Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
129~37;~:
PRINTING PRESS
BACKGROUND OF T9E PRESENT INVENTION
Thls invention relates to a method and
apparatus for automatically printing a web of paper
in the production of business forms, or any form of
printing that can adapt to this system, such a~ but
not limited to, newspapers or publications with the
copy transmitted nationwide from a central location,
or as another example production of wallpaper from
rolls with infinitely variable patterns.
In the art of manufacturing continuous,
multi-part business form~, and in the printing
press art in general, a major shortcoming is that
the size of the print pattern is limited to the
~lze, l.e., the diameter, of the printing cylinder.
As a re~ult, printing cylinders mu~t be changed
ofton in order to accommodate various lengths or
repoat# ln the deslred work product.
According to one exomplary embodiment of
thi~ lnvention, the printlng cylinder has an
lndetormlnat~ length ln the sense that it is able to
print at any desired length or pattern repeat
wlthout the neces~lty of changing cylinders. In
thi~ respect, the cylinder surface may be regarded
a~ a con~tantly moving surace, miles long, rather
than any fixed size. This i~ because an ionized
beam is pro~ected onto the cylinder to create an
image thereon which is transferred to a continuously
moving web. As the cylinder revolves past the
printing position, tho image is erased and another
~ lmage is formed, 80 as to present a constantly
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changing image to the web for continuou~ printing
independent of cylinder size.
More specifically, the drum or print
cylinder i8 provided with an image receiving
photoconductor surface which is rotated past a
charging or projection station where laser beams
are utilized to project images on the cylinder
surface. This is accomplished using laser printing
technology such as that disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
3,836,917. The cylinder i~ then rotated to a
development station where a powder or toner i8
~electively deposited on only the charged image
areas. When a plurality of colors are used for a
particular business forms application, as many as
four or more cylinders are employed, each applying a
single color.
After the image is transferred to the web,
the sheot or web ie passed through heating and
chlllinq sectlons to fix the toner or powder on the
web.
Meanwhile, immediately after the images
from tho respective cylinders are transferred onto
tho web, the lmages are erased, again with the aid
of laser beams which discharqe the photoconductive
surface~ of the respective cylinders.
Upon passing through the various printing
statlon~, the web i~ fed through a standard punch
ring to an image ~canner. At this station, tho
printed image may be reproduced, again with the aid
of laser beams, and converted to digital form and
~tored in the computer. Conventional eedback
tochnlques are then employed to correct and/or
improve specific area~ of the form, or to make minor
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changes in the form format.
The web thereafter passes through laser
operated punch heads and cross-perforation device~
and i8 sub~equently wound on a rewind roll.
It i8 to be understood that computer
technology is employed to program the press to
produce the desired printing, color application and
80 on at each of the printing stations. In a
preferred embodiment, controls to the press as well
as printing information are included in diskette or
cassette form.
The press as described hereinabove has
several attendant advantages. The overall weight of
the press is substantially reduced, alleviating
problems of read~ustment and realignment due to
di~tortlon of heavy frame members and compression of
floor contours.
Tho press as described hereinabove will
en~oy reduced power consumption since large motors
(o.g., 7.5 hp) are utilized only to draw the paper
through the pres~, with smaller additional motors
(adding perhaps another 4 or 5 hp) used in the
individual subsystems. This is to be compared with
conventional prior art printing presses which
normally use ln excess of 50-60 hp.
Tho pross according to an exemplary
embodimont o thi~ invontion eliminates the use of
convontional negative~ and plates, along with the
necessary chemicals. The computerization of all
controls also eliminates the neod for numbering
machinos and problom~ associatod therewith.
The immodiato drying of the ink at the
respective printing stations eliminates the
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necessity of conventional infrared and ultraviolet
dryers.
Conventional makeready procedures are also
radically altered. With the press according to this
invention, the operator need only install a fresh roll
of paper in the press, remove the finished roll, and
select the appropriate program for manufacturing a form
of the desired size and format.
It is further contemplated that even the
loading and unloading of the paper rolls themselves may
be automated to even further reduce the already
minimized manual labor associated with press operation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Various aspects of this invention are as
follows:
A method of printing a web of continuous
printing material on a printing press comprising the
steps of:
(a) feeding the web of continuous printing
material from a supply roll to a printing station;
(b) projecting at least a portion of an image
to be printed on an endless moving printing device;
(c) transferring the image on said endless
moving printing device to the web of continuous printing
material at said printing station as the web and the
image on said endless moving printing device move past
each other:
(d) erasing the image from said endless
moving printing device immediately after said printing
station;
(e) projecting the remaining portion of the
image to be printed on said endless moving printing
device as it continuous to move; and
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4a
(f) repeating steps (c), (d) and (e) to
continuously print on the web of continuous printing
material until a complete image is printed.
A method of printing a web of continuous
printing material on a printing press comprising the
steps of:
(a) moving a web of continuous printing
material from a supply roll to a printing station;
(b) projecting constantly changing images
onto the peripheral surface of a printing cylinder
having a predetermined diameter;
(c) transferring the constantly changing
images onto the moving web of continuous printing
material as it engages the peripheral surface of said
printing cylinder, wherein the length of the image
applied to the web is independent of the diameter of
said printing cylinder; and
(d) erasing the images from said printing
cylinder immediately after step (c).
A printing press for continuously printing a
web of continuous printing material comprising:
(a) feeder means for feeding the web of
continuous printing material from a supply roll to a
printing station;
(b) an endless movable printing device;
(c) drive means for driving said endless
movable printing device past the printing station;
(d) projection means for projecting at least
a portion of an image to be printed on said endless
movable printing device;
(e) transfer means for transferring the image
on said endless movable printing device to the web of
continuous printing material at said printing station as
the web and the image on said endless movable printing
device move past each other;
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4b
(f) erase means for erasing the image from
said endless movable printing device immediately after
said printing station, said projection means, transfer
means and erase means thereafter projecting,
transferring and erasing the remaining portion of the
image to be printed as said endless movable printing
device and the web of continuous printing material
continue to move past said printing station to thereby
print a complete image on the web of continuous printing
material.
Other objects and advantages of the invention
will become apparent from the detailed description which
follows:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WINGS
FIGURE 1 is a schematic side view of a
business forms printing press in accordance with an
exemplary embodiment of the invention;
FIGURE 2 is a schematic plan view of the press
illustrated in FIGURE 1;
FIGURE 3 is a schematic diagram of a central
control unit for the printing press illustrated in
FIGURES 1 and 2;
FIGURE 4 is a schematic side view of a
printing station in accordance with this invention; and
FIGURE 5 is a schematic side view of an
alternative embodiment of a printing station in
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accordance with this invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, the
business forms press of this invention generally
includes an infeed supply station 10 for a web W,
one or more printing stations 12, a line hole punch
ring station 14, an image scanning station 16, a
laser slitter station 18, a laser punch station 20,
a laser cro~s perforation station 22, additional
detectors 24 and a rewind station 26.
The infeed station 10 includes a
conventional paper supply roll 30, provided with web
guides 32 and feed rollers 34. In accordance with
this invention, at least one laser detector 36 is
provided for monitoring web thickne~s. While large
variations in thicknese are not normally found
within a single paper roll, the second or third roll
ueed in a proce~s may, in fact, contain thickness
variatione large enough to create stretch problems
in the web. me laser detector serves to alert the
preee operator of variations beyond a predetermined
acceptable mlnimum ~o that the problem may be
corrected. Detectors using laser radiation for
meaeuring web thickneee are not new per se. See,
for example, U.S. Patent No. 4,322,971 for a
representative example of the type of detector which
can be utilized in this invention.
A pair of compensator rolls 38 are
employed in order to indicate slack and uneven feed
of paper from tho supply roll 30. These rolls are
operatively connected with the central computer
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control unit 52 which ad~ust~ the ineed roll~ 34
as required.
The printing station 12 includes a unique,
indeterminate length printing cylinder 40 which, as
earlier stated, enables printing to any desired
length or repeat.
In the present invention, each printing
cylinder 40 (there may be as many as four or more
arranged in series) is preferably constructed of
aluminum and coated with a quitable
photoconductive surface for receiving an image
from an image projector 42. The projector 42
utilizes lasers to project an image onto the
photosensitive recording medium applied on the drum
surface. In this regard, it i8 to be appreciated
that tho drum or cylinder at each printing station
should be mounted for easy installation and removal
80 that the cylinder may be removed periodically for
rocoating.
In a manner understood by those in the art
of laser technology, the printing stations will
recoivo, for oxamplo, alpha and numeric character
data in olectronic form from the main computer
control unit 52, as will be described further
hereinbelow, and, in response to such data, print
the de~ired characters on the moving web W. Each
printing ~tation 12 may have its own light motor
drivo M and it~ own computer (not shown). This
computer could have its own program to control
spacing and tonsion of the web in that particular
station, but would, of courso, interface with the
main computer control 52.
Aftor the imago is pro~ected onto the
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surface of the cylinder, a toner in the form of
powder i~ applied at 44. The powder should be
extremely fine grained co that when it i~ picked up
by the surface, there is no waste or extraneous
material thereon.
After the characters have been applied to
the web W as the drum surface rotate~ into
engagement therewith, the powder is fused and
chilled at 48, 50, respectively (~ee FIGURE 4).
Fusing temperature~ should be greater than 300 F.
A~ the drum continues to revolve, the
image is erased by an ionized image eraser 46. Here
again, lasers are utilized to discharge the
photoconductive surface of the printing drums or
cylinders. Normally, tho individual drums would be
ccannod to a reguired length, e.g., 24" on a 28"
drum, and as the cylinder revolves past the printing
point and the image is erased, a new or continuing
image i~ pro~ected on the cylinder. In this way, no
open non-printlng gap~ are created.
It i~ to bo understood that the size of
the cyllnder i~ not restricted to 28", but may be
22" or 26" or whatever size is most practical for
the ~ob at hand. In this regard, because of the
effectlve lnfinite length of the cylinder, lt ic
po~8ible to print our (or more) 11" images and
create a four-part form on a single sheet length of the continuous ~v~b.
Conventlonal prlnting presso~, and even those with
newer laser printer~ are unable to create ~uch
four-part form~.
The control and sequencing of the image~
to be pro~ected on the drum wlll be di~cussed
urther hereinbelow.
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As earlier stated, the la~er drum printing
station 12 described above is one of a~ many as four
such stations, arranged in series along the path of
travel of the web W, each one applying a different
one of four primary colors. Obviously, the type and
style of form will dictate the number of colors, and
hence the number of stations required.
It will be understood that the press may
be programmed to have the printing stations print in
any given sequence, by color, 80 that, for example,
the fir~t station would print black; the second,
red; the third, blue; and the fourth, green.
After exiting the printing stations, the
web W passes through a conventional line hole punch
ring station 14 and below an image ~canner 16, and
thereafter through a laser slitter 18, laser punch
head 20 and laser cross perforation cutter 22. The
~lze, locatlon, ~pacing, and BO on of the various
holes and ellts 18 governed by the use of
pre-programmed information on dlskettes or
ca~sette~, ln~ertable in the main control unit as
doecrlbed further hereln.
The lmage scanner 16 reproduces the
printod image and resolves the four color image in a
lathe typo mechanlsm, plcks out the colorq and
soparatee them by dlgltlllzing, and produces our
separato nogatlvos, ono for oach color. Rather than
producing a nogative, this information could be
conveyod directly to tho printing stations of the
prese, particularly to correct and/or improve the
work product, or transmitted by computer link to a
remote press or presses.
After passing between detectors 24, which
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insure proper alignment and tautne~ of the paper
web W, the paper is rewound at a stand 26.
As is apparent from FIGURE 2, the various
components of the press are connected via cable 32
to the main central computer proce~ing unit 52
which is described hereinbelow in more detail in
association with FIGURE 3.
In FIGURE 3 there is illustrated a
schematic diagram of the various components utilized
to control the press of this invention. A form3
composer with full color graphic~, shown at 60, and
a matrix color printer 62 for form~ proof~ are
utilized in con~unction with a proces~or 64 and
color scanner 66 to provide the central processor 52
with the necessary information regarding the four
color compo~ition of the forms. A console 68 i~
provldod for in~erting the various cassettes or
dlskettos for controlling each of the stations of
the pre~, through tho main computor control 52.
When tho ~ob is finished, the diskette 18
~tored for a repeat order, and is ready to set tho
pre~ for an oxact ropeat, or the disketto can be
altored with new or deleted copy, without the
necos~ity for rosetting the total ~ob, or reworking
the pre~ memory diskotte sec~ion when needed.
Turning to EIGURE 4, there is shown a
clo~o-up whematic of a laser printing station
similar to that lllustrated ln FIGURE 1 but wherein
the wob W pa~e~ below a drum 40. As the drum
rotates in a counterclockwise direction,tho image is
pro~ected onto tho photosensitive surface of the
drum at 42 and powder is applied at 44. After the
image is transferred to the web W, the powder is
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fu~ed at 48 and chilled at 50, while immediately
thereafter, the image on the drum i~ erased at 46.
In its broader a~pect~, the invention
relates to the production of busine~ forms by a
process which includes the steps of (a) feeding a
web from a supply roll to a printing ~tation
including at lea~t one rotary printing cylinder; (b)
pro~ecting an image on the cylinder as ~aid cylinder
rotates; (c) applying toner to the cylinder; (d)
transferring the image to the web a~ the cylinder
rotatee into engagement with the web; (e) era~ing
the image from the drum immediately after the drum
di~engages from the web; and (f) projecting a new
image on the cylinder as the cylinder continues to
rotate.
While the prosently preferred process 18
carriod out with prlnting stations utilizing laser
prlntlng technology, lt will be under~tood by those
~kllled ln the art that an ink ~ot type printer may
also bo employed. In FIGURE 5, a web W is
lllu~tratod pas~ing ovsr and in contact with a drum
70 wlth an ad~acent ink ~et module 72 arranged to
e~oct droplete of wrltlng fluid or ink onto the web
W ln accordance with a selected computer program
cho~on to produco a particular business form.
Tho proeont lnvention has been described
particularly ln the context of printing business
form~ per se. It i8 contemplated that the
computerizod process of this invention may further
bo utillzed to produce bar codlng on the forms in a
slmple and officiont mannor. It will be further
appreciated that tho indetorminate length cylinder
as disclosed heroin may also be advantageously
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employed in the production of other web-oriented
proce~se~, for example, in the publi~hing field, and
in the printing o wallpaper. In the production of
the latter, a customized product could be produced
with a continuou~ly varying pattern, i.e., at no
point in a room need there be a pattern repeat.
It will be apparent that many additional
changes and alterations may be made in the present
invention without departing from the spirit and
scope of the claims which follow.
