Claims
- 1. In a method of achieving rotary registration in a press having a helical gear-equipped central impression cylinder and at least two helical gear-equipped plate cylinders, the steps of:
- (a) providing a positioning fixture separate from the press;
- (b) sequentially mounting each plate cylinder gear on the positioning fixture;
- (c) orienting each plate cylinder gear relative to a first reference on the positioning fixture which corresponds to a reference on the associated plate cylinder while the plate cylinder gear is mounted on the positioning fixture;
- (d) orienting at least one of the plate cylinder gears and said first reference on the positioning fixture relative to a second reference on the positioning fixture which corresponds to a reference on the press to provide a desired phase angle between said one plate cylinder and the other plate cylinder; and
- (e) mounting the gear-equipped plate cylinders on the press and moving the plate cylinder gears radially into engagement with the impression cylinder gear.
- 2. In a method of achieving rotary registration in a press having a helical gear-equipped central impression cylinder and a helical gear-equipped plate cylinder, the steps of mounting said plate cylinder gear on a positioning fixture, orienting said plate cylinder gear relative to a first reference on the positioning fixture which corresponds to a reference on said plate cylinder while the plate cylinder gear is on the positioning fixture, orienting said plate cylinder gear and the first reference on the positioning fixture relative to a second reference on the positioning fixture which corresponds to a reference on the press, installing said plate cylinder gear on said press, and after installing said plate cylinder gear in said press, moving the said plate cylinder gear radially into engagement with the central impression cylinder gear.
- 3. A method of achieving register in a printing press having a central impression cylinder equipped with a gear, and a plurality of plate cylinder assemblies disposed circumferentially about the impression cylinder, each of the plate cylinder assemblies including a plate cylinder having a shaft and a reference point, and a register assembly mounted on the shaft, each of the register assemblies including a plate cylinder gear and first alignment means for positioning a gear tooth of the plate cylinder gear with respect to the reference point of the plate cylinder, the printing press having second alignment means for each of said plate cylinder assemblies for positioning a tooth of each plate cylinder gear with respect to the impression cylinder gear, comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a positioning fixture separate from the printing press, the positioning fixture having a shaft corresponding to the shaft of each of said plate cylinders, a reference point corresponding to the reference point on each of said plate cylinders, and third alignment means corresponding to each of the second alignment means on the printing press,
- (b) sequentially mounting each register assembly of said plate cylinder assemblies on the shaft of the positioning fixture,
- (c) orienting the first alignment means of each register assembly while it is mounted on the shaft of the positioning fixture to position the first alignment means with respect to the reference point on the positioning fixture,
- (d) orienting the plate cylinder gear of each register assembly while it is mounted on the shaft of the positioning fixture to position a preselected tooth of the plate cylinder gear into alignment with the reference point on the positioning fixture,
- (e) orienting the reference point on the positioning fixture relative to the third alignment means on the positioning fixture while each register assembly is mounted on the fixture to provide a different angular relationship between the reference point on the positioning fixture and the third alignment means for each register assembly,
- (f) removing each register assembly from the positioning fixture and mounting the register assembly onto one of said plate cylinders to form a plate cylinder assembly,
- (g) mounting said plate cylinder assemblies on the printing press,
- (h) rotating each of the plate cylinder assemblies with respect to the second alignment means on the printing press for that plate cylinder assembly until the reference point of that plate cylinder assembly has the same angular relationship with the second alignment means on the press as it had with the third alignment means on the positioning fixture, and
- (i) moving the plate cylinder assemblies toward the impression cylinder so that the plate cylinder gears mesh with the impression cylinder gear.
- 4. The method of claim 3 including the step of orienting the impression cylinder gear before the plate cylinder gears mesh with the impression cylinder gear so that a valley between gear teeth of the impression cylinder gear is centered with respect to said preselected tooth of one of the plate cylinder gears.
- 5. The method of claim 3 in which said reference point on each plate cylinder is provided by a stop on the shaft of the plate cylinder, the first alignment means of each of the register assemblies including positioning means engageable with a stop on the shaft of a plate cylinder, the reference point of the positioning fixture being provided by a stop on the shaft of the positioning fixture corresponding to the stops on the shafts of the plate cylinders, including the steps of engaging the positioning means of each register assembly with the stop on the shaft of the positioning fixture when the register assembly is mounted on the positioning fixture, and engaging the positioning means of each register assembly with the stop on the shaft of the associated plate cylinder when the register assembly is mounted on the associated plate cylinder.
- 6. The method of claim 3 in which said printing press includes a coacting transfer cylinder assembly for each of said plate cylinder assemblies, each of the transfer cylinder assemblies including a transfer cylinder and a transfer cylinder gear, including the step of orienting each transfer cylinder gear relative to the associated plate cylinder gear, and moving the transfer cylinders toward the plate cylinders when the plate cylinder assemblies are moved toward the impression cylinder so that the transfer cylinder gears mesh with the plate cylinder gears substantially simultaneously with the meshing of the plate cylinder gears with the impression cylinder gear.
- 7. The method of claim 6 in which the printing press includes fourth alignment means for each transfer cylinder assembly, each transfer cylinder gear being equipped with detent means, including the step of orienting the detent means of each transfer cylinder gear into alignment with the fourth alignment means associated with the transfer cylinder gear to position a preselected gear tooth of the transfer cylinder gear relative to the associated plate cylinder gear.
- 8. The method of claim 3 in which each said register assemblies includes a sleeve which can be mounted on the shaft of one of the plate cylinders, the plate cylinder gear of each register assembly being mounted on the sleeve of the register assembly, a collar surrounding the sleeve, the first alignment means of each register assembly comprising a pin extending through the collar and through a circumferentially elongated slot in the sleeve, the reference point of each plate cylinder being provided by a stop on the shaft of the plate cylinder, the reference point of the positioning fixture being provided by a stop on the shaft of the positioning fixture corresponding to the stops on the plate cylinder shafts, including the step of engaging the pin of each register assembly with the stop of the positioning fixture when the register assembly is mounted on the shaft of the positioning fixture, said step of orienting the plate cylinder gear of each register assembly comprising rotating the sleeve and the plate cylinder gear of the register assembly with respect to the pin and the stop of the positioning fixture and then locking the collar on the sleeve to prevent relative rotation between the sleeve and the pin.
- 9. The method of claim 8 in which each of the register assemblies includes a second collar rotatably mounted on the sleeve, the second collar having a detent engageable with the third alignment means of the positioning fixture, said step of orienting the third alignment means comprising the steps of rotating the shaft of the positioning fixture and the sleeve of the register assembly to a preselected angle, rotating the second collar with respect to the sleeve until the detent on the collar engages the third alignment means, and locking the second collar on the sleeve to prevent relative rotation between the second collar and the sleeve, said step of rotating each of the plate cylinder assemblies with respect to the second alignment means on the printing press for that plate cylinder assembly comprising rotating each plate cylinder assembly until the detent on the second collar of the plate cylinder assembly engages the second alignment means.
- 10. The method of claim 3 in which each of the register assemblies includes a collar rotatably mounted on the sleeve, the collar having a detent engageable with the third alignment means of the positioning fixture, said step of orienting the third alignment means comprising the steps of rotating the shaft of the positioning fixture and the sleeve of the register assembly to a preselected angle, rotating the collar with respect to the sleeve until the detent on the collar engages the third alignment means, and locking the collar on the sleeve to prevent relative rotation between the collar and the sleeve, said step of rotating each of the plate cylinder assemblies with respect to the second alignment means on the printing press for that plate cylinder assembly comprising rotating each plate cylinder assembly until the detent on the collar of the plate cylinder assembly engages the second alignment means.
- 11. A positioning fixture for a register assembly which is adapted to be mounted on the journal of a plate cylinder of a flexographic press, the register assembly including a gear and a detent, the positioning fixture comprising:
- (a) a base,
- (b) a pedestal on the base,
- (c) a shaft rotatably mounted on the pedestal and adapted to support the register assembly,
- (d) lock means on the shaft for preventing relative rotation between the shaft and the register assembly,
- (e) gear stop means movably mounted on the base and engageable with the gear of the register assembly for positioning a preselected tooth of the gear relative to the lock means, and
- (f) alignment means on the base engageable with the detent of the register assembly after rotation of the shaft and the register assembly for providing an angular relationship between the detent and said preselected tooth.
- 12. The structure of claim 11 in which said fixture includes counter means for determining the angular orientation between the lock means on the shaft and the alignment means.
- 13. The structure of claim 11 in which said gear stop means includes a gauging block engageable with the gear of the register assembly for accurately positioning said preselected tooth with respect to said lock means on said shaft.
- 14. The structure of claim 11 in which said lock means comprises a keyway on the shaft.
- 15. A method of pre-aligning a register assembly for a printing plate cylinder in an off-machine fixture, the register assembly including a shaft, a plate cylinder gear surrounding the shaft, first locking means for locking the plate cylinder gear to the shaft, a collar mounted on the shaft, and second locking means for locking the collar on the shaft; the fixture including a cylindrical stub shaft sized to receive the shaft of the register assembly, a first reference on the stub shaft, and a gear tooth gauge block; comprising the steps of:
- (a) mounting the register assembly on the fixture by inserting the shaft of the register assembly into the stub shaft of the fixture;
- (b) positioning the shaft of the register assembly relative to the first reference on the stub shaft;
- (c) engaging the gear tooth gauge block with a gear tooth on the plate cylinder gear of the register assembly;
- (d) locking said first locking means so that said gear tooth of the plate cylinder gear is fixed on the shaft relative to the gear tooth gauge block and to said first reference;
- (e) disengaging the gear tooth gauge block from said gear tooth;
- (f) rotating the stub shaft of the fixture and of the shaft and the plate cylinder gear of the register assembly through a predetermined angle;
- (g) rotating said collar on the shaft of the register assembly and positioning a reference on the collar with respect to a second reference on the fixture; and
- (h) locking said second locking means so that the collar is fixed on the shaft relative to the second reference, whereby said gear tooth of the plate cylinder gear is aligned with said first reference and is at a predetermined angle from said second reference.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 06/350,627, filed Feb. 22, 1982, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
2362727 |
Mar 1978 |
FRX |
280081 |
Nov 1927 |
GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
350627 |
Feb 1982 |
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