Web printing press

A web printing press comprising a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem;

• each of said printing units having a pair of blanket cylinders defining a printing nip therebetween, a plate cylinder associated with each blanket cylinder so as to define an offset printing arrangement, means for moving said blanket cylinders between thrown-on and thrown-off positions for printing and not printing on a web moving through the nip, dampeners for applying dampening solution to plates on said plate cylinders, inkers for applying ink to plates on said plate cylinders, and a drive motor for driving at least the blanket and plate cylinders of that unit;
• means for guiding the web through the nips of plural units with the blanket cylinders of at least one unit in their thrown-on position printing on the web and the blanket cylinders of another unit in their thrown-off position;
• and control circuit means for throwing said blanket cylinders of said another unit into printing position in timed relation to throwing said blanket cylinders of said at least one unit off while the web moves through the nips of said units, said control circuit means including means for controlling driving of the drive motor of said another unit for driving said blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of said another unit up to speed, and means for controlling driving of said dampeners and inkers to apply dampening solution and ink to the plate cylinders associated with said another unit prior to throwing said another unit on and said at least one unit off, wherein said means for guiding the web through said nips comprises guide rolls, means for moving the guide rolls between a position in engagement with the web and a position out of engagement, and means for driving said guide rolls up to the speed of the web prior to the engagement of the guide rolls with the web.

A web printing press comprising at least one auxiliary unit and a plurality of printing units each adapted to be mechanically driven for selectably printing or not printing on a web passing therethrough, with each said printing unit including means defining a printing nip through which nip a web moves to receive printed matter when said printing unit is in a printing mode and through which nip said web moves without receiving printed matter when said printing unit is in a nonprinting mode, at least one of which printing units may be placed in a printing mode while at least one other of said printing units is in a nonprinting mode;

• means for guiding a web through the printing nips of said at least one printing unit and said at least one other printing unit;
• a separate drive motor for each of said printing units, each of said drive motors having a sufficient capacity to drive said at least one auxiliary unit and said at least one printing unit which is in a printing mode;
• a common drive shaft extending through said printing units and said at least one auxiliary unit;
• respective drives for transmitting torque from each of said drive motors to a corresponding one of said printing units and to said common drive shaft;
• each of said drives including a corresponding clutch acting between the respective motor and said common drive shaft whereby each said drive motor may be selectively engaged with said common drive shaft for driving said at least one auxiliary unit and the printing unit with which that drive motor is associated and selectively disengaged from said common drive shaft for selective driving of the printing unit with which that motor is associated independently of said auxiliary unit.

A web printing press comprising at least one auxiliary unit and a plurality of printing units each adapted to be mechanically driven for selectably printing or not printing on a web passing therethrough, with each said printing unit including means defining a printing nip through which nip a web moves to receive printed matter when said printing unit is in a printing mode and through which nip said web moves without receiving printed matter when said printing unit is in a nonprinting mode, at least one of which printing units may be placed in a printing mode while at least one other of said printing units is in a nonprinting mode;

• means for guiding a web through the printing nips of said at least one printing unit and said at least one other printing unit;
• a separate drive motor for each of said printing units, each of said drive motors having a sufficient capacity to drive said at least one auxiliary unit and said at least one printing unit which is in a printing mode;
• a common drive shaft extending through said printing units and said at least one auxiliary unit;
• respective drives for transmitting torque from each of said drive motors to a corresponding one of said printing units and to said common drive shaft;
• each of said drives including a corresponding clutch acting between the respective motor and said common drive shaft whereby each said drive motor may be selectively engaged with said common drive shaft for driving said at least one auxiliary unit and the printing unit with which that drive motor is associated and selectively disengaged from said common drive shaft for selective driving of the printing unit with which that motor is associated independently of said auxiliary unit;
• and wherein each of said printing units includes means for changing the attitude of the web, when passing through said printing nip, from a first attitude when the printing unit is in a printing mode to a second attitude when the printing unit is in a nonprinting mode, said attitude changing means including a pair of web engaging rolls, one of said rolls being adjacent to and in advance of said printing nip with respect to the direction of web passage and the second of said rolls being adjacent to and after said printing nip with respect to the direction of web passage, and means for moving each of said web engaging rolls between first and second positions respectively producing said first and second web attitudes in which the first position of each of said web engaging rolls is out of contact with said web and the second position of said web engaging rolls is in contact with said web.

A web printing press comprising a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem;

• each of said printing units having a pair of blanket cylinders defining a printing nip therebetween, at least one speed matching friction wheel rotatable with said blanket cylinders, a plate cylinder associated with each blanket cylinder so as to define an offset printing arrangement, means for moving said blanket cylinders between thrown-on and thrown-off positions for printing and not printing on a web moving through the nip, dampeners for applying dampening solution to plates on said plate cylinders, inkers for applying ink to plates on said plate cylinders, and a drive motor for driving at least the blanket and plate cylinders of that unit;
• means for guiding the web through the nips of plural units with the blanket cylinders of at least one unit in their thrown-on position printing on the web and the blanket cylinders of another unit in their thrown-off position;
• control circuit means for throwing said blanket cylinders of said another unit into printing position in timed relation to throwing said blanket cylinders of said at least one unit off while the web moves through the nips of said units, said control circuit means including means for controlling driving of said drive motor of said another unit for driving said blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of said another unit up to speed, means for controlling driving of said dampeners and inkers to apply dampening solution and ink to the plate cylinders associated with said another unit prior to throwing said at least one unit off and said another unit on;
• and with each of said printing units including a pair of web engaging guide rolls for changing the attitude of said web, one of said web engaging guide rolls being adjacent to and in advance of the associated said printing nip with respect to the direction of web passage and the other of said web engaging rolls being adjacent to and after the associated said printing nip with respect to the direction of web passage, and means for selectively moving the web engaging roll in advance of the associated said printing nip between a second position in engagement with one surface of said web, and a first position out of contact with said web and in frictional driven engagement with at least one of said speed matching friction wheels, and for also selectively moving the other of said web engaging rolls located after said printing nip between a second position in engagement with the opposite surface of said web, and a first position out of contact with said web and in frictional driven engagement with at least one of said speed matching friction wheels.

A web printing press comprising a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem and at least one auxiliary unit;

• each of said printing units having a pair of blanket cylinders defining a printing nip therebetween, a plate cylinder associated with each blanket cylinder so as to define an offset printing arrangement, means for moving said blanket cylinders between thrown-on and thrown-off positions for printing and not printing on a web moving through the nip, dampeners for applying dampening solution to plates on said plate cylinders, inkers for applying ink to plates on said plate cylinders, and a drive motor for driving at least the blanket and plate cylinders of that unit;
• means for guiding the web through the nips of plural units with the blanket cylinders of at least one unit in their thrown-on position printing on the web and the blanket cylinders of another unit in their thrown-off position;
• a common drive shaft extending through said printing units and said at least one auxiliary unit;
• respective drives for each transmitting torque from the corresponding said drive motor to the blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of the associated unit, said drives each including a clutch acting between said common drive shaft and the motor associated with the corresponding unit whereby each of said drive motors may be selectively engaged with said common drive shaft for driving said at least one auxiliary unit and a printing unit simultaneously;
• and control circuit means for throwing said blanket cylinders of said another unit into printing position in timed relation to throwing said blanket cylinders of said at least one unit off while the web moves through the nips of said units, said control circuit means including means for controlling driving of said dampeners and inkers to apply dampening solution and ink to the plate cylinder associated with said another unit prior to throwing said another unit on and said at least one unit off, and means for controlling said drive motor of said another unit including means for energizing said drive motor of said another unit and for bringing said unit up to a known fraction of the speed of said common drive shaft and means for then energizing the clutch associated with said another unit.

A web printing press comprising a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem and at least one auxiliary unit;

• each of said printing units having a pair of blanket cylinders defining a printing nip therebetween, a plate cylinder associated with each blanket cylinder so as to define an offset printing arrangement, means for moving said blanket cylinders between thrown-on and thrown-off positions for printing and not printing on a web moving through the nip, dampeners for applying dampening solution to plates on said plate cylinders, inkers for applying ink to plates on said plate cylinders, and a drive motor for driving at least the blanket and plate cylinders of that unit;
• means for guiding the web through the nips of plural units with the blanket cylinders of at least one unit in their thrown-on position printing on the web and the blanket cylinders of another unit in their thrown-off position;
• a common drive shaft extending through said printing units and said at least one auxiliary unit;
• respective drives for each transmitting torque from the corresponding said drive motor to the blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of the associated unit, said drives each including a clutch acting between said common drive shaft and the motor associated with the corresponding unit whereby each of said drive motors may be selectively engaged with said common drive shaft for driving said at least one auxiliary unit and a printing unit simultaneously;
• and control circuit means for throwing said blanket cylinders of said another unit into printing position in timed relation to throwing said blanket cylinders of said at least one unit off while the web moves through the nips of said units, said control circuit means including means for controlling driving of said drive motor of said another unit for driving said blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of said another unit up to speed and for then engaging said drive motor with said commond drive shaft, means for controlling driving of said dampeners and inkers to apply dampening solution and ink to the plate cylinders associated with said another unit prior to throwing said another unit on and said at least one unit off, master reference means for jointly controlling the motors associated with those of said units which are engaged with said common drive shaft, and unit reference means associated with each of said printing units for each controlling the operation of the corresponding said drive motor when said drive motor has been energized but is not engaged with said common drive shaft.

A web printing press comprising a plurality of printing units arranged in tandem and at least one auxiliary unit;

• each of said printing units having a pair of blanket cylinders defining a printing nip therebetween, a plate cylinder associated with each blanket cylinder so as to define an offset printing arrangement, means for moving said blanket cylinders between thrown-on and thrown-off positions for printing and not printing on a web moving through the nip, dampeners for applying dampening solution to plates on said plate cylinders, inkers for applying ink to plates on said plate cylinders, and a drive motor for driving at least the blanket and plate cylinders of the respective unit independently of the driving of other said printing units;
• means for guiding the web through the nips of plural units with the blanket cylinders of at least one unit in their thrown-on position printing on the web and the blanket cylinders of another unit in their thrown-off position;
• a common drive shaft extending through said printing units and said at least one auxiliary unit;
• respective drives for each transmitting torque from the corresponding said drive motor to the blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of the associated unit, said drives each including a clutch acting between said common drive shaft and respective motor whereby each of said drive motors may be selectively engaged with said common drive shaft for driving said at least one auxiliary unit and a printing unit simultaneously;
• and control circuit means for throwing said blanket cylinders of said another unit into printing position in timed relation to throwing said blanket cylinders of said at least one unit off while the web moves through the nips of said units, said control circuit means including means for controlling driving of the drive motor of said another unit for driving said blanket cylinders and plate cylinders of said another unit up to speed and for then engaging the associated said clutch to engage said drive motor with said common drive shaft, and means for controlling driving of said dampeners and inkers of said another unit to apply dampening solution and ink to the plate cylinders associated with said another unit prior to throwing said another unit on and said at least one unit off.