CA2163009A1 - Automated printing press with reinsertion registration control - Google Patents

Abstract

An automated printing press (10) is provided with a plurality of printing stations (13), each having a printing mechanism (60) which prints at least one component image at spaced apart locations along a web (11). Each printing mechanism (60) is also positionable to one side of the press to facilitate its servicing. Computers (400, 405) are used for precisely and repeatedly controlling actuation of the printing mechanism (60) in and out of position for printing and for precisely registering the component images being printed by the multiple printing stations (13). Each station (13) has a microprocessor based computer controller (407) for precisely registering the printing rollers (61) among each of the stations (13) and with respect to a reprinted component part of a composite image on a web (11) that may have been removed from and reinserted into the press (10), deforming in the process such that the repeat lengths of the reprinted parts have changed and may vary along the length of the web (11). Measurements are made by sensors (350) of a series of repeat lengths on the web (11), a regression analysis is performed and a prediction made of a constant or recurring component in the next image to be encountered at each respective station (13). The circumferential speed of the print roller (61) at each station (13) is separately controlled in accordance with a respective error prediction to control the length of the image printed at the station to that already on the web (11). The speed is controlled by pulses sent to a stepper motor (327) of a harmonic drive (275) at each station (13). The pulses are spaced evenly over the print length of the image.

Description

~O 94/29108 21~ 3 Q ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 AUTOMATED PRINTING PRESS WI~H
RE~INSI~RTION REGISIRATION CONTROL
The present invention relates to rotary printing presses having multiple printing stations, in particular, to A-ltnn A-- i versions of such rotary printing press and more particularly to such ~ rotary printing presses for pluceDsll.g c~
B~cl~ of the I..~. -S Rotary printing presses with multiple printing stations having various degrees of co r -' controlled tnm~tion for ~locesD;Ilg c~ntin~nU~ D~ s or webs are known. The printing stations of such presses are often lined up in a row, with the stations being f~xed to one another. Each station usually has its own gear train driven by a drive shaft common to all the stations. Each station has a printing ~ ' including some form of rotatable printing element, such as a printing roller, for applying at least one cc~lu~one~l image of ink or other Ll a~sf~,l able image forming fluid at spaced apart locations along the length of the web (i.e., every levoluLon of the rotatable printing element). An illl~ ..lD;o~ ,rrh~..;7"" having a backing face is used for backing the web while the image is being applied. For many rotary printing presses, such as rotary fl~ xc,~ ,h.c printing presses, the printing ~ o~ "~ includes a printing plate mounted to the printing roller for applying the image to the web and an anilox roller with some form of 15 inking m~-h ~nicnn (such as a metering roller or doctor blade assembly and ink reservoir) for ~ " .g measured amounts of ink or other such fluid to the printing plate. The illl~ h_.. -, is typicaUy a rotatable illlpl~ D;UII cylinder roller. The gear train of each station usually drives the rotation of each of these rollers. With such multiple station presses, a single colored portion (i.e., co~l,o,lc~ image) of a final co~Jvbil~ image is printed at each station. Each of the V~U~ images are intended to be printed in 20 register with respect to one another both 1-~- g;~ ;..A1lY and ll~~ b~ly on the web.
Once one printing job has been cul~ t~d, the printing ~.. r 1,~ ", of each of the printing stations (being used for the next printing job) will likely need to be changed or otherwise serviced in some way and repositioned for printing. For example, the printing roller may be replaced and the printing ".rch~
moved into a new position for printing. Such printing presscs have to be shut down in order to prepare or set up the applicable printing stations for the next printing job. OA the time it takes an operator WO 94129108 2 ~L 6 3 0 ~ 9 PCT/US94/0614 to set up the printing press for the next printing job takes longer than the printing run itself. Every minute that the printing press is shut down in order to set up for the next printing job is time not spent running a printing job and g_u~.dlmg revenue.
A number of prior printing presses have included f ~ systems for reducing set up times. These 5 systems have varied in their degree of Some of these ~ set up systems have included p--Q;tinnine ~nfc~ "c for ~ --lly moving rollers of the printing . ,~ " to and from various positions during preparation of the press for printing. Two such systems are disclosed in U.S. Patents Nos.
4,413,560 and 5,060,570.
Attempts to reduce set up times have also included cnmhir~in~ the printing ~ - of each 10 printing station into a lcl~G~r~l~ unit or cassette which may be replaced with another unit, ~ Y
prepared for the next printing job. See for example, U.S. Patents Nos. 4,462,311 and 5,060,569.
While these prior efforts in reducing set up times have had some success, there is still a need for a more Alltr.m t.od multiple station rotary printing press which can be changed from running one printing job to another in a shorter period of time.
A major problem ~ ru ~ t- ~d with multiple station rotary printing presses is c~ ly g the quality of the images being printed, both print quality and image ~. g Print quality p.~,bl~ ~s, such as barring, have been known to ~,L~ --lly plague multiple station rotarv printing presses. The registration of each partial or c<. ,por P 1 image must be ~ d and ...~ -; Fd to insure the quality of the final c~. p~ images. A number of prior printing presses have included c~,..lr controlled 20 registration systems for AlltomAtir-lly ---;--' --- E ~O;-~ ;n~ The degree of success in c ~ ly g;~ tio (i.e., pc ';~ \e of the C~IIIP~ ~ images) over the length of the web has been found to generally vary from system to system. T~ in . ~ e print quality and l.oi~l. ;-~1.
control may increase the length of web that has to be scraped (i.e., the scrap rate) and limit the type of printing jobs that can be A~lp TIA-_Iy run on a given press.
The assignee of the present invention has utilized a cu ~ ,l controlled 1~g;,~ system 500 for controlling 1.m~ AA1 po~ 1;."~ of the CC "1-~ ' images on the web 501 ~I.e., circumferential registration of the printing roller) in a p. ;Yiu~-;,ly ~ r~ ed multiple station flr ~. ng, ~ rotary printing press 502 for processing narrow webs (i.e., webs having widths of about 19 inches (48 cm) or less). That flexographic printing press typically had two sets 503,504 of six printing stations 505-510 and 511 -516 with 30 each set having one C~J1U~ 550 controlling c;.~,u.. f~ ~ial ~O Each station had a frame 517 with a gear train side 518 and an operator side 519 with the printing ~ PC!~ rollers 520, 521 therebetween. For each station, the shaft 525 _ g the i,..~ iA;,io~ roller 520 was powered off of a common drive shaft 526 through a worm gear set 527 located outside the gear train side of the station frame.
The printing plate roller 521 of each printing station was individually rotated by the common drive shaft 35 through a separate branch 528 of the station gear train driving a gear 535 on the printing roller 521.
Circumferential ~ iU~ of each station's COII~PC image was controlled by slûwing down ûr speeding up the rotation of the printing roller 521 while g the speed of the web Sûl through the station.
Asingleh_rmonicgearassemblyS30,similartothatdisclosedinU.S.PatentNo.3,724,368,wasc-- -- -~t~

~3~
~10 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 within the separate gear train branch 528. The single l.~ n r gear assembly 530 was mounted on one end of a jack shaft 531 outside the gear train side 518 of the station frame 517 and downline of the i, J,.~ -roller 520. The jack shaR 531 was journaled at either end to the sides of the station frame. A gear 532 fixed to the iLU~ DD;oll roller shaR 525, between the worm gear set 527 and the gear train side 518 of the S station frame 517, engaged and drove an outer gear 533 on the single ha,,uo,lic gear assembly 530. The single harmonic gear assembly 530, in turn, rotated the jack shaR 531, driving a tooling gear 534 fixed to the jack shaft just inside the gear train side 518 of the station frame 517. The jack shaft tooling gear 534 drove another tooling gear 535 fixed to the shaft of the printing roller 521 through an idler tooling gear 536 mounted for free rotation about the iLu~ roller shaR. Only the printing roller 521 was driven by the single harmonic gear assembly 530. All three tooling gears 534, 535 and 536 were spur gears, generally coplanar and located just inside of the gear train side 518 of the station frame 517. The single ~ r gear assembly 530 had a one percent .lirr~.~;nce in gear ratios. In order to c-. ..l.c n -- for this dirf~i. c nce, the gear ratio between the il~ iOU roller gear 532 and the outer gear 533 on the single 1~ ;r~ gear assembly 530 was made 100: 101. A standard DC motor 537 was co .~ t, A to a drive shaft 526 inside the 15 single h~rTnonic gear assembly which, when activated caused the jack shaft 531, and thereby the printing roller 521, to rotate at a different speed than the i.. pl~..DiVu roller 520 or the common drive shaft 526. The iL~ ..D;OL~ roller 520 helped carry the web 501 through the printing station (505, ..., 516). Thus, actuation of the single h~ ~uu...C gear assembly 530 effected phase changes between the 1. - l 6peed of the printing roller 521 and the speed of the web 501.
To bring the c~"u~ images of this earlier version of the assignee's FlcAo"la~Lic Rotary Printing Press into initial ~.h~ UlU~ ~iDII 3i (i.e., p~c.eg~ ), an operator would adjust the relative circumferential position of each printing roller 521 by a~iti~, - g the DC motor 537 of the ~u~ single h~rm~ ;r gear assembly 530 at switch 539. P-~.e6iDL-_-- was effected manually and took place with the press shut down. In controlling c i. . uLufe. ~, Lial r CgiDIl with the web 501 running through the press 502, the plate roller 521 of the first printing station 505 would print a mark 538 (a h~D~lDe bar) on the web 501 every revolution of the printing roller 521. The printing roller 521 at each 1~ 5~ printing station Sû6-516 downline from the first station had a separate mark 540 which rotated along with the printing roller.
Two optical sensors 541, 542 were mounted to each station frame 517, one 541 for . .~r.;l~.. ;. g each of the web marks 538 as they passed by and the other 542 for g the rotation of the station'6 printing roller mark 540. An encoder 544 was ~ ~ ~ to the common drive shaft 526 of the printing press 502. This encoder 544 g_ne. ~.t~ d a certain number of electrical pulses every . ~ ~ u h~ion of the common drive shaft 526 aswellastherollersdriventhereby, ir~ ingtheilu~ D;u--rollerss2o. Eachc- ~-r~ t., 550hadacounter SS1 for counting these pulses. Each sensor 541, 542 was basically a switch that turned on and off when â mark 538, 540 was sensed. Each cu..",~t~ . 550 was ~,-u~,. . .- - rd to read a pulse count directly from its counter 551 each time a mark 538, 540 triggered its rCD~J~Li~_ sensor 541, 542 for any of the six stations com~c~ ~t;d to the ~ ,c~ u~u~ut~ r 550. Each s ~ 550 was also p~ u~ucd to read one pulse count and then the other pulse count for the pair of marks 538, 540 each revolution of the printing roller 521 at each of its six stations. These pulse count readings were then each stored in a register or section of memory WO 94/29108 ~ L 6 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 561, 562 respectively COIl ~I.o.~ .g to the relative position of a mark 538, 540 for each ICoJ~C_Li~_ station connected to the I~D~ ti~ _ co...l,ut~ r 550. After obtaining a pulse count for each mark from a station, the a~)plulJlial~ coLul,ul~r 550 subtracted the two numbers to obtain a dir~r,l.lce count equal to the number of pulses between the two marks. This dir~ .lce count was also stored in a register 563 for the ICo~
S station. The sequence in which the CuLu~,ui~ . 550 acquired and analyzed the pulse count for the marks 538, 54û at each of the different printing stations d~ A~d upon the order in which each station's marks were sensed. The CoLu~ut- ~ would not begin a new cycle of ~al ~LiL g for the marks, r ~U; I; ~ E; pulse counts and analyzing the data at all six stations until the marks at each station for the previous cycle were analyzed or three l~n~rc-oqqfi-l attempts at O~ Lh g for the marks had been made. If both marks at a given station were 10 not sensed in one lev~,luLivu~ for whatever reason, the cu .~ut~ ~ 550 was pr~ to continue sc~Lil g for up to three revolutions of the printing roller 521 before 1 ~AA~ g the search and starting a new cycle.
The setting of optimum c;.~ ~Luf~ t;al position of each printing roller in a given set of stations relative to the web was stored in a cu-.- l - 1;Ae location in a memory 555 in the r~l,c_L~_ c - 550 . s a number of pulses (i.e., a count) between the sensing of the printing roller mark 540 and each web mark 15 53~. This optimum position was subtracted from the dir~.~ ncc count to produce an error value that was stored in a register 564 or memory location cUI.~ g to the I~DIJC~ - station. The optimum position of each printing roller 521 was a quality A- t~ ",;",~ n pr~, `;u~.i,ly made by an operator. This error count was compared with a tolerance range valne stored in a memory 556. If the pulse count between the marks fell outside of an a~c~r ' ~ I~ range initially A~ by the operator and stored in the memory 556 by the 20 operator, the CoLu~,ut~ . 550 sent a cv.. ~ g signal to a driver 565 that actuated the DC motor 537 on the a~ .tc single ha~nr.n;A gear assembly 530 of the cU....l-oA~l;,.g station to thereby effect a phase change and rotate the ,P1~ plate roller 521 back into riO;-h fl~A In making these .CO
Co~ i<Jus, the a~ U~ DC motor 537 would be turned on by the ~ ,lic~'~ c~. u~ t~ r 550 at the beginning of a repeat length (i.e., the distance between ;,.,ccc~ _ web marks) and allowed to continue 25 running for a period of time p~vgl~cd to be ~pluAillla~cly equal to the number of pulses (i.e., counts) the image was out of register. The period of time pro~,.; . . . t d to COl I ~ uud to one count could be varied.
Thus, each CU111~JU'~. 550 acquired the data (i.e., the pulse count) for the marks 538, 540 at each of the six stations 5ûS-SlO and 511-516 in its l~,~Jc_li~_ set 503, 504, analyzed the data (i.e., CVLU~ d it with the optimum count) and then made the al rl~J~ co..__LiullD.
30 It is often desirable to subject a web to more than one printing run. For example, it may be desirable to run the web through a fl~Yngra;lhi~- printing press, subject the web to an ;~t. - ,..r.l;,.lt-. printing ope~
and then reinsert the web through the flAYngrarhiA printer for another printing run. When a web is subjected to multiple printing runs, the web is likely to go &rough .I;. t.~c;~ ql changes which often vary along &e length of the web. As the web changes ~ lly~ so do the images pl6V' 1~/ printed on the affected 35 areas of the web. Therefore, besides ~ ul~f~ Li~ Oi~h~hon control, there is a need for a control system capable of making co--~ ~ ho~ for such ~l;.. r A~ ,ql changes during ~ printing operations (i.e., .~hlsc.liull control).

2 ~ 9 ~TO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 The previously ~ - r ~ d multiple station fl~.AOOIalJLiC rotary printing press 502 of the assignee of the present invention included a ~e;UD~LiU11 control system. In the prior reinsertion control system, a central CVI~ LG~ took one or more readings of the ,~gj~l"~ errors from each Op_~aLi~ printing station in the press and then averaged all of these values to arrive at a . ~ hlDe~ Lio.. error . The average of co A e ~ ~ I b~ _ S re~iD~ errors .~-~ ~d the repeated dirf~ - between the repeat length of the press and spaces between p~G~ t d web marks (i.e., actual repeat lengths). This dirf~.~ e is ~tril 1~' ~ to ~
changes in the web and is defined as the rG~.Lio., error. The original web marks 538 printed during the initial printing run were sensed for the ~.O: ~ control during the b-lb~ printing runs. This central ion culu~ t~r was alt~ .u~ti. _ly provided with the p.u~ E option of giving current readings 10 more weight than older readings or weighing the readings from each station the same. Based on the average of these readings, the .~ D~.lLiun control __ r_' would ~;m~ 1Y make the same reinsertion error correction for this average error at each U1~.3l ' g printing station, on a c~-- ';. ~- c basis. The CU~G~1iUn was applied as a signal that was added to the circumferential rcOiDLIaLi~an control signal. As with the prior circumferential l~ ;o/~ control correction, the ~;us~lLiun co..~Liùns were made by circumferentially 15 adjusting the a~p. u~. iale printing roller 521 with the si, gle l= ~ gear assembly 530 driven by a motor leD~ . to analog pulse width control signals.
NolvY; 1 ~ , "g the prior art, there remains a c~ g need for an even more fully a ~ and cost effective multiple station rotary printing press that is able to even more c~ ~y maintain print quality and image ~_l5iDI even when the web is ~G~te1~ and which talces less set up time to change 20 from running one printing job to another.
~' ~ of the I,~..
It has been an objective of the present iu~ _, Liull to provide a more fully ~ ~ and cost effective multiple station rotary printing press.
Another objective of this invention has been to provide a printing press which is able to more 25 ~ - Iy maintain print quality and image registration, even during the printing of a ple~duliDly printed web.
Still another objective of this invention has been to provide a printing press which takes less set up time to change from running one printing job to another.
The rotary printing press of the present iu-. which ac~ ~ these ol,;__Li._s includes a 30 plurality of printing stations for t~ r g at least one c~ po- 1-- image at spaced apart locations along the length of a c~ substrate being run through the plurality of printing stations. Each printing station of this printing press has a frame, a printing _~ ~ carried by the frame for applying at least one co upon~n~ image at spaced apart locations along the length of the c~ - substrate and an h1~ DD;On mf~ - , also carried by the frame, to back the c~. ~t.. -..~c substrate each time a cc....r image is 35 being applied by the printing .~ - - The c substrate is carried within the frame with its path directed through the station between the printing --' and the hl~pl~ DDion ~
The printing ~ ~' of this printing press includes some form of rotatable printing element, such as a printing roller, mounted for rotation within the frame for applying at least one cc. ~l image of WO 94/29108 21 6 ~ PCT/US94/06148 L,~ubfv...ble image forming fluid, like ink, to the c. substrate. It is eLI~iD;onvd that the rotatable printing element may be any one of a variety of printing rollers, such as those used in fl~ .hir, offset, rotary lette} press and other types of printing. Use of a tubular stencil like that used in rotary screen printing is also ~L v;D;oucd. The printing - ' also includes some form of fluid ,t~ e system for S .~ ; g the L.i" ~c _11P image forming fluid to the rotatable printing element. For example, an anilox roller can be used to dispense a - - ~ d amount of a fluid, such as ink, from an inking,. .rr l. ~ (such as a metering roller or doctor blade assembly and ink .~ ,v. ~7il) to the printing roller.
Each station includes a circumferential ~ . -P~ .. , such as a hs.. ~ ;r. gear assembly, foradjustingthelul~livnalspeedoftherotatableprintingelement;~ ofthespeedofthecc. l;.- -c 10 substrate as it runs through the printing station. A culu~utvl controlled vh. uLuf~ .~ ..tial ~egiDllaLo system controls the actuation of the ~ ULUf~.CLLal aljUDLLI C~t ,..r~ in order to Alltr -- lly change the circumferential <, ;-- I-~ n of the rotatable printing element relative to the C-~..l;.- J--C ~e lh9trAt~`. The rotatable printing element is lly adjusted ~,h~ uLuf~ .vLlL~ly in order to correct for ..h~ ~L~ f~
regictrAti~n errors of the co-- po~- f images being applied to the c-.--t;. .u--c s~lbctrAtq ci~VuLU~ .L Lal 15 adjuDLLuvLtt of the rotatable printing element relative to the c. substrate is preferably &ccuLupL,hcd by actuating the circumferential a.lj UD~ Ltt _~ ' with the proper number of correction pulses through a DC stepper motor. Such pulsing of the stepper motor increases or de~l. ~_s the rotational speed of the rotatable printing element enough, relative to the contim~o~C substrate, to bring printing of the images back into registration.
The present ~ ~ controlled ~.h~ Lufu.~ .ILal ri ~ system - more accurate image lvgiDLlaLion than previous ~ ---r ' controlled circumferential nlv systems. This system can make such corrections within about one repeat length or less after an error has been detected.
The cvLulJuLel controlled re, system of the present invention is provided with a special reinsêrtion feature for ~ in which the co-.~; Ol~ substrate has gone through .1;,. - ~ 1 changes 25 which vary along the length of the substrate. For example, this may occur when the c~. .l;. ., c substrate is subjected to multiple printing runs. Where the substrate changes .1; - A~ lly, so do old c images previously printed on the affected areas of the DubsL . The lvh~s_~ LULI feature makes CU11 ~liuuD
for such tlimenc;~mAl changes to the contimlo--e wbstrate. In order to bring newly printed . ,l._L t images into closer ci.vuLuf~ ri L Lial IV~ with the old co 1-~ l~o- images, the reinsertion feature stretches or 30 shrinks the newly printed co upoavllL images as they are being applied to the cc l;. ~ sub-~rAt~ This is accol,,pliDLcd by; .~i~ p~ ly - - g the spacing between web marks at each printing station and St~tictil-Ally analyzing the errors with the separate printing station coLu~ t~ -D to cl- - - the reinsertion errorc~ -or~ I Thelvm..e.lionerroriscorrectedbyevenlyspacingc;lv.,~uf~...ILallv&;~ ;onvvllv_Lou pulses over the repeat length at each individual printing station and thereby varying the speed at which the 35 rotatable printing element is rotated relative to the traveling speed of the Cc! l;.- ,--c substrate. The host computer is preferably a 1~ g system capable of making a1j~ .e. changing variables) in the program of each printing station. The host CC LU~Ut~., preferably does not control logic ~_-aLiuus of the individual printing stations. The host cc LU~.t~ may also alt~,.L,dti~ _ly analyze data from each of the printing ~O 94/29108 21~ 3 ~ O 9 PCT/~JS94/06148 stations and supplement the logic from the individual c , D to more intPIIigPntly predict the reinsertion error at each station and the p.u~,r. of changes in the error through the printing stations of the press.
Preferably, each printing station of this printing press may also includes a po~ e .- fr~
for bringing the printing ~ P~ to a desired position relative to the illl~Jrl ,- rrhA - , One such S position is a printing position where the printing ~ ' is in position to apply at least one c ---r image of the tl~uDr~l~le image forming fluid to the c~ - substrate every ~G~ of the rotatable printing element. Another position includes at least one non-printing position where the printing ~ ' is not in a position to apply a cc""~ _ image to the ec ~ e sllbstr~- . A ~u~l-t~ ~ control po~;tinnin~
system is used to control the actuation of the pc ::- g - ' in order to 11y bring the 10 printing ...Fcl ~ into and out of position for printing.
The pr -: l; - - ; ne . . f ~ - preferably includes a first po~: ~ ;r -; . ~g _e ' for moving the rotatable printing element relative to the hllJ?reDD;On _ E ' and a second 1; - ~ g ~ for moving the fluid .ii~r-ncine system relative to the rotatable printing element. The cc,~ ..t~ r control pr - ~;....;r~E system of this invention controls the actuation of each pr._ I;.~ e --- rl.~ - in order to bring the printing 5 ~n~,rl~ in and out of position for printing.
In a preferred ~ ho-l;.. . t, the p~ g F-~- ' includes two spaced apart upper carriages slidable along two plane rectil - slides mounted above ~ ,e_L~_ lower c ~ - The lower carriages are, in turn, slidable along two plane rectilinear slides mounted on either side of a base platform. The rotatable printing element is mounted at either end to the lower c~ a~s The fluid ~l;s~ system is 20 mounted between the upper c ~rri~eS For a printing .. P l~ L ;- where the rotatable printing element is a printing roller, the fluid ~ l- r ~ ~.e system includes some form of rotatable fluid ~ E element, such as an anilox roller, and some form of inking .- - 1 "; ~, and the ih~ Pcl---- - ~- is an ih~
roller, the carriages are designed so that at least the ih.,~ roller, printing roller and anilox roller are coplanar. This coplanar . e' ' , has been found to facilitate cu.u~.,t~ control po~ - - e of the printing 25 mrrhr.~.;- .. A DC stepper motor is used to adjust the position of each carriage. An encoder is ~
to each stepper motor to provide feedback to the cu~ control pr~ E system on whether its I~D~e~ stepper motor is actuated and how much the position of its I~D~ e carriage is adjusted.
Each printing station has a gear train with a separate branch for driving the rotation of the rotatable printing element. To reduce the liL--~lih~d of gear ba(' ' Ig, and resulting print quality ~l.' ' s, it is 30 desirable for the gear train to include a movable gear assembly which is movable in and out of position to engage and drive a gear mounted to the rotatable printing element. Preferably, the movable gear assembly includes a leading gear which is L.S' ~ '-'- in and out of position to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element. When both the printing and fluid .~ elements of the printing " Pch~ ;~ are rotatable and coplanar, the gear train preferably includes another branch capable of driving 35 the rotation of the fluid ~ element at either the printing or non ~,.hllillg positions while still enabling the coplanar l~ ;p to be - ' In one i~o,l;~ t, this other branch of the gear train includes an articulating gear assembly with a separate motor for driving the rotation of the rotatable fluid ~ l-c ~ ~e element ir~ 1 -1 of the balance of the gear train.

WO 94/29108 2~ 9 PCT/US94106148 In a preferred embodiment, each printing station also includes an axial - ~uOLLu_ ~L ~ for gim~ nPuu-ly adjusting the h~uo~ DG position of the rotatable printing element and the fluid ~licrP~nginp system within the frame. A CuLUlJ. ' control axial registration system controls the actuation of the axial a~lj uo~Lu/~ . .r~ .; _ . . . in order to - lly and c;m~ r~ _ly move Ll ~o ~ _l D~ly the rotatable printing 5 element and the fluid .1~ g system relative to the web Q~lhgtrr-^ The rotatable printing element and the fluid ~ g system are moved to a desired h~o~ - Oc position to correct for axial leE,i-~ --- errors of the c---..l-o ~- I images being applied to the c - snbstr~tP Thus, with this c .. l)c ' of the present printing press, both r~; ~ of the colllr images (axial and c;-~.uLuf~ .c.Lal ~ tl, ~ ) and adj..~ u~ of the printing . P~ - (in and out of position for printing) may be lly controlled.
It is preferable for each printing station of the present printing press to include an auxiliary frame having a base platform which is h~LUS~-1O~IY movable from side-to-side across the frame and carries the rotatable printing element and the fluid ~ A~;A~g system. An off-line adjuDh a..t .- F~l - . is used to h~o~ -ly move the base platform. The base platform can be moved to an 1)~ nAl position in which the rotatable printing element and the fluid ~licreî cing system are within the frame. The base platform can 15 alsobemovedtoastand-asidepositioninwhichaclffir;Fntportionofthebaseplatformextendsoutbeyond one side of the frame to enable at least the rotatable printing element and the fluid .l;~ g system to be serviced. In addition, the base platform is self: . r Li~_ within the frame when in the stand-aside position.
The rotatable printing element and the fluid ~ - g system are also carried c~ 1y on the bage platform when in the stand-aside position. A c~ Lu~Ut.,. control off-line - ~, ~.DLL~ c.lt system is used to control 20 the actuation of the off-line ~ lj - l ~ -,1 . -P- ~ - .. in order to ----- -- lly move the auxiliary frame to and from the u~ dLi~Jnal position and ~' - -'~ position.
Most multiple color printing jobs usually employ no more than six printing stations (i.e., six different colored t~ '~ '~ images). The present printing press typicaUy includes 12 printing stations. Thus, in one embodiment of the present printing press, the printing . . .Fr l - - - ~ (at least the rotatable printing element and 25 fluid ~ A~;"g system) can be - 1-. . ~ lly moved out of position for printing and out beyond one side of the frame, enabling a number of the printing - ' - to be serviced and set up for the next printing run while the balance of the printing stations are running a different printing job.
It is also p-c~,c.blc for each of the printing stations to include a c~ r-' control pre-le~iDIl system. This system controls the actuation of the circumferential ~ - - in order to 30 ~ Ally rotate the rotatable printing element to a preyl og. ~ .,u~f~ ~ - l . .; .~ ~' ;. .n which brings the rotatable printing element into ~ rll c;.~,u..lf~ with the other rotatable printing F~lFm~ntg This ~ - pre-l~ A occurs before the printing press begins a printing run.
The above and other ob;c~,Li~ _~., features and hd~L~.~,cs of the present invention will become further apparent upon c~ . of the following deO~ thJn taken in c _; :- with the ~c~ -.p~ iug 35 drawings.
Brief D~. ;_ ~ of the Drawin~s Fig. 1 is an operator side view of one preferred emb~l:.. - .~ of the -' printing press of the present invention;

~VO 94/29108 ~ l ~i 3 ~ ~) 9 PCT/US94/06148 Fig. 2 is an enlarged operator side view of a portion of one of the printing stations of the t printing press of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is a top view of the printing station of Fig. 2;
- Fig. 4 and 5 are sectional views taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3 showing the auxiliary frame of the S present invention in an ul, ' and stand-aside position, ~ ~L;~
Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3 showing the gear train side of the roller p~ l,ollil g ,.~rfl -r - and a s.. ~ gear assembly in one branch of the gear train of the present invention;
Fig. 7 is an enlarged r., ~ y view of the roller p . :~;....;f~e . Irrl Lf~ " of Fig. 6;
Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 7 illustrating the detail of an upper and lower slide assembly;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7 ilh~ctrA~ing the structural detail of the metering roller pressure ^ ~ sLlu~lL system;
Fig. lOisasectionalviewtakenonline 10-lOofFig. 7illustratingthesLlu~,~u.~ldetailsoftheanilox 15 roller drive shaft ~ "~
Fig. 11 is a p~ ~Li~_ view of the gear train of one of the printing stations of the press of Fig. l;
Fig. 12 is a sectional view of the arf;~ u~ n~e gear ~ T-l~' in another branch of the gear train of the present invention taken on line 12-12 of Fig. 3;
Fig. 13 is a side view of the ~ 1^ gear assembly ~ - .lmg to the present iu~. as seen on 20 line 13-13 of Fig. S;
Fig. 14 is a top view of the ar~irulA~in~ gear assembly of Fig. 12 in a fully extended position for clarity of illustration;
Figs. 14A~ are side d;_Z I - views of the artir~lAtin~ gear assembly of the present printing press in various degrees of artirlllA~inA
Fig. 15 is a sectional view taken along line 15-15 of Fig. 6 showing the ;ugdl~le gear assembly and dual hArmf)nir gear assembly of the present iu~
Fig. 16 is a sectional view of the i u~ ~ roller encoder and the details of the a''~ ~' ` to the roller as seen on line 16-16 of Fig. 2.
Fig. 17 is a sectional view, taken on line 17-17 of Fig. 3, of the axial - ~,UAL~ ..rrl._. -~.~ of the 30 present invention;
Fig. 18 is a top view taken on line 18-18 of Fig. 2 showing the structure for ",.,",~t;,~e the web mark sensor;
Fig. 19 is a sectional view tAaken on line 19-19 of Fig. 18;
Fig. 20 is a sectional view taken on line 20-20 of Fig. 18; and Fig. 21 is a view of the web mark to be sensed in a printing ~sF ~
Fig. 22 is a block diagram of a prior circumferential regictrP~inn control system of apl,lic~t~' assignee.

WO 94/29108 ~ ~ ~ 3 ~ ~ g PCT/US94/06148 ~

Fig. 23 is top plan view in~ inE a block diagram of one preferred embodilue~t of a cu~l,. ~.
control system of the press of Fig. 1.
Fig. 24 is a block diagram of a p,cf~ d ~mh~imt~nt of the po~ g controller of the c conkol system of Fig. 23.
S Fig. 25 is a flow chart ~h. . ~:t ~lly ~ "c~l.ing MAIN LOOP of the oper~ of the P~ E
controller of Fig. 24.
Fig. 25A is a flowchart of the GEAR PITCH setting routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25B is a nu.. . ' L of the ANILOX ROLL DLAMETER setting routine of the flowchart of Fig.
25.
Fig. 25C is a flowchart of the REPEAT LENGTH setting routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25D is a flowchart of the PAPER THICKNESS setting routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25E is a flowchart of the CALIBRATE routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25F is a llu..~Lu t of the ZERO PRINT HEAD routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25G is a flowchart of the RETRACT PR~T HEAD routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25H is a flowchart of the MANUAL Throw-off routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25I is a flowchart of the AUTO PRINT routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 25J is a flowchart of the ADJUST PRINT HEAD routine of the flu~ Lout of Fig. 25.
~ is a flowchart of the ADJUST ANlLOX ROLL routine of the flowchart of Fig. 25.
Fig. 26 is a block diagram of a preferred e bo~ of the l~gi~ n controller of 20 control system of Fig. 23.
Fig. 27 is a flow chart ~ lly l~ ltil.g the MAIN LOOP of the op of the l~ giDL~ ioll controller of Fig. 26.
Fig. 27A is a flowchart of the interrupt servicing routine of the controller of Fig. 26 rColJOUD;~_ to the sensing of the print roll mark.
Fig. 27B is a flowchart of the interrupt servicing routine of the controller of Fig. 26 l~ J-.)nD;-'~ to the sensing of the web mark.
Fig. 27C is a flu.. ' I of the interrupt servicing routine of the controller of Fig. 26 lCD~ollD;~_ to pulses from the operator adj. dial.
Fig. 27D is a flowchart of the l~;DIl. " setting routine initiated by the selection of the NEXI
30 MARK button by the operator when called by the MAIN LOOP of Fig. 27.
Fig. 27E is a flowchart of the button press routine for cuing i ufu- ludth l, to the operator display and i.lt~,l..c~ g button press c-- --- ~ -1C f~om the operator when called by the MAIN LOOP of Fig. 27.
Fig. 27F is a flowchart of the display setting routine for selecting the display DubluuLille cull~ondil.g to the operation selected by the operator when called by the routine of Fig. 27E.
Fig. 27G is a flowchart of the button press i.lt~ ion routine for d~ g the operation selected by the operatûr when called by the routine of Fig. 27E.
Fig. 27H is a flu..~,Lcu~ of linear lcgi~ routine for d- t- -. ;..;.~g and controlling the ~;h~...l,,rt,cu~ial ~giDL~ iùll of the press when called by the MAlN LOOP of Fig. 27.

~3~
~VO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 Fig. 27I is a flowchart of lateral regi~r~tion routine for d~t--. ;..;.~g and controlling the axial registration of the press when called by the MAIN LOOP of Fig. 27.
Fig. 27J is a flowchart of the GAIN displaying, adjusting and setting subroutines called by the - routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
S Fig. 27K is a flowchart of the INSPECTION ZONE WINDOW displaying, adjusting and setting subroutines called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27L is a flowchart of the DEAD ZONE diD~JL.yi~,~ adjusting and setting Dubluu~il es called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27M is a ilu.. ' L of the PRFRFGT~TRATION diD~ yiug and setting sullluulil.es called by 10 the routines of Figs. 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27N is a flowchart of the LINEAR AVERAGE diD~L~ying~ adjusting and setting Dul~ruuLin~s called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27P is a flowchart of the LATERAL AVERAGE diD"L.~il,g, adjusting and setting DUblU~
called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
15 Fig. 27Q is a llu .. ' ~ of the SPECIAL function DUl lu~.~hlc called by the routine of Fig. 27G.
Fig. 27R is a flowchart of the REPEAT LENGTH displaying, adjusting and setting DUbl~ ' - - called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27S is a flowchart of the NUMBER OF REPEATS diDlJL~ying~ adjusting and setting Dullu~ ~ ~
called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27T is a flowchart of the STATION ADDRESS diD~L.~ing, adjusting and setting DUblUU~ es called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27U is a nu.._L~u~ of the LlNEAL REGISTRATION diD~ illg, adjusting and selecting ~ulJIuu~il.es called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27V is a flowchart of the LATERAL REGISTRATION d;D~k~iug~ adjusting and selecting 25 subroutines called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27W is a lluw~ h~u~ of the CEC d;DI,L.~il g, adjusting and selecting DUbl~ called by the routines of Figs. 27C, 27F and 27G.
Fig. 27X is a flowchart of the CEC d~ E; DUblVUL;JIC called by the routine of Fig. 27H.
Detailed D~. -_ :- of the I-Referring to Fig. 1, an a ' rotary printing press 10 is shown, acculdilg to the present invention, for printing at least one co~po~ . image at spaced apart locations along the length of a c~ t-substrate or web 11. The particular printing press 10 herein disclosed by way of example is a ll~ u, , ~ -rotary printing press 10 for proce"~;~ webs 11 with a width of about 19 inches (48 cm) and smaller. It is believed tbat the basic design of this exemplary press 10, as dPs~ ~hed in detail hereafter, would be suitable 35 for a printing press capable of handling up to 40 inch (101 cm) wide webs 11. The webs 11 used in such flexographic printing presses 10 come in spools (not shown). The press 10 includes an unwind station 12 for carrying the spool of web 11 during Ull~. ' g of the web 11 and an infeed station 14 for feeding the web 11 into the press 10. Such unwind and infeed stations 12 and 14 are well known in the industry. The press 10 also has a plurality of printing stations 13 lined up in a row with a first printing station 13a and apluralityofs.ljs~lv I printingstations 13b-13ndownlineofthefirstprintingstation 13a. Ashereinused, downline refers to the direction toward which the web 11 travels through the press 10 (i.e., away from the unwind station lV and upline refers to the direction from which the web 11 travels (i.e., toward the unwind S station 12). Each printing station 13 applies at least one C~ -OI~- . I image of II~LUDI;~ image forming fluid, such as a single color printing ink, at spaced apart locations along the length of the web 11. The single color c~ - 1 images applied at thc printing stations 13 are intended to be printed in line or in register with each other, both 1~. g;l. 1;,~l1y (i.e., circumferential 1~5iDL~l;O..) and ll~UD~_~D_1Y Cl.e., axial rçgi~tr~tion) on the web 11, in order to form the final c~ image. As used herein, 11~ DG refers 10 to the direction going from one side edge of the web 11 to the other and If ~g~ 1 refers to the direction from one end of the web 11 to the other (i.e., parallel to the direction web 11 travels). Usually, no more than six printing stations 13 (i.e., single color c-- ,po.~ 1 images) are used to produce a desired multi-colored COlU~JD;lt~ image. For reasons which will become apparent later on, such flt:~u~ .yllic rotary printing presses 10 typically include up to twelve printing stations 13. With the present press 10, any 15 desirable number of the printing stations 13 can be utilized while the balance of the printing stations 13 remain idle (i.e., do not apply a cu~ o~ image) as the web 11 passes ILe.clLIuugh.
The printing press 10 also includes a curing system 19 for curing each image applied at a given printing station 13 before the next c~r image is applied by the following printing station 13.
Any industry accepted system for curing images printed with a particular fluid may be used. When dryable 20 inks are used, the curing system 19 may employ high velocity heated air to dry the applied cc-l-., - - ' images. Such an irk drying system 19 is preferably p~ --rd above the stations 13. A common air intake manifold 20 is c~ - ~ to each printing station 13 through a c~mhu~ti~n chamber 21. Air passing through chamber 21 from intake manifold 20 is heated with a gas burner 22. The freshly printed web 11 at each printing station 13 travels through a drying chamber 23. Heated air from the combustion chamber 21 is 25 funnelled through multiple nozzles 24 located in the drying chamber 23. The nozzles 24 are poc:~;n.~d to direct the heated air against the printed surface of the web 11 as the web passes through chamber 23. Air exiting nozzles 24 is then drawn from chamber 23, which is kept at a negative pressure, into and through a return manifold 25 via ports 26, common to all the stations 13, and ~Y~ ~ (' While a hot air drying system has herein been drcrrihed~ it is ~ t od that any curing system which r~ lr ' Iy cures the 30 COIul~Ou_~l~ images before a sllh~-oqllent c~ ~p~m. ~ image is applied could be used.
The printing press 10 may include a die station 30 after the last printing station 13n. Such die stations 30 are well known in the industry and used to separate that portion of the web 11 on which the cc~ pou~L image is printed from the Du~ uud~l~g balance of the web 11. The now plucci,b_d web l l is then rewound into a spool at a rewind station 31, also wcll known in the industry. The printing press 10 uses 35 a plurality of idler rollers 32 to help direct the path of the web 11 through the press 10.
Printin~ Station Frame Referring to Figs. 1-5, each printing station 13 has a frame 36 which includes a first vertical support panel 37 and a second vertical panel 38 spaced apart on opposite sides of the press 10. As herein used, ~VO 94/29108 21~ 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 references to a front or operator side of the press 10 refer to the side shown in Fig. 1. RGf~ .~ ..ces to a back or gear train side of the press 10 refer to the side opposite from that shown in Fig. 1.
A first base member 39 and a second base member 40 are fastened to the bottom of .e.,l,e_~i~_ support panels 37, 38. A first ~ -i7nn~9l support bar 41 and a second L~n7/mt~l support bar 42 are fastened about midway up _~e_Li~_ support panels 37, 38 above the base members 39, 40. The printing stations 13 are tied together in a row, one after another, by fastening together C<~ e base members 39, 40 and support bars 41, 42. The distance between D.ICc6O.;~_ printing stations 13 is thereby ~ Cross beams 43 are fastened between each pair of support panels 37, 38 wh_.~ to help maintain the spacing thel~b_h._cm Each printing station 13 in the l,lef~ .-_d --b~~ t of the present printing press 10 includes an auxiliary frame 47 having a base platform 48 ha~ _ly movable across the frame 36. As used herein, Ll~b~ i refers to the direction going from one side of the press 10 to the other and 1~ 1 refers to the direction from one end of the press 10 to the other (i.e., between the unwind and rewind stations 12, 31). The auxiliary frame 47 is located adjacent to and upline from the support panels 37, 38. The auxiliary frame 47, via base platform 48, is mounted for h~_.DG sliding across the support bars 41, 42 by a first or upline linear bearing assembly 49 and a second or downline linear bearing assembly 50. The base platform 48 has a h~l~_.De length or depth which is about double the distance between the support bars 41, 42 of the frame 36. Each of the linear bearing ~ L~iPs 49 and 50 includes a first and second linear ball bushing 51 and 52 and a bearing shaft 53. Each of the shafts 53 is slidably disposed within the pair of .~ _ bushings 51, 52. The bearing shaft 53 of the upline linear bearing assembly 49 is fastened lengll-~c;~G along the upline edge of and I ~ ~ ' the base platform 48. The bearing shaft 53 of the downline linear bearing assembly 50 is fastened lengthwise along the downline edge of and l ~ - the base platform 48. The ball bushings 51, 52 of the upline bearing assembly 49 are each l~ D~e_h-._ly mounted in an upline slot 54 formed in the first and second support bars 41 and 42. The ball bushings 51, 52 of the downline bearing assembly 50 are likewise each mounted in slots 55 formed in ~ ,e_h~_ support bars 41, 42 downline from the upline bearing assembly 49. A single stop plate 58 is fastened to the operator side ends of both bearing shafts 53. One of two keeper plates 59 is fastened to the other (gear train side) end of each bearing shaft 53 of the bearing assemblies 49, 50. The stop plate 58 and two keeper plates 59 effectively limit the hall~ DG IllOV~_ _ of the bearing shafts 53 (i.e., the base platform 48) across the frame 36.
Printin Station Printin,~ ~Iecl~..;----Each printing station 13 has a printing - ' or print head 60 for applying at least one co~ un_-lL image of h r 1 1_ image forming fluid at spaced apart locations along the length of the web 11 as the web 11 passes tL- ~LI Iuugh. For the e~ flexographic printing press 10, the printing IllecL~u~lll 60 includes a printing roller 61, with a printing plate 62 mounted thereto for applying at least one cuulpo..c.ll image to the web 11 with each lG~ululioll of the roller 61. M~..lcd amounts of ink or other fluid is ~ en~ d to the printing plate 62 by an anilox roller 63. The anilox roller 63 is supplied with the ink by some form of inking ~ ~~' , such as a metering roller 64 i,ub~c~_d in an ink reservoir 65 (shown only in Fig. 3 and in phantom in Fig. 5). The typical structure and function of these rollers 61, 63 and 64, and the ink reservoir 65 are well known to those skilled in the fl~Yngr~phir printing art and need not be described in detail herein. Other inking, ~,l, c (not shown), such as a doctor blade and ink reservoir assembly, well known in the art, may also be used. One such doctor blade assembly can be found S in U.S. patent No. 4,590,855, which i8 illCOI~U~ in its entirety herein by reference.
Each printing station 13 also has an impression ~ rl~ 66 with a backing face 67 for backing the web 11 while a C~ ..p~A~ image is being applied thereon by the printing .. .~rh ~ . .;-- 60. Preferably, the h~ ,ooi~.)lm~ ' 66 is an i-~lp--,ooiUIl cylinder roller, with its outer surface being the backing face 67. The printing ~ ' 60 is fully carried by the base platform 48 of the auxiliary frame 47. The 0 illl~ .ooiOn roller 66 is j ~ at either end for rotation between the vertical support panels 37 and 38, downline from the printing ~ ' 60. Another roller 74 is ju, '- ~ at its ends for rotation between panels 37 and 38, above and slightly downline from h~ roller 66. During normal printing operations, the web 11 is wrapped around both rollers 66 and 74 in an S-shape and passes up through the nip between printing roller 61 and h~ oh~n roller 66, as shown in Fig. 1 (stations 13a and 13b). When 15 it is desirable to also print on the opposite side of web 11, the web 11 is fed down between the printing roller 61 and i~Jlpl`eoo;On roller 66 and around roller 66, by p~;~g roller 74 co...pl_t~ly, as shown in Fig.
1 (station 13n).
Each printing station 13 includes a gear train 68 driven by a drive shaft 69 common to each printing station 13. The common drive shaft 69 also powers the die station 30 through a pl~_Lal.~ output gear box 20 (not shown) in a co ~ tioal manner. While in the ~ -1 position, the back end of the base platform 48 sticks out beyond the gear train side of the printing station 13 while the front end of the platform 48 is generally flush with the operator side of the station 13. Thus, the platform 48 does not obstruct an operator's freedom to move along the operator side of the press 10 while the platform 48 is in the operational position. As is deO~lilcd later on, the common drive shaft 69 drives the rotation of the 25 illl~ ooiOll cylinder roller 66 and thereby each of the rollers 61, 63 and 64 of the printing ~ m. . 60, as well as roller 74. Because it is driven, roller 74 is able to help feed the web 11 through each station 13 set up for normal printing, as d~ d above.
Off-Line Servicin~ of Printinv Mc~
The base platform 48 is u~_3ble to a desired tl~o~_~o~ position ;. 1~, l;,-c an ul, "~ 1 position 30 as shown in Fig. 3 and 4, and a stand-aside position as shown in Fig. 5. A double action p_ullld~iC motor 70, such as that . .-. r~ d by Bimba M~ r--- ~. 8~e cO., Monee, Ill., part No. 1731-DP, is used to effect this 1l~llllo~-~o~; IllU~ lt of the base platform 48. The dual action air motor 70 includes a bL~Liuu~u y cylinder 71 and an achuation rod 72. The cylinder 71 is mounted h~O~_.bely between the support bars 41, 42 and positioned Inngih..1ir~lly between the two bearing pcc~mhli~ 49, 50. The rear end of the cylinder 35 71 is fixed to the second support bar 42 and the front or achudting end of the cylinder 71 is fixed to the first support bar 41 such that the rod 72 is free to move through a hole 73 formed through the support bar 41 and llallO~,.O~,ly out from the operator side of the press 10. The leading end of the rod 72 is fixed to the stop plate 58. Thus, it can be seen that achuation of the air motor 70 causes ll~o~ o~ ~o~. of the base platform 48, and therefore the printing ~,,r~ h~";_.., 60, above the Dupport bars 41, 42. With the base platform 48 in the operational position (see Figs. 3 and 4), the printing m.ochAnicm 60 is h UD~_~b~lY located behveen the support bars 41 and 42. With the base platform 48 in the stand-aside position (see Fig. 5), a sufficient portion of the base platform 48 extends out beyond t_e operator side of the frame 36 to enable the 5 printing morhAnicm 60 to be serviced. Preferably, the printing ,. ~cl.~ .., 60 extends out beyond the operator side of the frame 36. Such servicing may include cleaning or r~l~ of any one or all of the elements of the printing ~ ' 60. While it is in the stand-aside position, the base platform 48 is self-DU~IJO~ in that neither a separate DUIJ~'V1~i ~e frame (not shown) nor a cart (not shown) need be p~ d alongside the press 10 to receive and provide support l ' ~ the base platform 48. As is apparent from 10 t_e dra7,vings, the printing ~ -'rl~ -- 60 is carried ~ let. ly on the base platform 48 when in the stand-aside position.
The stand-aside position is obtained by actuating the air motor 70 to extend the rod 72. Movement of the rod 72 out of the cylinder 71, and therefore ~ ,~. of the base platform 48, out beyond the operator side of the frame 36 i8 preferably halted by limiting the throw length of the rod 72 such that the 15 keeper plates 59 on the back ends of the bearing shafts 53 just seat against I~D~JC_Ii~_ second ball bushings 52. The keeper plates 59 help to prevent Arri~7~tAI removal of the shafts 53 out of the ball bushings 52.
From the stand-aside position, the base platform is moved to the Ul)_~ - -1 position by r~ D1l~ the action of the air motor 70 to pull the rod 72 back into the cylinder 71. Movement of the platform 48 from the stand-aside position is halted and the operational position obtained when the backside of the stop plate 58 20 makes contact with a stop screw 77 mounted in and e~ out beyond the front of the first support bar 41 (see Figs. 2, 3 and Fig. 17). As is r7iQr-~QQ~ed below in the axial - 7~ -- section of this dcsc.;~J~iol., the extent to which the stop screw 77 extends out beyond the front of the support bar 41 may be varied.
Po~iLionin~ of Printinl2 M~ c~ Rollers As shown in Figs. 1-4, 6, 7 and 8, each printing station 13 of the present printing press 10 includes a pn~;l;~...:,.g ".~(h_":_.,~ 78 for moving each of the rollers 61, 63 and 64 of the printing . F~l ;-- 60 longitl-~7ir~lly to a desired position relative to each other and to the ~p.~i - roller 66, while the base platform 48 is in the 1,-. ' position. As is ~7;Cr~7QQod in detail in a separate section below, actuation of the po~iLioni..g ,..r~h~ ----- 78 is controlled by a t~ control p~-Q;~inning system in order to 30 AntOmAtiCAlly move the printing .. o~ .. rollers 61, 63 and 64 into and out of position for printing.
The p-~;l;o..;i~ h - 78 includes a first and second lower carriage 81 and 82 which are . ~ ~c~ _ly slidable lc..~,ll.- . ;.,e along a first and second lower plane rectilinear slide assembly 83 and 84, such as that ..-A -r ~ ,d by TEIK America, Inc., Elk Grove Village, Ill., part No. KR3306B + 500LP.
Each lower slide assembly 83, 84 is fastened to the base platform 48 and includes a non-driven or follower 35 bearing block 85 and a driven bearing block 86, lo~ lly spaced and fastened up line and downline, c~ ly,tothebottomofeachofthelowercarriages81,82. Eachbearingblock85,86ismovedalong bearing or sliding surfaces 87 by a ball screw 88. The ball screw 88 of each lower slide assembly 83 and 84 is mounted for rotation at its ends and disposed in a 1..~;;l. 1;--~1 borehole formed through each of the WO 94/29108 21 ~ 3 0 ~ 9 PCT/US94/0614~

bearing blocks 85, 86 of ~D~,ecL-_ lower carriages 81, 82. Each l~neih~ nql borehole is adapted to atlow the ~ P~Li._ ball screw 88 to freely pass the.~tllluc~L. The driven bearing block 86 includes a recirculating ball nut (not shown) through w_ich the r~O~Jc. L~_ batl screw 88 is threaded. The bearing blocks 85, 86 of each lower carriage 81 and 82 are moved lr~ngjh~iinqlly along the bearing surfaces 87 of l~s~c_Li~_ lower slide sQCPTnhlipc 83 and 84 by rotating the ball screws 88.
A first and second upper carriage 89 and 90 are ~ c_L~_ly slidable lengthwise along a first and second upper rectilinear slide assembly 91 and 92. The upper slide s~mhljp~5 91, 92 are r.D~,e~L._ly fastened to the top of the lower carriages 81, 82. Each of the upper carriages 89, 90 also include l~lngih-~linqlly spaced non-driven and driven bearing blocks 85 and 86 like those fastened to the bottom of 10 the lower carriages 81, 82. The upper slide assemblies 91, 92 are similar to, but shorter than, the lower slide assemblies 83, 84, with each uppe} slide assembly 91, 92 ir ~ ing a shorter bearing or sliding surface 93andballscrew94. TheupperslideAc~mhlipc9l~92mayalsobe~ h&DxdfromTEIKunderpartNo.
KR3306B + 300LP. The lower slides 83, 84 are h ~_.o~ly spaced apart and mounted to the base platform 48. The first lower slide 83 is mounted adjacent to the front edge of the base platform 48 and the 15 second lower slide 84 is mounted &~Jl03 hl~dt~ Iy half way along the length of the base platform 48.
Preferably, the first carriages 81, 89 and the first slides 83, 91 are generally ~ clly aligned and coplanar with the first vertical support panel 37 when the base platform 48 is in the opP A~ .Al position (see Fig. 4). The second carriages 82, 90 and the second slides 84, 92 are preferably likewise generally aligned and coplanar with the second verticat support panel 38 when the base platform 48 is the in the o~e.dLionat 20 position.
~2~f~.rring to Fig. 7, the printing roller 61 is jo~rrsl~d at its ends between the first and second lower carriages 81, 82. The printing roller 61 preferably has a sintered sleeve bearing 95 (e.g. oil ill~ g ' ~
sintered bronze) mounted for rotation about each end thereof. A top and bottom split bearing cap 97 and 98 is mounted with a pivot assembly 99 to the top of the downline end of each lower carriage 81, 82. The 25 pivot assemblies 99 enable each pair of bearing caps 97, 98 to rotate freely about a central vertical axis 100.
Each pivot assembly 99 includes a threaded bearing stud 105 and a capture bolt 106. One bearing stud 105 is screwed into a threaded hole formed in the top of the downtine end of each of the lower carriages 81, 82.
Each of the bottom sptit bearing caps 98 is fastened to the bearing stud 105 fixed in the reDI,c~ L._ lower carriage 81, 82 with one capture bolt 106. The shank of each capture bolt 106 passes through a hole formed 30 through its ~ C~ Lv~ bottom split bearing cap 98 and is threaded into the top of its l~O~Jc_L._ bearing stud 105. The top of each bearing stud 105 extends beyond its leOI,e_L~_ lower carriage 81, 82 so that a space is formed between each bottom split bearing cap 98 and its I~Dl,c_L.e lower carriage 81, 82. S .I; r ~" ~
results have been obtined with a spacing of about .002 inches (.0508mm). Each capture bolt 106 is fixed in place relative to its .~,sl,e_li~_ bearing stud 105. Each pair of split bearing caps 97, 98 form an opening 35 96 to receive and hold in place one of the bearings 95. The top and bottom split bearing caps 97, 98 on each lower carriage 81, 82 are joined atong adjacent downline edges by hinge 101. A first hand actuated locking merh~ni~m 102 iæ used to quickly secure or release the upline end of the caps 97, 98. The locking ~VO 94/29108 216 ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 mrc~ . 102 includes an eye bolt 103 pivotally mounted at its eye end to the bottom cap 98. The threaded end of the eye bolt 103 is disposed in a threaded borehole formed in a handle 104.
Each end of the printing roller 61 is journaled to its res~,e_l~ _ lower carriage 81,82 by first placing each sleeve bearing 95 on the ends of the roller 61 between one of the top and bottom caps 97 and 98. Each opening 96 formed by the caps 97, 98 has an effective diameter smaller than each sleeve bearing 95. In order to hold and lock the bearings 95 in place between l~olJC~ caps 97,98, the eye bolt 103 is pivoted to a generally vertical Ol - into a slot 103a formed in the upline end of the top cap 97, as shown in Fig. 7. While in this position, turning each handle 104 forces the top caps 97 towards their reDI,c~,li~_ bottom caps 98 which in turn applies C~ JI. to hold the bearings 95 in place. With the bearings 95 held in place, the ends of the printing roller 61 are free to rotate within their le~ccLi~_ sleeve bearings 95.
If the ends of the printing roller 61 are found to have too much play radially within their I~Dl,u,livcz bearings 95 (i.e., lnngit~ in~lly within the frame), the handles 104 can be further turned to apply ~ litinn~l coul~ DD;on sufficient to deform the bearings 95 and thereby reduce the amount of play. It is believed that reducing this radial play improves the repeatability of roller po~ g by helping to maintain tighter ~ ' dnccs between the relative roller pnQ;tinnQ. The printing roller 61 can be removed by u ~er~i~ the locking n Pr~ 102, which involves generally reversing the pl`~,C6.1ing steps.
Referring to Figs. 7,8,9 and 10, the ends of the anilox roller 63 and of the metering roller 64 are journaled between the upper carriages 89, 90. A roller bearing 108, with an inner and outer race and multiple bearings thc. ~ h. _ .. (not shown), is mounted on either end 109 of the anilox roller 63 . A wedge shaped roller bearing assembly 111 is mounted at each end 110 of the metering roller 64. Each bearing assembly 111 includes a roller bearing 112, similar to bearing 108, captured with a snap ring 114 within a wedge shaped block 113. The first and second upper carriages 89,90 each comprise a set of top and bottom split dual bearing caps 117 and 118. Each set of top and bottom caps 117, 118 are joined along adjacent downline edges by hinge 119. A second, hand actuated locking, P~ . 120 is used to quickly secure the caps 117,118 together. The locking ~ ---120 includes a threaded stud 121 having its non-threaded end fixed to a handle 122. When the top cap is secured above the bottom cap 118, as shown in Fig. 7, the caps 117, 118 form a downline opening 126 and an upline opening 127 between them. The shank of the stud 121 is disposed in a hole 128 formed through the top dual bearing cap 117, between the openings 126,127 and threaded into a threaded hole 129 formed in the bottom dual bearing cap 118. The through hole 128 is ~ Ard to allow the shank of the stud 121 to freely pass L .~eL.. o . Thus, the top cap 117 is secured in place above the bottom cap 118 by turning the handle 122 to thread the stud 121 deeper into the threaded hole 129 thereby Cc...~-~,D~.-.g the caps 117, 118 together. The caps 117, 118 can be opened by turning the handle læ to back out the stud 121 from the threaded hole 129. Once the stud 121 is out of the hole 129, the top cap 117 can be pivoted away from the bottom cap 118 at hinge 119 to an open position. While in this open c~r~lifinn~ the bearings 108 on the ends 109 of the anilox roller 63 and the wedge shaped bearing oQQ~mhli~S 111 on the ends 110 of the metering roller 64 can be placed between or removed from the caps 117, 118.

WO 94/29108 ~ 1 6 ~ PCT/US94/06148--When the anilox and metering rollers 63, 64 are mounted between the upper carriages 89, 90, the bearings 108 on the ends of the anilox roller 63 are captured in the downline openings 126 and the wedge shaped bearing assemblies 111 on the ends of the metering roller 64 are captured in the upline openings 127.
While the bearings 108 are relatively fixed in place in the downline openings 126, the wedge shaped bearing S assemblies 111 are able to slide !. . ~; ~ y within their l c~l~c~ upline openings 127 a desired distance.
Each of the upline openings 127 has an upper and lower bearing surface 130 and 13 1, a vertical upline end surface 132, and a vertical downline end surface 133. The upline end surface 132 is a flat bearing surface formed by a vertical upline end portion 134 of the bottom cap 118. The downline end surface 133 is formed by a portion of both dual bearing caps 117, 118. The wedg~: ' rl cd block 113 of each bearing assembly l0 111 has an upper and lower bearing surface 138 and 139, a downline end surface 142, and an upline end surfacel43. Thewcd~a ' ~ blocksll3are-~ n~dtocloselyfitwithin~c~c.~ uplineopenings 127 while still allowing the blocks 113 to slide lnngihl~linqlly t~ . Each of the wedge ~ blocks 113 have an internal flange 146 (see Fig. 8) which prevents t.~.. . _. ~c I~O . _.,,~ L of the metering roller 64 when the bearing assemblies 111 are mounted in the upper carriages 89, 90. The upline end surface 143 15 of the block 113 is angled from vertical and has a similarly slanted ridge 144 (see Fig. 9) with a bearing surface 145 formed thereon. An angle for surface 143 of about 150 has ~ru-l,lccd - -; r~ t ~ y results.
A double action air motor assembly 151 is used to move each of the wedge ' -~ bearing assemblies 111 l~ngilll~l inqlly within I ~spc~ti~ _ upline openings 127. Each air motor assembly 151 includes an air cylinder 152, such as that ~ r-- ~---ed by Bimba M r ' g CO.~ Monee, Illinois, model No.
20 F0-17-2, a piston 153 and an actuation shaft 154. One air motor 151 is mounted on top of the top dual bearing cap 117 of each upper carriage 89, 90 such that the shaft 154 is actuated up and down in a generally vertical direction below the cylinder 152. The shaft 154 is disposed within a hole 158 formed through the top of the bearing cap 117 and into the upline opening 127. The hole 158 is .1; . ~ \r d to allow the shaft 154 to move freely ~ ~ .~. The leading end of the shaft 154 extends into the upline opening 127 and 25 mounts a camming bearing assembly 159. The bearing assembly 159 includes a two-prong yoke 160, a small diameter roller bearing 161 (such as that . - . r~ d by McGil M~ r ' Ig CO. Inc ., V~
Indiana, part No. CYR-3/4~) and two equal size roller bearings 162 (such as McGil, part No. CYR-7/8~) larger than bearing 161. A nut 163 and bolt 164, or similar fastener, is used to mount the roller bearings 161, 162 bet~veen the prongs of the yoke 160, with the smaller bearings 161 po~iti~ d between the two 30 larger diameter bearings 162. Each bearing 161, 162 is free to rotate around the shank of the bolt 164.
The yoke 160 is mounted to the leading end of the actuation shaft 154 of the air motor 151 such that the longihl~lin~l axis of the bolt 164 lies in the L~ ,c direction. The upline end surface 143 of the wedge-shaped block 113 and the bearings 161, 162 are dill.C.ni~ 3d SO that only the smaller bearing 161 is in contact with the bearing surface 145 of surface 143, and the larger bearings 162 are only in contact with 35 the flat vertical bearing surface 132 of the bottom dual bearing cap 118. A COlllp~ coil spring 168 is mounted between the downline end surface 142 of the ~._dge ~ block 113 and the portion of the downline end surface 133 of the opening 127 formed by the bottom bearing cap 118. This spring 168 provides a positive force pushing the block 113 toward the upline end surface 132 of the opening 127, ~VO 94/29108 2~ 1 fi 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 thereby .,.~ ;..g contaetbetween .~ ~c~ ,re bearing surfaces 145,132 and bearings 161, 162, regardless of the vertical position of the cam bearings 161, 162 in the upline opening 127. Because of this bearing arrangement, frietional forees have been . ;.. ---;~- d whieh allows a more direct rel ~;n ~ . between the air - pressure supplied to the air cylinder 152 and the force applied to the ._dge ^~ red block 113 through the S bearing assembly 159. Air P~DDU1-~5 of about 30 psi have plud~.ccd - ';-r~ results.
Movement of each .._dg" ;- ~~ block 113, and therefore the ends of the metering roller 64, l~ngih~ ly within the upline opening 127 is effected by ~ti~ g each air motor 151 and aetuating the shaft 154 upward or d.J .. u... d between the di-_.~;il.g bearing surfaces 132 and 145. As the roller beariDgs 161, 162 are forced du..l...~d by the actuation of the air eylinder shaft 154, the ._dgc ;', ~~ bearing 10 assemblies 111 areforcedh--~ YinthedOWnIine~ L c~,Luy.~i,.. hlgthesprings 168andmoving the metering roller 64 toward and against the anilox roller 63. With the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 loaded in this manner, a ~ignifir~nt amount, if not all, of any radial play in each of their l~ , roller bearings 108, 112 is removed. It is believed that redueing this radial play p~v~,_6 roller pnCitir~nin~
repeatability by helping to maintain tighter; 1 - - - between roller p~Q;ti~nc Reversing the action of the 15 air cylinder 152 moves the roller bearings 161, 162 upward, allowing the coil springs 168 and the natural resiliency of the metering roller 64 to push the wedgc ~ bloeks 113 upline, thereby moving the metering roller 64 away from the anilox roller 63.
Movement of each upper carriage 89, 90 along its ~ ~li._ slide assembly, 91, 92 is effected by an upper gear box assembly 170. Each gear box assembly 170 includes a DC stepper motor 171 with an 20 encoder 172 C~ d thereto for g,_L~,dl;1~& elc~ ~ pulses as the stepper motor 171 is aetuated. Sueh a stepper motor/eneoder 171/172 c ' is . -- r-- l... ed by Superior Eleetrie, Bristal, C~ t, part No. M062-LF-509C2006. As last seen in Fig. 7, the roller p~ . ~;---.;..~ stepper motors 171 are each fastened to a gear box housing 173 mounted to a guide actuator brscket 174 on the upline end of the upper slide assemblies 91, 92. Each stepper motor 171 drives a shaft 178 having a spur gear 179 fixed to the end 25 thereof with a two piece collar 180, such as that . -.. r- I---_d by IMO T~ .Qt iPs Inc., Boston Gear Division, Quiney, MA, catalog No. 2SC37. Each of the driven gears 179 engages another spur gear 181 fixed at one end of an aetuation shaft 182 mounted for rotation within eaeh of the gear box housings 173 by dual bearings 183. The other end of eaeh aetuation shaft 182 is eoupled to an adjaeent upline end of one of the ball screws 94 by a flexible coupling 187, such as that .. . r~ d by W.M. Berg Inc., East 30 Rockaway, NY, part No. CO41A-1 ~M~ifi~d Bore" size. The upline end of each ball screw 94 is mounted for rotation in a hole 188 forrned through the downline end of the I~DI~C~ _ guide actuator bracket 174.
Activation of each stepper motor 171 causes rotation of the l~ c~ v drive gear 179 which in turn drives the rotation of each aetuation shaft 182 through 1C~L~_ gears 181. Rotation of each shaft 182 drives the rotation of each ball serew 94 through l'~ ,L~_ eouplings 187. Each eoupling 187 is preferably 35 made to flex axially, but not rotationally, in ease Iw~ _ shafts 182 and ball serews 94 beeome li,_ -(i.e., are no longer eoaxial). Rotation of each ball serew 94 through the reeireulating ball nut of I~D~e~L~-driven bearing blocks 86 causes lc~n_ ' -1 sliding of the upper earriages 89, 90 along I~D~e_Li~_ upper slide assemblies 91, 92 as previously deseribed.

WO 94/29108 ~ ~ 6 3 ~ ~ ? PCT/US94/06148 Movementofeachlowercarriage81,82alongits.~ ,~e_L~_lowerslide83, 84iseffectedbyalower gear box assembly 190 having a steppe} motor 191 and an encoder 192. Gear box assembly 190 is almost identical to gear box assembly 170 except that its drive shaft 178 is oriented below its actuation shaft 182.
In addition, each gear box assembly 190 is ~ to its re..~e_li~_ lower slide assembly 83, 84 with a S guide actuator bracket 184, in the same manner that gear box assemblies 170 are co~e~ L~d to l~,~C_li~_ upper slide assemblies 91, 92, ~ ;hcd above. Likewise, rotation of each ball screw 88 by its .. ~c~
gear box assembly 190 causes l~ 1 sliding of the lower carriages 81, 82 along lcO~e. L - _ lower slide assemblies 83, 84 in the same manner as deOcl;bcd above. By using the Superior Electric stepper motors/encoders 171/172 and 191/192 and l~iO~e.,li._ TB slide ~CcPm~lip~c 91, 92 and 83, 84 IllG~- 1y 10 described, the carriages 89, 90 and 81, 82 may be moved in in.. l~i as small as about .OOSmm (.0002 inches).
Thus, the printing roller 61 can be moved to a desired spatial position relative to the backing face 67 of the illl~Jreoo;Ull roller 66 by a~Li~dti..g either or both of the stepper motors 191 of the gear box assemblies 190 and thereby rotating either or both of the ball screws 88. Likewise, the anilox roller 63 can 15 be moved to a desired spatial position relative to the printing roller 61 by ~ Li~dtillg either or both of the stepper motors 171 of the gear box assemblies 170 and thereby rotating either or both of the ball screws 94.
The encoders 172, 192 - ~ with each .~c_Li._ stepper motor 171, 191 provides feedback to the cv...~,lle. control p~ .g system d~ ~c~;hcd below. This feedback enables the cv...l,~,t~ . control system to know whether a particular stepper motor 171 or 191 has in fact been actuated the desired amount. The 20 metering roller 64 can be moved to a desired position relative to the anilox roller 63 by &Liv " g or defi~ Liv~Li~g (i.e., ~.- -- -;,;.~g or d~ .e) either or both of the double action air motor ~
151 and thereby move either or both of the cammed bearing ~ ~' ~ ~ lS9 down or up, I ~ ~c_Li . _ly. The air pressure supplied to each air cylinder 152 may vary d~ g upon how much pressure is to be applied by the metering roller 64 against the anilox roller 63.
The positioning . .~ 78 is designed to keep the ~vtdlional axis of the printing, anilox and metering rollers 61, 63 and 64 co-planar with the 1. ~ axis of the h.~ roller 66 as the different rollers 61, 63 and 64 are moved relative to one another. Keeping the printing ~ ' rollers 61, 63 and 64 co-planar makes 1"~ g of the co...l,ut~ . control p~ g system easier.
Printin~ Station Gear Train Referring to Figs. 3, 10-12, 14 and 14A-C, each printing station's gear train 68 includes a first branch 193 for driving the rotation of the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64, and a second branch 194 for driving the rotation of only the printing roller 61. Both branches 193, 194 of the gear train 68 are driven by a helical gear 196 mounted on the back end of the hll~leoo;vll roller 66 behind the second support panel 38. Roller 74 has a gear 199 which is also driven by the ilu~ .O;on roller gear 196. The h~
35 roller gear 196 is engaged and driven by a helical drive gear 197 which is in turn driven by the common drive shaft 69 through a printing station gear box 198. The first branch 193 includes an articulating gear assembly l9S (see Figs. 14 and 14A~) that enables the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 to remain co-~JO 94/29108 ~ PCT/US94/06148 planar with the printing roller 61 and i.n~ roller 66. The gear assembly 195 also enables rollers 63 and 64 to continue being drivable regardless of their relative l-"~ .l;,51 positions to rollers 61 and 66.
The articulating gear assembly 195 irlcludes a first air actuated clutch assembly 200 mounted on a - first stationary drive shaft 201. The first drive shaft 201 is jo~lr -ql~d at either end between a back panel 203 S and a front panel 204. The panels 203, 204 are ~I~IID~_~D~Iy spaced apart and mounted vertically above the base platform 48 in back of the second carriages 82, 90. The first clutch gear assembly 200 includes a first claw clutch 205, such as that r cd by Horton M~ r- t- ; . ~g Co. Inc. ~ M; ~ olis~ MN, part No.
SH30P, having a slidable housing 206 keyed to the shaft 201 by a key 207 and a hub 208 fixed to shaft 201.
Key 207 prevents rotation of housing 206 around shaft 201, but housing 206 is still ablc to Dslide along shaft 201. During printing, the clutch assembly 200 is activated, DU~ g air pressure to the clutch 200 and forcing the teeth 209 on the hub 208 and housing 206 to engage. A spring return is used to separate the teeth 209, when the assembly 200 is dc,~ ,..t~ d and the air pressure cut off from clutch 200. A helical ring gear 210 with its teeth being beveled on their front side edges is c~ lly fastened to the hub 208. The ring gear 210 is ~ g g Phl~ with and driven by the hl~pl~ _ roller gear 196. Ring gear 210 has teeth lS beveled on their back side edges. A first stationary helical gear 211 for driving the balance of assembly l9S
is fastened to the first drive shaft 201 between the clutch gear assembly 200 and the front panel 204. When the base platform 48 is to be moved to and from the opc.._ - ' position, the press 10 is shut down.
Because the ring gear 210 of the first clutch assembly 200 arld the h~ roller gear 196 are helical with teeth beveled on meshing sides, the clutch gear 210 more readily meshes with the ilUpl~DDi~.)n roller gear 196 when the base platform 48 is moved by air cylinder 70 into the ul,~, ,r' position (see Figs. 3 and 4) from, for example, the stand-aside position shown in Fig. 5.
The articulating gear assembly 195 also includes a second air actuated clutch assembly 215 mounted to a second stationary drive shaft 216 journaled at either end between the panels 203, 204. The second drive shaft 216 is mounted up line from and below the first drive shaft 201. The second clutch assembly 215 is similar to clutch assembly 200 with a slidable housing 217, a fixed hub 218 and mating teeth 219. The clutch assembly 215 is keyed to the shaft 216 with a second key 220. Clutch assembly 215 operates in the same manner as that les~- ihed for assembly 200 above. A first timing pulley 222 is fastened to the hub 208 and c~ t-~ d to a second timing pulley 223 by timing belt 224. The second pulley 223 is rotatable by a motor 225 mounted to the base platform 48. A second Dldliol~ helical gear 229 is mounted to the second shaft 216 bet~veen the second clutch assembly 215 and the front panel 204 and engaged with the first helical gear 211.
An h,l~ cdi~lt; pivot plate 230 is mounted at one end for rotation about the second drive shaR 216.
One end of a first moveable drive shaR 232 is journaled to the other end of the i~. ,..c.l;~.t~. pivot plate 230.
A first moveable helical gear 234 is fastened to the drive shaR 232 and engaged with the second :- ~
helical gear 229. A front and back leading pivot plate 238 and 239 are mounted at one end for rotation about the drive shaft 232, v~ith the helical gear 234 located Ih~ l~.b~ t~ n. The back pivot plate 239 is jQ~r. qlf~d ;"t. . ",~.1; .t. . the ends of the second l.lo._~le drive shafl 232. The plate 238 is jol~rrql~d on the free end of shaft 232. A second ~.._~le helical gear 244 is fixed to the drive shaft 242 between the pivot WO 94129108 2 ~ & 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 ~

plates 238, 239 and engaged with the first ~o._able helical gear 234. The other end of the second drive shaft 242 extends out beyond the front of the pivot plate 238 and is mounted for rotation within a bearing cup assembly 248 mounted to the other end of the pivot plate 238. The bearing cup assembly 248 includes a bearing cup 249 with a shoulder 250 fitted for rotation within a hole 251 formed through the other end S of the pivot plate 238. Assembly 248 also has a pair of spaced apart bearings 252, 253 mounted therein about the shaft 242. An integral key 257 extends out c-~ 11y from the front end of tbe second drive shaft 242 for engaging a mating slot 258 cunc _ lly formed in the back end 109 of the anilox roller 63.
With the key 257 mated in the slot 258, the bearing cup assembly 248 is fastened to the back side of the second upper carriage 90, for example with bolts 259 passing through holes 260 formed through the 10 bottom bearing cap 118 of the second upper carriage 90 and threaded into threaded bore holes 261 formed in the bearing cap 249. A helical gear 265 is mounted on the front end of the anilox roller 63 for engaging another helical gear 266 mounted on the front end of the metering roller 64. Gears 265, 266 are located in front of the first upper carriage 89. The gears 265, 266 may have a variety of relative gear ratios, such as a 1:3 gear ratio .~i.},e. li~-ly. The anilox to metering roller gear ratio may change with changes in the 15 diameter of the metering roller 64 (the diameter of the anilox roller 63 ~ ~hllg generally the same). This gear ratio may also be varied to change the ink supplying and ~ ~ cL~ ,t~";Dli. s of the metering and anilox rollers 64 and 63.
During printing, when the anilox roller 63 is driven by the common drive shaft 69 through the articulating gear assembly 195, the base platform 48 is in the op. ~' position, and the first clutch 20 assembly 200 is activated with its teeth 209 engaged and thc second clutch assembly 215 is dca~ with its teeth 219 .1;~ d (see Fig. 14). With the teeth 209 of clutch assembly 200 engaged, rotation of the ring gear 210 by the ;.~pre.~D;u.. roller gear 196 causes rotation of the drive shaft 201 and, in turn the helical gears 211, 229, 234 and 244. With the teeth 219 of clutch assembly 215 ~ r ~ E~ rotation of the second stationary gear 229 will not cause rotation of the first pulley 222 mounted to hub 218, thereby leaving the 25 motor 225 ", - rF~ Rotation of helical gear 244 causes the rotation of drive shaft 242 and, if key 257 and slot 258 are mated, anilox roller 63. Rotation of the anilox roller 63 causes rotation of the metering roller 63 when th-e later is po~ rd by air cylinder assembly 151 so that helical gears 265 and 266 are engaged.
The above ~Pscrihed structure of the articulating gear assembly 195, enables the anilox roller 63 and 30 the metering roller 64, if their .ei.~ , gears 265 and 266 are engaged, to be rotated regardless of their relative position to the printing roller 61 or the i...prei...;v.. roller 66. That is, the arti~ml ~ing gear assembly l9S is able to move l-~ lly along with the second carriages 82, 90 while, "t~,;";,~g constant f~'P.;IE~ ~' 1 between the drive gears 211, 229, 234 and 244. As is apparent from Figs. 14A-C, the articulating gear assembly l9S enables the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 to be moved and driven 35 while still .. ~ g the co-planar r~ n~hip between all of the rollers 61, 63, 64 and 66.
When a particular printing station 13 is shut down for servicing, such as ..p!~ of the printing roller 61, it is often desirable to keep the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 rotating in order to prevent the ink from drying thereon. The clutch - t~ties 200 and 215 enable the anilox roller 63 and the ~WO 94/29108 2 ~ ~ 3 O Q ~ PCT/US94/06148 metering roller 64, if their l~ Je_Li-_ gears 265 and 266 are engaged, to be rotated ~d~e r' of the ~ . ,;vn roller gear 196 (i.e., the common drive shaft 69). r- A 1~ oA- --1 rotation of the inking rollers 63 and 64 may be accom~lisLcd by shutting down the press 10, dea~ liv~lmg the first clutch assembly 205 to E9&e the teeth 209 and a~ liv~Lil,g the second clutch assembly 215 to engage teeth 219. With the first clutch 205 ~I;cr ~ d and the second clutch 215 engaged, the press 10 can be turned back on without the common drive shaft 69 (through the illl~-~ roller gear 196) causing rotation of the anilox roller 63.
With the base platform 48 in the ~ ~ A~l position, the i~ roller gear 196 will continue to drive the rotation of the ring gear 210. However, because the teeth 209 of the first clutch 205 are ~ e A, rotation of the ring gear 210 has no effect on the balance of the first gear branch 193. With the first clutch 10 205 .lis~.. gagi d and the second clutch 215 engaged, the motor 225 can be used to drive the rotation of the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 ~ p~ ~A --1 of the common drive shaft 69, and therefore the balance of the press 10.
Referring to Figs. 11, 13, and 15, the second branch 194 of each printing station gear train 68 includes a swing gear assembly 268 ..w~_fible in and out of position to engage and drive a spur gear 269 15 mounted to the printing roller 61. Because it is .. ' '- into position for full ~ 6aæ t, the swing gear assembly 268 helps to ensure that the printing roller gear 269 is fully f ~a~ h~- with the second branch 194 of the gear train 68 regardless of the thickness of the web 11. Full and snug ~ ~a2~ - ' of the gears from the printing roller gear 269 through the second gear train branch 194 and to the common drive shaft 69 helps to prevent backlash and the resulting reduction in print quality (e.g. barring). Toward this end, 20 the gears in gear train 68 are preferably cut to meet or exceed Class 10 ~ec-if - of the American Gear M~ r -~ ~ ,D ~ - - (AGMA) Gear Sl~da ds. To meet Class 10 ~ engaging gears are allowed no more than about .0005 inches of backlash.
The swing gear assembly 268 includes a housing 270 having a spaced apart front and back side plate 271 and 272 mounted for rotation about a first drive shaft 273 j.,~ aled at its ends between the vertical 25 support panels 37 and 38 below the i.. p.~ roller 66. The back end of the shaft 273 extends out behind the second support panel 38 and is driven by the i.Upl~ )r roller gear 196 through a dual h~--mf.n;~ gear assembly 275, des~ ribed in detail later on. A first spur gear 278 is fixed to the shaft 273 with key 279 between the plates 271, 272. One end of a second drive shaft 280 is j '~ ' to each of the plates 271, 272 at the other or leading end of the housing 270. A second spur gear 282 is fixed to the shaft 280 with 30 key 283 between the plates 271, 272. The second gear 282 is engaged with and driven by the first gear 278.
The other end of the second shaft 280 extends out beyond the side plate 271 and mounts an integral bearer ring 287. A leading spur gear 288 is fastened along side the bearer ring 287. An arcuate spur gear rack 290 is fastened to the one end of the housing 270. Rotation of the swing gear assembly 268 is accc, pli~l with another spur gear 291 which engages and drives rotation of the gear rack 290, and thereby the housing 35 270, around the shaft 273. The arc length that housing 270 can be rotated through is limited by limiting the stroke of actuator 292. The third spur gear 291 is driven by a double action air powered rotary actuator 292, such as that ..._ r--~ d by Bimba M~ - r~ g co., Monee, lllinois, Series 247 PI -247-270-A1, through a third drive shaft 293. The third gear 291 is keyed to the third shaft 293. The front end of the WO 94/29108 ~ ~ ~ 3 ~ ~ ~ ; PCT/US94/06148--shaft 293 extends out beyond the support panel 37 and is coupled to a rotatable shaft 294 of the actuator 292 by a coupling 295, such as that . ~ r~ .d by IMO ~ DII;~8~ Inc., Boston Gear Div., Quincy, MA, catalog No. SCC7/8x7/8. The rotary actuator 292 is able to rotate the third drive gear 291 in either direction.
S Thus, the leading gear 288 can be s~-vung in and out of e ~ g. P-! I with the printing roller gear 269 by a~ Liv~Lil~g the actuator 292 and rotating the gear 291 in either direction. The housing 270 is thereby rotated about the shaft 273 in a desired direction opposite to the rotation of gear 291. Full enO O of the leading gear 288 and printing roller gear 269 is ~~. ,liDhed when the bearer ring 287 contacts another bearer ring 297 mounted axially spaced from the gear 269 on the printing roller 61. As will be ~licr~cc~d 10 in greater detail later on, printing roller gear 269 and bearer ring 297 are ~igi-ifir-ntly narrower than the COll. D~o~lillg gear 288 and bearer ring 287 on the swing gear assembly 268 so that the printing roller 61 canbeadjustedh~D.~.D~lytomaintainaxialregistrationwithoutbecoming.liseng~_d. Withthegears28 and 269 fully engaged, the printing rollers 61 can be driven by the common drive shaft 69 through their l~ sl,c~ ~ive impression roller gear 196, as ple~ UDIY described, and the second branch 194 of the gear train 15 68. The balance of gear train branch 194 between the h. preDD;on roller gear 196 and printing roller gear 269 is designed to maintain a 1:1 gear ratio between gears 196 and 269.
Circumferential Adi~.D~l..e" M -' -The dual h~rm.-n;r gear assembly 275 is a circumferential - 1,. P~ for adjusting thé
rotational speed of the printing roller 61 ;,~,1 p~ ~A~ I of the speed of the web 11 as it is run through the 20 press 10. As iSlAicr~eQpd in greater detail below, each printing station 13 has its own c~ control circumferential l~ ~iDLI system for controlling the actuation of the dual l ~ -'r gear assembly 275.
The assembly 275 includes a housing 299 mounted for rotation about the back end of drive shaft 273 with bearings 300. The housing 299 has a helical gear 301 integrally formed on the outside thereof which is engaged with and driven by the h~.plf DD;~ ~I roller gear 196. The assembly 275 further includes a pair of 25 coupled harmonic drive gears 302 and 303 which are located in j ~ d, coaDal relation, like the coupled h~rmonir drive gears disclosed in U.S. patent No. 4,363,270, which is - ~Ul~ t~ d in its entirety herein by le~r~ nce. Each of the gears 302, 303 includes a central, elliptical wave g ~s 304, 305, a flexible, externally toothed spline 306,307, and a first, rigid, internally toothed outboard spline 308,309 located for meshing il~t~ g, ~ f - 1 with a collc r ' ~ flexible spline 306,307. A second, rigid internally toothed, 30 inboard spline 310 is provided in bridging ~ g. . - 1 between the 1CD~ Ve gears 302, 303, and is disposed such that the internal teeth thereof are Cimlllt-- ~ 1~ O g~ ~' le with the flexible splines 306,307.
The outboard spline 308 is fastened to flange 311 so that these elements rotate in unison about shaft 273.
Flange 311 is locked in place against the inner race of bearing 300 by a bearing nut 312 threaded on the back end of shaft 273. The other outboard spline 309 is fastened to an end plate 313 which is fastened to 35 the back end of housing 299.
Wave g~n~ o~ 305 is fixedly keyed to a D~l;on~ annular or tubular sleeve 317. Sleeve 317 is mounted with bearings 318 in a hole formed through end plate 313. The back end of sleeve 317 is fixed to frame 36 and pl~ d from rotating by means not shown. Bearings 318 enable housing 299 to rotate ~0 94/29108 2 ¦ ~ 3 ~ ~t 9 PCT/US94/06148 around DldLiv~ sleeve 317. A stepped trim shaR 319 extends through sleeve 317 and is rotatable therein.
Wave g atu- 304 is fixedly keyed to trim shaft 319. The iLu~C~L~uDL end of shaft 319 is rotatably bu~Jvlt. d by roller bearing 320 mounted conr~ ly within the back end of shaft 273. The u ~t ~
end of shaft 319 mounts a first pulley 321 which is coupled to a second pulley 322 with belt 323. A DC
stepper motor 327 is mounted to framc 36 and mounts the second pulley 322 on its drive sha~. Stepper motor 327 is basically the same as stepper motor 171 except without encoder 172.The dual l.--~t~nir Bear assembly 275 serves as a normal 1:1 ratio power 1.. --- - ~ when shaft 319 is held ~ ~ (i.e., motor 327 is not actuated). When it is desirable to change the circumferential position or phase between the rotation of the printing roller 61 and the anilox, metering and lLu~r~ ~
10 rollers 63, 64 and 66, stepper motor 327 is actuated to rotate shaft 319 in a desired direction. Rotation of shaft 319 causes shaPc 273, and therefore printing roller 61, to rotate faster or slower d~pe-~d; ~E upon the direction of rotation of shaft 319. This ~c. dtiOIl is further dPsrnhed in U.S . patent No. 4,363,270. In this way ch- lufe.-iulial registration changes can be effected.
Axial AdiuDl...~.~l MerL~
Referring now to Fig. 17, each printing station 13 preferably includes an axial A'~
330 for F;rn~ 'y adjusting the h~.,~_~D~, position of the printing .- ~f!-~ . rollers 61, 63 and 64 within the frame 36 in order to correct for axial ~ iDhdt;on errors. The -(' 330 includes a g bracket 331 fastened to the backside of horizonP~ support bar 41. A shaft 332 is mounted for rotation to bracket 331 at two points along its length with spaced bearings 333 and 334. A wide-faced spur gear 338 is fixed to, or is an oll-_.. ;De integral part of, shaft 332 ~ --' bearings 333 and 334. The rear end of shaft 332 extends beyond bearing 334 and is - - l s~ by coupling 339, such as that ~ud by W.M. Berg Ihc., East Rockaway, NY, part number C041A-3 "MsylifiPd Bore~ size, to the drive shaft of a DC stepper motor 340. Stepper motor 340 is basically the same as stepper motor 327.
A narrow-faced spur gear 342 is fixed to the rear end of stop screw 77, such as by a set screw. The narrow gear face of gear 342 engages and is driven by gear 338. Stop screw 77 is Ill.e~c' ' ly received within a threaded sleeve or nut 343 which is fixed in and extends through a hole 343a formed through h support bar 41. The front end of stop screw 77 extends out beyond the front of the support bar 41 in order to halt h~uD~_-D~i Luu._~ul~ll of the platfonn 48 from the stand-aside position. When the front end of stop screw 77 contacts stop plate 58, platform 48 is in or near its operational position. Contact is .- ~ d between the stop plate 58 and stop screw 77 by co--~ g to actuate the double action air cylinder 70 so as to continue pulling rod 72 back into cylinder 71.
Fine a.ljuDhu_~t of the l., uD~-lDe position of platform 48, and thereby the axial position of printing roller 61 (as well as the anilox and metering rollers 63, 64) can be ~ c~p~ by actuating stepper motor 340 to rotate shaft 332 iL.. ~- .,.c.,t~l amounts. Rotation of shaft 332 causes gear 342 to rotate lL.~..IL g stop screw 77 in or out of sleeve 343 d~ l)e ~ g on the direction of rotation. As stop screw 77 is threaded out - of sleeve 343, stop plate 58 and therefore platform 48 follows the movement of stop screw 77 due to the CU~ -d pressure exerted by air motor 70. As stop screw 77 is threaded into sleeve 343, the pressure exerted by air motor 70 pulling rod 72 back into cylinder 71 must be o~ .cu.uc to move stop plate 58 SUBSTIT~E S~IEET (RVL 26) WO 94/29108 ~ ~ 6 3 ~ ~ ~ PCT/US94/06148 l1~LUD~-~D~IY outward. Gear 342 has a much narrower gear face than gear 338 so that they remain engaged while stop screw 77 moves within sleeve 343. This is also the reason why the gear 269 and bearer ring 297 of printing roller 61 are narrower than the matching gear 288 and bearer ring 287 of swing gear assembly 268. Thus, axial registration errors of printing plate 62 relative to the CULUPOn1UL image(s) ~.cv _1Y
S printed on web 11 can be corrected by actuating stepper motor 340 in order to move platform 48, and therefore printing roller 61, in the manner just descrihe~f A number of the &d~,~f~es of the press 10 iu~ u.~ principles of thGe present invention may be better realized by co t~ uuLing the press 10 with ~ ~ ~ structure to improve its overall rigidity or l~.D;DI~U~.e to deflection (e.g. frame 36), and with tightly controlled t ' ~ccs and C:1~ AR of press 10 elements (e.g. engaged gears and roller bearings 108, 112). By ~ t;-~, the overall structure of press 10, keeping tighter t ' ~uccs and limiting C~ OR ~h_lG~_. p.~ , the press 10 will operate with less vibration ana chatter. Curtailing vibration and chatter is helpful in attaining faster printing speeds. The present exemplary flRYrgr~phir printing press 10 has been able to reach pririting speeds of up to about 3 to 4 times faster than the prior fll~YogrPrhir printing press .---. r~ d by the assignee of the present 15 invention, while still . ~ g t-~ -r-- lu ~ print quality.
Computer Control Svstem Referring to Fig. 23, the ~ref~"lcd ~.mhoflim~nt of the n ' printing press of the present invention is ill--cf-Pt~d in di~l~Lu~ud~i form, particularly showing the cuLu~ut~l control system. The cuLu~l,t.,r control system includes a master cu,ur 400 that includes a keyboard 401 for data entry, a 20 display 402, a removable or fixed disk storage medium 403, and a central ploC6DDLLIg unit 404. Preferably, the display 402 and keyboard 401 are cu---k;.~--d into a touch screen display/input device.
The master cu u~.~t~ . 400 provides an operator interface with all of the standard control features of the printing press 10. In addition, the master cu~ul~ut~ r 400 monitors and controls a plurality of individual station control CULU~.' D 405a through 405n at each of the stations 13a through 13n, .GD~c_l,~_ly, 25 generically referred to as the individual or station c~,,~ut~ .D 405.
At each station 13, the computer 405 controls relative roller pr- ';~ e, cil~uLuf~ ulia preregi ~trati~m of the printing roller 61 with respect to all of the other stations 13, - c,. -,u,urc~
(i.e. lrneitll~linPl or lineal) registration of the printing roller 61 with respect a 1~ C.f~ .CC point on the web 11, preferably printed by the first one 13a of the stations 13, and an -~---- f;~ axial ~l.e.
30 II~LUD~ DC) regictrAtinn of the printing roller 61 with respect to a LI~ DC lef~ ~ nce point on web 11, preferably also printed by the first one 13a of the stations 13.
In the ~UtnmPt~od or cu,u~,ut~, controlled functions pe.rul...cd by the station cu~u~ut~ ,D 405, data is taken of the meaDu,.,uc.llD made as well as the Cul~LiuLID made under the control of fhe co~ul~ut- r 405.
This data is stored ~t~upol~uily by f~he C~J~u~lt~ ~D 405 and downloaded to or read p~ lly by the master 35 COLU~U.~,I 400 for analysis, system . ~...t~ e and future system setup and design.
The cu,ulJulcr control system c----l-;l.~t ~ to the fl,je~Li~_s of the invention by ~IU~iliUg a roller poD;Lv,uug feature which fully ~ t- ~ the setting of relative positions of the rollers 61, 63, 64 and 66 with respect to one another at each of the stations 13. The Computer Control System also provides a ~i~30~
~VO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 registration feature for setting and .~ g the positions of the printing rollers of the different stations 13with respecttoweb 11. The.e~iDhdLivnfeaturefurtherincludestheDul,f~dLul~sofpr..~i5iDh,ltion(initial gross registration of the rollers of different stations 13 with respect to each other), circumferential or lineal .~g;DLI~lion (_--t~ .f - - ~e of an optimum l~ A;.-_l regi~tr~ of the printing rollers 61 with 5 respect to images printed on the web 11), and axial lc~iDh~liun (A 1....- ~ c ...A;I~t l~ re of an optimum h~uD~_~DG registration of the printing rollers 61 with respect to images printed on the web 11).
Furthermore, the features of the cu.,.~,ut~. control system, by being provided in c~--'- - as set forth herein, enhance the ~ 1~ g~ of each of the other c~ control features by p. ~D~I vh~g and rapidly restoring the proper ~ ;o~ s between the rollers within and among each of the stations 13, thereby 10 allowing the advantages of the others of the culU~t~ l control features to be more fully rea'uzed. These features also cou~ with the . P ~ features described above. For example, the " Prh ~ ~ ~ Al off-line servicing feature functions in COUIJ&~ ~_ with the p~ ;--g feature as well as with the axial le~,iDhaLiun feature to preserve the p- ~ 1;- n.,~ and .~.~,iDl,~iou settings when off-line servicing is carried out. Also, with the computer controlled puD;hùuillg~ certain adjuDIIu&~llD can be carried out on the fly without diDLu~lJiug the 15 allt~matiAally . Ai ,~ d circumferential .~jiDh~hou.
The master or host Cu~ulJut~,. 400 is capable of pro~;di~g, from a central location, operating~
monitoring and control of all of the input and output functions that can be carried out at the individual c~ -,,t ~ 405. Setup p_A I._t~.D may be made from the host ~ ,t. r 400 by issuing global ~ - -- -- ' -to all of the c~ D 405 of the stations 13 or by issuing c~ L_lc_h~_ly to indi~;1,.~ ones of the 20 CC~IU~JULCID 405. From the host _ 400, an operator can CC~ u~Auah~Cly monitor the running data regarding regictrAtiA~n at each station 13 and make c - ~ c that take into account an analysis of the p. . rullll~_& of all of the stations 13. The analysis may be that l;~ ~ ru~ucd by the operator or by software in the host computer 400.
The individual cu...~...t~ .D 405 at each of the stations 13 are preferably divided into two physically 25 distinct plOc6.7D;llg units, ~ ing a p~ g controller 406 and a .~S;Dh~liou controller 407, still referring to Fig. 23. Each of the controllers 406 and 407 may be iu~clco~ - t A, or, preferably, are both con~ctPd to the master cu...l~uler 400, with which they c ~ bi-dh~h~alldlly~ and which controls any co.l . . s~ n between the controllers 406 and 407 of a lC.,~&~ station 13, or between and among p~uce.,~olD 406, 407 of others of the stations 13. The po- ~ g controller 406 includes a plU..~SDUI 408, 30 made up of a luicluploce..~or~ drivers and i- t~-r~ces for the hardware it monitors or controls, and related devices and circuitry. Similarly, the lc~iDLIulioll controller 407 includes a similarly equipped I~lOC&....~Jf 409.
Each of the controllers 406, 407 also rei",c~ h~ _Iy includes a sixteen button capacity four by four array input panel 410, 411, a t\vo line LED display 412, 413 and a rotary i~ .-~l dial 414, 415. The buttons of the panels 410, 411 allow for the inputting of c<. --. ~ lc by their d&p~,sD;ou~ alone or in combination with 35 others. The displays 412, 413 display the function selected to the operator. Where the c-~ . - Ac involve nllm~orirAl settings (such as the settings of web thickness or repeat length), the displays 412, 413 display the current numerical values thereof to the operator. Where the n~m~rirAI values are to be changed, rotation % ~ 28 -of the dials 414, 415 are rotated, with each clock~,vise click of the dial in. ~ .ILIlg the value displayed and each counterclockwise click of the dial 414 de~ ..L.Ig the value displayed.
The positioning control ~lucFDDvr 408 of the pne;ti-~nins~ controller 406 of each station 13 controls the operation of stepper motors 171 and 191 and air cylinders 151, and reads the encoders 172 and 192.
5 It may also include other outputs and inputs, such as limit switch inputs to verify- the positions of, for example, the air cylinders 151. In the diagram of Fig. 23, the air cylinders 151 include an operator side air cylinder 151a and a gear side cylinder 151b, while the stepper motors 171 and 191 include operator side motors 171a and l91a and gear side motors 171b and l91b, ._D~,F~li~_ly. Similarly, encoders 172 and 192 include operator side encoders 172a and 192a and gear side encoders 172b and 192b, I~.u~c~,ti._ly.
The PIUCeDDUr 408 preferably has at least five outputs: one output 418 c~nnFctFd to the control line inputs of the metering roller air cylinders 151a, l51b, preferably to ejm~ r~ ly actuate the cylinders, and four outputs 419, one - ~ to each of the .~ D~,ccL~_ stepper motors 171a, 171b, 191a and 191b.
Sensor outputs from each of the encoders 172a, 172b, 192a and 192b, cul~ g reD~c~,ti~_ly to the stepper motors 171a, 171b, l91a and l91b, are cù~c~t~d to inputs 420 of the p~ . g controller 15 PIUCCD ,vr 408.
The regietrr~inn l~locFDDvl 409 of the registration controller 407 of each station 13 preferably has at least six inputs and at least two outputs. These include a web l~ insl motion input 421, which receives pulses from an encoder 344 on the shaft of the i...~r~ roller 66. These pulses each represent a fixed hl~ ~C~ of angular rotation of the i~ ;DD;oll roller 66, which are plu~vl~ional to a fixed hl~ ,.l.c~ of 20 length of web lL that moves through the station 13. Another input 422 is c~n-F~t d to the output of an optical sensor 347 and reads pulses CVII~ g to the angular position of the print roller 61 that brings a mark 349 on the print roller 61 into sli~AmQnt with the sensor 347. A similar input 423 is ~ to the output of an optical sensor 350 and reads pulses that COII~;D~UIId to the presence adjacent the sensor 350 of one of a plurality of marks 350a on the web 11 that are printed at the first station 13a along with the first 25 image, and thus precisely pq ~ d on the web 11 with respect to the image printed at the first station.
Output 424 is co~P~'- d to the stepper motor 327 that indexes the hsrrA~-n;A drive 275 to c~
control pulses thereto.
For axial regi Qtrr~ion, control pulses are sent on output line 426 from the pl~.~DDV~ 409 to the stepper motor 340.
30 The configuration, logic and opPrstinn of the cv.. ~ t. . control system is ~ rd more fully in connQction with the individual functions of the s , control features discussed below.
C~.... , Controlled po~
With the base platform 48 in the operational position, the Cvlll~J~lt~. control pc~ g system controls the relative positions of the printing . .~.-kA .;-... rollers 61, 63 and 64 by moving the rollers relative 35 to each other and to the hll~ DDiUII roller 66 of the station 13. The printing F~l ----- rollers 61, 63 and 64 are movable between a printing position and at least one and preferably multiple non-printing poc;tionc In the printing position the rollers 61, 63 and 64 are in positions to apply at least one colllpone~ image of ~I~Df~.dblcimage forming fluidtotheweb 11 every,~i~ ' - oftheprintingroller61. Inanyofthenon-VO 94/29108 216 3 a o ~ PCT/US94/06148 printing positions, the rollers 61, 63 and 64 of the printing ...r~ ... 60 are not in positions to apply ac~ olleuL image to the web 11.
When the rollers of the printing m~cLA~ 60 are in printing position, the metering roller 64 is in - sllffir;~ont contact with the anilox roller 63 to properly supply the 11 ~ ahlc image forming fluid or ink 5 to roller 63. In addition, the anilox roller 63 is in a fluid ~ g position relative to the printing roller 61 where the ink is ~ in a ~ amount from the anilox roller 63 to the printing plate 62 each l.,v~luLicJu of the printing roller 61. Also, the printing roller 61 is in an image applying position relative to the baclcing face 67 of the i~ ;on roller 66 (i.e., the web 11) where at least one c-- .p-- - .1 image of C~icf~t~ ry quality can be applied to the web 11 by printing plate 62 every revolution of printing roller 10 61. When the printing - ~' 60 is in the printing position, the anilox and metering roller gears 265 and 266 are engaged, and the leading gear 288 and bearer ring 287 of the swing gear assembly 268 are engaged and in contact with the printing roller gear 269 and bearer ring 297"e~ e~ -ly (see Figs. 6, 11 and 15).
One non-printing position of the printing - c~ n ;~ 60 is a throw-off position. In this position, the 15 anilox and metering roller 63 and 64 are moved out of the fluid ~iicrenc;nP position and into a cut-off position. In the cut-off position, the stepper motors 171a and 171b of gear box ~cc.omhliec 170 (see Fig.
7) are actuated to move the upper carriages 89 and 90 upline. The upper carriages 89, 90 are moved a small distance to back the anilox roller 63 just far enough away from the printing roller 61 that the ink is no longer .1;~ l le to the printing plate 62. In addition, the stepper motors 191a and l91b are actuated to 20 move the lower carriages 81, 82, and therefore the entire printing F ' 60, upline. The carriages 81, 82 are moved a small distance to back the printing roller 61 far enough away from the h.l~lc roller 66 to be out of position to apply an image to web 11 (i.e., out of printing position). Further, air cylinders 15 la and 151b, which are manually controlled, remain &~ d, thereby keeping the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 in proper ink supplying contact.
The printing ~cl ~ rollers 61, 63 and 64 are ~ r~lly moved from printing position to the throw-off position whenever the printing press 10 is shut down or stopped. An operator may also manually actuate the printing ",~rl,_":~... rollers 61, 63 and 64 from printing position to the throw-off position while the press 10 is running. This feature enables an operator to isolate one or more colors during the initial set up of a printing run (i.e., making initial image quality ~ ;on C). Preferably, during . _~cnt to the 30 throw-off position with the press 10 still running, the motors l91a, 191b are actuated and the lower carriages 81, 82 moved after the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 have been moved out of the fluid .1;~ E
position and into the cut-off position. By first cutting oK its supply of ink before moving the printing roller 61, any ink left on the printing plate 62 may be tl~f~ d onto the web 11 before the printing roller 61 is moved. In this way, the ink may be cleaned off of the plate 62, rather than drying thereon.
When they are moved from the printing position to the throw-off position, the upper carriages 89, 90 are moved identical distances by actuating the stepper motors 171a and 171b ~im~ v -1y an equal number of hl~ llc~ or steps. Likewise, the lower carriages 81, 82 are moved identical distances from the printing to the throw-off position by actuating motors l91a and l91b in the same manner. Thus, while 3 ~

the relative positions of (i.e., distances between) the printing . --~h~ rollers 61, 63 and 64 may be changed, the relative angular ~ n of each roller axis is ~ typically in a parallel ~ n While in the throw-off position, the printing roller 61 is Dsti~ rr;. ~ y close to the swing gear assembly 268 for their I~D~ gears 269, 288 and bearer rings 297, 287 to remain fully engaged. Swing 5 gear assembly 268 remains engaged as roller 61 is backed away to the throw-off posidon because air powered rotary actuator 292 (see Fig. 6) c-- f;. - ~ s to apply a torque to shaft 293 which is t.,.. - It~ d to swing gear housing 270, as previously dr ~ d rotating leading gear 288 and bearer ring 287 in an upward arc around shaR 273 and toward the l~lle~ing printing roller 61. In addition, once the throw-offposition is reached, clutch assembly 200 is de~,livdl~d, clutch assembly 215 is activated and motor 225 is turned on 10 (see Fig. 14). In this manner, the artilox and metering rollers 63 and 64 are isolated from the common drive shaR 69. At the same time, rollers 63 and 64 are continually rotated by motor 225 in order to prevent the ink from drying on the surface of either roller 63, 64.
Another non-printing position of the printing .- ~ l ~": - 60 is a retracted or backed-off position.
In this position, the upper carriages 89, 90 (the anilox and metering rollers 63 and 64), are moved further 15 upline to or almost to the full capabilities of the upper slide ~QcDmbli~c 91 and 92. The lower carriages 81 and 82 (i.e., printing roller 61) are also moved further upline but only to about half the s_p_l i1iti~s of the lower slide assemblies 83 and 84. This ~u~ ...e~l of the upper and lower carriages 89, 90 and 81, 82 is achieved by a~ iti--Jn-l o;m~llt-n~ o and identical actuation of I~D~ - stepper motors 171a, 171b and l91a, l91b, in the same manner as previously (l~c~rihed for IllU~. to the throw-off position. Before 20 the carriages 89, 90 and 81, 82 begin moving from the throw-off position to the retracted position, the press 10 is turned off then the action of the rotary actuator 292 (see Fig. 6) is reversed and the leading gear 288 of the swing gear assembly 268 is rotated down and away from the printing roller gear 269. While in the retracted position, the printing roller 61 is not only out of position to apply a c-- ..~ image to the web 11, the roller 61 is also too far away from the swing gear assembly 268 for the swing gear 288 to engage 25 and drive the printing roller gear 269 even if gear 288 were swung back up. While in this retracted position, the anilox and metering roller 63 and 64 are preferably still being rotated by motor 225 to prevent the ink from drying on their surfaces.
When the carriages 89, 90 and 81, 82 (i.e., rollers 63 and 64, and 61) are moved from the retracted to the printing position, the press 10 is preferably turned off (i.e., the gear train 68 is not being driven).
30 When the printing ~ -, rollers 61, 63 and 64 reach the throw-off position, the actuator 292 is ~ u~ dl;~ ally activated pivoting the leading gear 288 of the swing gear assembly 268 upward to fully engage the printing roller gear 269. The rollers 61, 63 and 64 would then move on to their ~ e_~ printing positions, with the swing gear 288 pushed downward slightly. However, if the press 10 was running, the rollers 61, 63 and 64 would not move past the throw-off position to the printing position, and the actuator 35 292 would not be activated to swing the leading gear 288 upward to engage print roller gear 269. With the press 10 running and the printing ",~ ", rollers 61, 63 and 64 in printing position, turning the press 10 offcauses the rollers 61, 63 and 64 to --lly move to the throw-offposition.

2163~
~VO 94/29108 PCTIUS94/06148 Actuation of the stepper motors 171 and 191 is brought about by the c~ - - g of control signals on the lines 419 to carry an identical number of pulses to 1~i6lJC_li~, motors 171 and 191. Each pulse causes a fixed lUU~ UCL~l of lG~pC_Li-_ carriages 89, 90 and 81, 82 when received by .~i,J.e~ _ stepper motors 171a, 171b and l91a, l91b. The JJIUC60~U~ 408 keeps track of the exact positions of the stepper motors 171a, 171b and l91a, l91b by pulses from &e ~ ccL~_ encoders 172a, 172b and 192a, 192b com~ ni~ -q-tP~i over the cu. . 1 n~ g lines 420. Each of the pulses received from the encoders 172a, 172b and 192a, 192b l~pl~i.,c.ll~ a fixed ~ of uo . _...e,lt of the .~sl, ~ liv~ carriage 89, 90, 81 and 82, and thus the . ",c~ e rollers 63 and 64, and 61. The encoders 172a, 172b, 192a and 192b qQCOc:At-~ with the stepper motors 171a, 171b, l91a and l91b provide feedback to the C0LU~Ut~ control Fn~ UE; system.
This feedback enables the plUCcs~ 408 and the host . u~utu. 400 to know whether a particular stepper motor 171 or 191 has in fact been actuated and moved the desired amount. The comhinqtinn of the present CoLul-ut~ - control po~;lioniLg system and the structure of the p-~;~riO~ ly II- D' l;hed pC~'';tioning ~
78 enable the printing . ~rl~D :- rollers 61, 63 and 64 to be moved out of a particular printing position and returned to that printing position within a very high degree of accuracy.
Thesteppermotors l71a, 171b, 191aand l91bmayalsobeoperatedinana'~,. - modeinwhich the operating position of the print roller 61 relative to the im~,r~ roller 66, and the o~ g position of the anilox roller 63 with respect to the print roller 61, may be adjusted. These a~_ can be made to set the roller spacings, by sending the same number of pulses to each of the stepper motors of the pairs 171 or 191, thereby moving the rollers toward and away from each other. The ~lj" l."~ also can be made by a~ g each of the stepper motors 171a, 171b, l91a and l91b individually, and thereby adjusting the relative inclinations or skew of the axes of the rollers with respect to each other. Such - ~1 can be made either when the press 10 is shut down or when it is in operation printing images upon the web 11.
The block diagram of Fig. 24 and flu.._' I of Fig. 25 b.~,..bolically l~ .It the opPrrtinn of the po~iti~ming controller 406. Generally, the ploc~.,;,ùr 4û8 includes a ~ ,rùproccs;,ol 430, such as a Motorola MC68HC71 lE9FS, that is piO~ to hlt~.lu~at~ button activity p~.rulll.ed by an operator at the panel 410 or with the dial 414, and by pulses from the encoders 172 and 192. The l~icrul~u~es,or 430 also performs processing oppr~tinnc to translate the input ,llrl into ~JIo~ control signals on the lines 418 and 419.
Symbolically, referring to Fig. 24, buttons 410a-410p of the control panel 410 may be consid~.~d as cu~c~ Ihlg through an interface 431 such as a plUg.~ - ~d array logic chip (PAL), as, for example, industry standard part number GAL-22V10. The ~;. IOplo~ or 430 causes the interface 431 to check the state of the buttons p~.iodi~ ally, for example, every l/SOth of a second, c~ ir-';..E their status to a memory section 432 of the pluce~ ùl 408 which stores them as a plurality of logical variables 432a-432p, each l~ li.lg a state of one of the P--Ch1 410a-410p. When any of the variables 432a-432p is zero, for example, this,eprus~.~b that the CU11~ g button 410a-410p is not pushed. When any of the variables 432a-432p equals one, for example, this r~1~D~-~b that the Cûll~ l nn ing button 410a-410p is pushed. For a button to be ~ t~d as pushed, the interface must return a 1 for four cnl~cu';.-i~t~llug~llion cycles. In one ~_b ~ ' ~ t, when a button push has been detected, the lui~r~lu~eD~o~ 430 WO 94/29108 216 3 0 ~ ~ 32- PCT/US94/06148 compares the pattern of bits in memory 432 with- valid settingæ to identify the function selected, ignoring all invalid comhin~tinnc When a valid pattern is i~1~ontifi~ the ~ u~l;alts routine is F!Y~cllf~o~1 as illustrated in Fig. 25.
The program executed by the l~ u~rùcesDvr 43û may alt~ ly execute the loop illll ' in S Fig. 25 so as to ~let~-lnin~ whether any button has been pushed on the panel 410, and allow only a single button to be pushed at a time. Thus, the program need only identify one button at a time. The pressing of any one of the buttons thus turns off all other buttons that might have been pushed and not oth-erwise cleared by the program. In such an emhn~ , multiple button c~ c are selected by ~qu~nti~lly pushing a combination of buttons on the panel 410.
The p. oce .Dul 408 also includes a section of memory 433 that stores a plurality of - -1 integer variables433a-433d,each~ eacountcumulativelyi..c., 'ordc_.~ ..t~dbypulsesreceived over a leDI,ccL~_ one of the lines 420 from the encoders 172 and 192. The input lines 420 may be considered as each c-. .. ~ d through an interface 434, such as an RS485 interface chip, that functions in cooperation with the li~ Iv~-lvceDDol 430 or with a separate proceDDhlg device to count the pulses received 15 over lines 420 from the encoders 172 and 192. The lllhlv~JIvceDDvl 430 illt~retD the signals for dirc~liùllality and then either h~ IL or dc_.~ t~ the count stored in the memory location 433a-433d c~ v.ldil.g to the l~D~C~ _ one of the encoders 172, 192 from which the pulses are received. Each encoder 172 and 192 ~ .t~ one pulse for each 1/200th of the encoder rotation, which will CV11~D~UIId to a fixed i~ llelll of motion of the r D~ carriage 81-82, 91-92. These pulses are g _ -' at the 20 encoder on each of two channels, and are 90 out of phase. With such phase change pulses, the di;,,.. . ~I;on of the encoder is 1/800tb of a rotation of its shaft. After gearing, this amounts to .OOSmm of carriage travel per phase change pulse, or 0.197 mil, or ..~JIJlUAil,.- ~Iy .0002 inches. In addition, the encoders are thereby direction l~ JoliD;~ . For example, when the signal on one channel moves from a O
to a 1 state while the signal on the other channel is 0, or from a 1 to a O state when the signal on the other 25 channel is 1, forward motion is " ' When the signal on the one encoder moves from a O to 1 state while the signal on the other channel is 1, or from a 1 to a O state when the signal on the other channel is 0, reverse motion is ~ This direction .~D~,v.lD;~_~esi, of the encoders provides a means to disc~;~..;l...-e between actual rotation of the stepper motors 171 and 191 and ~ - pulses caused by vibrations which might occur when the motors are stationery. The default values of the variables 433a-433d 30 are zero. The variables 433a-433d will reflect the cumulative algebraic sum of the pulses counted from each cDlJceli~e decoder 172, 192 and may be consid~ .~ d counter variables.
The dial 414 also connects through an interface 435 to a memory variable 436a in a memory location 436. The dial 414 clicks every fraction of a rotation in either direction to produce a series of direction sensitive pulses seqllpnti~lly to the interface 435 to in~ ...e.-~ or dc~l- .In ..l, for clockwise or 35 counterclockwise rotation .~DI,e~ _ly, the current integer value of the variable 436a. The variable 436a will thereby reflect the cumulative algebraic sum of the pulses counted from the dial 414 since the last resetting or clearing of the variable 436a. The variable 436a may thereby also be conD;d~ .~d a counter variable.

21~3~
~VO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 An ~ itjon~l memorysection438storesoutputintegervariablesthat.e~ ,s~ thenumberofpulses to be sent to the stepper motors 171,191. Cu--~D~oudiug variables 438a-438d are stored in the memory section 438 and, when output signals are to be beu_...t~d on the lines 419 through drivers 439, under control of the lll;clup.(,ceDDur 430, the preset counts of each of the memory variables is iu~.eascd or de_.e~_d to S zero, thus p.o-lu~ing forward or reverse pulses to the cu~ g stepper motor that increase or decrease the current position counts to an ~ ~.u~ target count. The driver interface chips or drivers 439 are o~ t~ to power the particular stepper motors 171 and 191 being driven.
In one Pmhorlitt Pnt~ the counters 433, 436 and 438 are separate from the memory within the lui~ lV~)loccDDol 430, for example, within a field ~l~o ' ' - gate array (FPGA), such as the chips made 10 by Xilinx, which may be plUol -' to contain the counters 433, 436 and 438, for example. Such counters will respond to U~ID from the encoders without requiring i..t~ .lul,lion of the luh r~loccDDur 430, which can then i~-t~.luodte the counters at its cou~niencc.
Further memory locations 440 are provided to store settings such as REPEAT LENGTH 440a (which is directly ~ul~v~ional to print roller diameter), PAPER THICKNESS 440b, ANlLOX ROT T ER
15 DIAMETER 440c and GEAR PITCH 440d. The memory 432,433,436,438,440 is non volatile memory either connected to the luicr~luccDDùl 430, as are the iLlt~ .r~ce6 and drivers, through cu UIJ~t~ r busses 441 or co ~ d within the IlliYlu~luceDDùr chip. In addition, one or a pair of output drivers 441, c~ ~t- d to the lUiCl vp~ucessvr 430, may be provided for ~ gizing the air cylinders 151 to move the metering roller in or out with a bi-directional signal on line 418. The display 412, also connects to the ,uic. ul,. vce.,.,v- 430, 20 is provided with LEDs displays 412a and 412b. The display, outputs to the operator two line all,' ~
or digital data illdiCdti~_ of the op. or fiunction selected by the operator, such as output settings, and may display a current setting for c ~ with a new setting as i..~ or dc_.~ ' by the dial 414.
Additional volatile memory 442 and p.uO- l read only memory 443, such as an EEPROM, 25 are provided for storing values, c - c~' ' - settings, i--t~.~ucd;- ~ variables and program.
ition~l drivers 444 are provided to operate anilox roller clutches 200 and 215, swing gear drive and other filnrti~ c In operation, following an initial inct~ tion of the machine 10 or loss of power to the controller 406, certain settings must be made. When the controller 406 is first cne.O;zed~ all values are ~ler lt~ to zero, 30 or to some standard values ~.uOl~ued into the memory 443, which may be read only memory. At this point, the operator may press the SET GEAR PITCH button 410m. The Gear Pitch is the number of teeth per inch on the i~ sDivn roller gear 196 that drives the print roller 61. Since this value changes only when a physical gear change is made to the machine 10, the setting may be made by way of a blank key code accessible only to service p_.Do....el, or the value may be ~ruO~ucd into the EEPROM 443. The 35 Gear Pitch i..r~ is needed by the program in csl~ul~ting the repeat length sizes that are possible, in that the repeat length is, preferably, made equal to the gear tooth count ratio of the print roller gear 269 to the i J.~,-. ssivn roller gear 196 times the illlpr DD;Oll roller ryil~ u~f~ .ence. That is, the repeat length or circumference of the print roller 61 can only vary in illYl. ucn~D equal to the circumference of the il~

WO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 ~
2~6~

roller 66 divided by the number of teeth on the iJI preDD;ù~ roller gear 196. Accul.liLI~ly, the ilU~ l;';)n roller circumference must be known to the program and is preferably ~ -.rd into the EEPROM 443.
As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 25, the program will scan the memory 443, identify the button and execute the SET GEAR routine, which is illustrated in Fig. 25A. The preset or default gear pitch is S initially loaded by the Luicrop,~c~ ùr 430 into memory variable 440d, which will be displayed to the operator on the display 412a, and also on display 412b. The routine may check for a setting and, if none has been made, set a default value as ill-- ~ in the fl .. ' lD~ e.g., Fig. 25A, or, preferably, do so upon startup of the program. When the current value has been displayed, the operator turns the dial 414. This may be pru~ d to cause the display 412b to step through a ~ .u~ ....r d list of gear pitches stored 10 in the memory 443. Alt . L.~ ly, the program may retrieve from memory the number of gear teeth on the impression roller gear 196 and iLIC~ -Llt that up or down directly from the pulæes from the dial. The display may reflect the number of gear teeth and/or, preferably, a r~lr~ ^1 number that reflects the impression roller circumference divided by the number of iLu~ ;on roller gear teeth. As another alternative, the display may directly iL,.,reLucL,~ the number, ~ .~L,~li~ _ of the gear pitch in acco,,lance with 15 pulses from the dial. When the proper pitch has been selected, the operator presses the button 410m again to load the new value into variable 440d, thereby setting it. Pressing another button instead cancds the setting charge and returns to start (Fig. 25).
As with the gear pitch setting, the operator may also check and reset, if desired, the ANILOX ROLL
DLAMETER. This setting ~,roce.lu,~ is inidated by pressing the button 410i, which selects the SET
20 ANILOX ROLLER D~AMETER routine, as illustrated in Fig. 25. This routine is similar to that of Fig.
25A, as is illl- ' in detail in the flowchart of Fig. 25B. The default setting routing is p.ef~ run at start-up. The current or default value for anilox roller diameter is displayed in displays 412a and 412b.
The value in 412b may be stepped through a p~ u~.;---- rd list of sizes by u~ g the dial 414, otherwise in~ Up or down, in response to dial pulse6, altering the display in display 412b. Once 25 so selected, the operator sets the diameter to the selected diameter for the anilox roller 63 by pressing button 410i again, storing the value in the memory variable 440c.
On the initial setup and ~.L_n_~ liti~m~l print jobs are set up on the machine 10, the operator will check, and often reset, the REPEAT LENGTH, which is related to the diameter of the printing roller 61 which must be known for po~ n~ g The operator pushes the SET REPEAT LENGTH button 410g, 30 which is j~lRntifipd by the program as shown in Fig. 25, which executes the SET REPEAT LENGTH routine illustrated in Fig. 25C, also in a manner similar to that of Fig. 25A. The default setting portion of the routine is preferably executed at start up rather than as illustrated. The default value is preferably the largest print roller size mo-- nt^1 1P on the machine 10. This prevents iL~d~ _1 ~LIt crashing of the print roller 61 and hLI~)res;,iuL~ roller 66. The current or default value for repeat length is then displayed in display 412a and 35 412b. The value in 412b is stepped through a list of sizes by multiplying the pulses g ' by operating the dial 414 by the gear pitch and adding the product to the current value, which alters the display in display 412b. When, the desired repeat length is selected, the operator sets the repeat length to the selected length tVO 94/29108 ~ 1 ~ 3 ~ ~ ~ PCT/US94/06148 by again pressing button 410g. The new value is stored in the memory 440a, and from it the print roller diameter is derived for use in the pc~ g ~ ~lr~ tinnQ
The web thickness is also set similarly, by pressing the button 410h. The program identifies button and initiates the SET PAPER THICKNESS Op_.~lioll, running the routine of Fig. 25D. The currently set S value for web fhirL nAcc, or if none, the default value, which is the thickest paper p~ , is displayed in display 412a and 412b in tl~ ^ of an inch and the value in 412b is stepped through a p.~,logl~cd list of 11~;- L .~ --',i by vl,_. the dial 414, which i~ .mPIlLO the display up or down in 1l1000th of an inch in display 412b. When, the desired web thickness is selected, the operator sets the current value of web thickness to the selected value by again pressing button 410h. The new value is stored in the memory 440b.
In initial setup of the machine 10, and thereafter at inr~ u~ intervals, the positions of the print , I`rh~ ";C 60 are calibrated. This is accvll-lJliOhcd by pressing the CALD3RATE button 4101, which causes the program to initiate the CALIBRATE routine, illustrated in Fig. 25E. The operator then presses either the PLATE ROLL AD~UST button 410d or the ANILOX ROLL ADJUST button 410c to select the roller to be calibrated. When this routine is run, the stepper motors l91a and l91b or 171a and 171b are energized to move either the entire print . r~ - 60 (i.e., the lower carriages 81, 82) or the anilox and metering rollers 63, 64 (i.e., the upper carriages 89, 90) to an extreme position away from the iIU~
roller 66 and against r~ stops 184a and 174a. lU-rh~ 1 stops 184a and 174a may each be a surface on leOIJ~li~_ guide actuator brackets 184 and 174 (see Fig. 7). The motors 191 or 171 are energized by pulses through the CVII~D~J~ ' g drivers 439. As the stepper motors 191 or 171 move, the encoders 192 or 172 return pulses through the Cvll~ ~l-Q~ interface 434. When the Illi~ rv~ vcf OOor 430 detects that the pulses from the encoders 192 have ceased even though pulses are still being sent to the stepper motors 191 or 171, the c~ ~rl~ is reached that the ~-~DpC~ lower or upper carriages 81, 82 or 89, 90 have engaged their I~DI~C_li~._ stops 184a or 174a and stalled. In this event, the count in each of the counters 433 is stored in the memory 442. Then the stepper motors 191 or 171 are driven a fixed number of pulses to move r~ Dl~C~ _ lower or upper carriages 81, 82 or 89, 90 toward the il~ roller 66 to the retracted position. The number of pulses are pl~ del - ~ by a pl~lu~jl~ed back-off number in the memory 443.
The number of calibration pulses needed to bring the printing roller 61 in contact with the i~llpl~DD;~J~
roller 66 or the anilox roller 63 in contact with the printing roller 61 from their l~DJJe~ s_ retracted positions is separately rl~ t~ . ..;-.~d for each of the stepper motors l91a and l91b or 171a and 171b. The number of calibration pulses are separately ~1P t~ ' d because the 1 ~ - 1 distance or length of travel between one roller and another may be different from one side of the press 10 to the other. The operator may manually use a calibration caliper or gauge to measure the length of travel between the print roller 61 and either the 35 iln,~ DD;Oll roller 66 (for print roll lih~ti~-n) or the anilox roller 63 (for anilox roller ' l ) for each of the r,_D~c~ carriages 81, 82 or 89, 90. The operator would then press the I~DI]e~ _ button 410a or 410b ide.l~iryi.Jg the side (i.e., gear or operator side). For each side, the dial 415 would then be turned an amount COIl~ D~,onding to the ~eaD~Ied length. Pulses from the dial 415 individually ~. Ie.l.~ the WO 94/29108 ~ PCT/US94/06148 respective counter 438c, 438d or 438a, 438b and pulse the 1~DI~C~ V~ stepper motor 191a, 191b or 171a, 171b. When the operator is satisfied with a given setting, the operator presses the button 410n to store the calibration setting from each l~ sl,P~iLi~ counter 438c, 438d or 438a, 438b. The program then proceeds to the Zero Print Head routine. Preferably, in p_.rvllllih~g the calibration, instead of a print roller 61 being S mollnt~d~ a calibration bar (not shown) is used in its place. The bar is .li.. - ~ d to allow a~
clearance for a custom gauge being used. The bar and gauge together simulate the spacing for a standard printing roller 61 of, for example, 16.5 inch . i,. . ,.lf~ .. nce. For actual print rollers 61 of other sizes, the positions are çslrlllstPd from the calibrated numbers and the set repeat length.The Zero Print Head routine is run, ~ ;r~lly following Calibration and at the selection of the 10 operator upon power-up, by pressing the Zero Print Head button 410k. Pressing button 410k causes the program to execute the Zero Print Head routine ilhl~ J in Fig. 25F. This routine zeros both the printing roller 61 and the anilox roller 63, Q;m~ v -ly. The routine again pulses the stepper motors l91a, l91b and 171a, 171b rearward until the stops 184a, 174a are e ~ru - ~ d, then forward by the plv~r...~ d amount that defines the retracted position plus the calibration values. This defines the retracted position as 15 a point spaced from the stops 184, 174a a fixed distance sllffirir-nt to insure that, in oper ~fi~m, the carriages 81, 82 and 91, 92 will not engage the stops 184a, 174a. The counters 433 are then set to zero at this Retracted Position. This setting e~ l;-h~ e the zero ,~ir~ ce positions from which the program cslrulstp s the various positions of the printing roller 61 and anilox roller 63. In moving between these F ~ , other functions such as co~di~aLing the operation of the clutch assemblies 200, 215 and the swing gear assembly 20 268, and po~;ti~minp of the print roller 61 and anilox roller 63, that occur as the print head 60 moves through various p~Qiti~nS~ are also cv"l~.,lled.
In the operation of the press 10, the print . ~ 60 may be moved with precise ,.~ ;l;ly among the retracted, throw-off and print pr~C;tinnQ In the retracted position, the operator will service the mPrll~ .. 60, and may change plates 62, clean rollers, change print rollers 61, or perform ~ c that 25 require movement of the base platform 48 between its operatiojnal and stand-aside positions (see Figs. 4 and 5 1~D~C~t~ IY). Movement of the print head 60 to the retracted position is achieved by pressing the RETRACT PRINT HEAD button 410j, which causes the program to execute the RETRACT PRlNT HEAD
routine illustrated in Fig. 25G. This routine sends motion causing pulses to the stepper motors l91a, l91b and 171a, 171b to move the lower carriages 81, 82 (i.e. printing roller 61) and the upper carriages 89, 90 30 (i.e. anilox roller 63), ~olJc-li~-ly~ to the retracted position. The retracted position is i-lPnfifiPd when the content of l~oyc_li~ counters 433c, 433d and 433a, 433b equal zero, the cslrlll~t~d position attained as a result of the CALIBRATE and ZERO PRINT BAD ROUTlNES. In addition, the actuation of clutches, relays, and other functions that must take place will be actuated through drivers 444 in response to signals from the lllh~rv~luceOo~/l 430.
Movement of the print head 60 to the throw- off position is achieved by pushing the Throw-off button 410f, which causes the program to execute the Throw-off routine as illnQ~r~tPd in Fig. 25H. This routine moves the print ~ ~rh~ 60, by sending pulses to the stepper motors l91a and l91b through the drivers 439, until the counters 433c and 433d indicate a count that is less, by a pr~rog..- .. ~d amount, than the ~vo 94~29108 ~ ~ fi 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 cs-lrul~t. d print position, as stored in the memory 443. In addition, pulses will also be sent to the stepper motors 171a and 171b to move the anilox roller 63, along with the metering roller 64, toward or away from the print roller 61. But, ~ pen~ling on whether the print head 60 is moving to the throw-off position from the retracted or print po~ition~ control signals may be sent to control other functions through the drivers 444, to engage or release clutches 200 and 215 to drive the anilox roller 63, or other co.. ~ e fi~nrtir~n~ From the printing to throw-offposition, the stepper motors 171 may be actuated first, followed by actuation of the stepper motors 191 when it is desirable to remove any excess ink from the plate 62 by t~ f . ~ g the ink onto the web 11.
The lUU~_~le~lt, of the print ~ ' 60 to the print position is achieved by pressing the AUTO
10 PRINT button 410e, which causes ~Y~CUtion of the AUTO PRINT routine, as ill ~ in the flowchart of Fig. 25I. In the auto print routine, the lu;~f~rOCe~oSul 430 monitors whether the press is running, that is, whether the web 11 is being driven through the stations 13. This may be a~c-~m,rli~.' r-d by detecting the presence and motion of the web 11 at the r~O~c~ U printing station 13, or preferably by a signal from the host C~slu~-t~.. 400. If the web 11 is in motion, the print ~ rrh-"; " 60 is moved to and/or held in the 15 throw-off position. When the web is not moving, the stepper motors 191 are then activated to move the print roller 61 to the zero or print position, where the plate 62 is in printing r~ ir~n~hir with the web 11.
In addition, the motors 171 are stepped to bring the anilox roller 63 into fluid ~ g relation with the plate 62 on the print roller 61. Pressir,g the manual throw-off button while in Auto Print cancels Auto Print and moves the print head 60 to the throw-off position.
~ of the print roller 61 changes its zero position relative to its c~ position by a positive or negative ~' offset. Such r ijr ~ is carried out by pressing the PLATE ROLL
ADJUST button 410d, which causes the i~.~up~u~ eO..or to execute the PLATE ROLL ADJUST routine as illustrated in Fig. 25J. This ~ may be carried out in any position of the print ..-~ .. 60, but is usually carried out in the print position with the print head 60 printing on the web 11, and the operator 25 m-mit ~ring the quality of the printed product. When the ~ljn~tm~nt is selected, zeros are displayed on the displays 412a and 412b. If the operator then turns the dial 414, both stepper motors 191a and 191b are moved the same amount. As the motors 191 are moved, the displays 412a and 412b are illc~ .ut~ d or decremented in acco,da-.cc with the pulses received from the encoders 192a and 192b, ~ ol~c~ti~_ly~ These changes are immediate, and the operator can ;""..r l- t~ Iy observe the effect on the printed product if 30 printing is in progress. If at any time during this process, the operator presses either of the Gl~AR SIDE
or OPERATOR SIDE buttons 410a or 410b, from that point on turning the dial 414 affects only the stepper motor 19 la or 19 lb on the selected side of the web 11. In this way, the operator can COIu~).' ' for non-;f... .;ly or non-parallelism of the print roller 61 to the ~1~ ~ ~ roller 66. If one side only has been selected, pressing the button for the other side switches the '~, to the other side. Pressing the 35 PLATE ROLL ADJUST button 410d again returns the ~rlj- ~.. 1 to both sides equally. Pulses from the dial 414 directly pulse the ~Co~JC~ liv~ stepper motor 191. The - ~ values are stored in the volatile memory 442 and displayed onthe displays 412aand 412b for each I o~JC~ li._ side. These a lj.,~ values can be changed or cleared by the operator at will by imr.~' 'y stepping the motors 191 back to their 3~a~ -38-zeroed pf citj,~nc The routine stays in the plate roller ~ ..1 loop until another button is pushed selecting another function.
Ad; uDhuc~ L by the operator of the anilox roller 63 in relation to the print roller 61 proceeds similarly by deyl~OD;ou of the ANILOX ROLL ADJUST button 410c, as illustrated in ~li~æ~, the di~l-,..cf, being 5 thatthesteppermotorsl71aand/orl71bareadjustedandthefeedbackverifyingthemotionisreeeivedfrom the encoders 172a and/or 172b, .~Dyc_Li~_ly.
Other functions are also provided, sueh as the CONFIRM button 410n, which initiates a e~nrF~ if m of the pending adjuDLLLlFul and returns to the ADJIJST PRINT ROLL routine, the CLEAR button 410O, whieh elears all button funetions and the display, and the METERING ROLLER MOVE button 410p which 10 causes the cylinders 151 to throw in or out the metering roller 64, to start or stop irlk flow to the anilox roller 63.
Comnuter Controlled Renstrahon Computer controlled registration, including the semi ~ ,isl.~Lio n feature and the more fully ~.~ lf~, . .A~ jr circumferential and axial l~,iDh_ io,. features, is DUI~ . v;D~d by the operator either from the 15 individual stations or from the host COIuyut_~ . These are explained here in co ~F _l :ol- with the . ~ ~5iDL- _ -controller 407 at the individual stations 13. From the host cu~,ut~r 400, the operation can be controlled globally or individually for selected stations.
The block diagram of Fig. 26 and flowchart of Fig. 27 O~ lly 1-~ De~It the op~ of the regi etr: ~ion features and the logic of the .. ~ controller 407. The controller 407 is made of the same 20 types of cc. l'~ A -l~i, has the same general arehitecture, and functions accofdi. g to similar logic, as the pf Citi/~nin~ controller 406 deD_.;l.cd above, with the addition of interrupt driven routines to ac~ ~ ' eimnlt~nFO--C operator ;L.~. ~ hlg and high speed l~,~5iD~ tiof, control. Generally, the pl~ûcFDDo~ 409 includes a LL iC.u~.ocFDDu~ 450 that, in c~ opFr~ti~)n with a PAL identical to that of the l)lOC6DD~Ji 406, ;~,~ug i..Lel . ul, LD activated by button activity p _, ru~Lued by the operator at the panel 411 and v~ith the dial 415. The 25 LUiCIul)lucFoDu~ 450 also iLILel~ lD pulses from the encoder 328 and electric eye sensors 347 and 350. The LuielupiOCFODO~ 450 also performs p.oc.,DD;ng u~ to translate the operator input iur into ~p~u~ .t~ control signals on the lines 424 and 426.
Symbolically illustrated in Fig. 26, buttons 411a-411p of the control panel 411 may be considered as coLmF ~ LiL,g through an interface 451 to a memory section 452 of the p, OCCSDO~ 409 which stores a plurality 30 of logical variables 452a452p, each l~ s~.~liLIg a state of the ~ uttonc 411a411p. When any of the variables 452a-452p is zero, for example, this 1~ that the COI1~ O~ E button 411a-410p is not pushed. When any of the variables 452a-452p equals one, this l~feD~utD that the c~ .. .1;, g button 41 la41 lp is pushed. The default settings of the variables 432a-432p are zero.
The proccsDor 409 also includes a section of memory 453 that operates as a counter, r~ll_seL Lhlg 35 a count of pulses received over the line 423 from encoder 344. The input lines 423 is cu~e: ' through an interface 454, for example an RS 485 chip, that functions in cooperation with the Lui~lU~ oDU~ 450 to count t~;vo channel direction sensitive pulses received over the input line 423 from the eneoder. The counter 453 either iu~ reLu~ ~to or dec.~ the count stored therein in acco~daûce with the direction of the ~IO 94/29108 216 3 0 ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 rotation of the encoder 3M. The pulses on the encoder 3M is generated for each l/SOOOth of encoder rotation, which will CC~ DJ,o~d to a fixed i~ U~.ll of angular motion of the illl~ ,DDiV~ roller 66, which is directly related to a fixed iU~,rlslUe.ll of lineal motion of the web 11. As with the encoders 172 and 192 for the p~ n.~hlg controller 406, these pulses are ge..c. ' on each of two chqnn~o!s, and are 90 out of phase. As such, the ~ ;on of the encoder 3M is 1/20,000th of a rotation of its shaft. The encoders 344 are thus direction ,~ O~ofD;~_. The counter 453 will reflect the cumulative algebraic sum of the pulses counted from encoder 344. One encoder 3M is coupled onto the shaft of the e ~ rotating h..~n~ - roller 66. The count from the encoder 3M starts over at a count of zero when the counter 453 exceeds its l..-A;I~
The dial 415 also connects through an interface 455 to a memory location 456. The dial 415 clicks every fraction of a rotation in either direction to produce a series of direction sensitive pulses s . lly to the interface 455 to iu~ t or dec. ~ t, for cloGI~. ;DC or counterclockwise rotation . ~DI~C_~ ly, the current integer value of the variable in memory location 456. The memory location 456 will thereby reflect the cumulative algebraic sum of the pulses counted from the dial 415 since the last resetting or clearing of the variable stored therein. In addition, each pulse from the dial 415, through the interface 455 and to the counter 456 trip an interrupt in the LUiC~ lol eDDvl 450.
The sensors 347 and 350 connect through an i,~t~-r~e3 457a and 457b ~D~C~ _lY to the mi~ lV~l oc~DDvl 450, and to CV11~D~ ~ ' g memory locations 459a and 459b that store a logical 1 when the -,D~e_~i~_ sensors 347a and 350 sense the .~D~e~ marks 349 on the print roller 61 and 350a on the web 11. Activation of each of the sensors 347 and 350 also trips a f D~ iv~ interrupt in the .--i~ lu~,.vceD~.
450.
An q~ iti~ 1 memory section 458 stores output integer variables that ~ De.II the number of pulses to be sent to the stepper motors 327 and 340 to perform circumferential and axial 1`~5iDLI '- , ~sl~e_li~_ly.
Cu-,~ variables 458a-458b are stored in the memory section 458 and, when output signals are to be generated on the lines 419 through drivers 439, under control of the ".;. .ol,.uceDso, 430, the preset counts of each of the memory variables is increased or decreased to zero at equal intervals spaced over a single repeat length of the web 11 in the form of, for~vard and reverse pulses, ~eD~e~ ly~ to the cu.,. ~l on l."g stepper motor 327 or 340.
As with the controller 408, in one ~.nho~li t, the counters 453, 456 and 458 are separate from the 30 memory within the ,Jfic.ùpro. eDDvr 450, for eDple, within a field ~lO~ . ,~, ~hlP gate array (FPGA) such as . .. r~ I .ed by Xilinx, which may be pr.OI~ lll P~ to contain the counters 453, 456 and 458, for example. Such counters will respond to h-t~ - l Ul~tD from the encoders without r~ yuh iug iL t~ ll ulltion of the uicrv~uc~DDvr 450, which can then o~t~ the counters at its co..~ hence.
Further memory 460 is provided to store settings such as REPEAT LENGTH 460a, INSPECTION
ZONE or WINDOW 460b, DEAD ZONE TOLERANCE 460c, N11MBER OF REPEATS PER PRINT
ROLLER ROTATION 460d, GAIN 460e, LINEAL ERROR AVERAGING 460f and AXIAL ERROR
AVERAGING 460g. The memory 452,453,456,458,460,463,464 may be cul~ r~ t d to the l,.iClUI~.VC6DDV, 450, as are the i~.r~.ces and drivers, through ~,v.,.l,..t._. busses 461, or may be included in the volatile WO 94/29108 ;~ PCT/US94/06148--memory of the chip cu ~ g the lui~ I u~l OccDDui 450, as will be the configuration when using a Motorola MC68HC711E9 llficlopl~cDDù~ as is preferred. However, certain variables l~r- D~IlLed as stored in the memory 460 are preferably written to non-volatile memory when the press 10 is stopped, to be available after the press is started after being shut down. The display 413, also CQ ~l~r.. t~ d to the LUi~l ul~loceD ,~l 450, S is provided with two LED display lines 413a and 413b, which output to the operator r~ chEu~t~ ,D
iudicali~_ of the u~Jc.~lLiuns and settings selected by the operator. The program and variables and settings are stored in a read only memory 463.
The program executed by the l~iDh control ~i~ ~U~I~GDDUl 450 differs ~ hdL from that of the p~ n~ control Lui~,.u~,loce.,Dor 410 because it must not only process setting changes and ' g 10 functionsthatinterfacewiththcoperatorthroughthekeyboard411anddisplay413,butmust It-~
control registration when ~ - Oo- is selected and when the press is running. This is accompli~hPd utilizing iul~llup~D to initiate routines that insure that keyboard entries and setting changes made by the operator and that roll and web mark readings are made, while other portions of the program of the mi~ IOpioc6DDu~ 450 are being exPcut~l The program that accomplishes this objective is generally 15 IO~ sO~led by the MAIN LOOP program illustrated in Fig. 27 and in the interrupt handling routines illustrated in Figs. 27A-27C.
The MA~ LOOP program of Fig. 27 is initiated at the START point when the ~ lo~JIuceDDul 450 is powered up. It first executes a start-up routinO in which registers are cleared and default values and flags are set, and in which the ~,ruO) ~ !D- gate array logic chips that interface with the keyboard and display 20 c~ and with stepper motors and encoders of the r.O ~ a system are du.. '- '-~ with the pluOI~s that essentially configure them as set forth in Fig. 26, ~ d above.
After initi9~ n, the program executes a loop from the MAlN LOOP E~TRY point of Fig. 27. Thô
loop first checks to see if any operator settings or setting changes have been made. If so, they would have been stored in volatile memory 464, to be recorded in non-volatile memory 460 when the press is not 25 running. The program therefore checks for wed motion and stores any settings made to non v~' 1P memory 460. Then, the loop h~t~ r memory 464 to see if a ROLL MARK count and a WEB MARK count have been read. Further, if a WEB MARK has been enc ~ d, the program also checks to d if the WEB MARK counts include three crossings of the Z-mark 350a of Fig. 21. The MAIN LOOP then checks to see if pl- ~eOiDl.~lion is in effect, and if so, provided the press is not running, performs the 30 ~ giDh~lion of the l~D~.C~ liv_ station. This is accu ~p' - ~ by l~ hioviug from memory the web distance from the first station to the current station, dividing the distance by the repeat length or print roll circumference, and advancing the print roll relative to a lef~ l~ ncc . ., ;~ ;oll, which equals that of the first station, by pulsing the stepper motor 327 to the harmonic drive 275 in accc,~.lancc with the A~;11... t;r lc~ainde~ of the division operation.
The MAIN LOOP also checks to see if the manual setting of thc lineal l~ OiDIl~lion has been sclccted by a pressing of the NEXT MARK button with linear r~ giDll~lliU.. selected but 'r~ ir linear lOo turned off. If so, i~t~ llU~JtD are , ~-~' while the roll and web mark spacing is det- . ; ~rd and used to set the LlNEAL REG. variable, which is the ~ .c - Iineal IOOiDh~liun set point for the station. The ~fi~
~0 94/29108 PCT/US94106148 routine for setting this, which is initiated by a pressing of the NEXT MARK button 411f by the operator, is illustrated in the flowchart of Fig. 27D.
If both the ROLL MARK and WEB MARK counts have been ~A~ ~r. ~ A, the MAIN LOOP calls the LINEAL REGISTRATION DUl,lUUliUC of Fig. 27H, which iLU~l ' the actual p~.r...--~A~e of 5 ~ ""..~;A lineal r~;DL~liu.., as explained more fully below. Then, if full Z-mark data has been read, the MAIN LOOP also calls the LATERAL REGISTRATION Dul,ruuliL~e of Fig. 27I, which ;.. ~ .t~ the actual p~ .ru.Lu, uce of the axial l- giDl-~lioa, as is also ~A~ A more fully below. The MAIN LOOP then returns to the MAIN LOOP ENTRY point and executes again unless int~ ~lU~t~ d by the interrupt routines of Figs. 27A-27C, or by the clock interrupt, which causes c~ u~ . of the BUTTON-PRESS ROUTINE
10 of Fig. 27E. The button press routine of Fig. 27E sends iurl - to the display 413 in ~ccol.l~ce with the routine that is currently selected, as illustrated in the flowchart of Fig. 27F, and retrieves button press and setting s-~ljl l",r ,1 data from the keyboard 411 and dial 415. The routine also iUtU~ tD the button presses or cnmbin inr Q thereof to select the various ~ . - s~ as ill ~' in the flowchart of Fig. 27G.
The BUTTON-PRESS ROUTIME A~ ;nr6 whether a button has been pushed on the panel 411, 15 and identifies the button or button combination. The program may be set up to allow only a single button to be pushed at a time. Thus, the program will only identify one button at a time, and the pressing of any one of the buttons may be set to turn off any other button that might have been pressed and not otherwise cleared. In such an ~ 1 multiple button c~ - Ac would be selected by . - 'ly pushing a comhi~ ~ion of buttons on the panel 411.
Al~e.ua~i~.ly, in the preferred and illl~ctrPt~d emho~l;n~ ~ the program is Dlluclu~d such that multiple button c ~ ~ an~lc are selected by pressing more than one button Q;mnl~ _ly~ In such a case, the release of a button will cause the button to be regarded as pushed and will reset all other button presses recorded in memory. If, upon the release of a button, another button is still pressed, release of the last of tbe F:mnl~- ~u- ~ pressed buttons sets the other ~ viuu~ly released ~;n~' ~_ 1y pressed buttons in 25 memory 452. The program will then check all of the button combinations and compare the combinations with all valid comhin~tir~nQ~, ignoring all others, as the flowchart of Fig. 27G ill The calling of the BUTTON-PRESS routine of Fig. 27E occurs at p~A. t~ d intervals of, for example, 1/SOth of a second. During other times, the MAIN LOOP is eY~cutinp and may be caUing the ^ registration routines. Particularly, when the press 10 is running, the AUTO regiQtr~ti~n routines 30 by which the program controls the l~g;D~ iUll of the press 10 are executed cc ~ y. Acculinl31y, each of the routines that may be initiated by the button presses referred to in the flow chart of Fig. 27G will be i~t~u~l~d every 1/SOth of a second to test for another button press.
P/c/ e~,ihu~ion Following the setup of the printing ",r~ ." 60 of the press 10 for a print job, as ~le,~ d in 35 ~on.~ l with the p~ g control above, the operator will ~e~;iD~. the print roller 61 to the ~ici~..t._d position of the web 11 for each of the stations 13. The plc.el;iDLI~Lion is based on ~,..ledge of the gCu..-cll.y of the machine 10, ;n~!---l;.~g the relative locations of the print stations 13 with respect to each other and to a length of web 11 ç~ throuOh them. For example, with the first station l-O .,d WO 94/29108 21 6 3 ~ ~ ~ PCT/US94/06148 at some arbitrary zero ~ from the ~vvlucLl~ of the overall press 10, the length of web 11 that extends from the nip of the print roll at the first station to that of each .vDl,c_L._ station may be predetf-nninfd and stored, preferably in non -.-' le memory 264. This length is divided by the repeat le-ngth, or circumference, of the print roU 61 to produce a quotient, which iæ hlvlv~t, and a .-vLu~dv., S which lvl,.vDvLlL the v;.vu.. rc.vuLal r ~ , and is the number of pulses to be sent to the l. .. ~ drive 275 to ~.v.egiDlcl the print roll 61 of the lvD~cv~ station 13 with that of the first station 13a.
The ~ h ~ is usually carried out without a web 11 in the machine 10. In prereO;~
the print rollers 61 of each of the stations 13 to be used are rotated to ~lcdctv.~vd o, relative to their frames 36, by stepping the lCD~CVli~ qnnl - drives 275 a cQl~ulqtf-d number of pulses past the 10 detection of a print roller mark 349 by the sensor 347.
To select circumferential p.c.vo;DhaLOIl~ the operator presses the ~ button 411e. As this function is usually desired when the press 10 is not running, the MAIN LOOP wiU generally be idling waiting for an event, which will usually be the time-out of the 1/SOth second timer that causes the DYDcuti~m of the BUTTON-PRESS ROUTINE of Fig. 27E. In this routine, when plvlvgiDh~Lliull is desired, typicaUy 15 no other setting routines will have been previously called, which will, by default, bypass the SUIJI~ - of Fig. 27F and cue the lv~iDhaLuu errors, which will probably be zeros, to the displays 413. The mi~lu~JlvvcDDul 450 will then call the DubluuliL~v of Fig. 27G to scan the valid cuLulliL~tiûLlD of buttons 411 for a match and return the button or valid button c-... l ;~ .. that is pressed. The program in the Lu;cluplocvDDvr 450, as in - 1 in Fig. 27, responds to the press of the prv.~ selection button 20 41 le by causing of the SET PREREGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27M, entering at the SELECT
PREREGISTRATION entry point, to select the l,.c.~gi-l~ function. With the p.v..~ function selected, when the MAIN program tests for this sel~ ti~n PREREGISTRATION is ~ Iy executed to circumferentially ~ O the roUers 61 by rotating the print roller 61 to the p~vO..-~ d relative o ;f. l ~;o ~ for the .vDl,cvL~v station. When ~rvrvg;DhaLun is cf~n~rlDtA, the p.vrvO;Dh t;vu function is 25 7. ~ y ,~ t~ A
whenp.clv~;DLlalionispyDrl~tpfl~therepeatlengthusedinthed~t ...i. -l;f~nofthe~vD~vvhi~-station ple.v& setting is that last stored in memory. Often, after set-up of the press and before l~lelvOiDLl f n is carried out, a new REPEAT LENGTH may have been set in the manner d~ e~1 in c~ nnPCti~n with the .1;~ of circumferential ~ below.
Axial pl~lvoiDtl is not usually pv.rulL~ cd without a web. Rather, a gross - '" of axial registration is impl- ' to center the roller k~D~vlbvly. This is ~comrlighPd by physically adjusting the tl~b~vlDC position of the sensor 350. In order to insure that the web sensor 350 is optimally centered on the web mark 350a, the sensor 350 is moved lI~LUD~-1DCIY on its support to align with the center of the mark 350a. The movement of sensor 350 may be made manually by adjusting knob 356 (see Fig. 18).
35 Alte.l~ vly, ~ - ~ lUV.VLUVLlt of the sensor 350 on its support may be provided, using stepper motors or alternative devices under control of the IUiv.u~.ucvDDvl 350 or other vise.
C~rv~ c~ al RcQiD~ration ~/O 94/29108 216 ~3 ~ O ~ PCT/US94/06148 As shown in Fig. 16, the front end of the ilU~ DDiVU roUer 66 in each printing station 13 mounts the optical encoder 344, such as that ~ -r~- l -rJd by BEI Motion Systems Company, Carlsbad, California, model H25D. This encoder 344 g~l~F."t~ 15 pulses l~ t~ C of fixed lengths of the wcb 11. By mol~nting each roller 66 with its own encoder 344, dirf~ uces in web speed among stations 13 are less likely S to affect the accuracy of circumferential ll~j;DllatiU~ control. Particularly, cle~ua-lces in the gears, tortion of shafts and strain of the various drive train c-~ o,l -t`: and relative motion between such C~ 1 ~ --t` is almost entirely e' ~ The optical encoder 344 has a shaft 345 which is coupled to a stub end at the front of ilUpl. ' roller 66 by a coupling 346 such as that - r~- 1 .. . cd by Rexnord, Me~ 1 Power Division, Warren, PA, Part No. CC37.
10 Thecvlul,.. l~.controUedcircumferentialregistrationsystemincludesfirstopticalsensor347(seeFig.
2) mounted to the front of stop plate 58. Sensor 347 has a fiber optic lens 348 mounted below the front end of printing roller 61 and in position to register each re~,lut;vu of roller 61 by sensing a mark 349 (Fig. 3), in the shape of a l~auD~ ~D~: bar, formed on the surface of the front end of roUer 61. Referring to Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 18-21, second optical sensor 350 is mounted between vertical support panels 37 and 38 and 15 poeiti~n~-d above the nip between printing roller 61 and ilu~l~ roller 66 in order to register the passage of web mark 350a which was originally printed onto web 11 at the first printing station 13a.
The web sensor 350 is mounted on a square ~ bar 351 ~ d from the print side of the web 11, above the nip and between the printing roUer 61 and ilU~ roUer 66. Bar 351 has ends 352, 353 mounted to l.,,,lJC~,L~_ wpport brackets 354 and 355. End 352 of bar 351 is tL~ad~ly disposed into 20 an axial p(~Q;tioning knob 356 which is captured, but free to rotate, within a hole formed through one end of bracket 354. The squared ~lUb~ L~ti~JU of the other end 353 of bar 351 is beveled along each edge. One end of bracket 355 has a circular hole 357 formed th~, el]ll . g' - An angular P~ plate 360 is fastened to the front side of bracket 355 with bolt 361. Bolt 361 is disposed through an arcuate semi-circular slot 362 formed in plate 360 and threaded into bracket 355. Plate 360 has a square hole 363 formed 25 thc~lLl-~ugh and aligned with circular hole 356. The square cross section of bar 351 is .1.. ~ d to fit through hole 363 and the edges of end 353 are beveled to aUow liQroQ;ti~n through circular hole 356. The other ends of brackets 354 and 355 are fixed, such as by set screws 366, to a second support bar 367 having a circular cross section. Brackets 354 and 355 are ~ - - -lly spaced tl~D~b~ly apart along bar 367 and suspend square bar 351 a Q-'~';- '~I distance from circular bar 367 to allow the passage of web 11 30 the.~ ilLi~. Bar 367 is ~ d generally p~ rly out from the upline edge of vertical support panels 37 and 38 by support brackets 368 and 369. Bracket 368 is mounted to the back side of panel 37, and bracket 369 is mounted to the front side of panel 38. The rear end of bar 367 is disposed through and able to slide within a hole formed on the upline end of bracket 369. The front end of bar 367 is disposed through and free to slide within a hole formed through the upline end of bracket 368. The brackets 354 and 35 355 are disposed along bar 367 between the brackets 368 and 369. A pin 370 is fixed at one end to the bracket 368 downline from and parallel to bar 367. Pin 370 is slidably received by a hole formed through one end of a bracket 371. The other end of bracket 371 is fixed, such as by a set screw 372, to bar 367.

WO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 ~
21~3~
Bracket 371 prevents the rotation of bar 367 about its central longih~Aingl axis. Bar 351, and therefore the web sensor 350, is thereby .~ d in its -~lsrtt~nAt~d cnnAitirtn above web 11.
The web sensor 350 mounts a square channel bracket 358 which is mounted to the square bar 351 with a set w}ew 359. Screw 359 is loosened to allow gross adjuDlluc~ll of the LaL~D~_.DG position of web sensor 350 along the length of bar 351. Fine a l~ of the haLtD~_.DG position of the web sensor 350 relative to web 11 can be manually accomplished by turning knob 356, thereby tl~ ~ ~ . D~ ly moving bar 351.
The angular ~ of the web sensor 350 relative to web l l can be adjusted by lt~c~ ! . . . e bolt 361 and turning bar 351. As bar 351 rotates, plate 360 likewise rotates and slot 362 moves by bolt 361 until a desired sensor ori~nt tit n is obt-sined. Bolt 361 is then tightened to f x the web sensor 350 in place. When images are printed on the reverse or backside of web 11 (see the last printing station 13n in Fig. 1), the bar 351 must be .~ d downline from bar 367. This can be accolupLtDhcd by It ns ;.~g the set wrews 366 and pivoting brackets 354 and 355 about bar 367 to l~oD;Lon bar 351. The sensor bracket 358 is then removed and replaced to face upline. The relative angular ~ ... of the web sensor 350 to web 11 can be adjusted again in the same manner as previ 1y Aeccrihed (Compare solid line to phantom line 15 j~ ctr, tion in Fig. 2).
Before ;~ ;r l~g;~h~ is ;. ~pl- - t A, certain p~uet ~D are set unless the default settings are desired. The setting of the p~ t~ ~D for r~iDl-alion is -~cn. p1icl rA from the operator's point of view,inthesamemannerthatsettingsaremadeinthep~:fi-~:..gproc61ul.sdeDc.ibedabove. Thesettings are initiated by the operator pressing a button on the panel 411 to select the setting to be made. When the 20 controller 407 is e,l~.Oi,~d, aU values are defaulted to zero or to some standard default values ~
into the - .uldlile memory 463, which is preferably an electrically erasable ~JIUol ' 1- read only memory (EEPRO~, and thus l_~.uOIa UL~ d',lc by service ~ DUL~Cl but read only to the operator.
To make settings affecting the ul,_, of ~ o;~ , the operator may, for example, press the SET DEAD ZONE button 411g. The DEAD ZONE is a variable that defines the l~o 25 tolerance for both circumferentia'. and axial l~OiDhaLom While the described embodiment provides for the sdme setting ~licdl,lc to both circumferential and axial leO;DhaLuu, separate settings may be provided for.
As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 27G, when the SET DEAD ZONE button is pressed, the PAL interface 451 memory variable 452g, is set to a 1. From this variable setting, the program identifies the button as pressedafteriLt~ ,luOdlionofPALmemory452bytheDUI,l. - of Fig. 27Gwhenlastcalledbythebutton 30 press routine of Fig. 27E. This initisli7.!S the SET DEAD ZONE routine, which is ~ ctr,~toA in Fig. 27L.
As illustrated in Fig. 27L, when the SET DEAD ZONE button is i~lentifi~A~ the SET DEAD ZONE
entry point of the routine is entered to check to ~1- t- ., --I;I~r whether the pressing of this button is the second of two consc~ uLi~_ presses of the SET DEAD ZONE button. Upon the first press of the button 411g, the dead zone sefflng function is selected, and the ADJUST DEAD ZONE entry point is selected as the 35 adjuDtLuc~l subroutine to be called by the DIAL PULSE INTERRUPT handling routine of Fig. 27C. The BUTTON-PRESS routine then returns to its caUing point in the main program to process any l~e;~
control u~ .alions that are running. Then, on the next 1/SOth second time-out, the BUTTON-PRESS routine will call the display bul,luuhL~c of Fig. 27F, which will note that SET DEAD ZONE has been selected, and ~ ~300~
~0 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 .

will cue the current DEAD ZONE value for line 1 of the LED, 413a, and will cue the NEW SETTING, which will default to the current value, into line 2 of the LED, 413b.
The DEAD ZONE value ~ SclltD the integral number of stepper motor pulses by which the dead zone size is defined, and is equal to 1/20,000ths times the ilu~;e roller circumference. Where, for example, the circumference equals 16.5 inches, each pulse lG~r~De.-lD 0.825 mils (i.e., 0.000825 inches or 0.00210c~ t~.D). Thedeadzonesettingisthe.,,;,,;.-~n,.. error,inpulses,requiredtocauseacu,.~Lon to be made. Smaller errors are ignored. Alte...d~ ly, the DEAD ZONE values may be displayed and LU~ by some value l~ l~r~ ~_ of a length in inches or c- of the web, as ~lf ~ ed in Co~ f~LifU~ with the REPEAT LENGTH and INSPECTION ZONE settings below.
To change the setting from the initial value, the operator turns the dial 415, which causes pulses to be gcae, '- These pulses trigger the ~t~ iun of the interrupt handling routine of Fig. 27C, which detects the direction of the dial rotation and il~ L a count, initially at zero, up or down in ~ccu~
with the rotational direction of the dial 415. The interrupt routine then calls the ADJUST DEAD ZONE
routine of Fig. 27L, which adds the adj uDhu_llt value to the previous setting to define the value of a NEW
15 SETTING.
Upon the next 1150& second time-out, the display 413b is updated with the value of the NEW
SETTING, which has been h._le ' upward or du..~. 1 by one digit for each click of the dial, COll~ D~ lg to a .~ D},e~ increase or decrease of one pulse in the DEAD ZONE value over the current setting displayed in the display 413a. When the proper DEAD ZONE has been selected, &e operator 20 presses the button 41 lg again. This second button press is detected, at &e next 1/50& second time-out, in the same manner as the first. The second c-- ~ ~ uli~ _ press of the button 411g is detected by the SET
DEAD ZONE s~r~,uline of Fig. 27L, to cause &e NEW SETTING to replace &e previuuDly current setting of the DEAD ZONE in the volatile memory 464. When the press next stops, this value will be written to variable 460c in non-volatile memory.
As with the DEAD ZONE setting, the operator may also check and reset, if desired, the INSPECTION ZONE window. The INSPECTION ZONE window is &e number of pulses before and after one repeat length from the previous detection count ide~ir~ing the position of the web mark 350a during which the sensor 350 is a. Iiv i P.u~i~li..g for selective a~ tion of the sensor 350 allows for printing on the web 11 in line with the sensor 350 outside of the jnq~ecti~ zone window. Preferably, when there 30 is no need to print in the line of the web mark 350a, no ;.-~l-e~ window iimit~ n iS used. This is accomplished by setting the i- ~l.c~ zone to zero, which is &e default setting. The operator sets the ir q~ecti-~n zone value by pressing &e SET INSPECTION ZONE button 41 li. As shown in &e flowchart of Fig. 27G, when the SET INSPECTION ZONE button is pushed, the program will identify &e button and initialize the SET INSPECTION ZONE routine, which is illustrated in Fig. 27K. The preset i . -~l-e ~ n zone 35 value, if any, and if none the default inqlectinn zone value, is initially loaded by the ll i. lO~,.uccDDv 450 from memory variable 460b, which will be displayed to &e operator on the display 413a, and also initially on the display 413b. The number displayed may be in inches or c~ t ID. The adjust routine is also set as the ADJUST INSPECTION ZONE routine that will be called by the dial interrupt routine of Fig. 27C, WO 94/29108 2 1 ~ ~ ~ 0 9 PCT/US94/06148 which is run when the operator turns the dial 415 to cause the display 413b to Luvlv.-.v~ or dc^v.e...v~ the displayed value by, for example, 1/4 inch LUV~ ItD~ or some other pl-pl~ mf~d L~ vle v~ stored in the memory 463, plv duvmg the NEW SETTING that is displayed in the display 413b. When the i ~ cc~
wne window size has been selected and the operator again presses the button 411i, the new setting value S is stored into a variable in memory 464, which will be written to the non-volatile memory 460c if not further changed when the press is stopped.
The operator may also elect to change the GAIN setting. This is a setting that controls the amount of a detected ~ " ~ ~-- error for which a cor-~,vLiuu is made. It is selected by the operator pressing the SET GAIN button 411j. As shown in the llu.._' I of Fig. 27G, when the SET GAIN button is pushed, 10 the L~. vrol,l uceDDol 450 will identify the button and initialize the SET GAIN routine, which is illustrated in Fig. 27J. The preset gain value, if any, and if none the default gain setting of for example 5 (.~r~ g a value of 0.5 or one half of the error cv. . vvLion), is initially loaded from non-volatile memory variable 460e by the LuivlulJlucvl~r 450 into volatile memory 464, which will be displayed to the operator on the display 413a, and also initially on display 413b, when the display routine of Fig. 27F is executed on the next 1/50th 15 second time-out by the main loop program of Fig. 27. The gain value is on an arbitrary scale picked by the p.u~ , where 1 may equal, for exampb, about ten percent error correction, 9 equal 100 percent error cu..cvliun, and the numbers 2-8 specify pv.vV..L~svs spaced Lh~ .~;vh.vvn. To change the setting from the initial value, the operator then turns the dial 415, which causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to execute the ADJUST GAIN b~.~ - - of Fig. 27J, to update the a ~ .1 value and the NEW SETTING
20 that is cued to the display 413b by the display routine of Fig. 23F, iuv.v.l.v~iug upward or du.. ~.. ~d~ for each click of the dial, by an amount that may cu..~ ,oùd to a .v,l,evti~_ pe.cv.lL~,_ increase or decrease in the gain setting. As illustrated in Fig. 27J, an integer number 1 through 9 is d;;,l,l~_d. Al ~ , this may be converted to pv.vv..l~v for display. When the proper gain has been selected, which may be arrived at by the operator turning the dial 415, the operator presses the button 411j again to load the new vPlue into 25 volatile memory 464, thereby setting it. With the GAIN setting, as with other settings, the second button press does not deselect the setting routine. Thus, the operator can observe the p~ - r.. ~ e ofthe press after making the setting effective with the second _ ~_ button press, and can move the dial 415 to make further ~ l which can also be made effective by a third press of button 411j.
The SET REPEAT LENGTH function is identical in result to that described in connf~ctil~n with the 30 p~ g control above, but, when used from the registration controller 407, operates in the manner of the settings described above. The REPEAT LENGTH setting is not normally needed when the press is running, however. But in the event that a station 13 is brought on line when the press is running, which can be done with present press 10, the REPEAT LENGTH can be set, and the print roll 61 can even be changed, and then brought into v~ - without stopping the press.
The REPEAT LENGTH setting specifies the circumference of the print roller 61 rather than the length of actual images printed on the web 11, which may be more than one per print roller .e~olutivon.
Should more than one plate 62 be spaced on the circumference of the print roller 61, or more than one web mark bearing image spaced around the same plate, a separate button 411k is provided on the r.E;-~

~O 94/29108 ~ I ~ 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 control paDel 411 for the co,.~elu~..ce of the operator to enter the number of images per print roller revolution. The REPEAT LENGTH is stored in memory location 460a, which may be linked to memory location 440a (Fig. 24) of the po~.l;o.~.n,e controller 408.
More particularly, the operator may elect to change the NUMBER OF REPEATS setting to allow the operator to specify the number of images per print roller revolution. This may be equal to the number r of separate plates 62, spaced around the ci,-,u-.,f~ c of the print roller 61. This setting is used where each such image includes a l~ O mark 350, usually printed at tbe first station. In such a situation, the REPEAT LENGTH for the print roll in the c~lr~ made by the l. ~ control routines will be divided by the NllMBER OF REPEATS. However, where a plurality of images are formed on a single plate but only a single web mark is printed by the multiple image plate, the NUMBER OF REPEATS should be set equal to 1. The NU~ER OF REPEATS is therefore actually the number of web marks 350 per lG;vlulion of the print roller 61. The number is a positive integer from 1 to 9. The IlPicro~l~e..,or 450 divides the set REPEAT LENGTH specified in pulses from the encoder 344 by this NU~ER OF
REPEATS integer. The integer setting function is selected by the operator pressing the SET NU~ER OF
15 REPEATS button 41 lh.
As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 27G, when the button 41 lh is pushed, the ~ lvl,rolesæ~,r 450 idendfies the button and ;"~ s the SET Nl~MBER OF REPEATS routine, which is illustrated in Fig.
27S. The preset number, if any, and if none the default setting of 1, is initially loaded by the lvlJlvcG..i~vr 450 from memory variable 460d, or, if it has been updated since the press was started from memory 464, which will be displayed to the operator on the display 413a, and also initially on display 413b.
To change the setting from the initial value, the operator then turns the dial 415, which causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to cue the display 413b to h"r ,1.~...l upward or dv..~ ld by one integer for each click of the dial. When the proper number of repeats has been selected, the operator presses the button 411h again to load the new setting value into memory 464 where it is rendered effective, to be later stored in non-25 volatile memory variable 440d when the press is stopped. The changing of the NUMBER OF REPEATS
occurs under ~ h~ l - - - similar to the changing of the REPEAT LENGTH setting d~ fd above.
The operator may further elect to set or change the LINEAL ERROR AVERAGING setting. This setting may be zero, which turns linear ~-~ .. Oing off, or a non-zero positive integer less than 30, which controls the number of most recent c-- ~ c h~;~.m~ ial ,,~ ;.. error ~ t~ to be 30 averagedwiththecurrentr~g;-l.~ error~e~.lll beingmade,anduponwhichthe ~OllG~LiUn amount is to be based. When the number is set, upon each reading, the oldest reading is discarded and the current one added to derive the correction to be made during eY~c~tic-n of ~ ~ linear reOi~l - p,~
a linear or other Qf -i~tir~l curve fitting t~orhni~ e is used rather than simple ~ ...jlo. The selected values read are each stored in the t~ c,la. ~ variable memory 464. The setting is made by the operator pressing the SET LINEAL AVERAGE button 4111. As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 27G, when the SET LINEAL AVERAGE button is pressed, the Ill;~.lolJluce.,.,vl will identify the button and initialize the SET LINEAL AVERAGE routine, which is illustrated in Fig. 27N. The preset lineal error ~-~...6h g value, if any, and if none the default setting of one, is initially loaded by the ~P~ Ivl~roc~iu~vl 450 from the WO 94/29108 ~ ~ ~ 3 ~ ~ 9 PCT/US94/06148 memory variable 460f, which will be displayed to the operator on the display 413a, and also initially on display 413b. To change the setting from the initial value, the operator then turns the dial 415, which causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to increment the number of lueaDulcLucLIL-D~ Oeut~ d by the LINEAR
AVERAGING variable and displayed in the display 413b, over which the error will be averaged upward S or dv~uvv~ud by a count of one for each click of the dial. When the proper number has been selected, the operator presses the button 4111 again to load the new value into memory 464, thereby setting it. This value will be stored, upon the stopping of the press, into variable 460f in noa svldlile.
In order for tbe l~ o to be carried out ~ - --lly, it is ~- - - .r for the operator to define the desired registration. This is ~ccv~pl;Dhed by i..~l.e~ L,.E the printed product with the press 10 running 10 very slowly and adjusting the lineal l~ 6;DL in manual lineal l~o;DIl t; mode. With the press running, if i~ lineal 1~;iDhdLv- is turned OFF and lineal l~ is not selected, this mode is selected by pressing the LINEAL REGISTRATION button 411a alone. If - Iineal l~giDLI~LLvn is turned ON, it should be turned OFF by pressing both the LINEAL REGISTRATION buKon 411a and the MANUAL
button 411d. The MANUAL routine allows the operator to roughly set the l~ As ill-- ~ in 15 Fig. 27U, when manual lineal l~giDhf1Lioll mode is oper~ting~ clicks of the dial 415 directly result in pulses being sent to the stepper motor 327 of the 1 ~ r drive 275. When the operator is satisfied with the lcoiDh f~n, the NEXT MARK buKon 41 lf is pressed, causing NEXT MARK to be selected the next time the routine of Fig. 27G is ~ Once so selected, the next time the MAIN loop program of Fig. 27 is aYPCVtP'i, the routine of Fig. 27D is called to set LINEAL REG., the circumferential l~ jDL-~Liu-~ seffing, 20 to the current count dir~. ~ nce cs~ lst~ by bub~ ~LiL g ROLL MARK count from the WEB MARK count.
This sets the ~ .e~Li~l reOiDL- that will be - - ~ when LINEAL REGISTRATION is run in the AUTO mode.
More particularly, the routine of Fig. 27D, which is called when the NEXT MARK buKon is pushed, t~ kes the ROLL MARK, which is the count from the iL~ oDiOil roll counter 453 that is read when a signal 25 from the sensor 347, .- l;~ e the passage of the leading edge of the print roller mark 349, md triggers the interrupt routine of Fig. 27A, and subtracts it from the WEB MARK, which is the count from the hll~ ODion roll counter 453 that is read when a pulse from the sensor 350 detects the first leading edge of the web mark 350a and triggers the interrupt routine of Fig. 27B.
As can be seen from the MAIN LOOP flow chart of Fig. 27, when the web is moving and the ROLL
30 MARK and WEB MARK have been read, the LINEAL REGISTRATION routine of the nu ~ Lu ~ of Fig.
27H is eYPCutpfl Upon its aYpcl~tinn~ if the iT~ectif~n window has been set, the llli.,lulJlv~e6Dvl 450 ` --;--f ~5 whether the DIFFERENCE between the WEB MARK and ROLL MARK counts is within plus or minus one half of the INSPECTION ZONE window of the LINEAR REG. setting. If not, the mark is ignored. The Jlli~ luplvceODul 450 also checks to see if the DlF~RENCE has grossly changed, which could 35 occur when noise is read as a web mark or when a paper tear and/or splice has occurred, in which case, the first such "shift" in reading is stored and checked against the next reading to see if the grossly changed reading repeats. Further, if LINEAL AVERAGING is on, the ERROR, which is df - ~ by b~.bt~ ~g 2~3~9 ~VO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 theDIFFERENCEfromtheLINEALREG.value,isaveragedwithanumberofpastERROR u~aDulc~ D
equal to the LINEAR AVERAGING setting.
After the rough regiQtrAtiA~n setting has been made in MANUAL mode, the operator goes to ~
mode to finely set the l~ 6,iDIr~AliOn. This is the c~ press running mode in which circumferential S ~ ,;Dl, d~n is c- ~nti A~ olly lly ~ tcd.
To place the machine in a - circumferential regiQtrrti~n mode, the operator presses tbe AUTO
button 411a in cnmhiiAAtiAn with the LINEAL REGISTRATION button 411c, which causes the button checking routine of Fig. 27G to set the AUTO LINEAL lC~,;D~ mode to ON. This causes the LINEAL
REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27H, the next time it is called by the MAIN LOOP, to multiply the ERROR or AVERAGED ERROR by the GAIN and send the number of pulses cAIr~ d thereby to the stepper k; ,.,.~,~ir drive 275.
The alltomAtiA linear registration mode is the RUN mode that .1U~ UC~I~D the circumferential regiQt-ati~ln feature by ~t ~ lly ~OIl~L;n the print roller 61 nri-sntAti~A~n relative to the web 11 such that the pulses from the sensors 347 and 350 tend to be Dep~udt~ d by the number of pulses stored in the LINEAR
REG variable 460h. In this mode, fine tuning of the LINEAL REG setting can be made by a turning of the dial 415 by the operator. This causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to call the ADJUST LINEAL
REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27U. This has the effect of instantly iU~ Ug or deel ~iug the value in LINEAR REG in volatile memory, but not the value stored in no~ ~;oldtile memory 460h. The value of LINEAR REG can be flagged to be p- - ~ stored thc next time the press is stopped by pressing of the NEXT MARK button 41 lf. The changing of LINEAL REG causes the ERROR to be rglr--l ~ in relation to the new value the next time the LINEAL REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27h is ~Y~ ~
As A ~ Al~ circumferential ~ ;Dll~Liun runs, the program routine of Fig. 27H is executed every time the MAIN LOOP loops, with the ERROR being sent in the form of a stream of pulses to the stepper motor 327 of the harmonic drive 275. If LINEAR AVERAGING had been selected, this ERROR is 25 averaged with the past number of leaDulc~l ~16 indicated by the setting of LINEAR AVERAGE as ~liQrrQQPd above. If the c~lrlllAt~d linear ERROR is less than the DEAD ZONE setting stored in 460c, no pulses are sent to the harrnonic drive 275. If the error is greater than the DEAD ZONE setting, the ERROR
is scaled in acc~,ldancc with the GAlN (such as by multiplying the ERROR by the 1/9-th of the GAIN, which may be a number from 1 to 9), with the scaled ERROR sent, in pulses, to the 1 drive 275.
The selection of LINEAL REGISTRATION allows the operator to adjust the . i,. u uF~
registration while A~~tr - lcg;Dtldli-Ju is in effect and whether only lineal or both lineal and lateral registration are currently turned on.
To turn off circumferential regiQt~Pt;on the operator presses the MANUAL and then LINEAL REGISTER buttons.
Axial Reçistration When the axial a.ljushuc~t ~ ' - 330 (see Fig. 17) is activated to make axial reg-corrections between the web 11 and printing plate 62, tne web sensor 350 needs to move along with the printing roller 61. That is, for axial reg;Dh_ the axial position of the print roller 61 is directly related WO 94/29108 216 3 0 ~ 9 PCT/US94/0614&~

to the mark 350a on the web 11. In the circumferential registration described above, the relative circumferential position of the print roller 61 (i.e., mark 349) relative to the mark 350a on the web 11 was made ;~lh~_Lly, by mPqQ~lnns~ each relative to .~D~C~ sensors 347 and 350 fixed to the frame 36. To accomplish axial, or lateral, reEi~ the base platform 48 is ~ Pr~ y C ~ to bar 367 so that S as platform 48 is moved by axial adjuDL~_.l~ 330, bar 367 and therefore the web sensor 350 move in the same direction (see Fig. 18). This . f~ l c~n~ ti~- may be ficcu~l,l;DLcd by fixing a vertical bracket 375 to the stop plate 58 of base platform 48. The upper end of bracket 375 mounts a threaded sleeve 376 having a threaded rod 377 disposed therein. The threaded rod 377 is oriented generally coaxial with bar 367. A magnet 378 is fixed to the free end of rod 377 and eng~PqhlP with the front end of bar 367. The relative position between the web sensor 350 and the base platform 48 can be further adjusted by adjusting the depth of rod 377 in sleeve 376. Once a desired depth is obtained, a locking nut 379 disposed along rod 377 can be tightened against sleeve 376 to fix tbis relative position.
Thus, withthemagnet378 attachedtotheendofbar367, I.~D~_.De...u._~ ofthebaseplatform 48 (i.e., printing roller 61) by the axial ~ 330 likewise causes the same hdlD~_.De 15 movement of the web sensor 350 relative to the web 11. When the base platform 48 is moved from the u~ -1 position (see Fig. 4) to the ~ position (see Fig. S), as previously ~lP~nhed ~ bracket 354 is moved h~D~-~b-ly into contact with bracket 368, stopping the h~D~_.b~ .C.~t of bar 367 and causing the magnetic bond between magnet 378 and bar 367 to be broken as bracket 375 c - - to move ll~D~-~b-ly with platform 48 to the stand-aside position. Because the relative position between threaded 20 rod 377 and vertical bracket 375 is fixed by locking nut 379, when the base platform 48 is brought back into the operational position and magnet 378 ,~ 1 -l.l;~h. c its ~ -: with bar 367, the previous relative position between the base platform 48 I.e., the printing roller 61) and the web sensor 350 is .~ h Lshed.
The web mark 350a has two 1 ~- ' -lly spaced hcu D~_.b_ly aligned bars 385 and 386 with a diagonal bar 387 disposed th_.~._ n (see Fig. 21). The - ' diagonal bar 387 is p~ -~ at 25 an angle of about 45O from either t~D~_~D~i bar 385, 386. When the web sensor 350 registers the leading edge of the leading Llc Ib~ ,w bar 385, a counter is established in memory and pulses from the encoder 344 are counted upward from zero until the leading edge of the diagonal bar 387 is ~O ~ d by the sensor 350.
Then, the counter is counted du ...... d until the leading edge of the trailing LICUID ~ _. DC bar 386 is .. O ~d.
If the trailing L1~D~ DG bar 386 is oi ~.~d before the counter counts down to zero, the pertinent station 30 cul~ lLt:l 450 knows that there is an axial .~g;-'-;-~ o.- error in one l- ~_.D~ direction, and that the axial adjustment mP~h,.~ 330 is to be a~.Li~ d, as previously ~Pcrrihed, in order to affect the axial .. o;Dh co"__Lioll. If the trailing l1CU~D~_~W bar 386 is -O ~ d after the counter counts down to zero, the pertinent station culur ~ 450 knows that there is an axial ~ioii~LI~Lioll error in the other ~lauD~_.
direction, and that the axial alj, ., e~ "~ " 330 is to be activated in the reverse, also as ~c;v '~
35 described, in order to affect the axial regictr~ti~n cu..~Liom ImplPmPnt~ n of axial registration requires the settings of certain of the pCU~UCt~D dPscrihed in c' -~ L;~ with the circumferential ~OiDL-~LLiùl~ above. These are the DEAD ZONE and GAIN F ~ t~
and the INSPECTION ZONE pCIl~ t~ ~, which function the same as with the circumferential ~g ~VO 94/29108 21 S 3 ~ ~ ~ PCT/US94/06148 If the ir.crection zone window is being used, that is, is set other than zero, REPEAT LENGTH and NUMBER OF REPEATS also are relevant to axial ,~g;~ A, since the web mark 350a being read for axial regiQtrqti~n is the same mark that is read for c ir. r ~ ~ial reO -nn These are set as ~lPserihPd - above. ~ iti-~nqlly~ LATERAL AVERAGE is set. The lateral ~ .giUg function performs an ~ ,iL g 5 of the current axial error with the set number of past uue~ul`e ue~ltD in the same manner that the lineal r a~_.~iug function p_.rv~cd the u._.~;ug of circumferential error ~._.~;ng dc,~ I;bed above.
The LATERAL AVERAGING setting is set by pressing the SET LATERAL AVERAGE button 411m. As illuskated in Fig. 27G, this causes the oYPrlltio-~ of the SET LATERAL AVERAGE routine illustrated in Fig. 27P. This setting may be zero, which turns lateral a.~ .g off, or a non-zero positive 10 integer less than 30, which conkols the number of most recent cou-~ l;._ axial l_~5ii.hd~ivl, error mc~ul~e~l-lb to be averaged with the current -- ~ ~ being made, and upon which the cv.l~hon amount is to be based. When the number is set to, for example 5, a running total of the last five UIC~ Su~ m..~ of axial error is stored in memory. Upon each sllbseql- error .I.e~...~ ..._..~, the oldest reading is discarded and the current one added to the total, which is then divided by 5 to derive the ~OII~ iUn to be made. As with the linear a~ 5;ng~ preferably a linear or other Qt~tiQtir~l curve fitting t~rhni~. - may be used rather than simple - ,~l., t;r Q~ ~;u~g. The selected number of values read are each stored in the l_~U~JO1 Uy variable memory 464.
The setting is made by the operator pressing the SET LATERAL AVERAGE button 411m. As shown in the flowchart of Fig. 27G, when the SET LATERAL AVERAGE button is pressed, the program will identify the button and initiate the SET LATERAL AVERAGE routine, which is ill - -' -' ~ in Fig. 27P.
If the button is not the same as the E l; ~r~ Ju~ly pressed button, the routine selects LATERAL
AVERAGING and selects the ADJUST LATERAL AVERAGING routine as the adjust i~rouliue to be called by the interrupt handler routine of Fig. 27C that responds to pulses from the operator ~ dial 415.
Once the LATERAL AVERAGING is selected, the next time the bullu_ pl~ routine of Fig. 27F
is eYPClltPl1 the DISPLAY LATERAL AVERAGE routine of Fig. 27P is PYecllt~ which looks up the preset lateral error ~ ~;Lg setting, if any. The default setting of zero indicates that LATERAL
AVERAGlNG is turned off. The looked up or default value is cued to line 1 of the display, 413a, and also initially to line 2 of the display, 413b. To change the setting from the initial value, the operator turns the dial 415. Pulses from the dial are i.lt~ t~d by the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C, which calls the &dj US~Luc.~t subroutine of Fig. 27P for LATERAL AVERAGING. Then, the next time the display routine Fig. 27F is eYP., d, the NEW SETTING is di. played in display 413b, ~ ~ by the cumulative net pulses from the dial 415. When the proper number has been selected, the operator presses the button 41 lm again. This is read by the routine of Fig. 27G, which causes the SET LATERAL AVERAGE routine of Fig. 27P to be PYPrnt~A This identifies the second c~ button press of button 411m, which sets the LATERAL AVERAGING number to the NEW SETT~G. This setting is stored in non-volatile memory variable 460g when the press stops.

WO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 ~
~3~3 -52-In order for the axial l~iDll~lion to be carried out A-ltnm~tir~lly~ it is neceDDal y for the operator to define the desired lateral l~5iDLI~Lioll. The LATERAL REGISTRATION is the dirrtl ~ nce in h~ DD;O ~ roll decoder pulse counts between the diagonal bar portion of the web mark 350a and the l'_D~ / _ leading and trailing ll~UID~_lDG segments of the web mark. The setting is accomplished by in~e~ting the printed product 5 with the press 10 running slowly and adjusting the lateral regictr~tinn in manual lateral l~ gi~ mode.
With the press running, if ~ lateral ,~ giDL,~tiu.. is turned OFF and lateral lGhiDlldliu.. is not selected, this mode is selected by pressing the LATERAL REGISTRATION button 411b. If Iineal is turned ON, it should be turned off by pressing both the LINEAL REGISTRATION button 411b and the MANUAL button 411d. The MANUAL routine allows the operator to roughly set the lû ~ ;nr~ As ill-- ~ in Fig. 27V, when manual lateral ._giDIldtion is .,~ ;..g, turning of the dial 415 directly results in pulses being sent to the tl~D~_~D~; stepper motor 340. When the operator is satisfied with the registration, the NEXT MARK button 411f is pressed, causing a value to be stored in volatile memory for the variable LATERAL REG, which is stored as the non-volatile memory variable 460i when the press is next stopped. LATERAL REG is the lateral l~;;DIl~lion that will be . ;, I ;. rd when lateral 15 registration is run in the AUTO mode.
As can be seen from the MAIN LOOP flow chart of Fig. 27, when the web is moving and the ROLL
MARK and WEB MARK have been read, the LINEAL REGISTRATION routine of the flowchart of Fig.
27H is ~DY~clltD~1 Following its ~Y~cutinn~ if a full Z-mark has been read, the LATERAL REGISTRATION
routine of Fig. 27I is ~Yr d This routine c~ l ~ the LATERAL ERROR. It also averages it with 20 previous error .lle~..l~ if the LATERAL AVERAGING function is selected.
After the rough lateral .~ ~;-l., ;- setting has been made in MANUAL mode, the operator goes to mode to finely set the .~ This is the cc.~t~ press running mode in which aYial .giDIl~Lion is cnntinll~lly ~ ; Ally corrected.
To place the machine in ~ - axial l~giDLI~liull mode, the operator presses the AUTO button 25 41 la in combination with the LATERAL REGISTRATION button 41 ld, which causes the button checking routine of Fig. 27G to execute set the AUTO LATERAL .~g mode to ON. This causes the LATERAL REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27I, the next time it is called by the MA~ LOOP, to multiply the ERROR or AVERAGED ERROR by the GAIN and send the number of pulses c9lr~ thereby to the stepper motor 34û. The ~ lateral regi~tr~tinn mode is the RUN mode that ;, ~pl/ I - 1 the 30 axial.~;cl"~l;onfeatureby llyco~ gtheprintroller61 tl~D~_.DGpositionrelativetotheweb 11 such that the pulses from the LATERAL ERROR tends to be equal LATERAL REG In this mode, fine tuning of the LATERAL REG setting can be made by a turning of the dial 415 by the operator. This causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to call the ADJUST LATERAL REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27V.
This has the effect of instantly inclGds;ng or dwlG~ Dh g the value in LATERAL REG in volatile memory, 35 but not the value stored in non-volatile memory 460h. The value of LATERAL REG can be flagged to be p " ~ ly stored, the next time the press is stopped, by pressing of the NEXT MARK button 41lf. The changing of LATERAL REG causes the LATERAL ERROR to be c~l~ ul~t~d in relation to the new valuc the next time the LATERAL REGISTRATION routine of Fig. 27I is ~Y'_ ~ ~

~NO 94/29108 216 ~3 0 ~) ~ PCT/US94/06148 As ~lltl~m~ir axial registration runs, the program routine of Fig. 27I is executed every time the MAIN LOOP loops as descrihed above, wit_ the LATERAL ERROR being sent in th-e form of a stream of pulses to the stepper motor 340. If LATERAL AVERAGlNG had been selected, this LATERAL
- ERROR is averaged with the past number of,l.e~.r~ indicated by the setting of LATERAL
5 AVERAGE as dierllcc~od above. Ife~lrul ' lateral ERROR is less than the DEAD ZONE setting stored in 460c, no pulses are sent to the stepper motor 340. If the lateral error is greater than the DEAD ZONL

setting, the LATERAL ERROR is scaled in accol~cc with the GAIN (such as by multiplying the ERROR
by the l/9-th of the GAIN, which is a number from 1 to 9), wi& the scaled LATERAL ERROR sent, in pulses to the stepper motor 340.
The selection of lateral .Gg allows the operator to adjust the axial IGo ' ' while ~
S l.,~ibLl~.liOn is in effect and whether only lateral or both lineal and lateral .~ are currently turned on.
To turn off~ ;r axial lG~iDII~Iivll, the operator presses the MANUAL and then LATERAL
REGISTER buttons.
Unlike the ch~u~f~ ~ -1 regictrs ti~n feature in which both the ... ;P --~ ';on of print roller mark 249 10and the position of the web mark 350a are sensed relative to the Dt~lion.u.r frame with two sensors 347 and 350 ...,~,c~ cly, axial .~ ;-... is ~c~u~d only with the sensor 350, which is mounted to move L-~ b~ly with the print roller 61 as the Il~IIID~_~D~ l~gi-~ ' ' takes place. The Ll~.~_~DG
position of the roller 61 with respect to the web 11 is ...e~..cd by h t~.yl~ li..g the position of the sensor 350 relative to the ~y ~ -I, ;- Al web mark 350a. This is illustrated in Fig. 21.
15ReferringtoFig.21,thewebmark350aisilll~ctrA~Pdontheweb ll,withthearrow350billustrating the direction of relative travel of the sensor 350 over the web 11 as the web moves in the opposite relative directionindicatedbythearrowlla. Astheprintroller61isaxiallyadjusted,itmovest.~_.belyrelative to the web 11 and the mark 350a, and the position of the scan line 350b moves similarly relative to the mark 350a. In Fig. 21, the scan line 350b is illustrated in its preferred adjusted position in the center of the mark 20350a. This position is preferred so that the sensor 350 is less likely to travel off the side of the mark 350a when the print roller 61 is out of .~ which would cause loss of axial ,~ - control. This position is ~I--oxi.. ~ ly set P h~ lly by po- ';~.--;.~g the sensor 350 on its mount, as d~ Y.;l.ed in c<!nnPction with the pl~ ,iDll ' feature above.
When the scan line 350b is thus ~ ~l~ ly centered in position over the mark 350a, the sensor 25350 will first detect the leading edge of the leading ~ DG bar 385 of the mark 350a. The lineal position of this edge is recorded by storing the content of the counter 453a. This is the WEB MARK position described above and used for c;.~ u...f. .~ ..t;al 1- l5iDll~lioll. It is not affected by axial lG~ r 1.~. ' ' since the bar 385 is ll~llD~_-DG the web 11. In addition to WEB MARK, the content of the counter 453a is stored as a variable WEB MARK 2 as the leading edge of the diagonal bar 387 is sensed by the sensor 30350. Additionally, the content of the counter 453a is further stored as the variable WEB MARK 3 as the sensor ~ V ~t`-.D the leading edge of the L1~ DG bar 386. The ...iclv~rvcei,Dv~ 350 may then calculate the ratio of the iir~. ence s between Ducce~ leading edges by dividing (W~B MAR~ minus WEB MARK
2) by (WEB MARK 2 minus WEB MARK 3), then cvu~ to an , ~ axial error pulse count.
Preferably, however, the dirr~ cl between the pulse count between the pairs of marks, i.e (WEB MARK -35 WEB MARK 2) and (WEB MAR~C 2 - WEB MARK 3) are ' b~t~d. The LATERAL REG. - ~3u is then also subtracted. The dirf~ .- nce will then be used to define the axial error or LATERAL ERROR, which is (WEB MARK - WEB MARK V - (WEB MARK 2 - WEB MARK 3).

2~3~
/~0 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 The cA-lnlll tion of LATERAL ERROR may be made simply by counting the pulses from the encoder 344 on the ;Lul reOO;orl roller 66 beginning with the detection of the WEB MARK, and then le~lv.Dh~g the count, that is subtracting pulses, beO;~ g with the detection of WEB MARK 2 and ending vith the detection of WEB ~LARK 3. The l~ ~AiL~i g count may then be taken as the dirf~ .vnce.
If, prior to selecting AUTO - LATERAL Rk~l~ K, the operator has turned on ~ -circumferential l-~giDLIdliur~ by dc~vOO;on of the AI~TO and LATERAL REGISTER buttons, lineal registration will be executed every cycle, or repeat length, even though lateral a ~ is currently selected. The selection of lateral regigt~t - - allows the operator to adjust the axial reO )n while v l~ giDLI is in effect and whether only lateral or both lineal and lateral l~o are being ~ ~t`~ lly pv~rl -~-To turn off ~ - axial lvjDLl~ion~ the operator presses the MANUAL and then LATERAL
REGISTER buttons.
With both the circumferential and xial Iv6;Dh~A~LiUL~ r ~;, ' t, the stepper motors 327 and 340 are sent pulses under the control of the ~iClOpluC'v.,.,O- 450 at a rate as fast the stepper motors can respond.
Com~u~er Controlled Reinsertion C.",.,.~", In accoldauce with pll.~ ,les of the present invention, c. "-~ k. controlled l ~ g ;~l Al ;r ~ particularly circumferential registration, is provided with a special reinsertion feature for Cit~ nc in which the web 11 is subjected to multiple printing runs. It is often desirable to run a web 11 through one form of printing press 10 (e.g. flexographic), remove the web 11 from the press 10 and insert it into another form of press (e.g. rotary screen) in which it is b.,e J~ ~ to an - ' printing o~c.d~ion, and then reinsert the web 11 through the flP~ printer 10 for another printing run. When a web 11 is ~ bJe: -' to such multiple printing runs, the web 11 is likely to go through varying .1;. ~ 1 changes, such as DLIvtvLil~o and/or ghri~ g Such ,- -l changes may be uniform along the length of the web 11; however, it is more likely that these .l;.... -~ ,l changes will vary along the length of the web 11.
Such ,1;.~ l changes may also occur when no - " printing O~rv.dliu" is pv~rullrAcd.
Storing the web 11, in its rolled form, between printing runs on the same press 10 may also result in similar distortion of the web 11 due to changes in humidity, the weight of the web 11 itself, and other ambient factors. As the web changes ~lim~ ly~ SO do the images p~c~iuuDly printed on the affected areas of the web 11. When new c---r ~r images are printed onto the plcviu~Dl.y printed web 11, the ler~v~lion feature makes cc,l-~liunD for the ~ -1 changes to the web 11, and therefore to the old c-.
image printed during the preceding run, to bring the new c~ .o~u - l images printed during the 511' --, ' run into closer circumferential l~i-'~ with the old c~ .~pc ;t' images. As the web 11 (and old co Jpo~ images) stretch or shrink, so does the distance between D.-vCcv...,;-_ web marks 350a.
The present CuLul,ut . controlled rv;~ Lion feature is able to .~coOni~. changes in the web mark to 35 web mark distaAnces relative to the original repeat length, which is generally the repeat length of the plates on the press 10 into which the web 11 is being .c;nsv,t~d. The CCLU~ controlled le~v.Lioll control is capable of controlling the press 10 to change the shape of the new COLU~OnV~rL images to thereby c~ -for changes in the shape of the old c-- .~-c -t- images due to diDlulLiu_ of the web 11.

WO 94/29108 PCT/US94/06148 /~
2 ~ 56 -The shape of the new ~v upuu ~, images are changed (i.e., their length increased or dcc,~ed) by varying the speed at which the printing roller 61 is rotated relative to the traveling speed of the web 11.
Rotation of the printing roller 61 is slowed down in order to lengthen or stretch the new cu,up(,ncl,l image andspeededupinordertoshortenorshrinkthenewc~.-.p~ image. Whilethis.~;ns~.Liùnfeaturehelps S to c~ for .~ changes in such old cu~ t images ~I.e., when the web has been printed on, removed from, and .- nse.t~ d in the press 10), this l-~.U..C.liULI feature is generally not ncce_~, and can in some Uil~ P5 be d~ l l, if used during initial printing runs of the web 11 through press 10. Reinsertion control may I e - - - ly i~.~uduce another variable where ~ changes to the web 11 during the first run are mostly c~ over the entire length of the web 11. Accu..li..~ly, the present 10 invention provides for the selective enabling and disabling of reinsertion control, the constant of reinsertion error and the response of the control thereto, and the ~ l~uoLLI~cllL of the opPrAt;nn of the reinsertion control between setups and during the printing runs.
With the CululJut~ . controlled l .ill.._. lio-- feature of the present invention, the originally printed web marks 350a are reused during s~lbseq~lAnt runs through press 10. The CuLu~ut~l controlled ,~ g;-'~
15 described above is also provided with ~ iti~ p_ ..- t- settings that coop , t~ to affect what is referred to here as a constant error cu,,~ Luu in the l~ ;n ~ control dcsclilJcd above. This constant error cu..~_Luu feature operates to analyze the error cull~_liouO made over a preset number of repeat lengths, and to predict a constant c~- . p~ of total cu,,_lion to be made. This constant error u ,,~ ~ Lion is then made in advance of the circumferential r~ioLl~lLuu error LU~ UCLl~ on the next repeat length. The error 20 correction that would other~,vise be made to the c;-. u uf~.- uLal registration will be made based upon a .ue~lOu.~ Iueul that has already been corrected by the constant .u~Lon factor, and the circumferential registration correction is then OUpC~;Lu~ ;3 over the constant error cull~
The constant error cu.,c_Lon in effect i8 -~DIJUuo;~_ to the actual repeat lengths of the web 11 (i.e., the actual distance between buCCei-o;~ _ web marks 350a originally printed on the web 11). The actual repeat 25 length may not be the same as the repeat length to which the press 10 has been set, due to '~
changes in the web 11 since the original printing. With the reinsertion feature and its error cu..~Luu provision, co.up is made for the ~ - - -l changes in the actual repeat length. Such changes are made by slightly charging the rotational speed of the printing roller 61 and evenly ~ . ;l ul .g co..~Lion pulses over each actual repeat length of the web 11 in equal intervals and at the L~ .eu~ ~ that is ncce. ~ y 30 to make the constant error cu..~Luu.
While referred to as a "constant~ error co..~_Liù.,, the p.~li~ cu..~Lion is not literally constant over all repeat lengths. Rather, the ~constant" is ~ ~ ~,lu~.t~ d pe~ y~ pre ferably for each repeat length, and adjusted.
Impl~mAnt~-~ion of the re~_ll;o.l feature requires the settings of those p~-,. .- t ~ described in 35 c~ nn~ctinn with the l-,~,ioll n above, and in addition the settings of CEC AVERAGE or the number of repeat lengths over which the errors are analyzed for cuLu~,uL~Liul. of the constant error co..__Lu.u, by a~i..g, error l~ .O;un analysis, or other statistical method. The CEC error l~ OS;Ou number is the number of repeat lengths over which the error is analyzed to predict the constant error cu..~_l;oa to be made ~VO 94/29108 Z ¦ ~; 3 9 ~ ~ PCT/U594/06148 at a particular station 13 when the next repeat length is printed. The co..~ iou is not nPceee~nly the same at each station, but may be based on an ;~,A I,PL~AP.,~I analysis at each station 13, or an analysis at the host CULU~VU~CI 400 that may consider data from each of the l~ ~5iD~lnliou cu u~ut~ ,D 450. The leLu~. lio.l number may vary from 1 to 29 in the ~1P ,r ~ihe~d çmbQ~I -. .1-The linear 1~ g.~ method of the P mboAimP nt referred to above best fits a straight line to the error value points as a function of coL~sr~ uli~ L~tD and establishes a trend, C..ll~JC1 g or pled;~ lil.g the error value for the next ~~ ~ The best fit: - ' method employed may be, for example, a least square method by which the line is derived that ;-; . ;- -, the sum of the square of the distances of each of the points from the line.
When ,I 'solelyfromtheindividualstationsl3~theLuiclu~nuc6osuls4sowill;llAp~ nA~ ~lly collect data based on the lUC~Dul. made locally at the station. In this way, the l- LUO~ ,lion control may be run without the need for interaction with the host cULU~ t. ~. Also, in this way, d;D~.llions of the web 11 that may occur during the current printing run will be ;,IA~ p~LCA~ tly r ~_ _ ~? for at each station 13.
Furthermore, the CEC error may be found to vary over lengths of the web 11, of for example, fifty or one hundred feet. With a twelve station press, the amount of web 11 eYt~onAing through the press 10 from the first station 13a to the last station 13n may be four or five hundred feet. Thus, the cull~,_liun to be made at station 13a will differ from that to be made at station 13n and the stations 13 tl;~ L~.
Interaction between the iL li~;-ludl UiC~u~iocPs~olD 450 and the host c~,...~ulcr 400 may provide particular alv~u~s with the le;l...~.; control. D~ changes that occur in the web 11, as a function of the length of the web 11, progress SuCC6u.. ;~ _Iy through the stations 13 as the web 11 is advanced through the press 10. Thus, errors that are due to web d;Dtul ;- oc~ E prior to I GLuD~. t~ into the press 10 will be detected first at the first station 13a, then at the station b, and pru~l~OD;~_ly through the stations 13 to the last station 13n. By r -nn between the host cuLulJut~r 400 and the individual c- ""I,,.t.
450, the data read at an upstream station, such as station 13a, can be of benefit in plP dicling the "constant"
25 error for which COll~_liou must be made at the du..usllG~Lu stations, such as the station 13n.
To use the CEC feature, the CECr~jl~ number must be set, which is accomplished by pressing the CEC AVERAGING button 41 lo. As illustrated in Fig. 27G, the detection of this button by the button press routine causes the ~Y~c~tion of the SET CEC AVERAGING routine illustrated in Fig. 27W. This causes the CEC AVERAGING function to be selected and the ADJUST CEC AVERAGING to be set as 30 the adjuD~ ..l subroutine for the dial pulse interrupt routine of Fig. 27C. Then, upon the next eY~rutir~n of the display routine of Fig. 27F, the DISPLAY CEC AVERAGING routine of Fig. 27W is run, which ques the current CEC n~,.~,;L.~; or l~ ~l number setting to line 1 of the display, 413a, and also initially toline2,413b. Thisle~le numbersctting,or CEC setting,maybeone,whichimpliesthatr~D~.lion coll__liùn~ or constant error ~oll~lio.., is off, which is the preferred setting when IG- LiuL~ of a 35 plCplil~t~ d web 11 has not been made in the setup of the print run but the web 11 is being printed upon for the first time. When set to a positive integer greater than 1 but less than 30, the CEC setting controls the number of most recent conO~ uli~_ registration error l~ r6 ' to be analyzed to arrive at a constant WO 94/29108 ~- &~ ~)Q9 PCT/US94/06148 error correction to be imposed in the next cycle. In the ill-- ~ emho~1im~nt, CEC iæ carried out with respect to circumferential .C~ioLl~
In general, this CEC feature has utility ~ . error is y~ ' le based on prior error l..e~ul~ uclllO, or when the next error is likely to vary from the previous error rather than an absolute value.
S The CEC function perfor_s a y~ og. ~ . _ average or other .c~, ~ 6s;ùn analysis with each ..,e~... ~,..c..l over the past number of lue&Our~ Lu_..t~ that are set by the CEC. Upon each _~ - error ~_IOulclue~ the oldest reading is discarded and the current one c~ d in the total. Preferably, a linear or other statistical curve fitting ~ i8 used rather than simple ~ ~Siug. The selected number of values read are each stored in the t.,-l~yulcu,~ variable memory 464.
To change the setting from the initial value, the operator then turns the dial 415, which causes the interrupt routine of Fig. 27C to in_.~ ~c~ or dc~ the pulse count and execute the ADJUST CEC
AVERAGlNG sulJluu~ e of Fig. 27W. The next time the display routine 27F is ~Y~rl~tR~l, the display 413b will be loaded with the NEW SETTING, which is the current setting in line 1 of the display, 413a, modified by the cumulative ~db t, or net sum of pulses from the dial 415. When the proper number has been 15 selected, which may be arrived at by the operator turning the dial 415, the operator presses the button 411n again. When the routine of Fig; 27G identifies the button, it executes the SET CEC AVERAG~G routine of Fig. 27W again, which detects the second c __ _ press of the button and sets the CEC AVERAGING
to the NEW SETTING. When the press stops, this is loaded into the new value into variable 460j in non-volatile memory, thereby setting it.
20 To run constant error cc.. _liou for reinsertion ~ ,~' the operator presses the CEC button 411n along with the AUT0 button 411c, as ill - - ' in Fig. 27G. To turn CEC off, the operator presses the CEC button 411n and the MANUAL button 411d. Pressing of the CEC button 411n alone while the press is printing will, display to the operator on display 413 the constant errors being ~ cd and the cull~ iùn5 being made or being c~l~m~l ~ to be made.
Fig. 27H includes the program steps for making of the constant error culle~.Liu.l in the course of ~ rom~t~ isL~lion by calling the oulJluu~ c of Fig. 27X. With this routine, the analysis is p, r ~ d on the past error -.~ aOu.c u~.lt~ equal to the set .. g.~ -.. number, with the oldest stored error being discarded and the latest stored as each error is read. Further, as illustrated in Fig. 27, ..' v._. the press 10 is stopped, AVERAGlNG ARRAYS are RESET. This includes a resetting of the stored ~C~ OO;ùu 30 number of errors, which involves either setting the series of l..e~u.. ~ to zeros or to somc other default value or values. This step is taken because, due to the stresses and other causes of .1;.. - ~ changes affecting the web 11 during the stopping and starting of the press 10 or the mere ' lity of the web 11, or to possible manual l~r ~ ' ~ , of the web 11, the past error readings of the errors lack validity. The clearing of the error values may be linked to any of a number of controls of the machine lû that would 35 indicate web immnbility ~ .i.l itinn~l servicing functions may be provided, for example, by yl u ~ ioiU~I of a SPECIAL key, such as the button 411p, to be used in cnmhin~tinn wi& o&er keys to initiate less r ~ uc.~ used - ~uoLLucllto~
or to provide functions not normally available to &e operator. ~ ition~lly~ cnmhin~tinn~ of &e o&er keys ~NO 94/2g108 21~ 3 ~ ~ ~ PCT/US94/06148 may be assigned a program code to perform such ~ it;~ 1 fi~ tinnc Preferably, the key 411p, when pressed alone, fimctions as an ESCAPE or CANCEL key, clearing all button pushes and ~-lj tj .~1 values.
Such a cancel key may also return the selection to a default mode in which all C~l~ctinnc are cancelled and - the display is returned to a default selection in which lineal and axial l~ ~iD~ ion errors are displayed in the display lines 413a and 413b.
One such special function that is provided is the SET STATION ADDRESS function which is selected by the pressing of key 411p in c~mhir tion with key 411n. This function provides for the entry of an address so that the lli~ )CCls.~JlD at the stations 13 may be put into selective c. - with the host cc,...l,..t. . 400. This setting is made in the manner of the other settings d~-scnhed above, wherein the detection of the button cs~ml ~ executes the SET STATION ADDRESS routine of Fig. 27T, thereby selecting the SELECT STATION ADDRESS function and the ADJUST STATION ADDRESS DUbl~
for the interrupt handler routine of Fig. 27C, with the second pressing of the button combination causing the STATION ADDRESS to be changed to the NEW SETTING made in acco~l~cc with the of the dial 415.
From the above diDcloDul~ of the general principles of the present in~. and the plec6.1.n detailed description, those s~illed in the art will readily c chend the various mo~ifi~ ~.tj,~nc to which the present invention is ~ ~-c~ u Therefore, the scope of the invention should be limited only by the following claims and equivalents thereof.
What is claimed is:

Claims (49)

- 60 -

1. An automated printing press comprising a plurality of printing stations, each including printing means for transferring at least one component of a composite image formed of transferable image forming fluid at spaced locations longitudinally along a continuous substrate being advanced through the printing stations, advancing means for advancing the continuous substrate consecutively through each of the printing stations at a selected substrate speed, each of the printing stations including:
(a) a fixed frame;
(b) the printing means including a printing element rotatably mounted with respect to the frame;
(c) drive means for rotating the printing element with respect to the frame at a circumferential speed having a controlled relationship to the substrate speed;
(d) circumferential adjustment means for changing the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the substrate; and (e) sensing means and computer control means for controlling the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means of each respective station, characterised in that the sensing means sense, the circumferential position of the printing element of the respective station relative to an image on the continuous substrate at the respective station and deriving a measurement error value in response thereto, in that the computer control means is responsive to a plurality of the derived measurement error values for calculating correction values for each respective station and separately controls the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means of each station in accordance with a calculated correction value therefor and in that each of the printing stations further includes computer controlled circumferential registration means for controlling the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means in order to automatically change the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the continuous substrate in response to the sensing means.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the computer control means includes processor means at each station for separately calculating the correction value corresponding to the respective station

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the processor means at each station includes means for storing a plurality of measurement error values and means for calculating from the stored measurement error values the correction value corresponding to the respective station.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the processor means at each station includes means for storing a plurality of measurement error values derived by the sensing means at the respective stations and means for calculating the corresponding correction value from the derived measurement error values.

5. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the computer controlled registration means is at least partly responsive to the computer control means for controlling the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means in accordance with the calculated correction value corresponding to the respective station.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein the computer control means, includes processor means responsive to a plurality of the derived measurement error values for predicting error values for images to be printed at each of the respective stations, and for calculating a number of discrete correction pulses required to control the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means of the respective stations in accordance with predicted error values.

7. An automated printing press comprising a plurality of printing stations for transferring at least one composite image at spaced apart locations along the length of a continuous substrate being run through the plurality of printing stations, each printing station comprising:
(a) a frame;
(b) printing means carried by the frame including a rotatable printing element mounted for rotation for applying at least one component image of transferable image forming fluid at spaced apart locations along the length of the continuous substrate:
(c) circumferential adjustment means for adjusting the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the substrate;
(d) computer control means characterised in that each printing station comprises:
(e) means for measuring registration errors between images on the web and the rotatable printing elements at each of the stations, the computer control means being responsive to previously measured registration errors, including processing means for deriving a recurring trend in the previously measured registration errors, for predicting a correction component to be made to registration at respective stations, and in that each station further comprises:
(f) computer control circumferential registration means, responsive to the predicted correction component and a measured registration error for controlling the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means in order to automatically change the circumferential orientation of the rotatable printing element relative to the continuous substrate to a desired circumferential orientation in order to correct for circumferential registration errors of the component images being applied by the printing means while the continuous substrate is being run through the printing station.

8. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 7, wherein the processor means predicts a correction component by predicting error values for images to be printed at each of the respective stations and wherein the processing means calculates a number of discrete correction pulses required to control the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means of the respective stations in accordance with predicted error values.

9. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 6, wherein the circumferential adjustment means is responsive to discrete control pulses for incrementally changing the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the substrate position at the station and the computer controlled circumferential registration means at each of the printing stations is responsive to the measurement error value derived at the respective station for generating discrete pulses in a number proportional to the measurement error value.

10. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 8, wherein the circumferential adjustment means is responsive to discrete control pulses for incrementally changing the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the substrate position at the station and the computer controlled circumferential registration means at each of the printing stations is responsive to the measured registration error for generating discrete pulses in a number proportional to a registration error.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 9 or Claim 10, wherein the computer controlled registration means is at least partly responsive to the discrete correction pulses required to control the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means of the respective stations in accordance with predicted error values.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 6 or 8 to 11, wherein each image has a given repeat length value and the computer control means includes means for calculating, from the repeat length value and the number of discrete correction pulses, the spacing of pulses over the next image to be printed, and means for generating discrete correction pulses at the calculated spacings.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the computer control means and calculating means generally divide the repeat length value by the number of discrete correction pulses to calculate approximate equal spacing of pulses over the next image to be printed.

14. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein each printing station has a gear train including a branch of gear means for driving only the rotatable printing element, and the circumferential adjustment means includes a dual harmonic gear assembly for effecting changes in the rotational speed of the rotatable printing element and motor means for actuating the dual harmonic gear assembly, the dual harmonic gear assembly being part of the branch of gear means.

15. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, further comprising computer control pre-registration means for controlling the actuation of the circumferential adjustment means in order to automatically rotate the rotatable printing element to a pre-programmed circumferential orientation which brings the rotatable printing element into approximate circumferential registration with the rotatable printing elements of the other of the plurality of printing stations, before the printing press begins a printing run.

16. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, wherein a printing station further comprises fluid dispensing means forming part of the printing means for dispensing transferable image forming fluid to the rotatable printing element and impression means carried by the frame for backing the continuous substrate while a component image is being applied thereon.

17. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 16, wherein the computer control circumferential registration means includes means for generating digital pulses, each said pulse correlated to a length of the continuous substrate running through the printing station, means for defining the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the frame of the printing station by one of the pulses, means for defining the position of the continuous substrate relative to the frame of the printing station by a second one of the pulses, means for measuring the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the continuous substrate as a number of pulses generated between the one pulse and the second one of the pulses, means for comparing the number of pulses generated with a stored reference registration number of pulses to make a comparison thereof, and, means for actuating the circumferential adjustment means to incrementally change the circumferential position of the rotatable printing element relative to the continuous substrate, in response to the comparison, to reduce a difference therebetween.

18. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 17, wherein the computer control circumferential registration means further comprises means for storing an error signal in response to the comparison for each of a plurality of consecutive measurements, the means for actuating the circumferential adjustment means being responsive to the plurality of stored error signals.

19. Apparatus as claimed in either Claim 17 or Claim 18, wherein the impression means is an impression roller rotatable within the frame, and the means for generating digital pulses is connected to the impression roller for generating a plurality of the pulses for the computer control circumferential registration means as the impression roller rotates.

20. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 19, further comprising positioning means for bringing the printing means to a desired position relative to the impression means including a printing position where the printing means is in position to apply at least one component image of transferable image forming fluid to the continuous substrate every revolution of the rotatable printing element and a non-printing position where the printing means is not in position to apply a component image to the continuous substrate, and computer control positioning means for controlling the actuation of the positioning means in order to automatically bring the printing means into and out of the printing position and the non-printing position.

21. An automated printing press comprising a plurality of printing stations for transferring at least one composite image at spaced apart locations along the length of a continuous substrate being run through the plurality of printing stations, each of the plurality of printing stations comprising:
(a) a frame;
(b) printing means carried by the frame including a rotatable printing element mounted for rotation for applying at least one component image of transferable image forming fluid at spaced apart locations along the length of the continuous substrate and fluid dispensing means for dispensing transferable image forming fluid to the rotatable printing element;
(c) impression means carried by the frame for backing the continuous substrate while a component image is being applied thereon;
(d) positioning means for bringing at least the rotatable printing element of the printing means to a desired position relative to the impression means including a printing position where the rotatable printing element is in position to apply at least one component image of transferable image forming fluid to the continuous substrate every revolution of the rotatable printing element and a non-printing position where the printing means is not in position to apply a component image to the continuous substrate; and (e) computer control positioning means for controlling the actuation of the positioning means in order to automatically bring the rotatable printing element into and out of the printing position and the non-printing position.

22. Apparatus as claimed in either Claim 20 or Claim 21, wherein the impression means includes a backing face for backing the continuous substrate while a component image is being applied thereon and the positioning means including first positioning means for moving the rotatable printing element to a desired position relative to the backing face.

23. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 22, each of the plurality of printing stations having a gear train including moveable gear means being moveable in and out of position to engage and drive a gear mounted to the rotatable printing element, the first positioning means being able to move the rotatable printing element to a desired position relative to the backing face of the impression means including an image applying position where the rotatable printing element is in position to apply at least one component image of the transferable image forming fluid to the continuous substrate every revolution of the rotatable printing element, the moveable gear means being able to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element, and a backed-off position where the rotatable printing element is not in position to apply a component image to the continuous substrate, the moveable gear means being unable to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element.

24. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 23, the computer control positioning means controlling the actuation of the first positioning means in order to automatically move the rotatable printing element from the image applying position to a throw-off position where the rotatable printing element is backed away from the continuous substrate out of position to apply an image to the continuous substrate, the moveable gear means being able to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element.

25. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 22 to 24, the positioning means including second positioning means for moving at least the fluid dispensing means to a desired position relative to the rotatable printing element including a fluid dispensing position where the transferable image forming fluid is dispensable by the fluid dispensing means to the image applying means of the printing means, and a cut-off position where at least the fluid dispensing means is backed away from the rotatable printing element such that the transferable image forming fluid is not dispensable to the image applying means.

26. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 25, the first positioning means including a base platform carrying two transversely spaced apart first carriages, each of the first carriages being mounted for sliding along one or the other of two first slides mounted on either side of the base platform, the rotatable printing element being carried between the first carriages, and means for independently sliding each of the first carriages along one of the first slides in order to move the rotatable printing element to a desired position relative to the backing face of the impression means.

27. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 26, the second positioning means including two transversely spaced apart second carriages, each of the second carriages being mounted for sliding along one or the other of two second slides, each of the second slides being mounted on one or the other of the first carriages, the fluid dispensing means being carried between the second carriages, and means for independently sliding each of the second carriages along one of the second slides in order to move the fluid dispensing means to a desired position relative to the rotatable printing element.

28. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 27, the means for independently sliding each of the carriages including a stepper motor with pulse means connected thereto for generating electronic pulses as the stepper motor is activated.

29. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 25 to 28, the rotatable printing element being a printing roller and the fluid dispensing means being an inking roller for dispensing transferable image forming fluid to the printing roller, each of the rollers having a central longitudinal axis, the rollers being coplanar along their central longitudinal axes and each of the printing stations having a gear train including articulating gear means for driving the inking roller and enabling the inking roller to remain coplanar with the printing roller while being moved by the second positioning means.

30. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 29, the gear train including clutch means for disengaging the articulating gear means from the balance of the gear train and engaging the articulating gear means to driving means separate from the balance of the gear train.

31. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 20 to 30, the computer control positioning means comprising motor means for incrementally moving the printing means in response to a digital positioning control signal and a microprocessor programmed to operate the positioning means by generating the positioning control signal so as to move the printing means precisely and repeatably to and from the non-printing position and the printing position, the motor means preferably including at least two digital control signal responsive motors mounted to separately adjust opposite ends of the rotatable printing element relative to the impression means.

32. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 31, further comprising axial adjustment means for simultaneously adjusting the transverse position of the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means within the frame and computer control axial registration means for controlling the actuation of the axial adjustment means in order to automatically and simultaneously move transversely the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means to a desired transverse position between the sides of the frame to correct for axial registration errors of the component images being applied by the printing means while the continuous substrate is being run through the printing station.

33. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 32 as dependent on Claim 15, wherein the computer control pre-registration means control the actuation of the axial adjustment means in order to automatically and simultaneously move transversely the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means to a pre-programmed transverse position within the frame in order to bring the rotatable printing element into approximate axial registration with the rotatable printing elements of the other of the plurality of printing stations, before the printing press begins a printing run.

34. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 32 or Claim 33, wherein the computer control axial registration means includes means for sensing the transverse position of the substrate at the respective station, means for comparing the sensed transverse position of the substrate with a stored axial reference registration position to make a comparison thereof and means for incrementally changing the axial position of the rotatable printing element relative to the substrate in response to the comparison of the sensed substrate position and the stored registration position, in order to reduce a difference therebetween.

35. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 34, the computer control axial registration means further comprising means for storing an error signal in response to the comparison for each of a plurality of consecutive measurements, the means for changing the axial position of the rotatable printing element being responsive to a plurality of the stored error signals.

36. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 32 to 35, the plurality of printing stations including a first printing station and a plurality of subsequent printing stations downline of the first printing station, a web mark being printed on the continuous substrate at the first printing station every revolution of the rotatable printing element, the web mark having a general Z-shape with a diagonal bar disposed between two transverse bars, and each of the subsequent printing stations having computer control axial registration means including sensing means for sensing transverse drifting of the web marks as the continuous substrate runs therethrough.

37. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 36, the impression means being an impression roller, the rotatable printing element being a printing roller with image applying means thereon, the fluid dispensing means including an inking roller for dispensing transferable image forming fluid to the image applying means, each of the rollers having a central longitudinal axis, and the impression roller, printing roller and inking roller being coplanar along their central longitudinal axes.

38. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 37, each of the plurality of printing stations including an auxiliary frame having a base platform transversely moveable from side to side across the frame, the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means being carried by the base platform.

39. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 38, each of the plurality of printing stations including off-line adjustment means for moving the base platform, to a desired transverse position including an operational position in which the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means are within the frame, and a stand-aside position in which a sufficient portion of the base platform extends out beyond one side of the frame to enable the rotatable printing element and the fluid dispensing means to be serviced, the base platform being self-supportive within the frame when in the stand-aside position.

40. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding Claim, each of the plurality of printing stations including a gear train for driving the rotation of the rotatable printing element, the gear train including moveable gear means being moveable in and out of position to engage and drive a gear mounted to the rotatable printing element.

41. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 40, the moveable gear means having a leading gear for engaging and driving only the rotatable printing element.

42. Apparatus as claimed in either Claim 40 or Claim 41, the moveable gear means including a leading gear swingable in and out of position to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element.

43. Apparatus as claimed in either Claim 41 or Claim 42, the moveable gear means including a housing carrying the leading gear, the housing being mounted for rotation about a first drive shaft driven by the gear train, a first drive gear fixed to the first drive shaft, a second drive gear driven by the first drive gear, the second drive gear being fixed to a second drive shaft journaled to the housing, the leading gear being fixed to the second drive shaft, and swing means for rotating the housing about the first drive shaft to swing the leading gear in and out of position to engage and drive the gear mounted to the rotatable printing element.

44. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 43, the swing means including a swing gear fixed to the housing and driven by a third drive gear, the third drive gear being fixed to a third drive shaft rotatable by driving means separate from the gear train.

45. A method of controlling the registration of a plurality of component parts of each of a plurality of composite images printed along the length of a continuous substrate comprising providing a printing press having a plurality of printing stations, each station having a rotatably mounted printing element thereat having a fixed repeat length on the circumference thereof, characterised in that the method further comprises inserting in the printing press and consecutively through the plurality of printing stations a continuous substrate having a plurality of copies of at least one component part of a composite image pre-printed along the length thereof, each copy of the pre-printed at least one component part being located on a lineal repeat length of the continuous substrate that tends to vary from the fixed repeat length of the printing element, running the inserted continuous substrate consecutively through the plurality of stations at a predetermined lineal speed while rotating the printing elements at each of the stations at a respective circumferential speed to print a respective additional component part of the composite image onto each of the pre-printed at least one component parts along the substrate, measuring a series of the lineal repeat lengths along the continuous substrate running through the stations, and generating a measurement signal representative of a plurality of lineal repeat length measurements, calculating separately, for each station, in response to the measurement signal, a correction value representing the predicted difference between the fixed repeat length and the lineal repeat length of the next pre-printed at least one component part to be run through the respective station, and generating a control signal carrying a separately calculated correction value for each station, and, separately controlling the actuation of circumferential adjustment means at each station in response to the control signal and in accordance with the respective correction value, so as to automatically change the circumferential speed of the respective printing element relative to the lineal speed of the continuous substrate in order to correct for variations between the lineal repeat lengths of the pre-printed at least one component parts and component parts being printed by the printing element at the respective station.

46. A method as claimed in Claim 45, wherein the measurement step includes the step of sensing at each station the relative lineal positions of pre-printed at least one component parts relative to the circumferential position of the printing element at the respective station, the calculating step includes the step of separately calculating for each station from the sensed relative lineal positions a circumferential registration error, and, the controlling step includes the step of separately controlling at each respective station the actuation of the respective circumferential adjustment means to automatically change the relative circumferential position of the printing element at the respective station relative to the sensed lineal position of the pre-printed at least one component part so as to correct for the respective circumferential registration error.

47. A method as claimed in either Claim 45 or 46, wherein the measuring step includes the step of separately measuring at each station, the lineal repeat lengths of component parts running through each respective station and generating a respective one of a plurality of separate measurement signals in response thereto, each corresponding to a respective series of component parts run through the respective station, and, the calculating step includes the step of separately calculating each correction value in response to the respective measurement signal.

48. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 45 to 47, wherein the measuring step includes the step of digitally representing each of the measurements in discrete measurement data, and, the controlling step includes the step of incrementally controlling the actuation of circumferential adjustment means at each station in response to the respective control signal so as to automatically change the average circumferential speed of the respective printing element relative to the lineal speed of the continuous substrate by a series of discrete rotational movements spaced over a rotation of the printing element.

49. A method as claimed in any one of Claims 45 to 48, wherein the calculating step includes the step of calculating from the plurality of measurements, a recurring portion of each of the measurements of the series, and statistically deriving the predicted difference from the calculated recurring portion.