Printing facility and method for sleeves arrangement in said printing facility

Method for sleeves arrangement in a printing facility said sleeves being a plurality of tubular and cylindrical shaped sleeves each including a cylindrical external surface, a cylindrical internal surface and two annular faces on two opposite ends, being both cylindrical surfaces concentric with a sleeve axis, and said printing facility comprising:

• a printing machine comprising a central drum and a plurality of printing units, each printing unit integrating at least one printing shaft which provides a sleeve support;
• a robotic unit comprising a sleeves handling device;
• wherein the method include following steps:
• displacing the robotic unit, having an intermediate sleeve coupled to the sleeve handling device, to align an intermediate sleeve axis of said intermediate sleeve with the sleeve axis of a printing sleeve stored on a printing sleeve storage;
• said printing sleeve having a cylindrical internal surface which diameter is bigger than the diameter of the printing shafts;
• said intermediate sleeve having an internal cylindrical surface with a diameter providing a gap fitting with the printing shafts, an external cylindrical surface with a diameter equal than the diameter of the internal cylindrical surface of the stored printing sleeve and two annular faces on two opposite ends, being both cylindrical surfaces concentric with said intermediate sleeve axis;
• said printing sleeve being immobilized in the first storage through a retaining elements in geometrical interference with the printing cylindrical external surface and/or with at least one of the annular faces of the printing sleeve;
• producing an insertion of the intermediate sleeve coupled to the sleeve handling device into the printing sleeve stored on the printing sleeve storage through the displacement of the intermediate sleeve along an insertion path parallel to the sleeve axis through the robotic unit activation, achieving a complete insertion of the intermediate sleeve into the printing sleeve obtaining a printing assembly.

Method for printing sleeves arrangement in a printing facility, said printing sleeves being a plurality of tubular and cylindrical shaped printing sleeves each including a printing cylindrical external surface , a cylindrical internal surface (61) and two annular faces on two opposite ends, being both cylindrical surfaces concentric with a sleeve axis;

• said printing facility comprising:
• a printing machine comprising a central drum and a plurality of printing units, each printing unit integrating at least one cylindrical printing shaft which provides a sleeve support;
• a robotic unit comprising a sleeves handling device;
• wherein the method include following steps:
• displacing the robotic unit to emplace the sleeves handling device adjacent to the annular face of a printing assembly stored on a first storage;
• said printing sleeve assembly being composed by a printing sleeve having a cylindrical internal surface with a diameter larger than the diameter of said printing shaft and an independent tubular cylindrical intermediate sleeve inserted into the printing sleeve, said intermediate sleeve having an internal cylindrical surface with a diameter providing a gap fitting with the printing shaft, an external cylindrical surface with a diameter equal than the diameter of the internal surface of the printing sleeve,
• said printing sleeve being immobilized in the first storage through a retaining elements in geometrical interference with the printing cylindrical external surface and/or with at least one of the annular faces of the printing sleeve;
• coupling the sleeves handling device of the robotic unit to the intermediate sleeve of the sleeve assembly that is stored and immobilized on the first storage;
• produce an extraction of the intermediate sleeve, coupled to the sleeve handling device, from the printing sleeve stored on the printing sleeve storage through the intermediate sleeve displacement along an extraction path parallel to the sleeve axis through the robotic unit activation, achieving a complete extraction of the intermediate sleeve.