What’s New in the Bindery?

Though digital printing equipment made the biggest splash at the On Demand Conference and Exposition in March, the Washington, D.C. show was chock full of bindery equipment too. IPG visited all of the major bindery vendors. Here's a look at what we saw.

Duplo USA had its new DFS-3500 near-line Bookletmaking System on display. It was developed to completely finish full-bleed booklets in a single pass. Ideal for short-run applications, it incorporates the DBM-350/T mid-range booklet maker and trimmer in-line with a DC-445 creaser, combining slitting and creasing features with the stitch, fold and trim features of the DBM-350 Bookletmaking System. With multiple functions in one system, the need for a separate guillotine cutter and a separate creasing machine are eliminated.

GBC previewed its 6020os one-sided laminating system. Running up to 90 feet a minute, it is operator controlled from one side with a built-in feeder and separator. It requires just 26.5 square feet of floor space and has a synchronized sheet separator for continuos production and an adjustable stacking table. GBC also demonstrated a GBC Titan 1244 WF44 laminator, to laminate and mount inkjet output up to 43˝ wide and 1⁄2˝ thick. It was working in combination with a Canon imagePROGRAF printer. Elsewhere, GBC introduced the 620os automatic feeder for its 620os laminator, to increase production efficiency.

Graphic Whizard's CreaseMaster Platinum got a lot of attention at the show. Able to crease 8,000 (8.5x11˝) sheet per hour, it features digital touch screen controls, programmable job memory, self centering air feed, batch counting and lets users shift crease position on the fly.

James Burn USA and Spiral Binding Co. showed off the new Koilmatic tabletop electric automatic coil inserter. An LCD screen guides the operator through setup and operation, and it requires no tools for basic setup and changeover. Foot pedal actuated, the Koilmatic provides consistent, simultaneous crimping on both coil ends, and it has onboard electronic diagnostic capabilities. The Koilmatic comes with 13 spine formers and will bind up to 450 books per hour. It handles book thickness ranging from 1⁄8˝ to 5⁄8˝.

MBM unveiled its Aerocut air feed card cutter/creaser/perforator. Its suction feed system is ideal for glossy, coated, UV-coated and laminated stocks. With a touch screen digital control panel for easy setup and adjustment, 96 preset cutting modes and 50 custom programs that can be stored in its memory, the Aerocut features a perforating attachment, self-sharpening blades and a self-correcting cut mark function to ensure accurate cuts.

MGI showed the DF360 5-in-1 digital paper finisher, which handles not only lamination but cutting, slitting, creasing and scoring. The expanded sheet size (up to 14x29˝) accommodates longer sheet lengths, ideal for panoramic photos, book covers with flaps, signage, quad-fold brochures, pull-out maps and other applications. This air-feed system can handle up to 40 pages/minute.

Running at speeds of 6,000 sheets per hour, with a maximum sheet size of 27.5x15˝, the Morgana DigiFold Pro automatic creasing/folding machine drew a lot of attention at On Demand from in-plants tired of seeing the folds crack on their digitally printed pieces. It is controlled by a 7˝ SmartScreen panel, like the rest of the Pro series. The DigiFold Pro handles stock up to 150 lb. cover, including laminated material.

Nordson previewed its mini PUR melter system, which will officially debut at Graph Expo. It reportedly makes hot melt polyurethane (PUR) adhesive use simple and more cost effective for the small, low-volume user. It is a complete PUR application system, including a melter, hose, gun, nozzle and inlet for nitrogen or other inert gas. The grid-based tank handles economical 2 kg. slugs. The grid melter processes all the adhesive, leaving no residual waste. A nitrogen blanket allows adhesive to remain in the tank for days without losing bonding integrity.

Pitney Bowes showcased a number of solutions, including PlanetPress and PB FIRST software. They offer integrated print-to-mail solutions to provide document composition, variable data printing and postal savings. Users can add specific variable data, including conditional text, graphs and images to documents. Pitney Bowes also had a Riso ComColor 9050 inkjet printer on hand, as part of its collaboration with Riso. Pitney Bowes was previewing a friction feeder for the 9050 to feed envelopes.

Rollem International showed the 2D Finisher, which performs automated slitting, scoring and perforating, individually or simultaneously. In-plants can finish multiple-up card products, flyers and brochures on this bi-directional system while eliminating the need for guillotine cutting. Job changeover is reportedly simple. Rollem also showed the Mini-Mailstream, which converts multiple-up mailing pieces from press sheets to finished mailers, using hot, cold or fugitive glue.

Spiel Associates featured the Sterling Digibinder, which can automatically bind up to 360 books per hour. It handles a maximum book length of 121⁄2˝ and thickness of 2˝ per book. Book thickness is self-adjusting. Place the book in the clamp and the machine takes it from there; clamp thickness is set automatically. The blade roughs the entire backbone of the book and notches the spine. Twin glue rollers then apply an even glue application and the nipper adjusts automatically.