US 5,660,106 AGranted

Printing unit having a plurality of type wheels rotatable on a common shaft

AssigneeAtlantic Zeiser GmbH

InventorsFranz Pitz, Anders Berndtsson

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Abstract

A printing unit has a plurality of type wheels with types on its circumference which are rotatable on a common shaft and are driveable on it by means of a slip coupling. Each type wheel has an associated feeler device that ascertains its position and a pawl for engagement with the type wheel, with an actuator that is triggerable as a function of the feeler device via a control unit, and by the actuator the pawl can be controlled between a blocking position and a release position. The drive device serving the purpose of intermittently driving the shaft has per printing unit one drive shaft, operationally coupled to the shaft, with a driving gear wheel and one common stationary disc associated with a plurality of printing units disposed in the circumferential direction. On the pitch Circle of the respective driving gear wheel, this disc has a toothed segment associated with the gear wheel, with which segment the driving gear wheel can be brought into engagement upon revolution of the printing unit and hence for the length of the setting time.

Claims59

Dependent claims

A printing system including a plurality of printing units, each having a plurality of type wheels arranged rotatably side by side on a common shaft and driveable by said shaft via a slip coupling, said type wheels having circumferential faces provides with wheel types;

a filler device associated with each of said type wheels and ascertaining a position of each of said type wheels;
a pawl provided for engagement with said type wheel;
a control unit connected with said filler device;
an actuator triggerable by said control unit as a function of said filler device and controlling said pawl between a blocking position in which said pawl blocks said type wheel and a clearing position in which said pawl releases said type wheel;
a drive device for intermittent driving of said shaft, said drive device having one drive shaft which is drivingly coupled with said common shaft and has one end carrying a driving gear wheel having a pitch circle;
a stationary disc associated with said plurality of printing units located one after the other in a circumferential direction, said disc on said pitch circle of said driving gear wheel having a toothed segment associated with said driving gear wheel and having teeth on at least one of an outside and an inside, said driving gear wheel being engageable with said segment upon revolution of the printing unit.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.