Printing press within tear-line tracing means

A printing press including a printing section delivering printed sheets onto a conveying section at a receiving station, the conveying section incorporating a horizontally movable conveyor provided with grippers for grasping printed sheets discharged from the receiving station and moving them away. A rotary shaft is disposed transversely of and above the conveyor, onto which is provided a tear-line tracer assembly which projects radially and lengthwise of the shaft. This assembly includes a tracer blade having an elongated serrated straight cutting edge extending parallel to the axis of rotation of the shaft and being adapted to produce tear-lines when applied over and across the printed sheets when the latter are moved by the conveyor. A rotary support roll is provided beneath the conveyor and over the top of which printed sheets bear as they are moved by the conveyor. The axes of rotation of the shaft and of the support roll lie in a common vertical plane and the cutting edge of the blade as the tear-line assembly is adjustable, when lying in the aforesaid vertical plane, with respect to the top of the support roll to ensure production of the tear-lines and the printed sheet material when the latter moves therebetween.

The present invention relates to a printing press, particularly of the 
offset type, to which is incorporated a novel means for tracing tear-lines 
on sheet material printed by the printing press. 
A printing press to which the present invention relates generally includes 
a printing section which print sheet material such as sundry bills, 
cheques or the like forms used particularly in commerce and industry and 
hereinafter referred to simply as printed sheets. These printed sheets are 
delivered from the printing section into a receiving station leading the 
printed sheets onto a conveying section which incorporates a horizontally 
movable conveyor provided with grippers grasping the printed sheets 
discharged from the receiving station and moving them to the other end of 
the conveyor to drop them into a collecting tray. Such a press is also 
provided with a machine for numbering the printed sheets during their 
travel on the conveyor. The aforesaid arrangement is of the type disclosed 
in our prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,582 of Jan. 17, 1978 and its 
corresponding Canadian Pat. No. 1,068,157 of Dec. 18.sup.th, 1979. 
However, there is often need for such printed sheets to be provided with 
tear-lines, either longitudinally or transversely, in order to ease and 
afford separation of various sections of the printed sheets. To our 
knowledge, there is not presently available any printing press of the 
above general type which is designed to produce such tear-lines. In 
consequence, when the printed sheets come out of the printing press, they 
have to be processed through a different machine designed especially to 
produce tear-lines. Furthermore, if tear-lines at right angles to one 
another are required on the same printed sheet, the sheets have to be 
processed twice through the machine. This additional machine and step of 
course result in an increased cost of the printed sheets. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to avoid the aforesaid 
disadvantage by providing a printing press which is especially designed 
additionally to allow the production of tear-lines, transversely and/or 
longitudinally of the sheets, whenever required. 
More specifically, the invention essentially lies in the provision of a 
printing press including a printing section delivering printed sheets onto 
a conveying section at a receiving station of the conveying section, the 
latter incorporating a horizontally movable conveyor provided with means 
for gripping the printed sheets discharged from the receiving station and 
moving them away from the receiving station. This printing press is 
characterized by the provision of means for producing tear-lines on the 
printed sheets, such means comprising: a rotary shaft disposed 
transversely of and above the conveyor, adjacent to and downstream of the 
receiving station, this shaft having a tear-like tracer assembly 
projecting radially and lengthwise thereof, which tracer assembly includes 
a tracer blade having an elongated serrated straight cutting edge 
extending parallel to the shaft rotation axis, the serrated cutting edge 
being adapted to produce tear-lines when applied over and across the 
printed sheets as the latter are moved by the conveyor, and a rotary 
support roll beneath the conveyor and over the top of which the printed 
sheets bear as they are moved by the conveyor. The axes of rotation of the 
shaft and of the support roll lie in a common vertical plane and means are 
provided in the said tear-line assembly to adjust the cutting edge of the 
blade, when it lies in the vertical plane, with respect to the top of the 
support roll to ensure proper production of the tear-lines on the printed 
sheet material when the latter moves therebetween. Means are of course 
provided to synchronize the rotation of the rotary shaft and support roll 
with the movement of the conveyor to produce the tear-lines at a selected 
location on the printed sheets. 
Advantageously, the means for producing tear-lines may further include a 
second tracer assembly on the rotary shaft, this second tracer assembly 
comprising a second tracer blade having an elongated straight serrated 
cutting edge extending parallel to the shaft rotation axis and being 
adapted likewise to produce tear-lines when applied over and across the 
printed sheets. Means are also provided adjustably to mount the second 
blade on the shaft to position it at a selected angle with respect to the 
blade of the first tear-line tracer assembly. This second tracer assembly 
affords of course the production of two parallel transverse tear-lines on 
every printed sheet, whenever such are called for. 
The printing press of the invention involves a press roll in the printing 
section adjacent the receiving station, this press roll directing the 
printed sheets toward the receiving station and being rotatable about an 
axis which is parallel to the axes of rotation of the shaft and of the 
support roll. In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the 
means for producing tear-lines includes a third tracer assembly suitable 
to produce tear-lines extending longitudinally of the printed sheets and 
comprising: a mandrel mounted parallel to the surface of the press roll 
and adjacent thereto; at least one circular rotary tracer disk mounted 
radially and at a selected location on the mandrel, this tracer disk 
having a circular serrated cutting edge adapted to produce tear-lines when 
applied over the printed sheets, and means biassing the mandrel toward the 
press roll to apply the tracer disk against the printed sheets as the 
latter are directed toward receiving station by the press roll.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, the printing press is 
shown in its essential parts which are mounted between two upright 
sidewalls 1, 3 of the frame of the press, part of the gear driving and 
synchronizing system being however located outwardly of wall 1, as best 
seen in FIG. 1. 
Printing section P.S. of the press is simply represented by a pair of 
superposed press rolls 5, 7. A printed sheet 9 is illustrated as being 
discharged into the receiving station 11 of a conveying section 13 which 
incorporates a horizontally movable chain conveyor 15 provided with known 
means 17 for gripping the adjacent leading edge of the sheets 9 to move 
them away successively from the receiving station 11 toward the other end 
of the conveyor 15 where they are discharged in a collecting tray, not 
shown. 
The receiving station 11 is made up of a base 19, having an upwardly 
curving sheet guiding top surface 21 tangent to the surface of the roll 5, 
and of a pair of rotary disks 23 cooperating with the surface 21 to press 
therebetween and thus drive the sheets 9 beneath the conveyor 15 and into 
a gripping device 17, there being a series of such gripping devices 17 
spacedly provided along the conveyor 15, as part thereof. Such gripping 
devices ae known and it may be sufficient to indicate that each is formed 
of a series of grippers mounted on a transverse rod 25 of which the ends 
are secured to the chains 27 (FIG. 1) of the conveyor 15, which chains are 
located adjacent to the sidewalls 1, 3. Each gripper in turn comprises a 
pair of jaws 29, 31, normally biassed toward one another by a spring (not 
shown), the lower jaw 29 being secured to the rod 25 while the jaw 31 is 
rotatably mounted thereon and operable by a cam follower 33, reacting 
against the lower surface of a cam 35, to pivot the jaw 31 away from the 
jaw 29 and keep the gripper open until past the downstream end of the cam 
35 at which time the cam follower 33 is released and the jaw 31 spring 
biassed toward the jaw 29 with the leading edge of a sheet 9 therebetween, 
the sheet 9 having been driven into the grippers by the drive action of 
the base 19 and of the disks 23. 
The thus printed sheet 9 then moves over the top surface of a rotary 
support roll 37, located beneath the conveyor 15, which cooperates with 
novel rotary tracer assemblies T.A., disposed above the conveyor 15 to 
produce tear-lines across the printed sheet 9 as will be further described 
hereinafter. 
It will be noted that immediately downstream of the top of the support roll 
37 and past the end of the cam 35 where the grippers 17 grasp the leading 
edge of the sheet 9, there is provided a device 39 adapted to produce a 
vacuum keeping the printed sheet 9 taut between the gripping device 17 and 
the said vacuum device 39. The use of the latter is preferable for the 
number-printing procedure that is to follow since at that time the lagging 
edge of the printed sheet 9 will have left the receiving station 11 and 
consequently no longer pressed by the disks 23 and base surface 21. 
Downstream of the tear-line producing station, aforesaid, is a numbering 
station in which numbers are provided on the successive printed sheets. 
There is, for this purpose, provided a numbering machine 41 having a drum 
43 fixed to a rotary shaft 45 and an impression roll 47 cooperating with 
the machine 41 to print the said numbers. The roll 47 is mounted on a 
rotary shaft 49 and is actuated, in known manner, by an eccentric system 
51 associated with the shaft 49, the purpose being to lift the roll 47 
slightly upwardly and press it against the numbering machine 41 in 
synchronism with the passage of each printed sheet whereby to obtain a 
proper impression. 
As will be noted, the impression roller 47 is suitably notched at 53 to 
allow the passage of the rods 25 on which the grippers 17 are mounted, it 
being thus understood that the peripheral length of the impression roll 47 
between the ends of the notch 53 is generally equal to the length of a 
sheet 9 of printed material. 
The numbering machine 41 is of a conventional type including a well-known 
arrangement of printing wheels having serial numbers thereon which are 
selectively advanced in a known manner by means of a pawl each time a 
number is to be impressed upon a sheet 9. Advancement of the printing 
wheels takes place under the control of an arm 57 which can be selectively 
positioned in the path of a pawl 55 to cam the latter at each revolution 
of the drum 43. 
A likewise conventional removable inking device 59, including a plurality 
of rollers, is positioned in cooperative relationship with the numbering 
machine 41 so as to contact and to ink it either automatically at each 
revolution or manually at selected moment, in known manner. 
Except of course for the presence of the tear-lines assemblies T.A., the 
aforedescribed machine is known and further details thereon are disclosed 
in our aforesaid U.S. and Canadian patents. 
As will be more fully explained hereinafter, the press rolls 5, 7, the 
disks 23, the support roll 37, the tracer assemblies T.A., the numbering 
machine 41 and the impression roll 47 are driven in synchronism with the 
conveyor 15 so that their linear peripheral speed be equal to the linear 
speed of the conveyor 15. With this in mind, the general operation of the 
machine will now be briefly described. 
The printed sheet 9 moves from the press roll 5 into the space between the 
disks 23 and the base 19 to be driven thereby. As the leading edge of a 
sheet 9 reaches past the downstream end of the base 19, it is received in 
the open jaws of the grippers 17. The pushing action of the disks 23 and 
the base 19 causes further advancement of the sheet 9 which thus moves 
over the roll 37 at which time a tear-line is drawn by a tear-line tracer 
assembly T.A. which also has the effect of ensuring that the leading edge 
is properly nested in the space between the jaws 29 and 31 of the grippers 
17. The conveyor chains 27 then move the grippers 17 beyond the cam 35 
thereby freeing the cam follower 33 permitting closing of the jaws 29, 31 
over the leading edge of the sheet 9. After the grippers have moved 
downstream further and pas the vacuum producing device 39, the latter 
ensures tautness of the sheet which is then in an adequate condition to 
receive the numbers from the numbering device 41. 
The description now follows of the novel means for prosducing tear-lines 
which means take the form of a first and second tear-line tracer 
assemblies 61, 63 (referred to hereinabove by the letters T.A.) and a 
third tracer assembly 65, all of which appear in FIGS. 1 and 2, FIG. 3 
being limited to tracer assemblies 61 and 63. 
As best shown in FIG. 3, the tracer assembly 61 is integral with a rotary 
shaft 67 extending across the space between the sidewalls 1 and 3 and 
being rotatably mounted thereon. The axis of the shaft 67 is parallel to 
and lies in the same vertical plane as the axis of rotation of the support 
roll 37, this situation being clearly illustrated in FIG. 2. The shaft 67 
is journalled at 68 (FIG. 3) in the frame walls 1 and 3 of the machine in 
any known manner, having one end extending past sidewall 1 into a stub 
shaft 67' on which a driving gear 77 is removably secured. 
As appears clearly from FIGS. 2 and 3, the first tracer line assembly 61 
projects radially and lengthwise of the shaft 67. It includes a tracer 
blade 83 having an elongated serrated straight cutting edge 85 extending 
parallel to the rotation axis of the shaft 67, the edge 85 thus defining 
spaced teeth suitable to produce tear-lines when pressed on and across the 
printed sheets 9 when the latter pass over the top of the support roll 37. 
The tracer assembly 61 comprises a blade holder 87 formed with an outwardly 
open U-shaped housing 89 into which the tracer blade 83 is slidably 
received to be fixed therein by screw means 91. Thus, the housing 89 and 
screw means 91 constitute means to adjust the position of the cutting edge 
85 with respect to the top of the metal support roll to ensure production 
of tear-lines on the printed sheets 9. More specifically, the adjustment 
is obtained by rotating the assembly 61 so that the cutting edge 85 lies 
in the aforesaid vertical plane of the axes of the shaft 67 and support 
roll 37 when no sheet material lies therebetween. The screws of the screw 
means 91 are then loosened to release the blade 83 and allow it freely to 
fall over the top of roll 37, by mere gravity. The screws are thereafter 
fastened to clamp blade 83 into that position. 
The second tracer assembly 63 also projects generally radially and 
lengthwise of the rotary shaft 67. It comprises a second longitudinal and 
elongated tracer blade 93 provided with transversely elongated fastening 
slots 95. Otherwise, blade 93 is like blade 83 in configuration, having a 
straight serrated cutting edge 97. The assembly 63 also includes means for 
adjustably mounting it on shaft 67 to position the second blade 93 at a 
selected angle with respect to the blade 83 of the first assembly 61. It 
will thus be appreciated that assembly 61 and 63 may be used to produce 
two tear-lines on one printed sheet, the distance between them being of 
course equal to the linear distance along the circular arc separating the 
cutting edges 85 and 97. 
The adjustable mounting means aforesaid for the blade 93 are illustrated in 
the form of a holding plate 99 to which the blade 93 is secured by means 
of screws 101 extending through the elongated slots 95 and threaded into 
tapped holes 103 of the plate 99; the combination blade 93, plate 99 
cooperating with two-part collars 103 which releasably and adjustably 
mount it on the shaft 67 on either side of the blade holder 87 of the 
first assembly 61. 
For this purpose, the holding plate 99 extends beyond the ends of the blade 
93 and is formed with a rounded flanged side edge 105, the rounded flange 
of the extended ends being nested into a likewise rounded groove 107 of 
one part of each collar 103. The grooves 107 lie beneath and at the inner 
ends of holding fingers 109 that project away from the shaft 67 when the 
collars 103 are fixed thereto by means of screws 111 extending freely 
through holes 113 of the other collar parts of the collars 103 to be 
threaded into corresponding tapped holes 115 of the fingered collar parts. 
The holding plate 99 is secured beneath the fingers 109 by nuts 117 
slidable through holes 119 and threaded into tapped holes 121 at the 
extended ends of the holding plate 99. 
It will be gathered from the above description that the second tracer 
assembly 63 can easily be adjusted angularly with respect to the first 
assembly 61 simply by loosening the screws 111, rotating the assembly to 
the desired position and thereafter re-fastening the screws 111. The 
adjustment of the cutting edge 97 of the blade 93 is obtained in the same 
manner as has been described in relation to the blade 83 of the first 
assembly 61. 
It will also be realized that when the tracer assemblies 61, 63 are not 
needed, their respective blades 83 and 93 may simply be slid away toward 
the rotary shaft 67. 
Since, in a printing press of conventional design, the space is quite 
cramped between the main components (the disks 23, the numbering assembly 
including machine 41 and the rolls 47 and 37,) it will be necessary to 
provide adequately disposed spaced cut outs 157 in the disks 23 to allow 
unobstructed passage of the blades of the first and second tracer 
assemblies 61 and 63. 
The third tear-line tracer assembly 65 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 as 
comprising a mandrel 123 mounted parallel to the press roll 5 and somewhat 
adjacent to its surface. A circular tracer disk 125 having a hub 127 is 
releasably secured to it, in any known manner, at a selected position on 
the mandrel 123 which corresponds to the position where a longitudinal 
continuous tear-line is desired on the printing sheet 9. Additional tracer 
disks are of course provided where more than one tear-line is needed. The 
said tracer disk 125 has, similarly to blades 83 and 93, a serrated 
cutting edge which is of course circular and which is suitable to produce 
longitudinal tear-lines when applied over the printed sheets 9. The third 
assembly further includes means biassing the mandrel 123 toward the press 
roll 5 whereby to apply the tracer disk 125 against successive printed 
sheets 9. 
The illustrated biassing means according to this described embodiment 
comprises a pair of bell-crank levers 129 respectively mounted on the 
sidewalls 1, 3 by means of pins 131, integrally or otherwise secured at 
the lever apices, the pins 131 being further journalled across the 
sidewalls 1, 3 to allow free pivotal movement of the bell-crank levers 129 
about a common axis which is parallel to that of the mandrel 123; the 
latter mandrel being mounted in turn and at its free ends, in any known 
manner, for free rotation on the respective ends of one arm 133 of the 
levers 129. An adjustable bias is applied to the respective ends of the 
other arms 135 of the levers 129 to rotate them so as to cause application 
of the tracer disk 125 onto the printed sheet 9. This adjustable bias is 
obtained, in the case of each lever 129, by means of a coil spring 137 
having one end fixed to the free end of the lever arm 135 and the other 
end to the outer end of a finger 139 projecting laterally from a control 
nut 141 which is screwed onto the threaded portion 143 of a rod 145 having 
an unthreaded end 147 slid across a transverse diametral hole of a spindle 
149 fixed, at either end, to the sidewalls 1 and 3. The unthreaded end 147 
has a screw-drive slot 151, as shown. In this manner, as will easily be 
understood from perusal of FIGS. 1 and 3, clockwise rotation of the 
control rod 145 will move the nuts 141 away from the spindle 149, causing 
bell-crank levers 129 to be biassed counterclockwise through the tension 
bias applied to the springs 137, thereby pressing the tracer disk 125 
against the passing printed sheet 9. Reverse rotation of the control rod 
145 will of course produce release of the pressure applied by the tracer 
disk 125. 
A pair of safety support rollers 153 are secured each at one end of the 
rotary mandrel 123 (FIG. 1), being adapted to bear on press roll 5. The 
diameter of the rollers 153 is selected so as to be sufficient to allow 
the production of an adequate longitudinal tear-line on the printed sheets 
9 but sufficient also to prevent undue damage to the peripheral metal 
surface of the press roll 5 by the tracer disk 125 should an excessive 
bias be inadvertently applied by the aforesaid biassing means. 
As mentioned above, the printing press of the invention comprises means 
synchronizing the motion of the rotary shaft 67 and the support roll 37 
with the movement of the conveyor 15 to produce transverse tear-lines on 
the printed sheets 9 at a selected location or locations thereon. The 
synchronizing means shown in the disclosed embodiment is of conventional 
type and may be generally described as follows. 
Power is applied first to a driving gear (not shown) which is that of the 
top press roll 7, which driving gear meshes with a gear 69 (FIG. 1) 
driving the lower press roll 5, the gear 69 meshing in turn with a gear 71 
(FIGS. 1, 4) fixed on a transverse shaft 155 (FIG. 2), journalled on the 
sidewalls 1, 3 and onto which the disks 23 are mounted for rotation. 
Also mounted on the shaft 155 are two sprocket wheels (not shown) driving 
the chains 27 of the conveyor 15. Two further sprocket wheels (not shown) 
are mounted at the other end of the conveying section, acting as driven 
wheels for the chains 27. There are also provided guiding sprocket wheels 
(not shown) whenever required along the top and bottom strands of the 
conveyor chains 27. 
The gear 71 meshes with a pinion 73 (FIGS. 1 and 4) located inwardly of 
sidewall 1 at one end of a shaft (not shown) rotatably journalled on the 
sidewall 1 and extending thereacross, the other end of the said shaft 
having a further pinion 75 secured thereto, this pinion 75 being in mesh 
with the gear 77 previously mentioned as removably secured to the end of 
the shaft 67 for driving the first and second tracer assemblies. This gear 
77 is itself in mesh with and drives gear 76 (FIG. 4) of the support roll 
37. 
Finally, the gears 80 and 81 (FIGS. 1 and 4) of the shafts 49 and 45 of the 
numbering machine 41 intermesh and receive their rotary motion through a 
pinion 79 interconnecting the gears 81 and 77 as shown in FIG. 4. 
With the aforesaid arrangement and as is known, whenever a new printed 
sheet is to be provided with tear-lines at a different location, the 
machine is manually operated until the location on the new printed sheet 
where a tear-line is needed reaches the top of the support roll 37 in the 
vertical plane of the axes of the shaft 67 and roll 37. The gear 77 of the 
shaft 67 is then removed and the fist assembly 61 rotated until the 
corresponding tracer line 85 stands above the location where the tracer 
line is needed. This will of course require that the tracer blade 83 be 
slightly raised into the housing 89. The driving gear 77 is then placed 
back into position. 
A similar procedure is used to locate the second tracer line assembly 63 in 
whatever new position it is needed except that in this case, the assembly 
63 is freely rotated by loosening the two parts of the collars 103. 
It will also be appreciated that, in known manner, the numbering assembly 
located downstream of the tear-line producing assembly is adjusted in a 
similar manner. 
New disks 23 with differently spaced cut outs 157 will of course be needed 
where assemblies 61, 63 are differently located. 
With reference to the third tracer assembly 65 and FIG. 2, it may be added 
that assembly 65 can be placed in inactive position by means of a short 
holding bar 159 provided with an inclined notch 161 applicable about the 
mandrel 123 and with a second notch 163 that can be applied on the 
stationary spindle 149. With such a bar 159 of properly selected length, 
the mandrel 123 may be held away a distance such that the tracer disk 125 
will not be applied on the sheet 9.