Sophisticated machines, dedicated project
planning and a fast start-up as well as a convincing service &
support have tipped the scales for many customers to choose RIMA-SYSTEM
in 2007. Here are just
a few examples:
Autobond’s Mini Digital 36 TP has become the UK and
Ireland’s leading
sheet-fed laminator for the digital print market, where printers
increasingly want to improve the image quality and durability of the
final printed product. Visitors to Autobond’s stand during
DPW will be
able to see demonstrations of the Mini Digital 36 TP, which is capable
of laminating gloss film on the top and magnetic material on to the
bottom of an SRA3 sheet.
“Digitally produced magnet business cards and promotional
fridge
magnets are huge business in the United States and Australia, but not
yet in the UK,” says managing director John Gilmore.
“However, we
expect this to become a popular, and profitable, sector for anyone in
the UK with an HP Indigo or a Xerox iGen3 and an Autobond Mini Digital
36 TP.
“Digital printers generally target sectors of the market
where they can
best utilise the fast turnaround provided by their output equipment. To
maintain this advantage they need finishing equipment that is fast and
economical to make-ready. The level of automation on our laminators,
combined with features such as quick release airshafts for fast
changing of film rolls, means that make-ready is less than five minutes
and requires only two sheets.
“This makes Autobond laminators cost effective at short runs,
while the
high throughput also means that long runs can be handled efficiently.
The degree of automation has made the laminators so straightforward to
operate that we can normally train someone within a day to use one and
the machines are generally in production a few days after they are
delivered,” says Mr Gilmore.
Quality is an important issue. As digital output technology now allows
high quality four-colour print, any finishing done to that job has to
be of a similar standard, whether this is binding, booklet making or
laminating. In the case of the latter the biggest hurdle had been the
problem of successfully laying down film on top of the different inks,
particularly toner-based ones, which are used on digital presses. In
addition, print coming out of most digital presses is often low in
moisture and high in static, making sheets difficult to separate and
feed.
The Mini Digital 36 TP creates nine tonnes of pressure in the nip
rollers and, combined with the ability to heat the adhesive to 140 deg
Celsius, overcomes the traditional problems associated with laminating
digital print, ensuring good adhesion between the film and the sheet.
This level of quality lamination has made the Mini Digital 36 TP
popular with printers operating a host of different digital output
technologies, including equipment from Canon, Xerox and HP Indigo.
The Mini Digital 36 TP can laminate stock one or two sides in one pass,
at up to 36 x 57 cm in size and speeds of 30 metres per minute, which
equates to 4,500 SRA3 sheets an hour. The footprint is only 2.2 x 1.1
metres, yet the Mini Digital 36 TP benefits from all of the features of
the larger Autobond machines, such as the 30 mm thick steel side plates
and 250 mm diameter laminating rollers.
The laminator can apply matt or gloss OPP and acetate film on to stock
ranging from 90 to 650 gsm. Features include Siemens electronics and a
touch screen control panel, PLC and inverter drives, a digital sheet
counter, adjustable anti-curl bar, pneumatically adjustable in-feed nip
rollers and a pneumatic air clutch to provide a constant tension
between the laminator and the sheeter. The Siemens electronics has
allowed Autobond to include remote diagnostics facilities.
Autobond’s Mini series has become its best selling range.
This includes
a laminator with a maximum sheet size of 52 cm x 105 cm that is
designed to economically handle digitally printed work from Xeikon
equipment and also work that is printed on B2 size litho presses.
 Visit AUTOBOND
Website
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