Printing machine with positionable interacting cylinders

• US 5,656,909 A
• Filed: 04/12/1996
• Issued: 08/12/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Baumueller Nuernberg Gmbh
• Original Assignee: Baumüller Nürnberg GmbH
• Inventors: Agne, Werner, Gotz, Fritz Rainer, Meis, Harald, Marz, Heinrich
• Primary Examiner(s): Ro, Bentsu
• Application Number:
  US08/631,176
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: 101/183, 101/247, 101/248, 101/479, 101/481, 101/483, 101/494, 101/DIG. 36, 101/DIG. 39, 101/141, 101/212, 101/213, 101/214, 101/216, 318/602, 318/605, 318/625, 318/632
• US Class Current: 318/625
• CPC Class Codes: B41F 13/0045 Electric driving devices
• CPC Class Codes: B41P 2213/734 each printing unit being driven by its own electric motor, i.e. electric shaft
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 101/36 Means for registering or alignment of print plates on print press structure

Abstract

An electrical drive system for angular positioning of one or several rotating and/or tilting machine components and equipment components, particularly of printing machines, including at least one electric motor having a rotor designed for rigid and direct coupling to the component, further including by one or several angle encoders for registering the angular motion of the rotor of the electric motor and/or the component, a signal processing module which receives the actual angle position signals from the angle encoder or encoders and which also receives the setpoint data for comparison with the actual data, and a power amplifier controlled by the signal processor and used for driving the electric motor.

Claims

1. A printing machine, with several interacting cylinders for printing purposes that are at least one of pivotable, rotatable, registration-adjustable and positionable relative to each other and are connected to a drive system including at least one electric motor with a rotor designed for rigid and direct coupling to the cylinders including at least one angle encoder which registers an angular motion of at least one of the rotor of the electric motor and of the cylinders, a signal processing module which is connected to the at least one angle encoder to receive and use actual angle position signals as input and designed to receive setpoint values and to compare the set point values with actual data, and a power amplifier which is controlled by the signal processing module and connected to the at least one electric motor for the control thereof wherein each of the cylinders is directly connected to an individual angle encoder for direct measurement of an angle position and by feeding the measured angle position into the drive system.

2. A printing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the angle encoder is designed as a measuring element for the angle position of the cylinder in at least one of a drive control path and a drive control loop for peripheral registration adjustment.

3. A printing machine according to claim 1, further comprising at least one printing unit with pivoted cylinders attached to a frame, wherein the angle encoder is directly and rigidly attached to a scanner attached to the printing unit frame, and wherein the angle encoder, is directly and rigidly attached to a sensor rotor attached to the drive shaft of the cylinder.

4. A printing machine according to claim 1, that has at least one electric motor directly coupled to the drive shaft of the cylinder, wherein the other cylinders are indirectly connected to the electric motor by gears or other transmission elements.

5. A printing machine according to claim 1, further comprising an impression cylinder mechanically integrating a hollow shaft encoder with a sensor rotor.

6. A printing machine as claimed in claim 5, wherein the impression cylinder comprises an axially protruding extension attached to a rotating drive, wherein the extension is at least one of one piece with the sensor rotor and mechanically integrated, forming a part thereof.

7. A printing machine as claimed in claim 6, wherein the impression cylinder further comprises at least one magnetic or magnetizable tooth attached to a perimeter of at least one of the extension and the sensor rotor.

8. A printing machine according to claim 6 wherein the impression cylinder further comprises the extension is enveloped by a sleeve that is part of the sensor rotor and that is equipped on a perimeter of the sleeve with at least one magnetic tooth.

9. A printing machine according to claim 6, wherein the impression cylinder further comprises a flange mounted to a front of the cylinder which has the extension attached.

10. A printing machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotor of the at least one electric motor is one of mechanically integrated with the cylinder and designed as one piece with the cylinder.

11. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system electric motor is designed for attachment to a shaft end of the rotating cylinder.

12. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system electric motor is designed using one of a drum-shaped and a cylindrical external rotor wherein the rotor shape approximates a shape of the cylinder, and that the rotor is incorporated into the cylinder.

13. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system includes a single angle encoder which is assigned to the electric motor and which is attached to the cylinder to directly register an angular motion of the cylinder.

14. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system includes a single angle encoder which is assigned to the electric motor and is attached to the rotor of the electric motor to directly register an angular motion of the rotor wherein at least one of the signal processing module and the angle encoder are connected to a monitoring module for monitoring cylinder parameters as a differential feedforward signal.

15. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system includes at least two angle encoders which are assigned to the electric motor and where in one is attached to the rotor of the electric motor and one to the cylinder to directly register angular motion of the rotor and the cylinder wherein signal outputs of the two encoders are connected to the signal processing module as a differential feedforward signal.

16. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system angle encoder is designed as one of a sine/cosine absolute encoder, an incremental encoder with square wave signal and marker pulse, an incremental encoder with sine/cosine signal and marker pulse, and a hollow shaft encoder with scanning head and pinion with angle graduation.

17. A printing machine as claimed in claim 16, wherein the encoder pinion is one of mechanically integrated with the cylinder and designed as one piece with the cylinder.

18. A printing machine as claimed in claim 16, wherein the drive system allows axial shifting of the scanning head and the pinion relative to each other along an axis of the cylinder.

19. A printing machine according to claim 16, wherein the hollow shaft encoder scanning head is one of attached to and supported by a stationary part of the electric motor.

20. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system further comprises a power amplifier that includes a voltage system converter with at least one of an intermediate voltage circuit and a direct feed.

21. A printing machine according to claim 20, wherein the drive system power amplifier is designed with digital phase current control with pulse width modulation and high clock frequency, fast transistorized switches, anticipatory voltage controls, and at least one of phase current setpoint data and anticipatory data input via fiber optic lines.

22. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system signal processing module is designed to include a digital signal processor that handles at least one of encoder data analysis, motor control, speed control, angle position control, and fine interpolation of at least one of the setpoint values and anticipatory data.

23. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system signal processing module is designed to include at least one of:

1) several controllers that are individually assigned to a cylinder, and

     2) several series of multiple control elements that are coupled by additional weighted feedbacks.

24. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system signal processing module is designed to include at least one of:

1) at least one controller and

     2) several series of control elements that are connected to characteristics elements that have inputs for the actual data to allow disturbance variable feedforward.

25. A printing machine according to claim 1, wherein the drive system signal processing module is designed to include at least one of:

1) several controllers that are individually assigned to a cylinder, and

     2) several series of multiple control elements that are designed to allow simultaneously input of setpoint data for a specific cylinder.

26. A printing machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the drive system angle encoder comprises:

one of a rotating and a tilting sensor rotor and associated stationary scanner including a hollow shaft encoder with pinion and associated scanning head, to determine an angular position of a pivoted, frame mounted machine component that can be positioned in at least one of a longitudinal, oblique, transverse and diagonal position relative to an axis of the machine component with the sensor rotor directly and rigidly connected to the component, and the scanning head supported by the frame, wherein the scanning head can follow adjustments of the component and of the sensor rotor through a tracking device.

27. A printing machine as claimed in claim 26, wherein the angle encoder is further comprising a bridge-like and L-shaped extension that is rigidly attached to the frame and that holds the scanning head.

28. A printing machine according to claim 26, wherein the sensor rotor is pivoted in the frame and an axis of the sensor rotor is positioned eccentrically.

29. A printing machine according to claim 26, wherein the sensor rotor and the scanner of the angle encoder are positioned relative to each other at such a distance that a gap between them is adjustable to accommodate the component/sensor rotor adjustments.

30. A printing machine according to claim 26, wherein the tracking device for the scanner is equipped with at least two of a linear guide and a radially positioning eccentric guide that is attached to one of the frame and a frame extension, and that corresponds to an eccentric positioning device of the component/sensor rotor.

31. A printing machine as claimed in claim 30, wherein at least one of:

1) both eccentric positioning devices are placed congruently and

     2) both eccentric positioning devices are designed to provide identical revolving paths.

32. A printing machine according to claim 30 wherein both eccentric positioning devices are one of connected and synchronized by a mechanical device that can be disconnected.

33. A printing machine according to claim 30, further comprising a locking device that is connected to the tracking device to allow at least one of locking and rigid connection of the scanner to at least one of the frame and the frame extension.

34. A printing machine according to claim 33, further comprising a locking device for the scanner that has several locking shoes to allow adjustment and accurate attachment to free surfaces of an eccentric bushing.

35. A printing machine according to claim 30, wherein at least the eccentric scanner guide is designed as an eccentric bushing that is enclosed by a corresponding eccentric roller bearing positioned in the frame that carries the scanner in a fixed position.

36. A printing machine as claimed in claim 35, further comprising at least one of a rotating drive for one or more eccentric bushings, and a linear drive for the scanner that can be axially positioned.

37. A printing machine as claimed in claim 36, further comprising at least one of:

1) a coupling between the rotating drives of the eccentric scanner bushing and the eccentric component/sensor rotor bushing and

     2) a coupling between the linear drives of the scanner and the component/sensor rotor.