Sony Corporation

Shinji Okuda

Hideki Haijima

Wataru Nonaka

Atsushi Koda

In a printing sheet making and printing system applicable to for example an electronic gravure printing system a printing sheet is sheathed in a printing sheet jacket to prevent the adhesion of dust and the occurrence of scratching on its surface and the feeding and ejection of the printing sheet to and from the cylinders of a printing sheet making machine and a printing machine is completely automated so that an operator can run the system without ever directly touching the printing sheet. A printing sheet, a printing sheet jacket, and devices for pulling the jacket and the printing sheet into a printing sheet making machine or a printing machine and removing the printing sheet from the jacket and winding and clamping it onto a cylinder for engraving of the printing sheet or printing with it and returning it to the jacket and ejecting the jacket and the printing sheet inside it from the machine after the engraving or printing all in a completely automated fashion are disclosed. The interchangeability of the printing sheets with respect to the cylinders is extremely good and consequently when image data such as a photograph is engraved color by color on a plurality of printing sheets and multicolor overprinting is carried out color non-alignment, color blurring, image distortion and scumming and the like do not readily occur and high image quality, fine printing can be performed. The invention facilitates development toward a completely automated electronic gravure printing system which can be run unmanned.

Printing sheet making and printing apparatus

An automatic cassette changer includes a large number of cassette storing racks in each of which a cassette is stored, a cassette transporter, and a recording and reproducing device. Automatic selective exchanging of cassettes between the cassette storing racks and the recording and reproducing device is performed by the cassette transporter. The changer has a sliding member that moves from a retracted position to an extended position and thereby moves a cassette pressing member from a retracted position to an extended position against the bias exerted by return springs so that a cassette stored in a cassette storing rack may be pushed out towards the cassette transporter by the cassette pressing member. However, the return springs avoid the possibility that a cassette stored in the cassette storing rack will accidentally jump out toward the cassette transporter and thus prevent accidental collision between the cassette and the cassette transporter.

Automatic cassette changer

A tape recording and/or reproducing apparatus of the type having a tape guide drum with a circumferential slot through which at least one rotary transducer projects for recording and/or reproducing signals on a tape running against the periphery of the drum in a path which extends about at least a portion of such periphery; is provided with a tape guide assembly which includes a rigid guide, for example, constituted by an axially facing shoulder on the drum, engageable by the lower longitudinal edge of the tape for establishing the direction and location of the tape path, and resilient guide elements mounted on the drum so as to act yieldably against the upper longitudinal edge of the tape for holding the latter against the rigid guide while accommodating variations and changes in the width of the tape. In disclosed embodiments, each of the resilient guide elements is constituted by a length of spring wire bent to a U-shaped configuration to provide an anchoring end portion adjustably secured in a respective first radial bore of the drum, a contact end portion engageable with the upper edge of the tape and being movable in a respective second radial bore of the drum, and an intermediate portion extending along the drum periphery between the anchoring and contact end portions.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Shinji Okuda