Multi-unit rotary press

Claim 2

A sheet fed multi-unit printing press for printing images on relatively inflexible sheets fed to the printing press in suCcession, first and second printing units with each of said units having generally vertically stacked printing and impression cylinders and a frame supporting the respective cylinders of the unit, said second printing unit gripping a sheet fed thereto from said first printing unit to feed a sheet therethrough and said first unit maintaining a feeding engagement with said sheet at its printing nip until the sheet is gripped by said second printing unit, guide means interposed between said printing units for guiding the individual sheets along a generally horizontal path along which the sheets travel from said first unit to the second unit, the distance between said units being such that a sheet is gripped by said second unit while in the printing nip of said first unit, first means supporting said printing units during press operation for relative movement toward and away from each other and for relative lateral movement in the direction of the axes of said cylinders, second means for moving said first and second units relative to each other during press operation to adjust the distance between the said cylinders of said first unit with respect to the said cylinders of said second unit, and third means for relatively shifting said first and second units laterally with respect to each other during press operation, said first, second and third means comprising means for effecting registration of the second unit with the first unit while printing.

Claim 3

In a printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said press includes gearing for driving said cylinders, said gearing comprising a first gear supported in a fixed location with respect to one of said units and a second gear supported in a fixed location with respect to the other of said units and said means for moving said units comprising means for relatively moving said units a distance great enough to separate said first and second gears to break the drive between said units.

Claim 4

In a printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for effecting register of said second unit to said first unit comprises an adjustable stop means for limiting the movement of said units toward each other and determining the distance between said cylinders of said respective units during printing comprising an adjustable stop on one of said units and a stop surface abuttingly engaged by said stop to determine said distance.

Claim 5

In a printing press as defined in claim 3 wherein said press includes gearing for driving said cylinders, said gearing comprising a first gear supported in a fixed location with respect to one of said units and a second gear supported in a fixed location with respect to the other of said units and said means for moving said units comprises means for relatively moving said units a distance great enough to separate said first and second gears to break the drive between said units.

Claim 6

A printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means comprises a guide surface extending from immediately adjacent the said cylinders of said first unit to immediately adjacent the said cylinders of said second unit to guide the sheet therebetween.

Claim 7

A printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means comprises means for applying a force to said sheet along a line parallel to the direction of sheet travel and an arcuate surface for changing the direction of sheet movement against which said forces urge the sheet.

Claim 8

A printing press as defined in claim 6 in which said surface is an over-guide surface disposed adjacent the nip between said impression and printing cylinder of said first printing unit to receive sheets against the guide at an upwardly inclined angle for the sheet, the curved surface of said over-guide providing a protion of the guid away from which the sheet moves when the angle of the approach of the sheet to the guide changes toward the horizontal.

Claim 9

A printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means comprises stationary guide surfaces for supporting the lower side of tHe sheet and extending along said generally horizontal path and relative to which said sheet moves as it is fed from said first unit to said second unit.

Claim 10

In a printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said guide means extends between said units and is inclined downwardly proceeding from said first unit to said second unit and the cylinders of said first unit have their axes in a plane diverging upwardly from said second unit to provide a sheet path from the unit which is in an upwardly inclined direction proceeding toward the second unit and said second unit has the axes of said cylinders of the unit in a plane which diverges upwardly away from the first unit to provide a downwardly inclined sheet path for the sheet moving through the printing nip, said guide means being inclined to guide said sheet along said downwardly inclined path as a sheet approaches said second unit.

Claim 11

In a printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said cylinders of said second unit are disposed to receive the sheet proceeding along a downwardly inclined path and said guide means comprises guide surfaces extending along a downwardly inclined angle proceeding toward said second unit to guide the sheet along said downwardly inclined path.

Claim 12

A printing press as defined in claim 10 wherein said cylinders of said first unit are arranged to provide an upwardly inclined sheet path through the nip of said cylinders and said guide means includes a guide surface across which said sheet travels to change the direction of the sheet from an upwardly inclined sheet to a downwardly inclined sheet.

Claim 13

A sheet fed multi-unit printing press as defined in claim 1 wherein said first means comprises means for supporting said first and second units for angular movement relative to each other and said second means comprises means for relatively moving said first and second units with the axes of said cylinders in a fixed angular relationship and for selectively relatively moving said units to change the angular relationship of said cylinders.

Claim 14

A printing press as defined in claim 12 wherein said printing units each comprise frame members located at the opposite ends of said cylinders and said second means comprises means for relatively moving the frame members of said first and second unit at the corresponding ends of said cylinders toward or away from each other while said other frame members remain in the same relative positions to each other.

Claim 15

A multi-unit printing press for printing on sheet material fed therethrough, first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said printing cylinder being above said second cylinder in each unit, each of said units comprising frame members at the opposite ends of the said cylinders of the unit for supporting said cylinders, first means supporting said second unit for movement during press operation toward and away from, laterally of a direction generally parallel to the axes of the cylinders of said units, and angularly in a horizontal plane with respect to said first unit, second means for moving said second unit toward and away from said first unit during press operation including means for moving said second unit angularly with respect to said first unit, and third means for moving said second unit laterally of said first unit during press operation, said first, second and third means comprising means for adjusting the register of the second unit to said first unit during printing.

Claim 16

A multi-unit printing press for printing on sheet material fed therethrough, first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said printing cylinder being above said second cylinder in each unit, each of said units comprising frame members at the opposite ends of the said cylinders of the unit for supporting said cylinders, first means supporting said second unit for movement during press operation toward and away from, laterally of a direction generally parallel to the axes of the cylinders of said units, and angularly in a horizontal plane with respect to said first unit, second means for moving said second unit toward and away from said first unit during press operation including means for moving said second unit angularly with respect to said first unit, and third means for moving said second unit laterally of said first unit during press operation, said first, second and third means comprising means for adjusting the register of the second unit to said first unit during printing.

Claim 17

A multi-unit printing press for printing on sheet material fed therethrough, first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said printing cylinder being above said second cylinder in each unit, each of said units comprising frame members at the opposite ends of the said cylinders of the unit for supporting said cylinders, first means supporting saId second unit for movement during press operation toward and away from, laterally of the first unit in a direction generally parallel to the axes of the cylinders of said units, and angularly in a horizontal plane with respect to said first unit, second means for moving said second unit toward and away from said first unit including means for moving said second unit angularly with respect to said first unit, third means for moving said second unit laterally of said first unit during press operation, said first, second and third means comprising means for adjusting the register of the second unit to said first unit during printing, fourth means for feeding successive sheets through said press comprising means constraining a sheet moving from said first unit to said second unit to move along a generally horizontal path between said units, said first and second units being spaced a distance apart such that the sheet is gripped and registered in said second unit while in the printing nip of said first unit, said fourth means being disposed to receive said sheet directly from the printing nip of said first printing unit.

Claim 18

A multi-unit printing press for printing on sheet material fed therethrough, first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said printing cylinder being above said second cylinder in each unit, each of said units comprising frame members at the opposite ends of the said cylinders of the unit for supporting said cylinders, first means supporting saId second unit for movement during press operation toward and away from, laterally of the first unit in a direction generally parallel to the axes of the cylinders of said units, and angularly in a horizontal plane with respect to said first unit, second means for moving said second unit toward and away from said first unit including means for moving said second unit angularly with respect to said first unit, third means for moving said second unit laterally of said first unit during press operation, said first, second and third means comprising means for adjusting the register of the second unit to said first unit during printing, fourth means for feeding successive sheets through said press comprising means constraining a sheet moving from said first unit to said second unit to move along a generally horizontal path between said units, said first and second units being spaced a distance apart such that the sheet is gripped and registered in said second unit while in the printing nip of said first unit, said fourth means being disposed to receive said sheet directly from the printing nip of said first printing unit.

Claim 19

A printing press as defined in claim 15 wherein said means constraining a sheet moving from said first unit to said second unit to move along a generally horizontal path comprises a revolvable vacuum member to apply tension in the direction of travel of sheet material moving between said first and second printing units.

Claim 20

A printing press as defined in claim 15 wherein means constraining a sheet moving from said first unit to said second unit to move along a generally horizontal path comprises means for applying force to said sheet along a line extending parallel to the travel of the sheet material.

Claim 21

A printing press as defined in claim 15 in which said means constraining a sheet moving from said first unit to said second unit to move along a generally horizontal path comprising means for tensioning a sheet traveling between the units in the direction of sheet movement.

Claim 24

A method of feeding sheets as defined in claim 19 wherein said force is applied to tension the sheet as it moves between the first and second printing units.

Claim 25

A method as defined in claim 19 wherein said sheets are registered during printing to said second printing unit by moving the second printing unit relative to the first printing unit to adjust register in the direction of sheet movement and laterally of sheet movement.

Claim 26

A multi-unit sheet fed press for printing sheets fed in succession through the printing press comprising first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder below said printing cylinder and cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said first and second printing units being spaced a distance apart such that a sheet being conveyed from said first printing unit to said second printing unit is gripped by said first printing unit before it leaves the printing nip of said first printing unit whereby the sheet is driven by the first printing unit as it travels to the second printing unit, guide means extending between said first and second printing unit comprising guide surfaces over which said sheet slides when moving between said first and second printing units, said guide means including a first guide surface inclined downwardly and toward and second cylinder of said first printing unit to guide a sheet from said second cylinder into said generally horizontal sheet path and a second guide surface disposed above the sheet and extending to a point adjacent said printing cylinder adjacent but above the path of sheet exiting from the printing nip to limit movement of the sheet upwardly with the printing cylinder and to guide the sheet into said generally horizontal path, said first and second surfaces forming a generally ''''V'''' shaped configuration immediately adjacent the exit side of the printing nip between the printing cylinder and the second cylinder of the first printing unit, said first printing unit having lead edge sheet grippers on said second cylinder which release said sheet as it approaches said first guide surface.

Claim 27

A multi-unit sheet fed press for printing sheets fed in succession through the printing press comprising first and second printing units each comprising a printing cylinder and a second cylinder below said printing cylinder and cooperating with the printing cylinder to define a printing nip, said first and second printing units being spaced a distance apart such that a sheet being conveyed from said first printing unit to said second printing unit is gripped by said first printing unit before it leaves the printing nip of said first printing unit whereby the sheet is driven by the first printing unit as it travels to the second printing unit, guide means extending between said first and second printing unit comprising guide surfaces over which said sheet slides when moving between said first and second printing units, said guide means including a first guide surface inclined downwardly and toward and second cylinder of said first printing unit to guide a sheet from said second cylinder into said generally horizontal sheet path and a second guide surface disposed above the sheet and extending to a point adjacent said printing cylinder adjacent but above the path of sheet exiting from the printing nip to limit movement of the sheet upwardly with the printing cylinder and to guide the sheet into said generally horizontal path, said first and second surfaces forming a generally ''''V'''' shaped configuration immediately adjacent the exit side of the printing nip between the printing cylinder and the second cylinder of the first printing unit, said first printing unit having lead edge sheet grippers on said second cylinder which release said sheet as it approaches said first guide surface.

Claim 28

A printing press as defined in claim 22 wherein said guide means comprises means for tensioning the sheet in the direction of sheet movement as it moves along said guide means.

Claim 29

A printing press as defined in claim 23 wherein said tensioning means comprises a revolvable vacuum member engageable with the sheet.