Komori Reveals Drupa Plans

LONDON—Although Komori announced several innovations that will be highlighted under its “Five Solutions” banner in Hall 15 at Drupa 2008 next month, the spotlight will shine most brightly on the brand-new Lithrone SX40 (LSX40) sheetfed press platform. During a recent pre-Drupa press event held here, Komori America officials revealed that the LSX40 will become commercially available in January 2009.

Capable of speeds to 18,000 sph and accommodating a 41˝ sheet size, the six-color LSX40 press with coater enables a 50 percent reduction in job changeover times, making it highly efficient for short runs. This is due, in part, to new KHS-AI “advanced intelligence” sheetfed technology, as well as a faster, fully automatic plate changing system that allows six plates to be changed in under two minutes, with non-stop plate removal.

The KHS-AI control system enables the LSX40 to start printing new jobs at 12,000 sph, with less makeready waste. All inking functions, and air and register presets, are controlled with the touch of a button. “Self-learning” capabilities preset the press based on substrate conditions. And a Smart Sequence feature enables users to select, job-by-job, the most appropriate of three pre-programmable, automatic operations for complete press setup.

For enhanced print quality, the feeder, delivery and gripper bars have all been redesigned. The ink fountain has also been refined and a new ink-removing function enhances first-pull quality.

Komori America plans to have an LSX40 installed at its Rolling Meadows, IL, demo center in July.

Among a total of eight Komori offset presses running at Drupa, a six-color Lithrone SX629 will be equipped with in-line foiling, in-line UV coating and in-line embossing. Suited for both packaging and commercial value-added applications, the six-up press—which handles up to a 24x291⁄2˝ sheet size—can also be specified with an in-line diecutting unit.

Further highlighting one-pass productivity, a four-over-four Lithrone S440SP Super Perfector will demonstrate Komori’s new PQA-S Print Quality Assessment System. PQA-S inspects the running sheet in-line through an RGB CCD camera, creating a digital memory. Every subsequent sheet is then automatically compared with the memorized data, identifying any incorrect sheets on the PQA monitor.

In addition, an eight-color Lithrone S840P perfector will be equipped with the new Videoscope monitoring system. This enables real-time simultaneous monitoring of the four foremost critical air zones through which the sheet passes.

Likewise, a five-color version of Komori’s Spica 29P perfector will debut. The fifth unit enables a varnish or special color.

A 16-page 38S heatset web press will be showcased with a high-speed, single chopper folder and, for the first time, with a new Komori flying paster, integrated infeed, web guides and cutoff control. Job changeover is further enhanced with the KHS-AI link, and sequence control allows multiple job changeovers. The PQA-W system monitors quality during makeready and production.

With more than 30 live demonstrations planned for each day during Drupa, “Five Solutions” theaters will focus on the themes of Extra Added Value; One-Pass, High Productivity; On-Demand Changeovers; Flexible Multi-Print; and Preserving the Environment.

Komori believes these five solutions for success will deliver on its message of “Kando”—exceeding customer expectations.