American Printer
330 N. Wabash, Suite 2300
Chicago, IL 60611
(312) 595-1080 E-mail
New Products, Part 1
AP staff
Jan 1, 2005 12:00 AM
New products from: Standard Finishing, Hit the
Skids, USPS, Ennis, RadTech, Müller Martini, Watson-Marlow Bredel,
American Baler, OneVision, KBA North America, Unisource, Heidelberg,
Markzware, Morgana Systems, Stitchmaster, Left Dakota, and Printflow.
Tidbits… > Standard Finishing’s
Graph Expo highlights included the Horizon HOF-30, a high-speed feeder
for pre-collated digital output; the HT-30 offline three-side trimmer
for short-run books; and the SB-09, a nine-clamp perfect binder rated
at 4,000 books per hour. See www.standardfinishing.com.
> Hit The Skids’ custom-built pressroom furniture includes operator stations, plate carts and knife racks. See www.hittheskids.com.
> Want to send custom-shaped pieces as
standard mail? Check out the USPS’ Customized MarketMail program.
Pieces can weigh a maximum of 3.3 oz., the length can be from 5 inches
to 15 inches, and the height can be from 3.5 inches to 12 inches. See www.usps.com/ customizedmarketmail.
> Ennis’ 360° specializes in medium to long
runs of custom labels, such as four-color process, variable imaging and
special material labels. See www.360labels.com.
> RadTech offers a free video detailing safe handling practices for UV/EB curable materials. E-mail RadTech at uveb@radtech.org.
> Müller Martini has produced its 2,000th
three-knife trimmer for book production: The Merit S will go to a
production facility in Lachenmeier, Germany. Merit S and Zenith S
trimmers complete the final cuts on perfect-bound books and hardcover
book blocks. Production speeds are 4,000 and 7,000 cph with a trim
capacity of up to 3 1⁄8 inches.
Metering water-based varnish
Watson-Marlow Bredel’s (Wilmington, MA) 700 pump can be used for
metering water-based varnish. The peristaltic pump reportedly is a
cost-effective alternative to traditional diaphragm pumps. With no
valves or seals to clog, the 700 pump series require little cleaning,
as viscous varnish is contained within a tube from source to delivery.
See www.wmbpumps.com. Circle 160 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Heavy-duty baler
American Baler Co.’s (Bellevue, OH) DC5043 joins the company’s
horizontal auto-tie baler line. The DC5043 is designed specifically for
distribution and warehousing operations and offers a large 50 x 41-inch
feed opening for bulky set-up boxes. It can be used with air conveyed
trim systems to bale shredded secondary fibers, paper trim and scrap.
See www.americanbaler.com. Circle 161 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
JDF-enabled PDF workflow
OneVision’s (Regensburg, Germany) JDF-
enabled Speedflow Cockpit integrates production applications and
third-party workflow systems such as preflighting, check and
normalization to editing, modifying, imposing, proofing, printing, and
archiving.
Speedflow Control and Speedflow Interact for
Mac OS X allow users the benefits of Speedflow Cockpit in a
cross-platform networked environment. All Speedflow Cockpit processes
are supported by e-mail notification services. See www.onevision.com. Circle 162 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Five-color waterless press
The Genius 52 from KBA North America (Williston, VT) is a compact
20.5-inch, five-color waterless, keyless sheetfed press. A single
operator can run the press using a touch-screen console. The
entry-level Genius 52 features automatic plate infeed, automatic
circumferential register for handling various substrates and an
optional automatic blanket washer.
Also available is the Genius 52 UV press for
printing on both plastic and board. This model features UV drying
inline and is able to print on stock up to 32 pt. It can be used for
printing credit cards, loyalty cards, mouse pads and 3D pictures on
lenticular lenses. Circle 163 or visit
freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Digital and direct imaging papers
Unisource (Norcross, GA) has added Technisource to its private brand
paper line. Targeting digital printing and business imaging
applications, Technisource includes gloss coated, matte coated, and
uncoated color copy papers in a variety of basis weights and sizes.
The new papers can be used with desktop and
production digital printing devices as well as inkjet printers and
offset and direct imaging printing presses. See www.paperplus.com. Circle 164 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Cutters in six widths
Heidelberg (Kennesaw, GA) distributes Polar-Mohr’s Generation X cutters
in six widths ranging from 30 inches to 69 inches. All Polar X cutters
have front-changing knives as well as a 15-inch color display and
touchscreen capabilities that automate operation and store cutting
sequences. The cutters are fully CIP4 compatible for connections with
prepress and offline programming via Compucut. Circle 165 or visit
freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Preflighting for content creators
Markzware’s (Santa Ana, CA) FlightCheck Studio preflighting plug-in
helps prevent file errors. Using TrueFile Specifications, designers or
production directors create design specs. If a job contains an element
or font that doesn’t meet TrueFile parameters, Flight Check Studio
alerts the designer to fix the problem. Users can click on the reported
error to see exactly where the problem resides in the document. See www.markzware.com/fcstudio.
Circle 166 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Folding digitally printed jobs
Morgana Systems’ (Milton Keynes, UK) DigiFold is an integrated
creaser/folder for folding digitally printed material without marking
the document or cracking the spine. According to the company, DigiFold
uses larger rollers than most folders. The machine also incorporates a
electronically controlled "flying knife" that is contoured around the
rollers and moves at the same speed as the material passing through it.
A sheet deflector comes in contact with only the leading edge of the
sheet, allowing single or multiple folds to be accomplished with
minimal risk of scratching or marking.
For standard folding, DigiFold works in "set
to fold" mode where, once the fold and sheet lengths have been
selected, a programmer automatically sets the creasing and folding
positions. When extra creases and/or difficult configurations are
required, the operator dials in the creasing and folding positions. Circle 167 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Save five minutes of makeready per pocket
The Stichmaster ST350 was shown with a cover folder feeder, four
vertical and two horizontal feeders with a RIMA compensating stacker.
The ST350 is rated at 12,000 cycles per hour and supports products
ranging from 31⁄8 x 43⁄4 to 123⁄8 x 181⁄16. A separate saddle chain is
automatically synchronized to the stitcher and feeders, reportedly
reducing makeready time up to five minutes per pocket. By using
Heidelberg’s Prinect FCS100 Compustitch program, jobs can be programmed
offline on a PC and sent to the stitcher via a network connection. Circle 168 or visit
freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Separations by the numbers
Left Dakota’s (Los Angeles) UltraLinks uses standard ICC file formats
to produce smooth separations similar to those produced by a drum
scanner. UltraLinks extracts only critical data from customer ICC
profiles (RGB source and CMYK destination) to create an ICC-Device Link
for making separations. Because UltraLinks makes separations by the
numbers, users can specify actual RGB to CMYK endpoints. Separations
also can be reversed: Users can take a separated CMYK file back to
fully saturated RGB. UltraLinks maps the outer edge of RGB to the the
outer edge of CMYK, ensuring no color is out of gamut. See www.leftdakota.com. Circle 169 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.
Digital ink presets
Printflow’s (Bratislava, Slovak Republic) Digital Ink Preset System
(DIPS) converts prepress data into the proper digital format and
calculates the required coverage per ink zone. After creating the ink
key presetting information, DIPS transmits this data to the press
console. Printflow DIPS consists of the DIPS Converter (prepress file
reader) and the DIPS Center (interface and preset module).
The DIPS Converter can calculate the image
coverage data from most RIPs either in CIP3/4 format or the existing
RIP format. This software also generates form proofs from RIPped and
separated data.
The DIPS Center processes image area coverage
data from a prepress area sent via Ethernet from the DIPS Converter.
When the job is ready to be printed, the image area coverage data is
calculated to specific ink key values. Presets are then transferred to
the press console to preset the ink fountains. One DIPS system is able
to communicate with various press models and sizes simultaneously. Any
additional press, either new or used, with a console can be added to
the existing network configuration by using the existing DIPS
interface. See www.printflow.sk. Circle 170 or visit freeproductinfo.net/ap.