A Century of Edgy Trimming

Gang-run work is seeing resurgent popularity with automated systems simplifying the planning for optimizing imposition. Web-to-print schemes especially drive placement of mixed shapes and sizes, and lots more individual projects, all on the same page.

This increases the complexity of planning projects to move through the guillotine cutter. Polar-Mohr, which celebrates its centennial this year, has been developing solutions over 10 decades that automate complex cutting work.

At Graph Expo the Polar System 6 with 137 XT Autotrim was demonstrated at Heidelberg's booth, along with the innovative Air Knife—a hollow-core blade (illustrated below) through which air can be pushed to help in cutting plastic film and statically charged paper with trim outs. Compressed air is blown through holes in the knife when cutting. The volume of this compressed air can be regulated, creating an air film in between knife and the cutting material. Due to the static load the material tends to stick to the knife. By turning on the blower, the trimouts are driven away from the cutting area. Conventional materials can be cut with the system, simply by turning off the air.

The new 137 XT high-speed 54´´ cutter earns its “X” designation from the Roman numeral for 10; this is the tenth generation of Polar high-speed cutters since 1947. The letter “T” represents the integrated touch screen.

Also shown here is Polar's Transomat Loading model BL, which separates and transfers material as high as the cutter's full clamp opening to the front table. The optional Gripper Transport system positions the material directly onto the rear table of the high-speed cutter. This requires that the high-speed cutter be equipped with an optional retractable side gauge. The ream height is infinitely adjustable with all Transomat models.

Another innovative offering from POLAR is its interactive training program, now online in English for the first time. The program is composed of four lessons and gives the reader a quick and profound basic knowledge of the setup and operation of Polar high-speed cutters. Optional equipment, networking possibilities and the relevant peripheral units are illustrated and explained. Users can prove their know-how and try to program high-speed cutters or determine the proper cutting sequences in several exercises. You can access the interactive training program via the Polar website at www.polar-mohr.com

Founded in 1906 as the “Adolf Mohr Maschinenfabrik” supplying the wood processing industry, Polar centennial cutters are marked with a “100 Years” logo to identify the anniversary machines. Heidelberg distributes Polar cutters in the U.S., and over 20,000, ranging from 26´´ to 69´´ widths, have been placed in the North American market alone. www.us.heidelberg.com