Impact damping of printing cylinders

A printing press comprising

• a frame;
• first and second cylinders mounted on the frame for rotation about generally parallel axes, the first cylinder having a lockup gap on the periphery thereof for receiving the ends of a member, placed about the first cylinder, which define a gutter;
• means for rotatably driving the cylinders and initiating oscillatory movement of the first cylinder in a plane defined by the cylinder axes once per revolution of the cylinders in response to an impact generated when the gutter passes between the nip of the cylinder;
• means for applying ink to one of the cylinders;
• and
• means for damping the oscillatory movement in less than one revolution of the cylinders including
• a cage rigid with the first cylinder providing a path of object movement extending from a first location to a second location and providing a substantial component of object movement in the plane when the gutter passes between the nip of the cylinders;
• an object in the cage moveable from the first to the second location in response to the impact and thereafter oscillatable out of phase with respect to the cylinder oscillations;
• the damping means and the driving means being arranged to return the object to the first location prior to the occurrence of the impact generated on the next successive revolution of the cylinders.