Rapid Service Bulletin: svs_ 004  15/4/98

TIMING.  Restoration of timing after replacement of the main timing belt

The Rapid Hot foil machines have a timing shaft which is an extension of 
the main output shaft of the drive gearbox. This shaft controls the timing 
of the elecrically driven ancilliaries in the press. This shaft rotates 
once per stroke of the press.
To time the machine proceed as follows. 
Disconect and remove the tensioner for the main drive belt. This will allow 
the belt to jump easily over the teeth on the drive pulley. Rotate the counte
rshaft until the middle head is at top dead centre. This may be done by hand
 after removing the rear safety guard from the middle head. Note that the 
heads are slightly out of time to one another and this is intentional.
With the belt clear of the drive pulley carefully jog (inch) the machine 
until the timing wheel with the 0 to 360 degree timing marked on it is at 
the zero position. This means zero will indicate top dead centre of the 
middle head stroke. (head in maximum up position) 
Provided the timing wheels have not been disturbed then the machine should 
be in time and the belt tensioner can be re-fitted taking care not to 
rotate the head driven shaft. The belt tension should be resonably firm.

Check that the timing of the reed relay trip magnets is as follows. 
Head up proximity switch   		Zero 
Start Pull (servo drive indexing)		270 deg.
Count    					180 nominal
Sprocket punch 				190 deg
Sheeter					190 deg
These values are nominal and some fine tuning may be required to get the 
best performance from the press.

To time the Foil Feed drive discs proceed as follows.
Jog machine to the 340 degrees position.
Make sure that all the foil feed adjusting screws are pointing straight up 
at this point. If not then they may need to be re-timed by undoing the low 
head cap screw in the centre of the disc and retighten it with the disc in 
the correct position. Sometimes difficulty will be experienced in undoing 
this screw as the head is quite shallow and is easilly damaged by worn allen 
keys. The easiest way to undo a stubborn screw is to take a stout piece of 
hardwood and place it against the edge of the slot so as to rotate the disc 
anti clockwise. Strike the hardwood with a sharp blow with a hammer. This 
usually does the job. Replace the low head screw with a new one.
Timing of the foil feed may have a bearing on the release characreristics of 
the foil so a little experimentation here can pay dividends in performance 
of the foil.