Patent Application
20130029826
The present invention relates to printing presses and more particularly to folders in a printing press.
Folders in a printing press may be operated to run in a “collect” mode in which the folder accumulates a predetermined number of products before passing the accumulated products along. Folders running in collect mode are often fed by multiple webs which were previously accumulated in page groupings from multiple printing groups, for example web offset printing units. The collect cylinder is typically arranged to selectively feed, for example, sheets in a two collect delivery, a three collect delivery, and so on. A two collect refers to a delivery of two sets of sheets at a time, and a three collect involves a delivery of three sets of sheets at a time. Alternatively, the folder may operate in a straight mode, in which the folder does not accumulate any products but rather delivers a set of single sheets at a time to a downstream operation.
Digital printing presses do not require the use of printing plates and thus have a quicker and less expensive turnaround time than traditional lithographic and flexographic printing presses. Further, digital printing presses can produce different images in successive revolutions if a digital print unit is being used including for example, direct imaging pages in an offset printing press. If another type of digital printer is being used, different images may be successively printed on the web as desired. When multiple sets of different pages are produced digitally and when multiple sets of pages with different subject matter can be selectably sequenced onto one web, the associated folders cannot accumulate or “collect” a varying number of products in the traditional manner. Consequently, the capabilities of a digital printing press would be greatly reduced when using traditional collect mode folders.
U.S. Publication No. 2007/0135286, hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a folder having a collect cylinder mounted for rotation and a collect cylinder drive mechanism for rotating the collect cylinder.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,744,518, hereby incorporated by reference herein, discloses a folder that includes a device for cutting sheets from a web of paper, a folding cylinder provided with movable retention devices and movable blades for folding the sheets cut from the web, a cam for controlling the movement of the movable retention devices by contact with cam followers, a cam for controlling the movement of the tucking blades by contact with cam follower, and at least one covering cam. The covering cam includes two semi-cams which can each be moved radially between a retracted position and an extracted position, the covering cam being in a configuration for straight operation when the semi-cams are in a retracted position and in a configuration for collect operation when the semi-cams are in an extracted position.
The present invention produces sheets from two separate webs digitally printed and overlaid with additional capability for cutting and storing one of the webs on a separate cylinder in the folder to be forwarded later. A variable number of sheets may be stored and combined for use later in a printed product, such as a newspaper. Newspaper sections are accumulated and folded using cutting cylinders, a transfer cylinder, a collect cylinder and a jaw cylinder in accordance with the description that follows.
The present invention provides for the production of multi-page newspapers with a selectable number of pages from digitally printed sources.
The present invention provides a folder. The folder includes a first cutting cylinder for cutting a first web into a plurality of first sheets, a second cutting cylinder for cutting the second web into a plurality of second sheets and for holding a second sheet, a transfer cylinder receiving at least one first sheet and at least one second sheet at a transfer location and a storage cylinder storing at least one of the plurality of second sheets cut from the web, the second cutting cylinder capable of transferring second sheets to the storage cylinder.
The present invention also provides a printing press including at least one printing unit for printing a first web and a folder in accordance with the present invention.
The present invention provides an additional folder for a printing press including a first cutting cylinder for cutting a first web into a plurality of first sheets, a second cutting cylinder for cutting a second web into a plurality of second sheets and a transfer cylinder receiving at least one first sheet and at least one second sheet at a transfer location.
The present invention also provides a method of forming a printed product including the steps of printing a first web with at least one printing unit, cutting the first web into a first sheets, cutting a second web into second sheets and gripping at least one first sheet and at least one second sheet together at a transfer location on a transfer cylinder.
The present invention provides a further method of forming a printed product including the steps of printing a first web with at least one printing unit, cutting the first web into a first sheets, cutting a second web into second sheets and gripping at least one first sheet and at least one second sheet together at a transfer location on a transfer cylinder.
Conventional folders do not include a transfer cylinder. Including a transfer cylinder eliminates the creation of “macaroni.” Macaroni, as known in the art, are slivers of paper resulting from a new cut made adjacent to one or more already collected products, thereby severing the previously collected products. In accordance with the present invention, the cutting cylinders cut the respective webs into printed products against the transfer cylinder, the transfer cylinder then transfers each individual product to the collect cylinder after the printed products are cut and combined on the transfer cylinder. As a result, there are no previously cut pages at the point of cutting a new sheet. As a result, the collect cylinder does not serve as a counter cylinder to the cutting cylinder, the collect cylinder simply collects printed products already cut from the web.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described below by reference to the following drawings, in which:
Web 12 may be aided by guide rollers or nip rollers 28 as web enters folder 130. A previously printed web 14 may be combined with web 12 in folder 130. Web 14 may be printed by other printing units, for example, other digital print units. Webs 12, 14 may be combined to produce a section, for example, a subject matter section of a newspaper such as sports or business.
Folder 130 includes, for example, a one-around cutting cylinder 30. As known in the art, a one-around cylinder has a circumference that corresponds to a length of a single sheet. A two-around cylinder has a circumference that corresponds to a length of two sheets. Folder 130 further includes, for example, a second one-around cutting cylinder 32, a one-around storage cylinder 80, a two-around transfer cylinder 40, a two around collect cylinder 50 and a two around jaw cylinder 60. Folder 130 may also include a fan wheel 70 having fan blades 72 and a delivery or conveyor 74. A controller 110 and/or user interface may be provided in order to control components of press 100 including folder 130, printing section 120.
Each web 12, 14 is cut into sheets by a cutting blade 34, 36 on a respective cutting cylinder 30, 32. Blades 34, 36 cut against an anvil or cutting rubber 441, 442 for this purpose. Transfer cylinder 40 also includes pins 421, 422 at transfer locations which hold a lead edge of a new sheet to be cut from webs 12, 14. Pins 421, 422 may be any form of signature gripping device for example, pins, mechanical grippers or vacuum grippers. Cutting blades 34, 38 extend and cut webs 12, 14, respectively, into sheets A, B against a surface of transfer cylinder 40.
Sheets A, B are combined together at a pin 421, 422 on transfer cylinder 40. As illustrated in
In accordance with a feature of the present invention, cutting cylinders 30, 32 and transfer cylinder 40 may work in a plurality of modes.
Concurrently, cutting cylinder 30 cuts sheets A, illustrated as A1, A2, A3, A4, from web 12. As shown in
By providing a storage cylinder 80, sheets B, for example, B1, B2, B3, B4, can be stored for multiple revolutions if sheets B are not immediately needed at pins 421, 422. When sheet B is desired sheet B can be reinserted via cutting cylinder 32 without negatively interacting with web 14 which continues to pass into folder 130. Cutting cylinder 32 may also be designed to store and release sheets B. Storage cylinder 80 is preferably tangent to cutting cylinder 32. If sheet B is needed after only one rotation of cylinder 32, sheet B is reinserted onto the web as soon as sheet B has completed one revolution on cutting cylinder 32.
In a second preferred operating mode, shown in
As illustrated in
Using the three previously described modes in combination with one another allows any number of sheets to be combined at pins 521, 522 on collect cylinder 450. See Table 1. When three sheets are collected at a transfer pin 421, 422, a choice between operating in Mode 1 in combination with Mode 2 or operating in Mode 3 may depend upon the availability of sheets B stored on storage cylinder 80. For example, if storage cylinder 80 does not include a stored sheet B, (sheet B5 as illustrated in
During the collection of four sheets on a collect pin 521, 522, collect cylinder 50 may be running in a two-collect mode in order to collect a second set of sheets. As illustrated in
Similarly, during the collection of five sheets on a collect pin 521, 522 the collect cylinder is operating in either a two-collect mode or a three-collect mode. If transfer cylinder 50 is operating in a two-collect mode, cylinder 50 makes two full rotations before transferring collected sheets to jaw cylinder 60. Thus, when five sheets are desired on a collect pin 521, 522, and collect cylinder 50 is running in two-collect mode, a combination of operating Mode 2 and operating Mode 3 are used to collect the five sheets. Operating Mode 2 provides two sheets A4, B4, from a pin 421 on transfer cylinder 40 (
In contradistinction, collect cylinder 50 may be run in three-collect mode when five sheets are desired on each transfer pin 521, 522. During a three-collect run, collect cylinder 50 will make three full rotations before transferring sheets collected thereon to collect cylinder 50. During each rotation, sheets are provided to pin 521 in accordance with operating Mode 2 twice and in accordance with operating Mode 1 once. Each operating Mode 2 provides two sheets to pin 521 (
Further flexibility of folder 130 is provided by collect cylinder 50 which may run in, for example, straight or one-collect mode, two-collect mode or three-collect mode, etc. to accumulate the desired number of sheets. Once the desired number of sheets is obtained at a collect pin 521, 522, sheets are folded into a jaw 621, 622 of jaw cylinder 60 via a tucking blade 54 located on collect cylinder 50.
After folding by jaw cylinder 60, sections are transferred to a fan 70, which includes fan blades 72. A folded product or section is received between each fan blade 72. Fan 70 may subsequently deposit newspaper sections onto a conveyor or delivery stream 74 for further processing.
Printing press 100 may be used to print and form printed products such as newspapers, for example, tabloid or broadsheet newspapers. The printed products may be single section products, for example, a tabloid newspaper, or multi-section products, for example, a multi-section broadsheet newspaper.
In other preferred embodiments, various locations for storage cylinder 80 gathering the stored sheets are possible and stored sheets may be gathered in a location other than on a cylinder. Sheets may also be stored on another cylinder, for example, cutting cylinder 32 as opposed to storage cylinder 80.
Mechanisms located on the cylinders 30, 32, 40, 50, 60 and 80 including pins, cutting blades, grippers, jaws and other mechanisms may be selectably, actuatable and/or programmable. The cylinder mechanisms may also be silenced or retractable when desired.
In a further preferred embodiment, a third web may be cut by a third cutting cylinder, with at least one cylinder being able to store and forward sheets.
In the preceding specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments and examples thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of invention as set forth in the claims that follow. The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative manner rather than a restrictive sense.
Priority is hereby claimed to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/505,254 filed on Jul. 7, 2011, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61505254 | Jul 2011 | US |
