The Forty Inchers

Major sheetfed press makers Hei­delberg, KBA, Komori, MAN Ro­­land and Mitsubishi all announced or demonstrated a number of innovations at October's Graph Expo. Advances seen on the 40´´ and 41´´ eight-up models anticipate developments in the six-up lines.

Not all innovations proven on the full-sized presses —historically the test beds for the mainstream application of new technologies—can be applied on three-quarter-sized equipment. But press builders say they are taking a hard look at those innovations that are proving popular in the large format, to determine if they can be cost-justified on the less expensive presses. In some cases, the development cycles could see improved technologies engineered for the smaller format, being added to the larger models when their next re-engineering cycle arrives.

Higher speeds, on-board spectrophotometric measurements, innovative makeready start-ups, options for printing non-porous substrates, more perfectors, more units and “inline everything” are trends that apply to both press classes.

Heidelberg showed a number of new options and packages at Graph Expo for both its 40´´ Speedmaster 102 and 41´´ XL 105s, as well as its 29´´ SM 74 press lines, and has followed up with additional developments since the show.

New for the 29×41´´ Speedmaster XL 105 is a fully automatic feeder-conveyer option with standardized U.S.-sourced pallets that allow non-stop production of thicker substrates at the press's full, 18,000-sph production speed, eliminating pile changes every few minutes and maintaining the same maximum pile height.

Heidelberg notes that common demands from printers have brought many of the features originally used on the full-sized 40´´ presses into the 29´´ lines and that press innovations cross platforms when there is a market and application for them. Examples include long perfectors, diecutting and UV coating that started in the 40´´ press class and were later incorporated into 29´´ presses. The most recent example of technology crossing platforms is Heidelberg's development of Peak Performance Packages for its 29´´ press line.

This new package of bundled options for the 23×29´´ CD 74 press is aimed at printers doing packaging, labeling or long runs in ¾-size, six-pages-up format. Many features in the Peak Performance Package were pioneered on Heidelberg's XL 105 press. The options include an 18,000 straight production speed (15,000 on perfectors); upgraded powder spray and anti-static devices; and an upgrade to the dynamic sheet brake, to slow down sheets flying into delivery.

In the case of the XL 105, the new package allows faster makeready and faster speeds with full UV capability, reaching 18,000 sph on some paper and board substrates. (The Peak Performance Package was shown at Graph Expo on the Speedmaster SM74 in a six-up format.) The first XL 105 press with full UV is slated for delivery this month.

At an open house event in Düsseldorf, Germany, November 9-11, Heidelberg showed off the Speedmaster XL 105 in conjunction with its new Prinect Inpress Control inline color measuring system for the first time. Likewise, this technology was demonstrated on the SM 74 at Graph Expo.

Prinect Inpress Control (see Oct. '06 GAM, p.86) measures color and register in the quality control strip on the fly, allowing for closed-loop color control on a sheetfed press.

At Graph Expo Heidelberg also launched a Speedmaster CD 74 with an improved delivery for higher productivity on both straight and perfecting presses when using thinner and lighter grades of paper. The highlight is a completely new drive concept for a dynamic sheet brake in the delivery.

KBA has announced the availability of its QualiTronic II inline sheet inspection system for its 18,000 sph (15,000 sph perfecting) 29×41" format Rapida 105, along with the DensiTronic S (see Oct. '06 GAM, p.86)

The QualiTronic II scans the printed sheet with a high-performance color camera that measures more than 16 different colors on the sheet for consistent quality throughout the print run. A computer system developed by KBA compares the picture with a good sheet and indicates any errors on the control console.

At KBA the trend to more units, coatings and UV drying is exemplified by its first U.S. sale—to Bolger Printing of Minneapolis—of a Rapida 105 perfector press offering five colors on each side of the sheet, plus full anilox coating and UV drying on both sides of the sheet.

Brand new on both the Rapida 105 and on the newly introduced 20×29" Rapida 74G (“G” for Gravuflow, a keyless, short-train inker) is an inline corona tower for treating plastic substrates. The corona treatment stabilizes plastic dyne levels (a measure of static electricity) prior to printing for better ink adhesion. It restores the dyne level that can diminish while a plastic substrate is in storage or being shipped from overseas to the printing plant. The treatment allows printers to buy plastic substrates anywhere in the world and be assured of proper dyne levels.

Graph Expo marked the U.S. introduction of Komori's new Lithrone S29 series in 20×29" format and the announcement of a Lithrone S29 in 24×29" format.

Introduced and demonstrated at Graph Expo, the 16,000-sph 20×29" LS29 incorporates many features that were originally used on the 40´´ Lithrone S40 press for higher speed production. On the LS29, these and other productivity-enhancing features permitted runs of as many as 17 short, 200- to 250-sheet jobs within a 90-minute time period. Komori calculated an average of less than five minutes per job, including makeready, pre-ink, run-up to color, achieving register, running, wash-up and on to the next job.

Included in the LS29 series is a new Lithrone S29P (perfector) that includes the same speed and fast makeready features.

The new Komori Lithrone S29 in 24×29" format eases six-up production of 8½×11" page products and incorporates the new high-speed capabilities of the LS29. The 24" sheet size allows room for a color bar and gripper margin for work-in-turn production to print on the second side of the sheet.

Komori also announced a new “double coating capability” for two-sided coating on both the 40" Lithrone S40P and the Lithrone S40SP (super perfector).

At MAN Roland, the basic R&D and design concepts for 29", 41" or larger format presses is to take any steps that have previously been downstream of the press—foiling and inspection are examples—and integrate them inline to the greatest degree that makes sense for that model.

MAN Roland typically pilots new developments on its 41" line and then determines if they would be practical for the 29" line. Critical to bringing a feature down to the 29" product line is determining potential ROI for the printer.

Facilitating technology transfers between its 29" and 41" product lines is the fact that MAN Roland customers quick to adopt its six-up 29" presses are now adding 40" presses, while 40" printers are supplementing their larger machines with 29" presses for short-run, fast-turnaround jobs—and both are easily connecting to existing printnet systems.

For the 41" and 29" press markets, MAN Roland sees coating units as “almost a de facto standard.” UV curing, in the hybrid process especially, has also been identified as a trend that is impacting both press sizes, with the 41" press taking the lead because it has been designed for easy dryer integration.

MAN Roland emphasizes the capability of its 29×41" Roland 700 presses in 16,000 sph straight or 12,000 sph perfecting models to be custom-configured to help differentiate a printing company. The newest and most successful of those custom configurations—one already judged a “huge hit” by the manufacturer—is the inline foiling system on the Roland 700 introduced to the U.S. market at Graph Expo 06 (and demonstrated on the July 2006 cover of GAM). The company says it will see if such a device makes sense for other areas of their business, including the 29" or even large-format presses.

Also announced at Graph Expo was MAN Roland's new QuickChange productivity option that is said to offer 30% faster makereadies on its next-generation Roland 700s. QuickChange consists of a bundle of integrated makeready enhancements that makes transitions between jobs easier and faster. Seven modules, from Jobs to Wash, can be added to a Roland 700 in any combination desired.

In another technology transfer from larger format presses, MAN Roland's 23×29" Roland 500 has added perfecting using the same technology that has been proven on the 41" Roland 700.

MAN Roland will continue to concentrate on the long perfector market in the 500 series and is looking forward to 8- to 10-color presses next year.

At Graph Expo, Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses introduced and demonstrated a new image-scanning spectrophotometer, a new plastics printing package and a new automated plate-changing system for its 16,000-sph, 28×40" Diamond 3000LX.

The Mitsubishi Color Control System V (MCCS-V), which is also being made available on the Diamond 2000 23×29" models, is a new system for the control of the print color tone by measuring the entire print image. It is an image-scanning spectrophotometer that records all the image data for a print sheet in a single measuring operation. It was designed to overcome the limitations of earlier systems that scanned only color bars.

The MCCS-V consists of a suction board for spreading paper, sensor head, scanner, processing board, touch monitor as a user interface, computer and other devices for controlling and supervising the system. Necessary information is set automatically to the job by the Mitsubishi PressLink and ColorLink systems. The optimum control value of the printing press to a preset target color is displayed on the touch monitor, fed back and controlled in the press as required.

The SimulChanger demonstrated on the Diamond 3000LX at Graph Expo represents Mitsubishi's latest automated plate-changing technology. It targets the time-consuming steps in press makereadies and eliminates individual positioning of each plate cylinder.

SimulChanger incorporates a newly developed simultaneous cylinder phasing system that makes use of the uppermost and lowermost adjustment settings for registration. Plate cylinders at each unit automatically turn and stop at the optimum positions for changing plates, enabling the plates at all units to be changed at the same time.

With the fully automated SimulChanger, a complete plate change on all units is carried out in approximately one minute, regardless of the number of colors involved. Operators load new plates into cassettes while the press is running. Positioning of the cylinder, removal of the old plate, clamping and tensioning are accomplished with the touch of a button at the COMRAC press control console.

The Diamond 3000LX demonstration press in the MLP booth also incorporated a new plastics package for printing on plastics, along with UV coating capabilities and a UV drying system from Grafix LLC.

With the new package of optional features, the Diamond 3000LX is said to avoid the problems of marking, warping and static commonly encountered when printing on plastics and synthetic paper.

ONLINE: www.kba-usa.com, us.heidelberg.com, manroland.com, mlpusa.com, komori.com and sappi.com