Patent Publication Number: US-2007101878-A1

Title: Press unit of a press, and press

Description:
This application claims the priority of German Patent Document No. 10 2005 035 875.6, filed Jul. 30, 2005, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.  
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention relates to a press unit of a press. Furthermore, the invention relates to a press.  
      Press units of web-fed rotary presses, in particular of newspaper presses or illustration presses, have a plurality of printing units, each printing unit comprising at least a transfer cylinder, a form cylinder and an inking unit and, preferably, a damping unit. Printing units without a damping unit are also known. Furthermore, such press units can have impression cylinders, it being possible for an impression cylinder to interact with one or more transfer cylinders of different printing units. In addition to press units which have such impression cylinders, press units which have no impression cylinders are also known, in such press units without impression cylinders the transfer cylinders of two printing units rolling on each other. The transfer cylinders are also designated rubber covered cylinders and the form cylinders are also designated plate cylinders. The form cylinders or plate cylinders carry printing forms.  
      Press units of web-fed rotary presses are increasingly being constructed more compactly, that is to say with smaller dimensions. As a result, the installation space available on the press units of a press decreases, that is to say the space available for the positioning or arrangement of the inking units and damping units. Furthermore, in press units having compact constructions, the access to the cylinders, specifically to the form cylinders and transfer cylinders, is made more difficult.  
      In order to provide a compact construction of press units while simultaneously ensuring good access to the cylinders of the printing units of a press unit, it is already known from German Patent Document No. DE 102 21 330 A1 to move the inking unit and damping unit of printing units of a press unit relative to the cylinders of the printing units, specifically in a direction which runs at right angles to the axial direction of the cylinders of the printing units of a press unit. In the event of such a relative displacement of the inking units and damping units in relation to the cylinders of a press unit, a relatively large free space is needed laterally beside the press unit, into which the inking units and damping units can be moved. Then, if a plurality of such press units are to be combined in a press, this results in a relatively large construction of the press. The same applies to the prior art according to International Publication No. WO 2005/005149 A2.  
      European Patent Document No. EP 0 638 419 B1 discloses a press unit of a web-fed rotary press which has a plurality of printing units, the inking units and damping units of the press units being combined into modular units, which are arranged above and below the printing units and can be moved in the axial direction of the cylinders of the press unit or printing units. As a result of the arrangement of the inking units and damping units above and below the cylinders of the printing units, a relatively high construction for such a press unit results. If a plurality of such press units are to be combined to form a press, then a passage for persons working on the press is left free between adjacent press units, in order in this way to permit access to the cylinders of the printing units and to the inking units and damping units. This also then results in a relatively large construction for a press.  
      Taking this as a starting point, the present invention is based on the problem of providing a novel type of press unit which has a compact construction with good access to the cylinders and which, when a plurality of press units are arranged in a press, also permits a compact construction of the press. Furthermore, the invention is based on the problem of providing a corresponding press.  
      According to the invention, the inking module of the, or each, printing unit is arranged laterally beside the cylinder module of the respective printing unit, it being possible for the inking module of the, or each, printing unit to be moved translationally relative to the cylinder module of the respective printing unit in the axial direction of the cylinders of the cylinder module, in order to move the inking module of the, or each, printing unit between a printing position and a maintenance position.  
      The press unit according to the invention has a particularly compact construction and, furthermore, when a plurality of such press units are incorporated into a press, permits a compact construction of the press. This applies to presses having horizontal web guidance and also to presses having vertical web guidance of the printing material to be printed. As a result of the modularization of the press unit, the flexibility of the same is also increased since, for example, inking modules can simply be replaced. In the maintenance position of the inking modules, all the modules on the press, including the cylinder modules, are easily accessible, so that maintenance or service work can be carried out more easily and more quickly.  
      As a result of the novel type of construction of press units, it is also possible, while maintaining the compact construction and good accessibility to the cylinders, to integrate imaging modules, which are used for the imaging and/or de-imaging of rewritable and erasable printing forms, into the press unit. Instead of the imaging modules, modules for carrying out an automatic plate change can also be integrated into the press units.  
      The, or each, printing unit of the press unit in each case preferably has an imaging module for imaging and/or de-imaging a rewritable and erasable printing form positioned on the form cylinder of the respective printing unit, the imaging module of a printing unit being integrated into the respective printing unit or the press unit in a fixed location, specifically preferably above or below the cylinder module of the respective printing unit. When the inking module of a printing unit is moved into a maintenance position, the form cylinder of the respective printing unit can then be moved in the direction of the imaging module of the respective printing unit.  
      According to the press of the present invention, within the press units, the inking module of each printing unit is arranged laterally beside the cylinder module of the respective printing unit, within the press units it being possible for the inking module of each printing unit to be moved translationally relative to the cylinder module of the respective printing unit in the axial direction of the cylinders of the cylinder module, in order to move the inking module of the respective printing unit between a printing position and a maintenance position, and press units arranged laterally beside one another being positioned at such a short distance from one another that, when the inking modules are moved into the printing position, two press units arranged beside each other are opposite each other directly without any passage.  
      Only when at least one inking module of two press units arranged beside each other is moved into the maintenance position is a passage between the two press units exposed, in order to ensure access to the respective cylinder module of the press unit. In this way, safety on the press is also increased, since, during printing operation in the sense of a closed press, no kind of passages which printers operating on the press can enter are present between the press units. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      Preferred developments of the invention emerge from the following description. Exemplary embodiments of the invention, without being restricted hereto, will be explained in more detail by using the drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic side view of a press unit according to the invention during printing operation in accordance with a first exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 2  shows the press unit of  FIG. 1  in a schematic plan view;  
       FIG. 3  shows a schematic side view of the press unit according to the invention from  FIG. 1  during imaging operation;  
       FIG. 4  shows the press unit of  FIG. 3  in a schematic plan view;  
       FIG. 5  shows a schematic detail of a press according to the invention in the region of four press units according to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 6  shows a schematic detail of a press according to the invention in the region of four press units according to a second exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
       FIG. 7  shows a schematic detail of a press according to the invention in the region of four press units according to a third exemplary embodiment of the invention; and  
       FIG. 8  shows a schematic detail of a press according to the invention in the region of four press units according to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      In the following, the present invention will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS.  1  to  8 .  
      FIGS.  1  to  4  show different views of a press unit  10  according to the invention in a web-fed rotary press according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The press unit  10  illustrated in FIGS.  1  to  4  has four printing units  11 , each of the printing units  11  comprising a transfer cylinder  12 , a form cylinder  13 , an inking unit  14  and a damping unit  15 . In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 1 , in each case two transfer cylinders  12  of the printing units  11  roll on each other, a printing material  16  being moved through the press unit  10  in the vertical direction. Via the inking units  14 , printing ink is transported and, via the damping units  15 , damping solution is transported in the direction of the form cylinders and applied to printing forms which are arranged on the form cylinders  13 . Via the transfer cylinders  12 , the printing ink is then transferred to the printing material  16 , in order to print the same on both sides in the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 .  
      The form cylinders  13  and transfer cylinders  12  of each printing unit  11  form what is known as a cylinder module  17 ; the inking units  14  and damping units  15  of the printing units  11  are combined into inking modules  18 . In order to ensure the most compact construction of the press unit  10  and good access to the cylinders of the same, it is provided, in the sense of the present invention, to position the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  laterally beside the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11 . Accordingly, the inking unit  14  and damping unit  15  of the inking modules  18  are in each case arranged laterally beside the form cylinder  13  of the respective printing unit  11 . The inking modules  18  of the printing units  11 , as can be gathered in particular from  FIG. 4 , can be displaced relative to the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11 , specifically in the axial direction of the transfer cylinders  12  and form cylinders  13 .  
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  in a printing position, in which the inking unit  14  and the damping unit  15  of the inking modules  18  are set against the respective form cylinder  13  of the respective printing unit  11 .  
      On the other hand,  FIGS. 3 and 4  show the press unit  10  in a maintenance position of the inking modules  18 , in which the same have been displaced translationally with respect to the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11  of the press unit  10  in the sense of the double arrows  19  and, accordingly, are set off the form cylinders  13  of the printing units  11 . In the position shown in  FIG. 4 , both the cylinder modules  17  and the inking modules  18  are easily accessible to persons  20  working on the press for maintenance work or setup work.  
      In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIGS.  1  to  4 , the inking modules  18  of printing units  11  arranged above one another can in each case be moved jointly relative to the cylinder groups  17  of the respective printing units  11 . This means that the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 3  on the left-hand side of the printing material web  16  can be moved jointly in the translational direction. Likewise, the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  illustrated on the right-hand side of the printing material  16  can be moved jointly in the translational direction with respect to the cylinder modules  17  of these printing units  11 .  
      A separate imaging module  21  for each printing unit  11  is integrated into the press unit  10  of FIGS.  1  to  4 . Each of the imaging modules  21  is used for de-imaging and imaging rewritable and erasable printing forms positioned on the form cylinders  13 . The press unit  10  illustrated in FIGS.  1  to  4  is accordingly designed as a “computer to press/direct imaging” press unit, as it is known, which operates with rewritable and erasable printing forms. The de-imaging and imaging of the printing forms positioned on the form cylinders  13  is carried out when an inking module  18  is set off the cylinder module  17  of the respective printing unit  11  and has accordingly been moved into the maintenance position. In this case, the form cylinder  13  can then be set against the fixed-location imaging module  21  (see  FIG. 3 ), in order in this way to de-image and to re-image the printing form positioned on the form cylinder  13 . Instead of the imaging modules, modules for carrying out an automatic plate change can also be integrated into the press units.  
       FIG. 5  shows a detail from a press according to the invention in the region of four press units  10 , the press units  10  being constructed in the sense of FIGS.  1  to  4 . In the arrangement of  FIG. 5 , in each case two press units  10  are positioned one above the other, and two press units  10  are positioned beside each other. As a result of the configuration of the press units  10  according to the invention, a particularly compact and space-saving arrangement of the press units  10  within a press is possible.  
      It should be pointed out that the two left-hand press units  10  of the arrangement of  FIG. 5  are illustrated in printing operation, that is to say in the illustration analogous to  FIG. 1 , and the two right-hand press units  10  are illustrated in imaging operation, that is to say in the illustration analogous to  FIG. 3 .  
      As can be gathered from  FIG. 5 , press units  10  positioned beside one another are positioned at such a small distance from one another that, with the inking modules  18  moved into the printing position, two press units  10  arranged beside each other are opposite each other directly, so that no passage for persons working on the press is formed between two press units  10  positioned laterally beside each other.  
      Only when at least one inking module  18  has been moved translationally with respect to a cylinder module  17  of a printing unit  11  of a press unit  10 , into the maintenance position of the same, is a passage between two adjacent press units  10  exposed, so that a person or a printer is able to enter a free space between two adjacent press units  10 .  
      In the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 5 , between two press units  10  arranged laterally beside each other, the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  of the press units  10  arranged beside each other are arranged directly beside each other. When in at least one of the press units  10  an inking module  18  is displaced or moved translationally in relation to the cylinder module  17  into a maintenance position, a free space is exposed between the press units  10 . When two adjacent inking modules  18  of two press units  10  arranged beside each other are moved into the maintenance position, a passage or free space, which corresponds to the dimension of the two adjacent inking modules  18 , is exposed between the press units  10 .  
       FIGS. 6, 7  and  8  show further exemplary embodiments of press units according to the invention and details from presses according to the invention which all in-turn make use of the idea according to the invention, that inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  of the press units  10  are arranged laterally beside the cylinder modules  17  of the respective printing units  11 , and that the inking modules  18  of the printing units  11  can be moved translationally relative to the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11  in the axial directions of the form cylinders  13  and transfer cylinders  12 . In order to avoid unnecessary repetitions, therefore, the same reference numbers are used for the same subassemblies and, in the following text, only the details by means of which the exemplary embodiments of FIGS.  6  to  8  differ from the exemplary embodiment of FIGS.  1  to  5  will be discussed.  
       FIG. 6  shows a detail from a press in the region of four press units  10 , the press units  10  of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 6  in each case comprising an impression cylinder  22 . All the transfer cylinders  12  of the printing units  11  of a press unit  10  in this case roll on a common impression cylinder  22 , the printing material  16  to be printed being moved through between the transfer cylinders  12  and the impression cylinder  22 . The exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 6 , just like the exemplary embodiment of FIGS.  1  to  5 , also relates to a press having a vertical web run of the printing material web to be printed, that is to say a web-fed rotary press constructed as a newspaper press.  
       FIG. 7  shows a detail from a press according to the invention in the region of three press units  10  according to the invention, each of the press units  10  of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 7  comprising two printing units  11 . In this case, once more the transfer cylinders  12  of two printing units  11  roll on each other, a printing material  16  being transported between two transfer cylinders  12  with a horizontal web run. The arrangement of  FIG. 7  is accordingly a detail from a web-fed rotary press constructed as an illustration press.  
      In the press units  10  of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 7 , the inking modules  18  are also positioned laterally beside the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11  and can be moved translationally with respect to the cylinder modules  17  in the axial direction of the cylinders. In this way, the inking modules  18  can be moved between a maintenance position and a printing position. In a position moved into the printing position, the inking modules  18  are set against the cylinder modules  17  of the printing units  11 . On the other hand, in a position moved into the maintenance position, the inking modules  18  are set off the cylinder modules  17 , in this case it being possible for the form cylinders  13  to be set against imaging modules  21  of the printing units  11 , in order to de-image and to image printing forms positioned on the form cylinders  13 .  
      In the arrangement of  FIG. 7 , the two lower press units  10  positioned beside each other are also positioned at such a short distance from each other that, when the inking modules  18  are moved into the printing position, no passage is formed between the two press units  10  arranged beside each other. Only when the inking modules  18  of a press unit  10  are displaced in the axial direction of the cylinder modules  17  of the respective press unit  10  into a maintenance position is a passage between two press units  10  arranged beside each other exposed, so that the cylinder modules  17  and inking modules  18  are then accessible for maintenance work or setup work.  
      A further detail from a web-fed press constructed as an illustration press, in the region of two press units  10 , is shown by  FIG. 8 . The press units  10  of the exemplary embodiment of  FIG. 8  correspond substantially to the press units  10  of the exemplary embodiment of FIGS.  1  to  4 . The single difference is that in  FIG. 8  there is a horizontal web run of the printing material web to be printed, and in FIGS.  1  to  4  there is a vertical web run of the printing material web to be printed. In order to avoid unnecessary repetitions, reference can accordingly also be made here to the above explanations.  
     LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS  
     
         
         
           
               10  Press unit  
               11  Printing unit  
               12  Transfer cylinder  
               13  Form cylinder  
               14  Inking unit  
               15  Damping unit  
               16  Printing material  
               17  Cylinder module  
               18  Inking module  
               19  Direction of movement  
               20  Person  
               21  Imaging module  
               22  Impression cylinder  
           
         
       
    
      The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.