Improvements in Rotary Printing Machines.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 25th Apr., 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rotary Printing Machines.
1, JULES MICHAUD, of 96, Rue d'Assas, Paris, France, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This, invention relates to an improved rotary printing machine for producing
one or more impressions, in one or in several colours, on one side or on both sides
of sheets of paper. These sheets may be fed to the machine by hand, or they may
be cut from a web of paper which unwinds from a reel, in which latter case they
may be cut to the desired length either before or after printing.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a machine for printing one impression on one
side of the sheets, and several impressions on the other side thereof.
Fig. 2 illustrates the arrangement for producing several impressions on each side
of the sheets.
In Fig. I the web of paper from a reel 1 is carried forward by the rollers 2
and 3, and cut to the desired length by the cylinders 4 and 5, when the severed
sheet is seized by the grippers of the cylinder 6, and is printed by the printing
cylinder 7, after which it is transmitted to the grippers of the cylinder 9, and
printed on the opposite side by the cylinders 10, 11, 12, 13, the stereos or plates on
which may be inked with different coloured inks; the grippers of cylinder 14 then
seize the sheet and transmit it to suitable delivery or folding apparatus. This
cylinder 14 may itself serve as an accumulating cylinder to gather a certain number
of sheets.
The number of printing cylinders, such as 10, 11, etc., employed with the second
impression cylinder is variable, and depends upon the nature of the work to be
executed. The diameter of cylinder 9 varies with the number of printing cylinders
with which it is in contact, so that no matter what this number, a part of cylinder 9
will always be free for "making ready." In the machine shown in Fig. 1, the
cylinder 9 is three times the diameter of the cylinders 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13.
The sheets seized by the grippers 8 on cylinder 9 are laid upon the part 15 of
cylinder 9, and the parts 16 and 17 of such cylinder need not be utilized, in which
case they will be lower than the part 15, so as not to enter into contact with
the cylinders 10, 11, 12, 13, which make three revolutions for one revolution of the
cylinder 9.
Cylinder 6 also makes three revolutions for one revolution of the cylinder 9, and
it is the same with cylinder 7.
Cylinder 6 must therefore only take the sheets to be printed at every third
revolution. As during the other two revolutions this cylinder must not enter into
contact with cylinder 7, I employ the following arrangement for removing it from
the latter:-
-
A cam 18 fixed on the shaft of cylinder 9 acts upon a lever 19 pivotted at 20, and
through which lever passes the shaft 21 of cylinder 6, which it carries with it in its
movement; the arrangement of the cam is such that cylinder 6 is moved away from
cylinder 7 during two revolutions of the latter. There are two cams 18 and two
levers, one situated at each end of cylinder 6. If the diameter of cylinder 9 was
four times that of cylinder 6, the latter would remain moved away from cylinder 7
for three revolutions.
It will be understood that the axis of cylinder 6 might remain stationary, and
the cylinder 7 be moved towards and away therefrom in the same manner.
The arrangement described and shown is only given as an example, and I may
employ any other means which will produce the same result.

page_text: It will be seen by the above description that in the machine described, the
printing cylinders 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 make three revolutions and are inked three
times for the printing of one sheet, and that there is only a single "make ready
corresponding to each of the printing cylinders 10, 11, 12, 13, to be effected on the
cylinder 9 at the part 15. The cylinder 14 also makes three revolutions for one of
the cylinder 9, but its grippers only operate to take a sheet on each third
revolution.
If the work to be executed does not require such perfect inking, and has to be
done very rapidly, I may add to the cylinder 9 two sets of grippers 22 and 23,
corresponding to the parts 17 and 16, when the cylinder 6 will no longer be removed
from cylinder 7, but will seize a sheet at each revolution, the first sheet printed by
cylinder 7 being seized by the grippers 8, the second by the grippers 23, the third
by grippers 22; the parts 15, 16 and 17 of cylinder 9 will be each "made ready."
and I shall obtain an out-put three times greater than that previously obtained.
In this case the grippers of the delivery cylinder 14 will operate at each revolution
of this cylinder to seize the printed sheets.
In the first case above described the cutting cylinders 4 and 5 will make one
rotation for each revolution of the large impression cylinder 9, while in the second
case they will make one rotation for cach revolution of the impression cylinder 6.
Instead of causing the sheets to be seized by the grippers of the small cylinder 6
to be transmitted to the large cylinder 9, I might cause them to be scized by
the large cylinder to be transmitted to the small one. I may also feed the paper
by hand to the grippers of either the cylinder 9 or to the grippers of cylinder 6.
Further, instead of feeding sheets cut from the web before printing to the
cylinder 6, I might feed same by hand; or again, I might feed same from a reel
of paper, only cutting same after printing, in which case the machine would cut
sheets which would always be of the same length, and it would be no longer
necessary to employ grippers on cylinder 9; cylinder 14 would be abolished, and
as cylinder 6 would be fixed, lever 19 and cam 18 would also be abolished.
I may apply the arrangements above described to a machine printing on one
side only of the sheet in several colours, in which case cylinder 7 will be abolished,
and I might cause the sheets, supplied either by hand or coming from a reel; to
be seized either by the grippers of cylinder 6, or directly by the grippers of
cylinder 9.
I might also feed the cylinder 9 from a reel and only cut the paper after printing,
in which case cylinder 6 would be abolished and also cylinder 14, and the cutting
cylinders 4 and 5 would be placed at the delivery of the paper from the printing
cylinders.
Fig. 2 shows another arrangement of machine which I may employ, and in this
case the impression cylinders are of the same diameter, such diameter being four
times that of the printing cylinders; each impression cylinder carries four sets of
grippers, and the sheets when printed are seized by the grippers of the cylinder 32
which transmit them to the delivery or folding apparatus.
If the work to be done requires a very perfect and often repeated inking,
cylinder 30 will only seize one sheet on each revolution it makes, such sheet being
applied to the part 33 of the cylinder and printed by the printing cylinders 34, 35,
36, 37, etc., the number of which may vary according to the number of colours or
impressions to be produced; the parts 38, 39 and 40 of such cylinder 30 not being
utilized will not be covered with blanket, so that they will not bear against the
printing cylinders, and the latter will be inked four times for the impression of
each sheet. The sheet transmitted to the cylinder 31 will be applied to the part 41
thereof, and be printed on the opposite side by contact with the printing
cylinders 42, 43, 44, 45, after which it will be delivered by cylinder 32.
It will be seen from above description that in printing one sheet the printing
cylinders will have made four revolutions and the stereos or plates will have been
inked four times.
If the work to be done is of less importance I may after having seized the first

page_text: sheet to apply same to the part 33, then take another which will be applied to the
part 39 of cylinder 30. For printing the opposite side one of the sheets will be
applied to part 41 and the other sheet to part 46 of cylinder 31, and in this case
the printing cylinders will be inked twice for the printing of each sheet, but the
out-put of the machine will be the double of that in the preceding case.
Finally, if each of the sets of grippers of the cylinder 30 seizes a sheet which is
afterwards transmitted to the grippers of the cylinder 31, without increasing the
speed of the machine I shall obtain an out-put four times as large as that of
the first case, but the printing cylinders will only have been inked once for
each sheet.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. In a rotary printing machine for printing sheets of different sizes and fed
either with sheets by hand or with sheets cut from a reel of continuous paper, the
combination of two impression or blanket cylinders with grippers, such cylinders
being of different diameters, substantially as specified.
2. In a continuous acting rotary printing machine, the combination of an
impression and a printing cylinder with suitable means of moving one towards and
away from the other periodically, so as to enable the printing plates to be inked
a given number of times for the printing of a single sheet, substantially as
specified.
3. The combination of the two arrangements set forth in Claims 1 and 2, so as to
enable the printing of a sheet of paper on one side in one colour, and on the opposite
side in several colours, one of the impression cylinders being smaller in diameter
than the other, substantially as specified.
4. In a rotary printing machine for printing sheets of different sizes and fed
either with sheets by hand or by sheets cut from a reel of continuous paper, the
combination of two impression cylinders of different diameters and provided with
grippers, one cylinder having a single set of grippers, and the other a number of
sets of grippers proportional to the relative diameters of the cylinders, substantially
as and for the purposes specified.
5. In a machine constructed as set forth in Claim 4 the optional employment of
one or more of the sets of grippers of the same impression cylinder, substantially as
and for the purposes specified.
6. In a rotary printing machine for producing a single impression on one side
and several impressions on the opposite side of the paper, the combination of two
impression cylinders of different diameters, to enable the printing cylinders for
producing the several impressions on one side to be easily arranged around the
larger cylinder, such combination being applicable to both hand fed and continuous
web machines, the paper being cut into sheets either before printing, or after
printing in the case of machines for printing sheets of fixed size, substantially as
specified.
7. In a rotary printing machine for printing sheets of different sizes, the com-
bination of impression cylinders whose diameter is a multiple of that of the printing
cylinders with which they are in contact, such impression cylinders having a
number of sets of grippers applied thereto equal to the relation of their diameter
to that of the printing cylinders with which they are in contact, so that all or part
of such sets of grippers may be employed at will, either to increase the out-put of
the machine when the number of grippers in operation is increased, or to increase
the inking of the printing cylinders when the number of grippers in operation is
decreased, substantially as specified.
Thad this with 1
Hol101
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.