Suction unit in sheet-fed rotary printing press

Abstract: A suction unit in a sheet-fed rotary printing press includes a plurality of suction wheels (45A to 45E), a plurality of supports (24), a drive shaft (20), a motor (21), a shaft (19,42), a coupling (23), a bearing, a sleeve, and a gear, and a knob (56) and a screw (57). The suction wheels are provided below a sheet convey path to draw a sheet-like printing product into slidable contact by suction. The supports support the suction wheels to be movable in a sheet convey direction. The drive shaft, motor, shaft, coupling, bearing, sleeve, and gear drive the suction wheels in the sheet conveying direction. The knob and screw detachably fix the suction wheels to the supports. The suction wheels are connected to/disconnected from the drive shaft, motor, shaft, coupling, bearing, sleeve, and gear when the suction wheels are fixed to/released from the supports by the knob and screw.

Description: Background of the Invention The present invention, in general, relates to a suction unit associated with a delivery unit in a sheet-fed rotary printing press, which draws a printing product being conveyed in a slidable contact state by suction, and decelerates it. The invention concerns the problem of facilitating adjustment of such suction units and therefore, in detail, relates to a suction unit as specified in the preamble of patent claim 1. In general, in a sheet-fed rotary printing press, a printing product (to be referred to as a sheet hereinafter) printed by a printing unit is transferred from the grippers of an impression cylinder to the grippers of delivery chains, conveyed, released from the grippers at a convey terminal end, and dropped onto a pile board and stacked there. In this delivery unit, as the sheet to be conveyed is merely gripped at its leading end by the grippers, the trailing end of the sheet may flap. When the gripped sheets are released and dropped, the ends of the stacked sheets may not be aligned since traveling inertia remains in the sheets. In order to prevent this, a countermeasure is proposed as shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-26288. According to this reference, a plurality of suction wheels each having suction surfaces are aligned near the convey terminal end in the widthwise direction of the sheet (a direction perpendicular to the convey direction). A sheet released from grippers is attached to the surfaces of the suction wheels so that the sheet convey speed is decreased. In this suction unit, the suction wheels that rotate at a peripheral velocity lower than the printed sheet convey speed are formed upstream of the delivery unit in the delivery direction. The suction surfaces connected to a suction air source are formed in the circumferential surfaces of the suction wheels to draw a sheet by suction while coming into slidable contact with the sheet. When the suction unit having the above arrangement is used in a perfector, if the suction wheels are arranged at positions corresponding to an image printed on the lower surface of the sheet, the suction surfaces of the suction wheels damage the image printed on the sheet and degrade the printing quality. For this reason, the suction wheels must be arranged to correspond to non-image areas where ink is not attached to the sheet. In the non-image areas, the number of images changes depending on plate making for the image (image assignment in the widthwise direction of the sheet). Accordingly, the number of suction wheels must also be changed in accordance with the number of images. In the conventional suction unit of the sheet-fed rotary printing press, since a drive shaft extends through the suction wheels, the suction wheels cannot be removed from the drive shaft. If some wheels may not be used as the result of a change in image plate making, unnecessary suction wheels must be moved to the outer side of the sheet width, which is cumbersome. In a printing press serving as both a perfector and a single-sided printing press, when double-sided printing is to be performed, suction wheels each having a width smaller than the width of a non-image area are required. In single-sided printing, when high-speed printing is to be performed on a thick sheet, wide suction wheels having a large suction force are required. When these suction wheels are required, the entire assembly of the suction wheel is exchanged. Alternatively, both suction wheels required for double-sided printing and single-sided printing are mounted in the suction wheel assembly, and an unnecessary suction wheel is moved outside the sheet in the sheet widthwise direction, as described above. In a general attempt to provide braking means including suction means in a sheet-fed rotary printing press, the position and number of which can be changed in accordance with a change in number and position of non-image areas, a unit as set forth in the preamble of patent claim 1 has become known from DE 28 11 963 A1. The specific structure shown therein requires the loosening and re-fastening of locking screws to enable the adjusting of each individual holder of the braking means. Summary of the Invention It is therefore the object of the invention to improve the suction unit according to the preamble of patent claim 1 in a manner to enable a simultaneous adjustment operation for plural suction members regarding their position relative to the printed products under work and thus to reduce the operational time required for adjustment. In order to achieve this object, according to the present invention, a suction unit according to the preamble of claim 1 is designed with the features pertaining to the thread arrangements as outlined in the characterizing portion of claim 1. Brief Description of there Drawings Fig. 1 is a side view schematically showing a delivery unit for a sheet-fed rotary printing press; Figs. 2A and 2B are plan views respectively showing the right and left halves of a suction unit in a sheet-fed rotary printing press according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III - III of Fig. 2A; Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV - IV of Fig. 2A; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line V - V of Fig. 2A Fig. 6A is a sectional view taken along the line V' - V' of Fig. 2A, and Fig. 6B is a sectional view taken along the line VI' - VI' of Fig. 6A; Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken along the line VI - VI of Fig. 2A; Figs. 8A and 8B are views for explaining the positions of suction wheels in the case of four-surface printing and two-surface printing, respectively; and Figs. 9A and 9B are views for explaining the positions of the suction wheels when the paper size is changed. Description of the Preferred Embodiment The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to the embodiment of Fig. 1, a pair of sprockets 3 are rotatably provided to the rear portion, seen in the sheet conveying direction of a pair of opposing in the sheet convey direction, of a pair of opposing frames 2a and 2b of a delivery unit 1. A pair of sprockets 4 is rotatably provided in the front portion, seen in the sheet conveying direction, of frames 2a and 2b. A pair of delivery chains 5 extends between sprockets 3 and 4. Gripper bars 6 extend between the delivery chains 5 at a predetermined pitch. Each gripper bar 6 is provided with a gripper unit (not shown) composed of a gripper and a gripper pad. As the delivery chains 5 travel, a sheet 7 printed by the printing apparatus main body is conveyed in the direction of arrow A as it is gripped by the gripper units. At the terminal end, the sheet 7 is released from the gripper units, dropped onto a pile board 8 and stacked thereon. The sheets 7 on the pile board 8 are aligned in the vertical direction by their leading ends abutting against a paper lay 9, and in the horizontal direction by a side jogger plate 10. A suction unit 12 is provided upstream of the conveying terminal end to reduce the traveling inertia of the sheet 7 transferred to the pile board 8. The suction unit 12 shown in Figs. 2A and 2B is provided with a pair of opposing frames 15 and 16. A pair of stays 17 and 18 extends between frames 15 and 16, and a shaft 19 also extends horizontally therebetween. Shaft 19 is rotated by a drive unit (not shown) to move suction unit 12 in the vertical direction of sheet 7. A shaft 22 of a motor 21 fixed to frame 16 is connected, through a coupling 23, to the end, projecting from the frame 16, of a drive shaft 20 rotatably supported between frames 15 and 16. A support 24 extending between stays 17 and 18 supports shaft 19 and rotatably as well as axially supports drive shaft 20 through a bearing. A support plate 26 is attached to the outer side of frame 15 through studs 25, and a cylindrical operation shaft 27 is rotatably supported by the support plate 26. A handle 28 is axially mounted on one end of operation shaft 27 which projects from the support plate 26. One end of a connecting shaft 29 is fitted in and fixed to the other end of operation shaft 27. When a head 30a of an operation shaft movement adjusting member 30 threadably engaging with the threaded portion of the frame 15 is rotated with a spanner or the like, all of suction wheels 46A-46E, forming components of suction wheel unit 45A-45E of said suction unit 12 and to be described further below, move at once in a direction of arrows B - C. Movement of member 30 is regulated by urging the distal end of a set screw 31 against the threaded portion on the surface of member 30. Connecting shaft 29 is rotatably supported in a through hole 30b extending through member 30 in the axial direction. A pair of rings 32 is axially mounted on connecting shaft 29 sandwiching the two ends of member 30, thereby regulating the movement of connecting shaft 29 in the axial direction (the direction of the arrows B - C). A pointer 33 is attached to the connecting shaft 29 such that it moves together with connecting shaft 29 when the latter moves in the axial direction, while it is rotatable when connecting shaft 29 rotates. A scale 34 is formed on the stay 17 and corresponds with the distal end of pointer 33. The other end of connecting shaft 29 is connected to one end of a first screw rod 35 through a connecting member 36. The axis of first screw rod 35 coincides with that of connecting shaft 29. Rod 35 rotates together with connecting shaft 29. The other end of rod 35 is connected to one end of a second screw rod 37, whose axis coincides with that of first screw rod 35. Second screw rod 37 rotates with first screw rod 35. The other end of a shaft portion 37a, which corresponds to a portion of second screw rod 37 extending from substantially its center to the other end not formed with a threaded portion, is connected to one end of a third screw rod 39 through a connecting member 38. The axis of third screw rod 39 coincides with that of shaft portion 37a. Third screw rod 39 rotates together with shaft portion 37a. The other end of third screw rod 39 is connected to one end of a fourth screw rod 40, whose axis coincides with that of third screw rod 39. Fourth screw rod 40 rotates together with the third screw rod 39. Its other end is connected to one end of a shaft 42 through a connecting member 41. The axis of shaft 42 coincides with that of rod 40. Shaft 42 rotates together with rod 40. The shaft 42, the shaft portion 37a of the second screw rod 37, and the connecting shaft 29 are rotatably supported through the support 24 and another support (not shown). The pitches of first and fourth screw rods 35 and 40 located on two end sides of frames 15 and 16 are set to be substantially twice those of the second and third screw rods 37 and 39, respectively, located at the center between frames 15 and 16. First and second screw rods 35 and 37 form right-hand threads, and third and fourth screw rods 39 and 40 form left-hand threaded screws. Four suction wheel units 45A, 45B, 45D, and 45E, and one suction wheel unit 45C are axially mounted on first to fourth screw rods 35, 37, 39, and 40, and shaft portion 37a of the second screw rod 37, respectively. The suction wheel units 45A to 45E have similar structures, as will become apparent from the description of their function in context with said screw rods. The structure of the suction wheel unit 45A will be described with reference to Fig. 4. The suction wheel unit 45A is constituted by a suction wheel 46A, a duct 47, and a lid 48 interposed between the duct 47 and suction wheel 46A. The latter is formed with a large number of slit-like air paths 46a at equal pitches in its rotational direction. One side surface and the circumferential end face of each air path 46a are open. The openings in the circumferential end face of wheel 46A form suction holes 46b. The consequently large number of suction holes 46b are formed at equal pitches in the circumferential surface of wheel 46A. The lid 48 is a flat plate having substantially the same outer diameter as the outer diameter of suction wheel 46A. A window 48a having a semicircular shape when seen from the side surface is formed in the upper portion of lid 48. The duct 47 is formed with a hollow portion 47a having one side surface opening to lid 48. In this structure, lid 48 is fixed to duct 47 with a set screw 49 such that its window 48a opposes hollow portion 47a. A screw 51 is fitted in the center hole of wheel 46A through a sleeve 50 and also extends through the center hole of duct 47. With a nut 52 being threadably engaged with screw 51, suction wheel 46A is rotatably supported by duct 47 through sleeve 50. Suction wheel unit 45A is fixed to a support 55A by means of a screw 57 carrying a knob 56. A through hole 55b (see Fig. 6A), through which the drive shaft 20 extends via a sleeve 62, is formed in the support 55A. As shown in Fig. 3, a bush 58 formed with a threaded portion to threadably engage with first screw rod 35 is fitted on and fixed to support 55A such that its circumferential movement is regulated by a rotation preventive member 58a. A paper guide 153 is screwed to the duct 47. The second, third, and fourth screw rods 37, 39, and 40 respectively threadably engage with the threaded portions of bushes 58 of supports 55B, 55D, and 55E of the suction wheel units 45B, 45D, and 45E. A through hole (not shown) for insertion of the shaft portion 37a of the second screw rod 37 is formed in a support 55C of central suction wheel unit 45C. The arrangement of suction wheel unit 45B will be described with reference to Fig. 5. The suction wheel unit 45D is similar to wheel unit 45B, with only their thread directions being different. Suction wheel unit 45B is different from suction wheel unit 45A in that unit 45B can be adjusted movably in the direction of the arrows B - C. Referring to Fig. 5, a pivotal member 53 formed with a small-diameter portion 53a threadably engages with second screw rod 37. A support 54B is integrated with duct 47 by a set screw 54a. The small-diameter portion 53a of paper guide 153 extends through a through hole formed in the lower portion of support 54B, which is sandwiched by a removal preventive ring 54b and a step 53b of pivotal member 53, and moves together with the latter in the direction of arrows B - C. A bolt 54c threadably engages with support 54B. The pivotal member 53 is fixed to support 54B by bolt 54c. When the bolt 54c is loosened, the pivotal member 53 can pivot to adjust unit 45B movably in the direction of arrows B - C through support 54B. As shown in Fig. 6A, a hollow portion 55c extending in the back-and-forth direction of the sheet is formed in the lower portion of support 55A. One end side of hollow portion 55c communicates with the hollow portion 47a of the duct 47. An opening formed at the other end side of support 55C is connected to one end of a hose 59 which is connected to a suction air source (not shown) at its other end. Namely, the air paths 46a of suction wheel 46A, the window 48a of lid 48, the hollow portion 47a of duct 47, the hollow portion 55c of support 55A, and the hose 59 communicate with each other. Therefore, the outer air near the suction holes 46b of the suction wheel 46A is drawn-in by the suction air source through air paths 46a, the window 48a, the hollow portion 47a, the hollow portion 55c and hose 59, to attract sheet 7 by the circumferential surface of suction wheel 46A. The hose 59 is made of a flexible member and connected to the suction air source with a margin. Accordingly, even when unit 45A is moved as will be described later, hose 59 is kept connected to the suction air source. The structure for rotatably driving suction wheel 46A will be described with reference to Figs. 6A and 6B, and Fig. 7. As shown in Fig. 6A, the diameter of the through hole 55b is larger than the diameter of drive shaft 20 and receives a bearing 60 therein. The sleeve 62 fitted on shaft 20 has a two-forked portion on which a spring 66 is wound. As shown in Fig. 6B, these portions constitute a pair of arcuate rotation transmitting portions 62a opposing each other. Sleeve 62 is inserted in the through hole 55b of support 55A through bearing 60. Support 55A is sandwiched by a pair of removal preventing rings 63 fixed to sleeve 62, to regulate axial movement of sleeve 62 with respect to support 55A. As shown in Fig. 6B, a pair of arcuate holders 65 whose outer diameter is slightly larger than that of the rotation transmitting portions 62a are interposed between these portions 62a of sleeve 62. Spring 66 is wound on these holders 65 to press them against the drive shaft 20 with its fastening force. Since spring 66 fastens the holders 65, they integrally rotate with the rotation of drive shaft 20. As the holders 65 rotate, the portions 62a also rotate to transmit rotation of shaft 20 to sleeve 62. As shown in Fig. 7, a gear 68 which rotates together with sleeve 62 is fitted on and fixed to one end of sleeve 62 through a bush 67. Gear 68 has teeth of the same pitch as the pitch of suction holes 46b of wheel 46A and thus meshes with these holes 46b. When shaft 20 is rotated by motor 21, gear 68 rotates through holders 65 and sleeve 62 such that wheel 46A also rotates about sleeve 50 as the center of rotation (see Fig. 4). In this case, the outer diameter of the portions 62a is smaller than the outer diameter of holders 65. Therefore, the sleeve 62 is supported movably with respect to shaft 20 in axial direction, i.e., in the widthwise direction (arrows B - C) of the sheet. The sleeve 62 and the support 55, the axial movement of which is regulated, can also move with respect to shaft 20 in the direction of arrows B - C. The sheet suction operation of the suction unit will be described, hereinafter. Referring to Fig. 1, after printing, sheet 7 is gripped by the gripper units of the delivery chains 5 and conveyed to delivery sheet pile board 8. At the conveying terminal end, when the gripped end of sheet 7 passes the suction wheels 46A to 46E, the sheet 7 travels in slidable contact therewith. Referring to Figs. 2A and 2B, upon rotation of motor 21 and drive shaft 20, the respective gears 68 also rotate through the respective sleeves 62 of the suction wheel units 45A to 45E, thereby rotating suction wheels 46A to 46E. Surrounding air is drawn by the suction air source (not shown) through the suction holes 46b (Fig.4). Therefore, the sheet 7 is conveyed as it attaches to the circumferential surfaces of suction wheels 46A to 46E. As a result, the sheet 7, whose speed is reduced to lower than its conveying speed, is kept taut in the horizontal state. Accordingly, the traveling inertia of the sheet 7 is attenuated, and the sheets dropped and stacked on pile board 8 are aligned well. With reference to Figs. 8A and 8B, it will now be described how to remove non-used suction wheels when a change in image plate making for sheet 7 occurs. Referring to Fig. 8A, when four-surface printing is to be performed to print an image on sheet 7, four image areas 70A to 70D and five non-image areas 71A to 71E are assigned to the sheet 7. In this case, the suction wheels 46A to 46E are positioned to correspond to respective non-image areas 71A to 71E. As shown in Fig. 8B, when the number of images in plate making is to be reduced to switch to two-surface printing, two image areas 72A and 72B and three non-image areas 73A to 73C are assigned to a sheet 7a. In this case, since the suction wheels 46B and 46D, which were positioned to correspond to the non-image areas 71B and 71D, now correspond to the image areas 72A and 72B, these suction wheels 46B and 46D cannot be used. To cope with this requirement the suction wheels 46B and 46D are removed by rotating the knobs 56 of the screws 57 (see Fig.4) to disengage these from the ducts 47, and the suction wheel units 45B and 45D may be removed from their supports 55. When double-sided printing is to be switched to single-sided printing to perform printing on a thick sheet at high speed, all suction wheels 46A to 46E have to be removed by rotating the knobs 56. Instead, wider suction wheels are mounted on the supports 55 of the units 45A to 45E by operation reverse to that described above. According to this embodiment, when image plate making is to be changed, suction wheels 46B and 46D corresponding to image areas 72A and 72B can be removed easily by rotating knobs 56. This leads to improved operability. When high-speed single-sided printing is to be performed on a thick sheet, a larger suction force can be obtained with wider suction wheels. This solves conventional flapping of the trailing end of the sheet, or misalignment of the ends of stacked sheets occurring due to the traveling inertia when gripped sheets are released and dropped. In double-sided printing, narrow wheels capable of stopping sheets at positions matching the image can be mounted. Therefore, slacking of the sheet at an intermediate portion thereof can be prevented. The suction wheel positioning operation which is performed when the size or image of the sheet 7 is changed will be described with reference to Figs. 9A and 9B, hereafter. Referring to Fig. 9A, image plate making of the sheet 7 is determined as four-surface printing, and four image areas 70A to 70D and five non-image areas 71A to 71E are assigned to sheet 7. Wheels 46A to 46E are positioned to correspond to non-image areas 71A to 71E. As shown in Fig. 9B, when the sheet size is changed to a larger sheet 7A, the widths of image areas 72A to 72D become larger than the widths of image areas 70A to 70D of sheet 7 by L. In this case, non-image areas 73A, 73B, 73D, and 73E are assigned with a larger span than that of the non-image areas 71A, 71B, 71D, and 71E of sheet 7 with reference to center G - G seen widthwise. More specifically, the non-image areas 73D and 73E are assigned at positions shifted from the non-image areas 71D and 71E, located to the left from the center G - G, to the left by distances L and 2L, respectively. The non-image areas 73A and 73B are assigned at positions shifted from the non-image areas 71A and 71B, located to the right from the center G - G, to the right by distances L and 2L, respectively. The handle 28 is rotated to rotate operation shaft 27, thereby rotating the first to fourth screw rods 35, 37, 39, and 40 through connecting shaft 29. The respective supports 55 of the suction wheel units 45A to 45E are supported movably in the direction of the arrows B - C by drive shaft 20 through sleeve 62. Thus, when the screw rods 35, 37, 39, and 40 are rotated, supports 55, whose bushes 58 threadably engage with these screw rods 35, 37, 39, and 40, move in the direction of arrows B - C while guided by the drive shaft 20. In this case, the first and second screw rods 35 and 37 located to the right (direction of arrow C) from the center form right-hand threads, and the third and fourth screw rods 39 and 40 located to the left (direction of arrow B) from the center form left-hand threads. As screw rods 35 and 37 rotate, the suction wheel units 45A and 45B move in direction C. Simultaneously, as the screw rods 39 and 40 rotate, units 45D and 45E move in direction B. The pitches of the outer first and fourth screw rods 35 and 40 are twice those of the inner second and third screw rods 37 and 39. When the inner units 45B and 45C move by distance L, the outer units 45A and 45E move by 2L. Therefore, all of the suction wheels 46A to 46E are positioned simultaneously to correspond to the non-image areas 73A to 73E of the sheet 7A. According to this embodiment, since the positions of the counter handle side suction wheel units 45D and 45E are adjusted by operation of handle 28 from the center in the widthwise direction of the sheet 7, operability can be increased. Since the suction wheel positioning operation is performed by handle 28 provided outside the suction wheel units, operability is improved regarding the conventional positioning operation performed among, i.e. inside the suction wheel units. Suction wheel positioning performed when the number of images in plate making is changed or plate making is changed to nonuniform plate making will be described now. To change the number of images in plate making from four-surface printing to three-surface printing, the handle 28 is pivoted to move the suction wheel units 45A to 45E to the margins (non-image areas) on the two ends of the sheet. The bolts 54c (Fig. 5) of units 45B and 45D are loosened, and the pivotal members 53 are moved to move suction wheel units 45B and 45D in the sheet widthwise direction (arrows B - C) separately. After the suction wheel units 45B and 45D have been positioned at the margins (non-image areas) inside the sheet widthwise direction, bolts 54c are fastened. Finally, the knobbed screw 57 of the central suction wheel unit 45C is loosened to remove the suction wheel unit 45C from the support 55. As a result, the suction wheel units 45A, 45B, 45D, and 45E are positioned in the non-image areas of the sheet. Adjusting as performed when the center of a plate (not illustrated) is positionally offset in the sheet widthwise direction, will now be described. In such case, all suction wheels 46A to 46E do not correspond to non-image areas 71A to 71E of the sheet 7. First, set screw 31 (Fig. 2A) is loosened and head 30a of the operation shaft movement adjusting member 30 is rotated with a spanner or the like to move this member 30 in the direction of arrows B - C. By this movement, the connecting shaft 29 is moved in direction B - C through the pair of rings 32, and screw rods 35, 37, 39, and 40 are also moved at once in direction B - C by the same amount. As a result, wheels 46A to 46E can be positioned in the non-image areas 71A to 71E. According to this embodiment, the adjusting operation is easy, and suction wheels 46A to 46E will not erroneously come into slidable contact with the ink of a printed portion, so that the printing quality can be improved. To adjust movement of suction wheels 46A to 46E, the positional error amount of the suction wheel 46 on the sheet 7 as the positional error amount of the plate may be set by using pointer 33 and scale 34. This enables decreasing the number of times of test printing and reducing the amount of wasted paper. Since the adjusting operation can be performed rather simply and quickly, productivity may be improved. In the above embodiment, if an air source which can be switched between suction and exhaust is connected to the pipes connected to suction wheels 46A to 46E, air ducts may be mounted on the supports 55 in place of wheels 46A to 46E. In this case, if air is blown from the air ducts toward the outer side or upper side of the sheet widthwise direction, slacking of the sheet at the intermediate portion may be prevented. In place of suction wheels 46A to 46E, suction units having various types of pivotal belts can be mounted on the supports 55. Therefore, the printing press can cope with various types of printing, leading to improved versatility. Sheet 7 can be any sheet-like printing product including a film. Since the suction members can be removed from the wheel units, a suction member which is not in use can be handled easily. Since another suction member, a paper receiving wheel, and the like can be attached and detached easily, the printing. press can cope with various types of printing, leading to improved versatility. Since the suction members can be driven rotatably with one drive shaft by utilizing the suction holes of the suction surfaces, the structure will become much simpler.

Claims: A suction unit (12) in a sheet-fed rotary printing press, said suction unit comprising: a plurality of suction members (45A - 45E) provided below a sheet conveying path for drawing a sheet-like printing product (7) into slidable contact by suction; a plurality of support members (55, 55A - 55E) for supporting said suction members movably in the sheet conveying direction (A); a drive mechanism (20 - 23, 60, 62, 68) for driving said suction members in the sheet conveying direction (A); a fixing member (56, 57) for detachably fixing/releasing said suction members to/from said support members to connect/disconnect said suction members to/from said drive mechanism, respectively; and a support mechanism (20, 35, 37, 39, 40) for movably supporting said support members in a direction (B - C) perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction (A), characterized in that said support mechanism comprises a rotatably supported screw shaft (35, 37, 39, 40) having first threaded portions, said support members (55) have a second threaded portion (58), each, threadably engageable with an associated one of said first threaded portions of said screw shaft, and said support members move in a direction (B - C) perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction upon rotational movement of said screw shaft, wherein said first and second threaded portions form thread pairs, each, being designed with different types of thread such that one type is provided per threaded-portion pair and differs from another type at least with respect to the thread pitch and/or direction of thread, with one type of thread each forming one thread portion. A unit according to claim 1, wherein said suction members (45A - 45E) each have at least one suction hole (46b) for sucking the sheet-like printing product (7) in the sheet conveying direction (A). A unit according to claim 2, wherein said suction members (45A - 45E) comprise suction wheels (46A - 46E) each having a circumferential surface formed with a large number of suction holes(46b), said drive mechanism (20 - 23, 60, 62, 68) rotatably drives said suction wheels in the sheet conveying direction, and said support members (55; 55A - 55E) rotatably support said suction wheels (46A - 46E). A unit according to claim 3, wherein said drive mechanism (20 - 23, 60, 62, 68) rotatably drives said suction wheels (46A - 46E) in the sheet conveying direction (A) at a speed lower than the sheet conveying speed. A unit according to any one of claims 3 or 4, wherein said drive mechanism comprises a drive shaft (20) rotatably driven by a drive source (21) and a gear (68) rotating together with said drive shaft to mesh with said suction holes (46b) of said suction wheels (46A - 46E) , and wherein said suction holes are formed with the same pitch as that of the teeth of said gear. A unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein said suction members (45A - 45E) are arranged in the widthwise direction of the printing product. A unit according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein said suction wheels (46A - 46E) comprise at least a first type of suction wheel having a comparatively narrow circumferential surface and a second type of suction wheel having a comparatively wide circumferential surface, and wherein type and number of said first and second suction wheels are set in accordance with the printing mode and the number of images in plate making. A unit according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said first threaded portion forms threads in different directions at one side and the other side thereof with respect to the centre position of the sheet width in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction as a boundary. A unit according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein said first threaded portion comprises a plurality of male threads formed at a predetermined interval in an axial direction of said screw shaft, and said male threads are formed with different pitches in accordance with distances thereof from a reference position in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction. A unit according to any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising an adjusting mechanism (29, 30, 32) which moves said support mechanism in a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction to adjust positions of said suction members. A unit according to claim 9, wherein said reference position is the centre position regarding the sheet width.

Inventors: AOKI TAKANOBU, AOKI, TAKANOBU, Aoki, Takanobu, c/o Toride-Plant-Komori Corp.
Applicants: KOMORI PRINTING MACH, KOMORI CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: B41F21
IPC codes: B65H29