding means.

13. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, wherein said work members are work dies for cutting, creasing-embossing and/or printing of said web stock.

14. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, and means for sensing and controlling the rate of feed of said web stock to said feeding means.

15. A web fed rotary infinite variable repeat cutter-creaser system, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary members having work elements positioned in register thereon for cutting-creasing sections from a web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed between said rotary members, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member for accumulating and storing thereon an integral of web stock and having spaced rolls mounted thereon arranged to store and to receive an integral of said web stock between said rolls and feed integrals of web stock into said rotary members at substantially the surface speed thereof, means coupling said accumulating and storing means with one of said rotary members, a variable ratio drive means coupled to said accumulating and storing means and to said one rotary member, and means for sensing said spaced indicia on said web stock as well as the angular position of said rotary members and for signaling said variable ratio drive means to cause. a readjustment of the speed of output of said variable ratio drive means to correct for misregister of said indicia on said web stock with said work elements on said rotary members.

16. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means having a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed to said work member during the working cycle thereof, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an member, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each cycle of operation of said work member, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said means having said work member to cause a change in the feeding action of said feeding means to correct for misregister between said spaced indicia on said web stock and the work member.

17. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary members having work elements positioned in register with one another thereon for working ona continuously supplied web stock fed between said rotary members during the working cycle thereof, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate and to store thereon an integral of said web and advance said integral of web periodically to said work elements, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each cycle of operation of said rotary members, and means coupled to said feeding means and to one of said rotary members to cause said feeding means to feed said integral of web stock acjustment of the speed of output of said drive means to correct cumulated and stored thereon to said rotary members at sub.-

stantially the surface speed thereof for operation thereon by member for accumulating and storing thereon an integral of said web stock and feeding saidintegral of web stock to said rotary members at substantially the surface speed thereof, means coupling said feeding means with one of said rotary members, drive means coupled to feeding means and to said one rotary member, and means for sensing said spaced indieia on said web stock as well as the angular position of said rotary members and for signaling said drive means to cause a readthe misregister of said indicia on said web stock with said work elements on said rotary members.

t I I t

Claims

1. In a variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web having structure including a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, the improvement comprising a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member for accumulating and storing thereon an integral of said web stock and advancing said integral of web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing thereon said integral and controlled by said structure having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed the integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

2. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web comprising, structure including a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuOusly supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate and store thereon an integral of said web stock and advance said integral of web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing thereon said integral and to said structure having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed said integral of said web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

3. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock fed thereto during each working cycle of said work member, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, store thereon and feed an integral of said web stock and advance said web stock periodically to said work member, and means coupled to said means for accumulating and storing said integral and to said means having said work member to cause said means for accumulating and storing to feed said integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said work member for operation thereon by said work member.

4. A rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including at least one rotary drum having a work member positioned thereon for working on a web stock fed to said drum, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of said web stock, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drum, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said rotary drum to cause said feeding means to feed said integral of web stock stored on said accumulating and storing means to said rotary drum at substantially the surface speed thereof for operation thereon by said work member on said rotary drum.

5. A rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including at least one rotary drum having a work member positioned thereon for working on a web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed to said drum, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate, to store thereon and to feed an integral of said web stock to said rotary drum, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each revolution of said rotary drum, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said rotary drum to cause a change in the feeding action of said feeding means to correct for misregister between said spaced indicia on said web stock and the work member on said rotary drum.

10. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, wherein said feeding means which accumulates and stores thereon said integral of web stock is pivotally mounted and includes a pair of feed rolls for receiving and feeding said web stock to said rotary drums at substantially the surface speed thereof.

13. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system as recited in claim 9, wherein said work members are work dies for cutting, creasing, embossing and/or printing of said web stock.

15. A web fed rotary infinite variable repeat cutter-creaser system, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary members having work elements positioned in register thereon for cutting-creasing sections from a web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed between said rotary members, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member for accumulating and storing thereon an integral of web stock and having spaced rolls mounted thereon arranged to store and to receive an integral of said web stock between said rolls and feed integrals of web stock into said rotary members at substantially the surface speed thereof, means coupling said accumulating and storing means with one of said rotary members, a variable ratio drive means coupled to said accumulating and storing means and to said one rotary member, and means for sensing said spaced indicia on said web stock as well as the angular position of said rotary members and for signaling said variable ratio drive means to cause a readjustment of the speed of output of said variable ratio drive means to correct for misregister of said indicia on said web stock with said work elements on said rotary members.

16. A variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means having a work member positioned thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed to said work member during the working cycle thereof, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to form and store thereon an integral of Said web and advance said integral of web periodically to said work member, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each cycle of operation of said work member, and means coupled to said feeding means and to said means having said work member to cause a change in the feeding action of said feeding means to correct for misregister between said spaced indicia on said web stock and the work member.

17. A web fed rotary variable repeat length system for performing at least one operation on a web, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary members having work elements positioned in register with one another thereon for working on a continuously supplied web stock fed between said rotary members during the working cycle thereof, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member to accumulate and to store thereon an integral of said web and advance said integral of web periodically to said work elements, means for causing said feeding means to travel through one complete control cycle for each cycle of operation of said rotary members, and means coupled to said feeding means and to one of said rotary members to cause said feeding means to feed said integral of web stock accumulated and stored thereon to said rotary members at substantially the surface speed thereof for operation thereon by said work elements.

18. A web fed rotary infinitely variable repeat cutter-creaser system, comprising, means including a pair of spaced rotary members having work elements positioned in register thereon for cutting-creasing printed carton sections from a continuously supplied web stock having spaced indicia thereon fed between said rotary members, a pair of spaced guide rolls for guiding web stock, means including an arcuate member for accumulating and storing thereon an integral of said web stock and feeding said integral of web stock to said rotary members at substantially the surface speed thereof, means coupling said feeding means with one of said rotary members, drive means coupled to feeding means and to said one rotary member, and means for sensing said spaced indicia on said web stock as well as the angular position of said rotary members and for signaling said drive means to cause a readjustment of the speed of output of said drive means to correct the misregister of said indicia on said web stock with said work elements on said rotary members.