US1870117A - Printing press - Google Patents

Description

1932- c. HENDERSON 1,870,117

PRINTING PRES S Filed Jan. 10. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 2, 1932. c. HENDERSON PRINTING PRESS Filed Jan. 10, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 172M672 ("07": Carl fleizclersovz,

Patented Aug. 2, 1932 PATENT easier;

SARI HENDERSON, F OAK PARK, ILLINOIS ERIN TING PRE$S Application filed January 10, 1931.

he'invention relates to printing presses of the type that are provided with impression and form cylinders, and the primary object of the invention. is to pr vide an improved press of the character described which will print relatively long sheets of paper, or the equivalent, and hold the sheets in accurate registry during the entire printing operation. A printing press embodying one form of the invention comprises an impression cylinder and a. form cylinder of substantially equal diameters. Sheet feeding means is positioned adjacent the form cylinder and feeds the sheets t0 the impression cylinder, the printed sheets being removed from the impression cylinder by a transfer cylinder positioned on the sameside of the impression cylinder as the feeding means. The construction is such that a sheet, the length of which is more than two-thirds of the circumference of the impression cylinder, may be I printed and will remain in accurate registry throughout the printing operation as the transfer cylinder does not commence stripping the sheet from the impression cylinder until the printing operation has been com: pleted. The transfer cylinder delivers the sheet to a conveyor which, in turn, delivers it to a second conveyor adapted to stack the sheets, printed side up.

Another form of the invention is embodied in a multi-color printing press, and comprises a plurality of printing couples and a conveyor for transferring the sheets from the first printing couple to the second one. The apparatus is arranged so that relatively long sheets may be printed and kept in accurate registry during the entire printing operation.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the following description pro gresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal section taken through apparatus which embodies the invention, and

Fig. 2'is a diagrammatic longitudinal section taken through apparatus which embodies another form of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1,1 have shown a printing couple which comprises a printing or Serial No. 507,968.

form cylinder and a tympan or impression cylinder 11, the cylinders 10 and 11 being substantially equal in diameter.

Any suitable means may be provided for feeding sheets of paper, or the equivalent, to the printing couple. Thus, I have shown a feeding cylinder 12 having a diameter which is one-half the diameter of the impression cylinder 11.

The printed sheets are removed from the impression cylinder 11 by a transfer cylinder 13 which delivers them to a delivery conveyor 1 1, the delivery conveyor 14; being adapted to deliver the printed sheets to a delivery conveyor 15.

The feeding cylinder 12 is provided with sheetgripping fingers 17 which carry each sheet into a position wherein its forwardedge may be seized by gripping fingers 18 carried by the impression cylinder 11. The transfer cylinder 13 is provided with gripping fingers 19 which engage the forward end of each sheet of paper after it has been printed and strip it from the impression cylinder 11.

The conveyor 1 preferably comprises cylinders 20 and 21 and a delivery chain 22, the delivery chain 22 being provided with gripping fingers 2 1 and 25 adapted to receive the printed sheetsfrom the gripping fingers l9 and to bring them into a position wherein they may be grasped by gripping fingers 26 and 27 provided upon the conveyor 15. The conveyor 15 comprises cylinders 28 and 29 and a chain 30 which carries the gripping fingers 26 and 27.

Any suitable means (not shown). may be providedfor driving the improved appa ratus. The feeding cylinder 12 and the transfer cylinder 13 make two revolutions for each revolution of the impression cylinder 11 or the form cylinder 10. Therefore, the peripheral speeds of the cylinders 10, 11, 12 and 13 are substantially equal. The belts 22 and 30 are preferably driven at speeds which are substantially equal to the peripheral speeds of the cylinders 10, 11, 12 and 13.

The construction is such that when sheets are advanced to the feeding cylinder 12 in such manner that they maybe engaged by the gripping fingers 17, the gripping fingers 17 seize and advance one of the sheets for every two revolutions of the feeding cylinder 12. lVhen the gripping fingers 17 hold the forward edge of one of the sheets during a feeding revolution, they come into registry with the gripping fingers 18 as these gripping fingers travel toward the form cylinder from the position wherein they are shown in the drawings. The sheet is then released by the gripping fingers 17 and is drawn around the impression cylinder 11 and printed as it passes between the form cylinder 10 and the impression cylinder 11. hen the forward ed of the printed sheet comes into registry with the transfer cylinder 13 the sheet is released by the gripping fingers 18 and seized by the gripping fingers 19 so that the sheet is drawn around the transfer cylinder 13 to bring its front edge into a position wherein it may e seized by either the gripping fingers 2a or the gripping fingers 25. The gripping fingers 24 or 25, as the case may be, draw the sheet along the upper leg of the conveyor 22 and deliver it, printed side up, to the gripping fingers 26 or 27 and draw the printed sheet along the lower leg of the conveyor and stack it, printed side up, as indicated at 32.

It will be noted that the feeding mechanism is disposed adjacent the form cylinder 10 and that the feeding mechanism and the transfer cylinder 13 are disposed on the same side of the impression cylinder 11, the construction being such that a sheet whose length is more than two-thirds of the circumference of the impression cylinder 11 may be printed by passing between the cylinders 10 and 11 before the forward end of the sheet is seized by the gripping fingers 19. This is advantageous as the sheet remains in accurate registry throughout the printing operation. Heretofore, as far as I am aware with respect to printing presses of the type illustrated in the drawings, when a sheet having a length more than one-half the circumference of the impression cylinder was printed the transfer means would commence stripping the forward end of the sheet from the impression c linder before the last portion of the sheet lad been printed. This resulted generally, if not always, in movement of the sheet with respect to the impression cylinder so that the sheet would be moved out of registry with the printing forms carried by the form cylinder. I

Printing presses embodying my invention preferably have the feeding mechanism arranged to feed the sheets as closely as pos sible to the printing line between the form and impression cylinders and the transfer cylinder is preferably positioned as closely as is possible to the feeding mechanism. This is accomplished by placing both the feeding mechanism and the transfer cylinder to one side of the impression cylinder, as explained above.

Referring now to Fig. 2, wherein I have shown a multi-color printing press which embodies another form of the invention, the reference characters and 51 designate generally two printing c mples which are operatively connected to each other so that the sheets of paper, or the equivalent, may be printed in one color by the printing couple 50 and printed in another color by the printing couple 51.

The printing couple 50 comprises a form cylinder 52 and an impression cylinder 53 which are of substantially equal diameters. Any suitable means may be provided for feeding the sheets of paper to the printing couple 50. Thus, I have shown a feeding cylinder 54 provided with gripping fingers 55, the gripping fingers 55 being adapted to bring the forward edges of the sheets into registry with gripping fingers 56 carried by the impression cylinder 53. The gripping fingers 56 seize the forward edges of the sheets and carry them around the impression cylinder 53 so that the sheets may be delivered to a conveyor which is designated generally by the reference character 57.

The peripheral speeds of the form cylinders 52, the impression cylinder 53, the feeding cylinder 54 and the conveyor 57 are substantially equal and are also preferably equal to the peripheral speeds of the cylinders (hereinafter described) forming parts of the printing couple 51.

The feeding cylinder 54: is positioned adjacent the form cylinder 52, and it will be noted that the conveyor 57 is adapted to st p the printed sheets from the impression cylinder 53 at a point which is relatively close to the feeding cylinder 54:, the construction being such that a relatively long sheet of paper may be printed between the form cylinder andthe impression cylinder 53 and will remain in accurate registry throughout the impression cylinder 53 until the completion of the printing operation.

The conveyor 57 preferably comprises a cylinder 58 which is disposed in the same vicinity as the feeding cylinder 5%. Trained around the cylinder 58 is a conveyor chain 59 which is also trained around a cylinder 60 associated with the printing couple 51. Intermediate the cylinders 58 and 60, I preferably provide a plurality of cylinders or idlers 61 and 62 over which the conveyor chain 59 is trained, the arrangement being such that the conveyor is substantially L- shape.

The conveyor chain 59 is provided with gripping fingers 64 adapted to receive the sheets of paper from the gripping fingers 5G and to carry them to the printing couple 5]..

The printing couple 51 comprises a form cylinder and an impression cylinder 71,

the cylinders 70 and 71' being ofsubstantially equal diameters, and preferably ofthe same diameters as the cylinders 52 and 53. The impression cylinder 71 is provided with gripping fingers 72 adapted to receive the sheets of paper from the gripping fingers st and to carry them around the impression oylinder Tl so that they may be stripped therefrom by gripping fingers 74 provided upon a transfer cylinder 75 which is disposed adjacent the cylinder 60. The gripping fingers M are adapted to deliver the printed sheets to fingers 2556 provided upon a conveyor chain 22a; which forms part of a conveyor designated generally by the reference character lea.

The conveyor 14a comprises a cylinder 21a which is located below the transfer cylinder 75. In this instance, the conveyor 14a is identical in construction with the conveyor'l l described above and isadapted to deliver the printed sheets to a conveyor (not shown) which is identical with the conveyor described above. This construction insures that the sheets will be delivered and stacked, printed side up. It will be noted that the feeding cylinder 54 and the cylinder 58 are disposed to one side of the impression cylinder 58 and that they arein the vicinity of the form cylinder'52.

The cylinder at the discharge end of'the ccnveyor'59 and the transverse cylinder 74 are disposed to one side of the impression cylinder 51 and are disposed in the same vicinity f the form cylinder 70. Therefore, the coniPlI-lOIl illustrated in Fig. 2 has the same characteristics as the structure shown in 1 he operation of the apparatus shown in Fi 2 is substantially as follows: The sheets 'o v@ printed are delivered one by one to the impression cylinder 53 by the feeding cylinder 5a and are printed as they pass between the form cylinder 52 and the impression cylinder 53. This printing is done in one color, as described above. The gripping fingers 6% of the conveyor 57 strip the sheets from the cylinder 53 after they have been completely printed, as far as the printing couple 50 is concerned. The sheets are then carried along the bottom side of the conveyor 57 and are delivered to the gripping fingers 72 of the impression cylinder 71 to be printed with a different color of ink by the form cylinder 70.- lVhen the sheets have been completely printed by the printing couple 51, the fingers T l of the transfer cylinder 75 engage the front or ges of the printed sheets and strip them from the impression cylinder to deliver them to the conveyor lea. The conveyor Ma and its associated conveyor (not shown) stack the sheets, printed side up.

As set forth above, apparatus embodying the invention permits a sheet of a length more than one-half the circumference of the impression cylinder and that this printing oporation is completed before the forward end of the printed sheet is withdrawn from the impression cylinder. In the illustrated embodiments of the invention, the length of the sheet is, in each instance, more than twothirds of the circumference of the impression roller.

lVhile I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the .invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all. novelty inherent'in my invention as broadly as possible, in View of the prior art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; feeding mechanism disposed in the same vicinity as the form cylinder and adapted to feed sheets to said impression cylinder; and a transfer cylinder disposed on the same side of the impression cylinder as said feeding mechanism and adapted to strip the sheets from said impression cylinder, said sheets making less than one complete revolution of the impression cylinder.

2. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression, cylinder and a form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; mechanism for feeding sheets to said impression cylinder; and a transfer cylinder for'stripping said sheets from said impression. cylinder after they have been printed, said sheets making less than one complete revolution of the impression cylinder, said feeding mechanism and said transfer cylinder being disposed to one side of said impression cylinder. I

'3. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; mechanism for feeding sheets to said impression cylinder; and a transfer cylinder for stripping the printed sheets from said impression cylinder, said sheets making less than one complete revolution of the impression cylinder, said form cylinder, said feeding mechanism and said transfer cylinder being disposed in the same vicinity with respect to said impression cylinder.

l. Ina printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder; mechanism for feeding sheets to said impression cylinder; a transfer cylinder for stripping the printed sheets from said impression cylinder; and a plurality of conveyors in series for delivering the printed sheets from said transfer cylinder and iso turning them to stack them with their printed sides up.

5. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; mechanism for feeding sheets to said impression cylinder in close proximity to the printing line between said impression cylder and said form cylinder; a transfer cylinder positioned in the same vicinity as said feeding mechanism and adapted to strip the printed sheets from said impression cylinder; a conveyor comprising an endless chain equipped with gripping fingers for receiving the printed sheets from said transfer cylinder and for advancing them along the top side of the conveyor; and second conveyor comprising a second endless chain equipped ith gripping lingers adapted to receive the printed sheets from the first mentioned conveyor and adapted to stack the sheet with their printed sides up.

6. In a printing press: printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a forni cylinder of substantially equal diameters; feeding mechanism disposed in the same vicinity as the form cylinder and adapted to feed sheets to said impression cylinder; and means for stripping the printed sheets from said impression cyl nder, said stripping means and said feeding mechanism being disposed to one side of said impression cylinder so that said sheets make less than one complete revolution of said impression cylinder.

7. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; a second printing couple comprising a second impression cylinder and a second form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; mechanism for feeding sheets to the first mentioned impression cylinder in close proximity to the printing line between the first mentioned impression cylinder and the first mentioned form cylinder; a conveyor for transferring the sheets printed by the first mentioned printing couple to said second printing couple, said conveyor being adapted to strip from the first mentioned cylinder at apoint which is in the same vicinity as said feeding mechanism; and means for stripping the sheets from the second impression cylinder after they have been printed by the second printing couple.

8. In a printing press: a printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder mechanism for feeding sheets to said impression cylinder in close proximity to the printing line between said impression cylinder and said form cylinder; a transfer cylinder positioned in the same vicinity as said feeding mechanism and adapted to strip the printed sheets from said impression cylinder; a conveyor comprising an endless chain equipped with gripping fingers for receiving the printed sheets from said transfer cylinder and for advancing them along the top side of the conveyor; and a second conveyor comprising a second endless chain equipped with gripping fingers adapted to receive the printed sheets from the first mentioned conveyor and adapted to stack the sheets with their printed sides up.

9. In a printing press: a, printing couple comprising an impression cylinder and a form cylinder; a second printing couple comprising a second impression cylinder and a second form cylinder of substantially equal diameters; mechanism for feeding sheets to the first mentioned impression cylinder in close proximity to the printing line between the first mentioned impression cylinder and the first mentioned form cylinder; a conveyor for transferring the sheets printed by the first mentioned printing couple to said second printing couple, said conveyor being adapted to strip from the first mentioned cylinder at a point which is in the same vicinity as said feeding mechanism; and means for stripping the sheets from the second impression cylinder after they have been printed by the second printing couple.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my name, this 22d day of December,

CARL HENDERSON.

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