The invention described here concerns devices used to motorize, automate and greatly accelerate different functions on printing presses originally equipped with manual devices to perform these functions and relates to the raising and lowering of the tables carrying the piles of paper to be printed and of printed paper, to the regulation of the angular displacement of the ink duct rollers and dampening fountain rollers of the dampening units and to the step by step displacement in forward and reverse motion of all the plate, blanket and printing cylinders. These functions, the subject of the invention, are associated with the corresponding original manual functions and can be incorporated in existing presses or presses yet to be made.

All recently constructed printing presses of high production capacity possess"stream"feeders equipped with motorized means of raising and lowering their feed tables and tables for the reception of the piles of paper, card, etc. , and also inking and dampening units of different design, whose automatic regulation functions are incorporated in the printing cycles of these printing presses. In contrast, many machines of present-day construction, less automated and equipped with single-sheet feeders, as well as a very large number of more or less recently built printing presses, only possess manually operated devices to perform these functions, most often employing handwheels or crank handles.

To understand the purpose of the invention, it is only necessary to consider the repeated raising and lowering of the feed table necessary to carry out, for example, the printing of fifty thousand sheets of 250 grammes weight, which is feasible in the course of a day, and what this represents in terms of turns of the crank handle, to perceive that, depending on the printing press concerned,

the crank must be turned between one thousand and one thousand five hundred revolutions in order to perform this laborious function. In a lesser proportion, the angular adjustment of the ink duct rollers and dampening rollers still requires between eighty and one hundred turns of their respective wheels, in one direction or the other, to effect a complete movement. Furthermore, the manual displacement, by means of a crank handle, to achieve the discontinuous rotation of the three printing cylinders, necessary for the cleaning, retouching and gumming of the printing plates, etc. , is one of the most tedious operations to perform.

These different deficiencies entail a loss of production time as well as fatigue and inconvenience for the printer which are scarcely compatible with the generalized automation with which many printing presses are currently endowed. To facilitate understanding of the invention, there follows a brief description, clarified by Figures 1,2, 3 and 4, of the existing manual devices used to perform these functions on traditional printing presses equipped with single-sheet feeders.

Figure 1 shows a traditional printing press 1, comprising a feed table 2, supporting the pile of paper to be printed 3 and a reception table 4 for the pile of printed paper 5. At each printing cycle, a sheet of paper to be printed 6 is taken from the pile of paper to be printed 3, by means of the pneumatic sucker bar 7, and is carried by the transporter grippers to the printing cylinder 8. After printing, the sheets of printed paper 9 pile up on the reception table 4. In course of printing, the feed table 2 rises progressively as the sheets of paper to be printed 6 are removed, by the same distance as that by which the reception table 4 descends. Before printing, the feed table 2 is lowered manually, by means of the crank handle 10 which is engaged mechanically by gently pushing it along its spindle by hand pressure before turning. Figures 2 and 3 represent the original mechanisms relating to the

functioning of the feed table 2 and reception table 4. The worm gears 11 rotate in the nuts firmly fixed to the table supports 12, equipped with retractable fingers 13, on which are supported the feed table 2 and reception table 4, not shown in Figure 2 to facilitate understanding of the drawing. The table supports 12 and their feed table 2 and reception table 4 are displaced vertically upwards or downwards according to the direction of rotation of the worm gears 11. The bevel gears 14, keyed onto the worm gears 11, are driven by the bevel gear 15, mounted tightly on the cross-shaft 16, onto which is keyed the ratchet wheel 17 Figure 3. The pawl 18, pivoted on the rocker plate 19, by means of the shaft 20, propels the table supports 12 Figure 2 in a vertical direction to raise the pile of paper to be printed 3 Figure 1 in gradual compensation for the thickness of the sheets of paper to be printed 6 as they are removed.

A finger, not shown here in order to facilitate understanding of the drawing, raises the pawl 18, preventing its action on the ratchet wheel 17, and thus stopping the upward movement of the table supports 12 Figure 2. The ratchet wheel 17 Figure 3, released by the pawl 18, can be moved in the opposite direction by means of the crank handle 10 Figure 2 to enable the table supports 12 to be lowered to receive the pile of paper to be printed 3 Figure 3 following. On the impression cylinder 21 is keyed the control eccentric 22 of the reception table support, which moves the rocker lever 23, pivoting on the shaft 24. The cam follower 25 rotates against the control eccentric 22 and the roller 26 imparts a reciprocating movement to the shoe 27, locked on the connecting rod 28, which tilts the rocker plate 19 and displaces the table supports 12 Figure 2. The return spring 29 Figure 3 maintains the cam follower 25 in contact with the control eccentric 22, thus ensuring the return of the connecting rod 28. The mechanical assembly 30, comprising the rocker plate, the ratchet wheel and the pawl, is set in motion by the connecting rod 28 and is also provided with means for deactivating the pawl to disengage

the movement of rotation of the worm gear driving the supports of the reception table 4 of the press, in the same way as the feed table, so that these can be moved manually either upwards or downwards as desired, by means of the crank handle. The direction of rotation of the worm gears of the feed table is opposite to those of the reception table, so that automatically, in course of printing, when the former raise the pile of paper to be printed 3, the latter lower the pile of printed paper 5 by the same amount. The feeler 31, resting on the top of the pile of paper to be printed 3, detects its exact level. If this is too low, the feeler 31, pivoting on its shaft 32, turns and, by means of the rod 33, disengages the bell crank 34 from the rocker plate 19, turning on its shaft 35, thus permitting it to move to raise the pile of paper to be printed 3. Once the correct height is reached, the feeler 31 pushes the bell crank 34 into the notch in the rocker plate 19 and locks it in top dead centre position of the control eccentric 22. The pawl 18, liberating the ratchet wheel 17, being disengaged, it is now possible, by rotating the cross-shaft 16 in one direction or the other, to lower or raise the table supports 12 Figure 2, so that by motorizing the cross-shaft 16 or the helical bevel gears 14 or 15, it is possible to motorize and automate this function. The same possibilities are also available on these printing presses to control the descent or rise of the reception table 4.

In these different forms, the invention has as its primary object the incorporation into printing presses of a set of devices capable of motorizing the existing mechanical elements, enabling the movement of their table supports and of the ink duct rollers and dampening fountain rollers of their dampening units and the intermittent movement of the printing cylinders so as to eliminate all manual action for these different functions.

Another principal objective, also characterizing the invention, is to employ electrical, electromechanical,

electronic or other means of controlling the motorization resources employed, permitting the application of pre- programmed operating sequences, with fixed or adjustable settings, so that, for example, in the case of movement of the table supports, it is possible, for short or medium print runs of the order of five hundred two thousand copies, to initiate, by a simple action, the descent of the table supports over a fraction of their travel, and with automatic stop by a distance corresponding to the height of the pile of paper to be printed and in the event that the second table, positioned on standby at the bottom of the worm gear, should need to be loaded in course of printing in order to avoid idle time in the course of long print runs, to perform, in a single automatic sequential cycle, the complete descent of the table supports, whose retractable fingers automatically engage the lower table and bring it up, with its load, to the right operating height. In the same way, the rapid automatic descent of the reception table is a positive point, since when, at the end of a print run, only a small load of printed papers remains on it, lowering it by means of the crank handle is as long and tedious it is for the feed table. In contrast, bringing it up empty before the next print run is generally done easily and quickly thanks to a reduction gear system which enables it to be brought up to high level with just a few turns of the crank handle.

Figure 4 is a schematic representation in side view of the controls of the printing press, showing a control handwheel 36 for manual adjustment of the angular displacement of the ink duct roller, connected to a graduated cursor 37, showing the exact angular displacement of the fountain roller. Similarly, a control handwheel 38 for manual adjustment of the dampening unit can be seen, this being connected to a graduated cursor 39, showing the exact angular displacement of the fountain roller.

One of the objectives of the invention is, while

preserving intact the original equipment designed for these functions, to incorporate easily into printing presses in service, all or part of the motorization equipment, whether or not controlled by the devices enabling automation of these functions, in the majority of cases without any need to have recourse to mechanical machining functions such as <BR> <BR> drilling, thread tapping, etc. , using the fixing equipment existing for other functions on these printing presses and adding to these such elements as sprockets, gears, pulleys or other components.

Another objective of the invention is to incorporate during manufacture of the printing presses the means for automation by programmable control of the motorization of these functions, in accordance with the characteristics of this invention. The motorized drive elements non-exclusively adopted to carry out the function of displacement of the table supports, are presented in two principal forms. The first, which is inexpensive, consists in making direct use of the motorization of the printing press to be equipped, by using one of the rotating shafts involved in its operation to create a power take-off, by means of simple additional mechanical components fixed permanently in place, thus providing a supplementary function of intermittent rotation of the worm gear. The second consists in incorporating in the printing press an auxiliary motorization system, constructed using motors, geared motors, electrical, pneumatic or hydraulic devices, etc.

By way of non-exclusive example, there follows below a description, with references to the attached drawings, of two basic methods to illustrate the invention.

Figure 5 shows in diagrammatic form a set of devices for performing the rapid descent of the table supports 12, taking advantage of the motorization of one of the various rotating components of the printing press. To do this, the transverse camshaft 40 is fitted with a take-off sprocket

41, made in two parts so that it can be permanently fixed, without the need to dismantle this shaft. A support 42 is fixed on the frame of the printing press using, as far as possible, existing screws intended for other functions, and carries all the elements required to relay the rotary movement of the take-off sprocket 41. This support 42 is provided with a clutch 43, best if it is electromagnetic or mechanical with manual control, with a torque limiter. This clutch 43 is coupled to a sprocket 44 to relay the movement to the drive sprocket 45, also made in two parts and permanently fixed on the cross-shaft 16, setting in motion, through the bevel gear 14, the worm gears 11 driving the table supports 12. The chains 46 connect the sprockets 41, 44 and 45 together and transmit the movement. The choice of the ratios of the diameter of these sprockets, with respect to each other, enables the speed of rotation of the sprocket 45 to be multiplied and varied, governing the speed of movement of the feed table supports 12. To lower these, it is only necessary to start the printing press turning unladen at a given speed, for example six thousand copies an hour, then to disengage manually the finger, not shown in the diagram, raising the pawl 18 Figure 3 provided for the purpose, freeing the cross-shaft 16 or to raise it automatically, by pivoting it mechanically on its shaft by a few millimetres, disengaging it by means, for example, of an electromagnetic or a pneumatic cylinder which can advantageously obtain its air supply from the pump or compressor with which printing presses are equipped to carry out all their pneumatic functions. For this example to be carried out automatically, it is only necessary to provide an electrical coupling between the controls of the electromagnetic clutch and those of the electromagnet or pneumatic cylinder. In the case of utilization, on small printing presses, of a manually controlled clutch, this is provided with some known variety of mechanical torque limiter so as to avoid jamming of the printing press drive should the raising of the finger acting on the pawl 18

freeing the cross-shaft 16 be forgotten.

In another form of the invention, the second example of motorization of the table supports 12 is described. Figure 6 shows a schematic representation of a support 47, connected and permanently fixed to the printing press 1, on which is fixed an electric geared motor 48, whose output shaft, for ease of installation, is directly connected by an elastic coupling 50 to the bevel gear with spindle 49, fixed on one of the worm gears 11 in place of the easily dismantled original bevel gear 14. The advantage of the means presented in this second example, in which the original bevel gear 14 is replaced by a mechanically similar bevel gear with spindle 49, comprising in addition a power take-off consisting of the elastic coupling 50, resides in the fact that, when permitted by the mechanical configuration and the space available on the different sorts of printing presses to be equipped, it greatly facilitates the incorporation of the means of motorization to be installed, without the need to include, on the support 42, precise means of mechanical adjustment, either of the alignment of the different shafts relative to each other or of their distance between centres, to obtain proper mechanical operation of these assemblies.

Depending on the type of printing press to be equipped and the space available for these adaptations, all sorts of means can be employed for motorization of the table supports 12. The reduction ratios of the geared motors used are a function of the displacement time chosen for the feed and reception tables. The power of these geared motors is a function of the format of the printing press to be equipped, of the speed of rotation adopted for their output shaft and of the function for which they are intended. Indeed, if their function is limited to effecting rapid descent of the table supports 12, a low power will be sufficient. However, if in addition to this rapid descent, requirements include automatic raising by the geared motor 48, limited, for

example, to half the height of the pile of paper to be printed 3, only representing half the weight of the complete pile, which can be sufficient and very practical for the use of a printing press whose production mainly consists of repetitive short runs, its power will only need to be slightly increased. On the other hand, if complete automation is desired, with the feed table 2 being raised fully loaded by the geared motor 48, greater power will be necessary to perform this function. In this case, and depending on the size of the printing presses to be equipped, in order to gear down the ascending motion and thus enable a reduction in the power of the geared motor, a two-speed motor, enabling rapid lowering of the feed table and a rate of ascent which is slower, but still very much faster than that provided by the use of the original ratchet wheel 17, offers a good compromise. Another good method consists in controlling the electric power supply of the geared motor by a frequency-controlled speed regulator, by means of which the nominal power and speed of the motor can be temporarily reduced or increased, lending great flexibility in use to these assemblies. For example, it is possible to obtain a very fast descent followed, a few centimetres from the end of travel, by a rapid deceleration and then, during the re-ascent of the table supports, by a brief increase in frequency, to conserve constant torque of the geared motor. The size of the printing press to be equipped governs the power of the geared motor 48 necessary for these functions, and especially the reduction ratio retained. This determines the acceptability, or not, of the level of torque when the geared motor, stationary because it does not operate during printing, is driven in reverse by the pawl mechanism of the printing press. Depending on this, an electromagnetic clutch may or may not be incorporated between the output shaft of the reduction gear and the bevel gear 49 driving the worm gear 11, to avoid the risk of excessive wear on the geared motor.

In the two examples provided to illustrate the invention, a detector, electric or electronic, positioned at the lower end of travel, and a detector, optical or similar, positioned opposite the top of the pile of paper to be printed 3 Figure 1, connected electrically to the contactor that stops the printing press or to the electromagnetic clutch 39, will complete these examples. As a precaution, it is also useful to position an additional detector over the pawl 18, connected electrically to the clutch or the motor driving the worm gear 11, to inhibit their operation electrically if the contact caused by the raising of the pawl 18 is not made. In the different forms of the invention, the type of printing press, its purpose and the printer's choice are factors to take into account in order to opt for the best solution.

Using means broadly similar to those described by way of example, the supports of the reception table 4 Figure 1 are also motorized and controlled as function of the desiderata of the manufacturers and users.

To obtain the control of the means of motorization adopted for this application, all sorts of known means exist. For example, it is advantageous to use a programmable electronic controller capable of supplying an electric current for precise periods of time, either of pre-set duration, memorized as a function of the different sequential cycles of operation desired, or variable in response to the needs of the operator of the printing press.

These periods of time are combined to be in direct relation to the speed of rotation of the worm gears 11 and thus determine a certain distance of displacement of the table supports 12, corresponding to the height of the pile of paper to be printed 3. It is thus possible either, with a simple action, to obtain a rapid descent of the table supports 12 of pre-set sequential and adjustable length, by means, for example, of push-buttons operating by pulses, or to obtain a distance of descent programmed by the operator

of the printing press, corresponding precisely to the height of the pile of paper to be printed 3. Another known electronic means consists, by fixing a coding disc on a rotating shaft of the motorization unit adopted, in detecting, with great accuracy, the number of rotations and fractions of a degree of rotation effected by this shaft which, converted into millimetres of displacement of the table supports 12, for example, enables their stopping point to be programmed with great precision. All the means of automation adopted to control the means of motorization of the invention are connected to a control cluster 51 Figure 4, so that the operator can obtain the desired automated sequential cycles at will.

To motorize the angular displacement of the ink duct roller and that of the fountain roller, one can, for example, apply a rotary drive to the spindles of their control handwheels 36 and 38 Figure 4 respectively, using miniature geared motors, not shown in the figure and preferably positioned inside the protective housings 56 of the printing press 1. The control clusters 52 and 53 comprise the means of control of these miniature geared motors, so that, for example, they can be turned forward or backward by two push-buttons operating by pulses and by two other buttons, electrically linked to a digital display with figures corresponding to the graduations of the graduated cursors 37 and 39, advancing continuously in one direction or the other, so that by simple digital contact, precise adjustment of these two functions can be obtained.

By means of two-digit numerical displays, the figure corresponding to that of the desired graduated cursor can also be displayed directly, so that correct positioning can be attained by one simple action. The control cluster 54 comprises a set of controls with which the three printing cylinders can be turned forward or backward step by step without eliminating their original system of manual control by crank handle, and also a security button inhibiting

"step-by-step"operation while the printing press is in operation, and an emergency button to stop the printing press instantly in case of need.

This last function, which is found on modern printing presses, complements the other means provided by the invention of rationalizing and facilitating their use to the maximum, utilizing for their operation the electro- mechanical and drive motor resources of the printing press.

On the basis of these fundamental examples, all sorts of variations can be included without straying outside the framework of the invention.