Offset Printing
Baldwin Demonstrates Global Leadership As A Manufacturer Of Press Controls And Accessories
Friday 11. April 2008 - Baldwin will celebrate its 90th anniversary at drupa by showing a range of innovative press accessory and control technologies.
Baldwin Technology Company, Inc., a leading worldwide manufacturer of press controls and accessories, will be setting some innovative trends at drupa, where it will be presenting its current extensive product portfolio as well as new technical developments. These will include systems for the sheet-fed, commercial-web, newspaper and semi-commercial sectors. A wide range of Baldwin equipment can also be seen in operation on many key press manufacturers stands throughout the exhibition. Baldwins systems lead the industry in their ability to improve print quality, plus press productivity and efficiency, while ensuring they have the least impact possible on the environment and supporting the sustainability efforts of the graphic arts industry.
Baldwin was founded in 1918 on Long Island, USA and drupa offers the ideal opportunity to celebrate 90 years of providing industry-leading technology in which constant innovation has resulted in several highlights. These include benchmarks at the end of the 1960s with the introduction of dampening solution preparation technologies and in 1976, when the company established, with great success, automatic offset blanket cleaning systems for the sheet-fed market. A few years later, Baldwin launched the first automatic blanket cleaning systems for commercial web and newspaper applications. Further milestones include the formation of subsidiaries in Japan (1968) and Germany (1971).
Cleaning Systems
Today, Baldwin offers the largest selection of press cleaning systems, with products for offset blankets and printing cylinders as well as for guide, ink and chill rollers. Baldwins automatic blanket cleaning products are based on more than 30 years of experience of designing, building and installing systems, which has resulted in it having the largest customer base in this area. The company will be presenting further significant developments at drupa, which will offer even greater reductions in spoilage, VOC emission and use of materials.
Even within one specific technology, such as automatic blanket cleaning, Baldwin offers several options to the end user eg Impact Flex, which utilises dry or pre-impregnated cloth, ProTech, which uses ground-breaking brush cleaning technology or TowerClean, which is an inexpensive automatic blanket cleaning system offering a very fast return on investment. Products such as Jetstream, which removes dust from the paper web before it enters the first printing unit, are also becoming popular. With such a choice, customers have the option to best match their press, budget and work requirements.
New ImpactFusion-F for all printing segments
New levels of washing time and reductions in waste and consumables are just some of the features offered by Baldwins new ImpactFusion-F automatic blanket cleaning system, which has been introduced into the commercial web market and is now being released to the newspaper and semi-commercial sectors. The unique ImpactFusion-F system gives the user the choice between using a dry cloth with cleaning agent or PREPAC, which is pre-impregnated with an environmentally friendly, virtually VOC-free cleaning agent.
New ProTech 2 NP
ProTech, which uses brush technology to automatically clean blankets, has been established for many years within the commercial web, newspaper and semi-commercial markets. Baldwins brush cleaning series has been extended with the launch of the ProTech 2 NP system for newspaper and semi-commercial printers. Baldwin reports that the first practical tests with the ProTech 2 NP system have produced very impressive results.
Baldwins Tower Clean system for newspaper and semi-commercial, single-width newspaper and coldset web offset presses, is an inexpensive modular cleaning solution. Tower Clean operates by applying a low-VOC washing agent to the paper and then using the web to clean the blanket.
Jetstream is a revolutionary system for contact-less removal of dust, fibres and debris from the web before it enters the first printing unit. Aimed at the newspaper, semi-commercial and commercial-web sectors, Jetstream incorporates specially developed aerodynamic and suction technology. When used in combination with a Baldwin automatic blanket cleaning system, Jetstream enables previously unobtainable levels of blanket washing effectiveness.
New Ink Roller Cleaning
In a further new development, Baldwin will be presenting an ink roller cleaning system – InkRollerClean – at drupa. This new system allows simultaneous cleaning of all ink units on a press, combined with minimum consumption of cleaning fluids.
Fluid and Temperature Systems – dampening solution preparation and filtration with sustainability
Baldwins latest fluid and temperature control systems mirror the trend of creating printed material while achieving sustainability of resources. Baldwins product range includes options for all market segments, performance and capacity requirements, including solutions for reducing or eliminating alcohol.
New CombiLiner ECO
The CombiLiner ECO, a new version of the patented device for ink temperature control and dampening solution preparation for sheet-fed and commercial web presses, incorporates a sophisticated heat exchange concept that offers a significant reduction in energy consumption and costs.
Other new dampening solution preparation and recycling products to be shown at drupa include a redesigned BasicLiner, which offers ergonomic and cost efficiency improvements. The highly successful BasicLiner series includes models to cover all sheet-fed requirements. All of Baldwins filtration solutions are designed to achieve savings on dampening solution additives, alcohol and energy. The Performance filtration system for the sheet-fed and commercial web markets is based on a strategic partnership with manufacturer Falk. The Performance system removes dirt from the dampening solution while ensuring the additive, alcohol or alcohol substitute percentages remain unchanged.
Spray Dampening Technology – more attractive to the commercial web market
Baldwins Litho Spray Maxima is a multi-faceted spray dampening system that was developed for high performance applications in the newspaper and semi-commercial sectors, as well as for use with commercial web presses. Baldwin leads the industry in spray nozzles, valves and control technology, which ensure optimized control of print quality during press start-up and normal daily production but also during long periods of high press speeds. Litho Spray Maxima is fitted with Baldwins patented Constant C technology, which eliminates blocking of spray nozzles by ink mist and dust.
New WebCatcher S14
In the area of web protection, Baldwin offers reliable web separation and clamping devices under the product name ProTect and these include the new WebCatcher S14 and the WebCatcher S18 for use in the commercial web, newspaper and semi commercial area. The new WebCatcher S14 will prevent press damage from a web break at speeds of up to 14 m/s and the WebCatcher S18 for web speeds of up to 18 m/s. Customer options for the WebCatcher series include the stripe wrap-up recognition system DSWP and the automatically adjustable Airknife A³.
In-line Finishing Systems
Baldwins in-line finishing systems for commercial web applications include the newly developed WebSiliconer. This silicone application device avoids smearing of printing ink on the presss guide rollers and puts a controlled amount of moisture back into the paper web after heatset drying. Visitors to the companys drupa stand will be able to hear about WebTack, a highly precise longitudinal gluing system that applies glue in contact with the paper web. Features include a high degree of control, fast make-ready and low maintenance.
Drying Systems for Sheet-fed applications
Baldwins drying systems include the Graphiset GS 4. Designed for sheet-fed presses, the combined IR and hot air dryer is a highly economic unit, particularly suited for demanding production applications requiring in-line dispersion. Baldwin has more than 35 years experience in the development and manufacture of IR and combination dryers and offers a range of options including systems for presses with low and high-pile delivery units.
New PREPAC E, Plus and Extreme Cleaning Consumables
Baldwin will introduce exciting new additions to its award-winning, environmentally efficient line of PREPAC consumables for automatic cleaning systems. With the drupa release of PREPAC E, Plus and Extreme technologies, Baldwin can now offer both high performance PREPAC solutions for hybrid, UV and textured cylinder applications as well as significantly improved cost-effective PREPAC cleaning for traditional newspaper, commercial web and sheet-fed printing applications.
Service Solutions
In todays demanding market, printers have to achieve maximum productivity and reliability from equipment and Baldwins Service Solutions will be another talking point at drupa. Baldwin uses a highly efficient global service organisation to provide technical support around the world to customers. Individually tailored service packages can incorporate retrofits and system optimisation, after-sales support, spare parts etc can be created according to the needs of the printer. Preventive measures can also be added into the package. Baldwin is also offering special retrofit upgrades so that customers can maintain their systems at optimum efficiency, while its consulting and training services ensures the user obtains maximum benefits from Baldwin equipment.