Plate Clamping Device of Web-Fed Rotary Printing Press

This invention relates to a plate clamping device for mounting a printing plate on a plate cylinder of a web-fed rotary printing press.

In a conventional web-fed rotary printing press, a printing plate wrapped about a plate cylinder is mounted under tension on the plate cylinder by clamping the opposite ends of the printing plate between the inner walls of an axial slot formed on the periphery of the plate cylinder and a plate clamping shaft disposed in the slot and then rotating the plate clamping shaft. After clamping, the printing plate should be uniformly tensioned in all directions, and the clamp should not be loosened to release the printing plate for preventing register errors during printing.

In a conventional plate clamping device, an eccentric plate clamping shaft is journalled by bearers at both longitudinal ends of the plate cylinder, and the opposite ends of the printing plate are inserted into gaps between the plate clamping shaft and the inner walls of the slot so as to clamp the printing plate by the wedge action of the plate clamping shaft caused by the tension of the printing plate. As a consequence, the long plate clamping shaft journalled at its opposite ends has a tendency to be bent by the tension of the printing plate so that the printing plate is not wrapped under uniform tension. Where the thickness of the printing plate is small, sufficient clamping force can not be provided, whereas where the thickness of the printing plate is large, insertion of both ends thereof into the gaps becomes difficult. Accordingly, it is difficult to set the gaps for any thickness of the printing plate. In other words the range of the thickness of the printing plate is limited.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved plate clamping device of a web-fed rotary printing press capable of firmly clamping the printing plate regardless of the thickness thereof.

According to this invention, there is provided a plate clamping device of a web-fed rotary printing press comprising a plate cylinder; a printing plate wrapped about the plate cylinder, the plate cylinder being provided with a longitudinal slot having a narrow opening opened on a peripheral surface of the plate cylinder, a semicircular bottom surface and oppositely inclined surfaces interconnecting side walls of the opening and opposite ends of the semicircular bottom surface; a plate clamping shaft loosely inserted into the slot and formed with a plurality of radial openings each containing a ball and a spring urging the ball against the semicircular surface, the peripheral surface of the plate clamping shaft being provided with a flat surface which cooperates with one of the inclined surface to hold one bent end of the printing plate and a slit for receiving the other bent end of the printing plate.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the plate clamping device of a web-fed rotary printing press embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a plate cylinder;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on line III--III of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the plate cylinder partially in phantom; and

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged partial cross-sectional views useful to explain the construction and operation of the plate clamping device according to this invention.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, a plate cylinder 1 is constituted by assembling a cylindrical main body 2, a pair of circular disc shaped bearers 3 and end shafts 4 on the opposite sides of the main body 2. A longitudinal groove or slot 5 is axially provided on the periphery of the main body 2. The slot 5, as clearly shown in FIG. 1, has a cross-sectional configuration having a semicircular bottom surface 5a, a narrow opening 5b at the peripheral surface of the main body 2, and oppositely inclined surfaces 5c and 5d interconnecting both sides of the narrow opening 5b and the opposite ends of the semicircular surface 5a, the opposing ends of the periphery defining the narrow opening 5b being rounded. Each of bearers 3 arranged on the both sides of the main body 2 is formed with a shaft opening 6 which is concentric with the semicircular surface 5a in the main body 2.

A plate clamping shaft 7 is provided for clamping the circumferential opposite ends of a printing plate 8 wrapped about the periphery of the plate cylinder 1. The plate clamping shaft 7 has a large diameter portion 7a with a diameter slightly smaller than a circle contacting the inner surfaces of the slot 5 and opposite shaft portions 7b each of which has a diameter slightly smaller than the shaft opening 6 of the bearer 3 so that the plate clamping shaft 7 is loosely received in the slot 5. The large diameter portion 7a is provided with a flat portion 7c parallel with the inclined surface 5c of the slot 5 and adapted to clamp one inwardly bent end of the printing plate, the flat portion 7c extending over substantially the entire length of the slot 5 except the opposite ends thereof. A cylindrical portion of the large diameter portion 7a is provided with a longitudinal slot 9 for receiving one end of the printing plate, and a plurality of radial openings 10 longitudinally spaced apart from each other, each of said openings 10 accommodating a ball 11 and a compression spring 12 urging the ball 11 against the semicircular surface 5a of the slot 5.

As shown in FIG. 3, both ends 13 of opposite shaft portions 7b are formed in the shape of a nut or the head of a bolt, so that the nut shaped ends 13 is adapted to be engaged by a spanner for rotating the plate clamping shaft 7. A ratchet wheel 14 having a plurality of teeth is secured to each of the small diameter opposite shaft portions 7b by a key 15 adjacent to each end 13. U shaped pawl levers 16 are rotatably mounted on the opposite sides of the ratchet wheel 14. A pawl 17 is pivotably supported by the pawl lever 16 through a pin 18 at the free ends of the pawl levers 16 and urged by a leaf spring 20 secured to the pawl levers 16 by a bolt 19 for causing the pawl 17 to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 14. When the pawl 17 is rotated against the force of the leaf spring 20 in the clockwise direction by pushing a knob 17b, a flat portion 17a is brought to a position contacting the leaf spring 20 at which the rotation of the pawl 17 stops. A tightening screw 21 is threaded through the other ends of the pawl levers 16 to reach the periphery of the end shaft 4 so that the rotation of the pawl levers 16 can be adjusted by adjusting the screw 21. A stop 22 is provided with the tightening screw 21 for preventing the same from disengaging the pawl levers 16, and a pin 23 engaging a small diameter portion 14a of the ratchet wheel 14 is provided for the ratchet levers 16.

The plate clamping device having a construction as above described operates as follows.

Before mounting a new printing plate, a used printing plate wrapped about the plate cylinder is dismounted. First, the tightening screws 21 of the rachet mechanisms on both sides are loosened with a screw driver, for example, until the stop 22 engages shoulders 16a of the pawl levers 16. Thereafter the pawl 17 is manually rotated by pushing the knob 17b of the pawl 17 in the clockwise direction of arrow B so that the flat portion 17a of the pawl 17 is forced by the leaf spring 20 to hold its state. In such state the rachet wheels 14 are disengaged from the pawls 17 to rotate freely.

The used printing plate 8 wrapped about the plate cylinder is dismounted by a suitable prior known manner. FIG. 2 shows status of the mechanism when the used printing plate 8 is dismounted.

Next, for mounting a new printing plate, the knob 17b of the pawls 17 is pushed in the counterclockwise direction to engage the pawls 17 with the ratchet wheels 14. Thereafter the ratchet wheels 14 are rotated to the position shown in FIG. 2 by manually operating the spanner engaged with one or both of the ends 13 of the shaft portions 7b until the pawls 17 engage the teeth of the ratchet wheels 14. Usually the printing plate 8 is made of a thin sheet of steel or aluminum having a thickness of 0.22-0.3 mm and the both ends of the printing plate 8 are bent inwardly as shown in FIG. 5. Since the flat portion 7c of the plate clamping shaft 7 is parallel with the inclined surface 5c of the slot 5, one bent end of the printing plate 8 is inserted between the flat portion 7c and the inclined surface 5c of the slot 5. At this time, since the ball 11 is urged by spring 12 against the left-hand portion of the semicircular portion 5a as viewed in FIG. 5, the plate clamping shaft 7 is urged against the right-hand inclined surface 5d of the slot 5 by a reaction force, while the flat surface 7c is urged against the inclined surface 5c with a slight pressure. Then the bent end 8a of the printing plate 8 can readily be inserted by pressing the plate clamping shaft 7 to right lower and the inserted end 8a is held with a suitable force. After holding one end 8a of the printing plate 8 in this manner, the printing plate 8 is wrapped about the plate cylinder 1. Then the other bent end 8b of the printing plate 8 is inserted into slot 9, and the plate clamping shaft 7 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1 by rotating the end 13 with a spanner. Then, the slot 9 is brought to oppose the inclined surface 5c to overlap both bent ends 8a and 8b of the printing plate and the overlapped ends are held between the inclined surface 5c and the plate clamping shaft 7 as shown in FIG. 6. At this time, since the balls 11 move along the semicircular surface 5a toward right lower, the reaction force caused by the balls 11 engaging the semicircular surface 5a now acts upon the left-hand inclined plane 5c. As a consequence, as the bent ends 8a and 8b of the printing plate 8 are more deeply pulled in, the pressure applied to the overlapped ends of the printing plate 8 increases to firmly hold the printing plate 8. As the plate clamping shaft 7 is rotated, the ratchet wheels 14 integral therewith are rotated by operating the spanner at the end 13 of the shaft portion 7b so that the pawls 17 would engage other teeth, spaced 4 teeth in this embodiment, to prevent reverse rotation of the plate clamping shaft 7. Thereafter, as the tightening screw 21 is manually rotated, the pawl levers 16 are rotated in the counterclockwise direction to rotate the ratchet wheels 14 in the tightening direction while engaging with the pawls 17, whereby the printing plate 8 will be further tightened.

As above described, according to this invention, a plate cylinder is provided with a longitudinal slot having a semicircular bottom portion, a narrow opening and oppositely inclined surfaces interconnecting the semicircular portion and the narrow opening, and a plate clamping shaft having a diameter slightly smaller than that of a circle contacting the semicircular surface and both inclined surfaces is loosely inserted in the slot. The bent ends of the printing plate are clamped by urging the plate clamping shaft against the inclined surfaces by the reaction force created by spring biased balls rolling along the semicircular surface. Consequently, when one bent end of the printing plate is inserted between an inclined surface of the slot and the plate clamping shaft, the urging force of the plate clamping shaft loosely inserted into the slot acts on the surface opposite to the surface clamping one end of the printing plate and does not act strongly upon the clamping surface, so that the printing plate is held by a suitable force. Accordingly even when the thickness of the printing plate is relatively large, the bent ends thereof can readily be inserted. Moreover, as the gap receiving the bent ends varies in accordance with the thickness of the printing plate it is not necessary to precisely finish the clamping surfaces. Moreover, when the printing plate is tightened by rotating the plate clamping shaft, the point of applying pressure by the ball moves to apply the pressure caused by the plate clamping shaft upon the clamping surfaces. Consequently, it is possible to firmly clamp the printing plate irrespective of its thickness, thus improving the quality of the printed matter.