GRAVURE POWER TRANSMISSION SYSTEM

•A single motor powers all converting and packaging type rotogravure

printing units
•Larger publication gravure presses may have several motors
powering a single drive shaft
•All the gravure cylinders are directly coupled to the line shaft
through a right angle gearbox
•The motor should power the line shaft through a multiple set of
V-belts rather than with a chain, timing belt or gear transmission
system
•The V-belt allow the line shaft pulley to slip when the machine is
being accelerated and decelerated and this minimizes line shaft
and gear wear
•A positive type of motor line shaft coupling (chain, gear) will
increase the wear factor and create maximum shaft twisting both
of which are detrimental to quality printing
•The line shaft extends the length of the printing section and it
must be rigid enough to minimize twisting during acceleration
changes
•The motor should be connected at the centre of the line shaft or closer
to a converting unit which requires an excessive amount of power such
as reciprocating die cutter
•There are several types of right angle gear boxes which transmit the
power from the line shaft to the gravure cylinder, and they all must be
designed and constructed so that there is minimal backlash in the
gravure cylinders
•Backlash: it is the play (free movement) resulting from loose
connections and improper separation between gear teeth, which is
most evident at speed changes and reversals of directions
•It can be measured as the amount of tooth space which exceeds the
thickness of the engaging teeth
•Some amount of backlash is required on all types of gearing as
it prevents both sides of a tooth on one gear from making
contact with the leading and trailing edges of two successive
teeth in the meshing gear
•There must be a small space between meshing teeth so that
the meshing gear only touches the leading edge of the second
gear
•There would be excessive amounts of lost power as well as
accelerated gear wear if there were no backlash between
meshing teeth
•The right angle gear boxes must be built with special gears
which have minimal amounts of backlash to maintain acceptable
color register
•The line-shaft drive reduction can be incorporated in the right gearbox, or a
separate set of spur reduction gears can be used
•The two most common types of right angle gearboxes utilize bevel and worm
gears

Worm type right angle gearbox

Bevel gears are truncated conical gears and they are used to connect shafts
having intersecting axes
Bevel gears usually have a 1:1 speed ratio
It is possible to use additional gears in a bevel gear transmission system
•A worm gear consists of a worm which is a shaft containing helical threads, and
a worm wheel or worm gear which is a circular gear positioned at right angles to
the worm
•The axial pitch of the worm is equal to the circular pitch of the worm gear
•The ratio of worm speed to the worm wheel speed can range from 1.5:1 to 100:1
or more
•Low ratio worm drives have multiple threads on the worm
•The speed ratio of a worm gearbox can be obtained by dividing the number of
worm wheel teeth by the number of threads on the worm
•High ratio worm gearboxes are used as speed reduction devices and as
positioning mechanisms and there are single threads on the worm
•High ratio worm gearboxes create large amounts of power loss, as much as
50% in some instances
 Spur gears:

•Spur gears are used to transmit power between two parallel shafts, and they are
the most common type of gearing
•Almost all rotogravure cylinder power transmission systems include one pair of
spur gears and they are used as the speed reduction members with bevel type
gearboxes
•If the pitch of the two gears is the same, the speed ratio will be 1:1, but if the
pitch diameters differ the speed ratio can be determined by dividing the diameter
of the drive gear by the diameter of the driven gear
 •All gears have some amount of tooth clearance (backlash), so that increasing
the number of meshing points or number of gears in a power transmission
system creates additional amounts of backlash
•Therefore good cylinder gearboxes have minimal numbers of meshing points
and all gears must be manufactured with higher run out, pitch, profile and
mounting tolerances
•These gears are rather expensive, as they are in a higher class than ordinary
gearing
•A right angle gearbox must have a minimum of 2 gears which have 1 meshing
point but the minimum number of gears on the rotogravure cylinder drives is 3
with 2 meshing points

It has either a worm or bevel

right angle drive with a spur
gear connection to power the
cylinder
The anti-backlash gearing can be of the spur type

Most rotogravure presses do not use these gear systems, but for those which do
use them these gearboxes should be usable for 10 years or more without having
to be rebuilt
Reverse printing rotogravure units have a special right angle gearbox which
utilizes a clutch and a two sets of spur gears
The clutch disengages the spur gears from the right angle gearbox so that the
operator can select the spur gear which will determine the direction of cylinder
rotation
 Gravure cylinder drive coupling

The rotogravure cylinder must be easy to remove and attach to the cylinder power
transmission device
There are 3 basic ways of delivering power to the gravure cylinder:
 Clamps
 Key and screw
 Spline couplings
The method of attaching the cylinder drive coupling or gear to the cylinder is
important to the rotogravure printer for three reasons:
1. The cylinder drive coupling must be as backlash free as possible
2. The attachment of the coupling or gear must not affect the concentricity of the
gravure cylinder
3. It affects the cost of manufacturing the gravure cylinders
The simplest, least expensive and one of the best ways to drive the gravure cylinder
is with clamp coupling