Windmöller & Hölscher has supplied its first Heliostar G range gravure press designed for use with hollow cylinders. The Heliostar GH model is now on stream at O Kleiner, in Wohlen, Switzerland.
“We’ve already got a hollow cylinder gravure press and wanted to be able to use the existing cylinders for future printing jobs,” says Martin Kleiner, managing director.
For fast and easy job change-over, the press installed at O Kleiner is equipped with the Ecoplus automated job change system. This uses a special lifting mechanism to load the hollow printing cylinders, either with or without the ink pan, into the machine - after having removed the previously used complete cylinder/pan assembly or only the gravure cylinder from the press. Coupling of the hollow cylinders to the direct drives is accomplished at the push of a button without using any tools. The patented RSP (Register Scan Preset) system laser scans the exact position of the individual cylinders and automatically pre-registers them.
As a result, job change times and start-up waste are notably reduced, according to W&H. The ability to change the impression rollers through the side frames while maintaining web tension is another feature contributing to short makeready times. It allows impression rollers on the print stations not involved in the current job to be changed while the press is running.
The Heliostar GH can print repeat lengths from 450-900mm and handle printing widths up to 1,000mm. For reverse side printing or application of various lacquers, a web turning station is incorporated between print stations 8 and 9. Stations 1 and 10 are each fitted with double hood dryers.
“Superb print quality” is said to result from the automatically positioned Preset doctor blade and patented inking systems. Ease of operation is facilitated by the decentralized control system with a separate touchscreen monitor on each print station, permitting production parameters to be entered and retrieved locally.
In addition to the GH hollow cylinder version with Ecoplus, the Heliostar G is available with shafted cylinders and slide-in cart technology.
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