Web registration control system

Claim 1

A system for generating indicia for registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a web moving in a predetermined direction, said system comprising: means for printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that, when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each said mark comprising a single right-angle diamond, said diamond having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said axis, and leading and trailing tips formed by the convergence of said sides, said diamond being disposed with said central axis generally parallel to the direction of movement of said web; photo-optical means for generating output signals indicative of markings on said web passing in predetermined relation to said photo-optical means as said web moves in relation to said printing units; and processing means, responsive to said photo-optical means output signals, for generating, as said indicia of registration error, signals indicative of deviations of the registration marks from said predetermined relative disposition; said processing means including means for identifying said marks comprising a single right-angle diamond.

Claim 2

A system for generating indicia for registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a web moving in a predetermined direction, said system comprising: means for printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that, when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each said mark comprising a single right-angle diamond, said diamond having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said axis, and leading and trailing tips formed by the convergence of said sides, said diamond being disposed with said central axis generally parallel to the direction of movement of said web; photo-optical means for generating output signals indicative of markings on said web passing in predetermined relation to said photo-optical means as said web moves in relation to said printing units; and processing means, responsive to said photo-optical means output signals, for generating, as said indicia of registration error, signals indicative of deviations of the registration marks from said predetermined relative disposition; said processing means including means for identifying said marks comprising a single right-angle diamond.

Claim 6

A method for controlling web registration in a multicolor web-fed printing press system having a plurality of print cylinders, each of said cylinders being for application of a respective one of a plurality of printing colors to a moving web, the method including the steps of printing respective register marks on said web, and controlling web registration in accordance with the relative disposition of said register marks, said printing respective register mark steps comprising the step of printing, for each application by a cylinder, up to two right-angle diamond register marks, each mark having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said central axis and leading and trailing tips disposed on said central axis formed by convergence of said sides, and being disposed with said central axis corresponding to the direction of web movement.

Claim 7

A method for controlling web registration in a multicolor web-fed printing press system having a plurality of print cylinders, each of said cylinders being for application of a respective one of a plurality of printing colors to a moving web, the method including the steps of printing respective register marks on said web, and controlling web registration in accordance with the relative disposition of said register marks, said printing respective register mark steps comprising the step of printing, for each application by a cylinder, up to two right-angle diamond register marks, each mark having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said central axis and leading and trailing tips disposed on said central axis formed by convergence of said sides, and being disposed with said central axis corresponding to the direction of web movement.

Claim 9

A method of generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press for printing on a moving web, comprising the steps of: printing at least one registration mark on said web with each of said printing units, said registration mark being in the shape of a right-angle diamond having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said central axis, and respective tips disposed on said central axis formed by convergence of said sides, said diamond being disposed with said central axis generally parallel to the direction of web movement; scanning said marks with a photo-optical scanner configured such that said web passes in predetermined relation thereto as said web moves in relation to said printing units; generating output signals indicative of said marks on said web; calculating, based on said output signals, the location of a predetermined point within each of said marks; generating control signals indicative of deviations of said predetermined points from a predetermined relative disposition thereof.

Claim 10

A method of generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press for printing on a moving web, comprising the steps of: printing at least one registration mark on said web with each of said printing units, said registration mark being in the shape of a right-angle diamond having a nominal central axis, respective sides symmetrical about said central axis, and respective tips disposed on said central axis formed by convergence of said sides, said diamond being disposed with said central axis generally parallel to the direction of web movement; scanning said marks with a photo-optical scanner configured such that said web passes in predetermined relation thereto as said web moves in relation to said printing units; generating output signals indicative of said marks on said web; calculating, based on said output signals, the location of a predetermined point within each of said marks; generating control signals indicative of deviations of said predetermined points from a predetermined relative disposition thereof.

Claim 13

A method of generating indicia of deviation of the position on a moving web of a mark from a reference position associated with said mark in a nominal cartesian coordinate system defining orthogonal X and Y directions, with said web moving in the Y direction, said mark being symmetric about a nominal central axis extending generally in the Y direction and having a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis, the method comprising the steps of: effecting sequential line scans of said moving web extending in the X direction; identifying a light-to-dark and dark-to-light brightness transition pair for each of a plurality of said sequential line scans, the relative occurrence of said line scan within said sequential line scans being indicative of the Y coordinate of said transitions associated with said line scan; identifying a set of said transition pairs corresponding to said mark; determining, for each transition pair of said set, the X coordinates of the transitions of said transition pair; generating, in accordance with the coordinates of said transitions of the transition pairs of said set, indicia of the X and Y coordinates of the center of the area defined by said transition pairs; and generating, as said indicia of deviation, indicia of the deviation of the X and Y coordinates of said center from the X and Y coordinates of said reference position.

Claim 14

A method of generating indicia of deviation of the position on a moving web of a mark from a reference position associated with said mark in a nominal cartesian coordinate system defining orthogonal X and Y directions, with said web moving in the Y direction, said mark being symmetric about a nominal central axis extending generally in the Y direction and having a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis, the method comprising the steps of: effecting sequential line scans of said moving web extending in the X direction; identifying a light-to-dark and dark-to-light brightness transition pair for each of a plurality of said sequential line scans, the relative occurrence of said line scan within said sequential line scans being indicative of the Y coordinate of said transitions associated with said line scan; identifying a set of said transition pairs corresponding to said mark; determining, for each transition pair of said set, the X coordinates of the transitions of said transition pair; generating, in accordance with the coordinates of said transitions of the transition pairs of said set, indicia of the X and Y coordinates of the center of the area defined by said transition pairs; and generating, as said indicia of deviation, indicia of the deviation of the X and Y coordinates of said center from the X and Y coordinates of said reference position.

Claim 23

A system for generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a moving web, said system comprising: means for printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each of said marks having: a nominal central axis extending generally in the direction of web movement; a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis; and side edges symmetric about said nominal central axis, the distance of said side edges from said axis along respective lines perpendicular to said axis varying as a predetermined function of the distance along said axis of the individual line from at least one of said leading and trailing points; means for generating, for each said registration mark, indicia of the distance from said axis of said side edges along a plurality of said lines perpendicular to said axis; means for determining, from said side edge distance indicia, the relative positions of the centers of said marks; and means for generating said indicia of registration error in accordance with the relative positions of the centers of said marks.

Claim 24

A system for generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a moving web, said system comprising: means for printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each of said marks having: a nominal central axis extending generally in the direction of web movement; a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis; and side edges symmetric about said nominal central axis, the distance of said side edges from said axis along respective lines perpendicular to said axis varying as a predetermined function of the distance along said axis of the individual line from at least one of said leading and trailing points; means for generating, for each said registration mark, indicia of the distance from said axis of said side edges along a plurality of said lines perpendicular to said axis; means for determining, from said side edge distance indicia, the relative positions of the centers of said marks; and means for generating said indicia of registration error in accordance with the relative positions of the centers of said marks.

Claim 28

A method for generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a moving web, said method comprising the steps of: printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each of said marks having: a nominal central axis extending generally in the direction of web movement; a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis; and side edges symmetric about said nominal central axis, the distance of said side edges from said axis along respective lines perpendicular to said axis varying as a predetermined function of the distance along said axis of the individual line from at least one of said leading and trailing points; generating, for each said registration mark, indicia of the distance from said axis of said side edges along a plurality of said lines perpendicular to said axis; determining, from said side edge distance indivia, the relative positions of the centers of said marks; and generating said indicia of registration error in accordance with the relative positions of the centers of said marks.

Claim 29

A method for generating indicia of registration error between respective separately adjustable printing units of a printing press, said printing units cooperating to print an image on a moving web, said method comprising the steps of: printing on said web at least one registration mark associated with each of said printing units such that when said printing units are in registry, the respective registration marks manifest a predetermined relative disposition on said web, each of said marks having: a nominal central axis extending generally in the direction of web movement; a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis; and side edges symmetric about said nominal central axis, the distance of said side edges from said axis along respective lines perpendicular to said axis varying as a predetermined function of the distance along said axis of the individual line from at least one of said leading and trailing points; generating, for each said registration mark, indicia of the distance from said axis of said side edges along a plurality of said lines perpendicular to said axis; determining, from said side edge distance indivia, the relative positions of the centers of said marks; and generating said indicia of registration error in accordance with the relative positions of the centers of said marks.

Claim 31

A system for generating indicia of the deviation of the position on a moving web of a mark from a reference position associated with said mark in a nominal cartesian coordinate system defining orthogonal X and Y directions, with said web moving in the Y direction, said mark being symmetric about a nominal central axis extending generally in the Y direction and having a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis, the system comprising: means for generating indicia of a light-to-dark and dark-to-light transition pair for each of a plurality of sequential line scans extending in the X direction, the relative occurrence of a line scan in said sequence being indicative of the Y coordinate of said transitions; means for identifying a set of said transition pairs corresponding to said mark; means for generating, for each transition pair of said set, indicia of the X coordinates of the transitions of said transition pair; means for generating, in accordance with the X coordinates of said transitions of the transition pairs of said set, indicia of the X and Y coordinates of the center of the area defined by said transition pairs; and means for generating said deviation indicia in accordance with the deviation of the X and Y coordinates of said center from the X and Y coordinates of said reference position.

Claim 32

A system for generating indicia of the deviation of the position on a moving web of a mark from a reference position associated with said mark in a nominal cartesian coordinate system defining orthogonal X and Y directions, with said web moving in the Y direction, said mark being symmetric about a nominal central axis extending generally in the Y direction and having a leading point, a center, and a trailing point, all disposed on said central axis, the system comprising: means for generating indicia of a light-to-dark and dark-to-light transition pair for each of a plurality of sequential line scans extending in the X direction, the relative occurrence of a line scan in said sequence being indicative of the Y coordinate of said transitions; means for identifying a set of said transition pairs corresponding to said mark; means for generating, for each transition pair of said set, indicia of the X coordinates of the transitions of said transition pair; means for generating, in accordance with the X coordinates of said transitions of the transition pairs of said set, indicia of the X and Y coordinates of the center of the area defined by said transition pairs; and means for generating said deviation indicia in accordance with the deviation of the X and Y coordinates of said center from the X and Y coordinates of said reference position.