21st Century Printing Workshop

Although web offset presses are more efficient and productive than ever before, the pursuit of technology is never-ending. In the coming years, some emerging technologies will also be used for the operation of rotary offset presses. Maintenance has a huge impact.

Today's equipment manufacturers have used multiple AC servo motor drives in the manufacture of rotary machines, and digital timing through fiber optic technology, and some highly complex automation features will become standard components, such as closed-loop color controllers. Thermoset printer dryers are nearing perfection due to the superior performance of a high-efficiency thermal radiation control system. It is now also possible to remotely monitor the electronic systems of the press and maintain it anywhere in the world, significantly reducing maintenance costs.

In addition, there are some very promising technologies in the R&D phase that will be introduced to the market in the near future, such as electrostatic-assisted drying and single-fluid ink-single ink (SFI).

High-end commercial web presses are moving in the direction of automation, which can reduce the amount of prepress preparation time and reduce the training time for employees who operate new machines. The main technologies include automatic plate change, automatic positioning, automatic blanket cleaning, automatic roller installation, and automatic replacement of print folding operations. All of these technologies can make web offset printing more efficient, and the market competitiveness will greatly exceed that of single sheets. Offset capabilities. The development of these technologies is also designed to accommodate the production of shorter, shorter, higher-quality, short-lived color prints, which can save significant costs.

Although automatic positioning and automatic blanket cleaning have become commonplace in web offset printing in recent years, semi-automatic and fully automatic plate changing devices are less common. Over time, this feature will be used on commercial rotary machines of various sizes. Become a standard component. For example, the large 64-page (P) Heidelberg Sunday4000 was equipped with a fully automatic plate changer, and the manufacturer even claimed that it took only 3 minutes to replace the eight plates. Lithoman of Manroland, of the same size, has a semi-automatic plate change function, which is a device that raises the plate to help process a 79-inch-wide plate. Komori's System 20 (narrow-width) and 38 (full-width roller) machines are equipped with automatic loading technology. The same technology is also reflected in the highly automated Mitsubishi Diamond BTS.