The basic design of the machine features a well-constructed honeycomb vacuum base made of aircraft-grade aluminium
Effortless Cutting
Cutting and creasing used to be a time consuming and labour intensive post-print production process. It is integral for several of the products we require, but the time to produce dies or formes and the need to quite often move the product between different machines for different applications, made the possibility of small batch or prototyping very prohibitive.
As with everything in our industry, time and technology moves on, maybe not in line with Moore’s law used in computing meaning computers double in speed every two years, but certainly to the point that manufacturing equipment we dreamed of having is now readily available.
This is true very much so in post-production equipment where today you can get machinery that not only bundles several processes into one device, and the computer software being able to drive the equipment makes the preparation and processing of even one-off production, commonplace.
So, where does the Titanium 0912 from International Graphic Supplies (IGS) fit in?
IGS is a UK-based supplier of CtP and post-press equipment and is the agent for one of China’s largest manufacturers of cut and crease machines, JWEI. Whilst JWEI may not be a common name in the UK, it certainly is in China where it has built a very strong reputation for equipment.
DecTek is a long-standing customer of IGS. Pictured: DecTek owner Mike Beese with son and employee Harri
Starting in 1993 as the JINGWEI Shoesoft company, within five years the JWEI software and cutter/plotters had established the company with a 90% share of shoe production equipment in China. Over the years that followed, the company branched out adapting the JWEI digital cutting tables for a number of other industries such as automotive interiors, clothing, signage, and quite naturally the graphics industry.
By 2013, the company had expanded to produce its own high-specification integrated circuit controllers that drive the JWEI packaging software and has a vast range of flatbed cutting and creasing machinery which is cable of coping with almost anything you could consider.
Simultaneous Operations
We have chosen to take a look at the Titanium 0912 because it is the latest of eight Titanium products that IGS can supply. It is a B1 cutting and creasing device which is manufactured by JWEI consisting of a cutting head grouping a series of cutters and creasing heads for a large number of finishing operations in one pass.
The basic design of the machine is as would be expected for a device of this nature, a well-constructed honeycomb vacuum base made of aircraft-grade aluminium. A series of holes providing four vacuum zones each independently controlled by a strong suction system ensure even the heaviest or lightest materials are secured firmly, vital for keeping the cutting accuracy to the claimed +/-0.1mm.
As would be expected, the key ability to complete the desired tasks on the machine has its success based in the design of the over arch carrying the cutting head itself. The IGS Titanium 0912 has a solid frame carrying a series of linear bearings allowing the cutting head to move effortlessly from side to side, positioning the required cutter in the same place every time.
The drive itself is of a synchronous belt design which means there is no opportunity for the head to be mis-positioned and the belts themselves are driven by accurate servo drivers which are needed for both the acceleration and speed of 1,500mm/sec traversing and 1,200mm/sec cutting.
There are four tools in the cutting head itself: an electric oscillating tool, creasing wheel, and press and cut, and passive cutting tools. Each with a specific purpose and task, this combination of tools can be supplemented by optional tools such as a dual V-Cut tool and press cutting tooling. Each of the individual tools provide a wide scope of materials and operations, be that kiss cut, perforation, full cut, or crease. The combination of standard or optional tools will be able to provide any process considered.
A series of linear bearings allow the cutting head to move effortlessly from side to side
Feeding and delivering the substrate is for any engineer one of the most trying of the design concepts to get right. It seems straight forward but a B1 sheet of paper or board can be quite a handful to manage.
The IGS Titanium 0912 completes this task extremely well, it can hold up to 100 sheets in the feeder and collects and transports each individual sheet by means of a series of suction cups integrated into the over arch itself, firmly gripping the substrate and placing it onto the bed.
One of many clever elements of the machine is the fact you can collect a combination of sheets in one go, meaning you can maximise the production of the machine by programming a number of different jobs nested into one pass. For instance, a B1 machine is not dedicated to this format, it can easily handle three B3 sheets at the same time, each with a different profile on them.
Software In The Driving Seat
One of the key factors of the Titanium 0912 positioning itself at the forefront of this market is a lot to do with its heritage. Recall the foundation of the company was the software package that allowed for the accurate and productive method of using unique software to profile patterns for shoemaking.
30 years later, this software, after undergoing many developments as any product does, is now providing the graphics industry with a one-stop shop for being able to produce almost any shape, profile, carton, or three-dimensional shape you require.
The JWSPS packaging software from JWEI allows you to draw from over 1,000 templates in a library and adapt and amend them to suit the product you are trying to produce. It integrates the tooling needed for each operation, you can mock up the finished product in any shape, form, and colour, and iron out any issues prior to even sending the job to the machine.
JWSPS packaging software provides a completely integrated planning and product solution from a library of over 1,000 templates”
Registration marks are set onto the sheet making the positioning and economic use of substrates almost automatic with the preparation of the job. The software uses a QR code to store all the information prepared in the planning of the job such as a camera on the cutting head which picks up the data and off it goes. Minutes later you have the desired product in your hand.
With multiple jobs on the table, each of the separate QR codes provide the cutting head with all that is needed meaning it not only goes between each of the four possible processes simultaneously it also does the same across one or more sheets at the same time.
The Titanium 0912 may not be an obvious name when you consider this type of machine, but the combination of hardware and software from the Chinese giant means it will become a contender.
Statistics
- Maximum sheet size: 900 x 1,200mm
- Minimum sheet size: 210 x 297mm
- Maximum table load: 400kg
- Maximum cutting speed: 1,200mm/sec
- Maximum cutting thickness: 6mm
- Cut precision: +/-0.1mm
Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu
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