Duplo’s iSaddle Duetto
Digital Printer’s Finishing Special continues with a series detailing the latest product developments across different post-press technology areas.
Duplo
At the time of writing, everything for Duplo points towards its London Calling event, due to take place as Digital Printer goes to press. A number of new bookletmaking and stitching products are due to be shown at the event.
Prominent will be the iSaddle, which Duplo says can handle both digital and litho output with the same configuration, due to its AMS (air management system) on the feeder. The company has high hopes for the product, and at London Calling it will show the Duplo iSaddle Duetto System, one of three new iSaddle systems; the fully automatic stitching system offers ‘intelligent automated precision’ combined with PC controlled technology. It combines the advantages of flatter publications from the old-generation saddle stitchers with the automation of modern bookletmakers, alongside additional capabilities such as A4 landscape, Duplo said.
Duplo is also launching the DC-616PRO and the DC-646 multi-finishers, and an optional integrated folding system for the DC-646. The DC-616 is an all-in-one solution for finishing standard short run jobs such as greeting cards, invitations, menus and 24-up business cards. It is able to slit, cut, crease and perforate. The DC-646 is the latest variation of the DC-646PRO launched at Ipex, replacing the DC-645i.
Watkiss Automation
Developers of the Square Back concept, Watkiss has the top of the range PowerSquare, the mid-range BookMaster Pro, which has just been extended to handle a book 30 sheets thick (of 80 gsm) from the previous 22 sheets, utilising the Square Back finish provided by a SpineMaster unit positioned after trimming.
It also has a new product on offer for the smaller printer – the Superfax SF-500EU. This is a hand-fed, table top machine with integrated Square Back finishing, which does a maximum of 300 square back books per hour. For the first time it makes Square Back finishing available at entry level. Watkiss has licenced its technology patents to SuperFax in Germany to allow this development to be made. Watkiss is selling the device at a price of £3500.
A further entry level bookletmaker, this time without Square Back finishing, is the Mamo Cuce, which sells for about £2000.
SuperFax has used Watkiss’s SquareBack technology to produce an entry level bookletmaker with Square Back finish – the SF-500EU.
IFS
Late last year, Horizon brought in a new digital sheet feeder, the HOF-400, which IFS says is proving to be popular. It is a high pile feeder, with an optional suction cover feeder for heavy covers or laminated covers. It can be used with either Horizon bookletmakers or with the StitchLiner saddle stitcher with 3-knife trim. It can also be combined with a VAC collator to produce hybrid saddle stitched booklets of litho sheets merged with digital sheets. IFS said it has two such installations in the UK already.
The company added that barcode verification with digital sheet feeders is becoming increasingly popular, enabling the processing of variable data while maintaining integrity. This means that many errors can be picked up before they turn into a finished, stitched book.
Morgana
Debuted at the US show Graph Expo in October, Morgana’s high capacity dual bin feeder, the AF602, is included in the latest version of its System AF2000S bookletmaker. The AF602 has a capacity of up to 21 inches, making it capable of long, uninterrupted production runs. Pre-collated sets can be placed into both bins, or covers (even when coated or laminated) can be placed into one bin when they need to be merged with collated sets. The ‘unique’ air assisted feeding unit gives reliable, consistent feeding of digitally printed media.
The bookletmaker can be supplied with heavy-duty stitching heads for up to 50,000 stitches from one wire spool, or with stapling heads that can be loaded with 5000-staple cassettes. A fore-edge trimmer comes as standard, while Morgana’s Squarefold can be added to produce squared spine flat books.
IBIS
The latest developments from IBIS for its Smart-binder are the SBS-100 Sheet buffer module, and the ASA-100 Automatic Stitch Adjustment Option, both of which are targeted towards being able to produce dynamically varying saddle-stitched books or booklets in-line with a high speed continuous feed printer.
ASA-100 varies stitch wire length, pressure and leg balance to enable the number of pages in each booklet to be continually varied between eight and 200 pages. The sheet buffer module, however, has additional broad reaching benefits, including allowing the saddle stitcher to stop for up to two minutes without having to stop the printer.
Smyth
Italian manufacturer Smyth (sold in the UK by Perfect Bindery Solutions) has recently introduced an on demand short run booklet making system which enables flat sheets from a digital press to be folded and stitched into booklets. The systems can also be fitted to a Smyth digital sewing line, thus enabling thread sewing and saddle stitching in one machine.
