An equipment to handle printing cylinders between the magazine of printing cylinders and a printing machine and a method of such handling

Abstract

The device (1) for manipulating printing cylinders (2) between the magazine (3) of printing cylinders (2) and the printing machine (4) comprises a supporting body (10) and a supporting mandrel (11) which passes through the supporting body (10), wherein the supporting mandrel (11) has a longitudinal axis (A) and a chuck (12) is mounted on the supporting body (10) for gripping the inner wall of the longitudinal opening (20) of the printing cylinder (2) in a direction radial to the longitudinal axis (A) of the supporting mandrel (11). A supporting element (100) is mounted on the supporting body (10) in a fixed manner and without the possibility of movement relative to the supporting body (10), which is adapted for connection with the output element (53) of the multi-axis manipulator (5), wherein the supporting mandrel (11) is axially controllable and adjustable in a movement guide (13) in the supporting body (10), is coupled to a drive (115) for the axial reciprocating movement of the supporting mandrel (11), and both the front and rear ends (110, 111) of the supporting mandrel (11) are free. The invention also relates to a method of exchanging printing cylinders (2) between a magazine (3) of printing cylinders (2) and a printing machine (4) using a multi-axis manipulator (5).