Product category:
Printing Presses Ancillary Equipment
News Release from: Baldwin Technology Company Inc | Subject: Litho Spray Maxima spray dampening system
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 February 2008
Spray Dampening Helps Achieve Consistent
Colour
The need for consistent 48pp four-colour printing prompted German newspaper Donaukurier to install a Baldwin Litho Spray Maxima spray dampening system and blanket washer on its KBA Colora press.
The press, designed for Berlin format (315 x 470 mm), has three four-high units and four reelstands It is used to print the Donaukurier, which appears with eight sub-editions throughout the week except on Sundays, and weekly freesheets on behalf of a separate publisher within the group
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 18 Oct 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Donaukurier also achieved a reduction in waste, as the Baldwin equipment maintains a constant pressure and alters the spraying frequency, as well as an accurately controlled amount of dampening solution to the plate, combined with a quick reaction to changes in settings.
Each Litho Spray Maxima spray bar is fitted with eight nozzles and operation is maintained by Baldwin's Constant C technology, which is claimed to prevent nozzle blocking.
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Uwe Lehmann, technical director of Donaukurier Verlagsgesellschaft, said: "The Baldwin spray dampening system has given us a clear edge when it comes to achieving the right ink and water balance, reducing fan-out and eliminating make-ready waste." His decision to purchase the Baldwin blanket washer was based on his experience with equipment on the company's previous web press, as well as on impressions gathered from visits to print shops that were using a more recent version of the equipment.
One of the biggest attractions was the space saving wash bar with one for two cleaning units installed in the machine's three four-high towers.
The rubber blankets on two blanket cylinders are simultaneously cleaned by a single unit with a large brush, which has a diameter of 110mm, so that there are four of the 'one for two' cleaning units in each four-high unit.
Lehmann explained: "These units are an immense advantage because the blanket cylinders are readily accessible and the wash bars can be quickly and easily removed if necessary.
Along with the new washing programs, the equipment has contributed to cutting washing agent consumption.
Compared to the old machine's configuration with individual units, our requirement for cleaning agent is 25 per cent less." According to Baldwin, Donaukurier cleans its blankets at the end of every print job.
To reduce paper waste to a minimum, the blankets are washed at web-up speed, so that each wash-up only takes around 500 cylinder revolutions, or just under four minutes.
Since the run lengths of the various newspaper and freesheet editions are not phigh, production washing is only necessary with large contracts.
"The Baldwin blanket washer has helped us cut waste by 3.5 per cent.
What's more, the system's cleaning quality easily beats that of any other system we've come across," added Lehmann.
The blanket washer's control system is fully integrated in the EAE press control system and shares the same user interface, which means the blanket washer is convenient to use, said Baldwin.
Although programs are available for different washing modes and mixing ratios of water to cleaning agent, printers at Donaukurier usually keep to a small number of fixed automatic variants.
During use, the brush roller in each cleaning unit is sprayed with an emulsion of metered cleaning agent and water according to the program.
Any paper or ink residues on the blankets are dissolved by the liquid and removed by the rotating brush.
The residues are scraped off the brush by a doctor blade and collected with the dirty cleaning liquid in a trough incorporated in the cleaning unit, which is finally drained off to a central point for disposal, added Baldwin.
The printers operating the KBA Colora at Donaukurier are said to be impressed by the blanket cleaning system's operating principle and minimal maintenance, as well as the fact that the cleaning units do not continually need replenishing with consumables.
Uwe Lehmann commented: "The Baldwin system is exactly the kind of blanket washer we were seeking for our newspaper printing - simple, efficient, robust and reliable.".
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