C.P. Bourg Announces Next-Generation Perfect Binder for Automated in-Line Production of Digitally Printed Books
Drupa; Messe Dusseldorf Germany - C.P. Bourg, the company that pioneered in-line digital binding and finishing, today announced that it has developed and will begin shipping by year-end a next-generation, fully automated perfect binder designed to operate in-line with any of a variety of digital printing presses and production finishing configurations. The new in-line binder is being demonstrated on the C.P. Bourg stand, at 13B69.
This advanced in-line perfect binding system, simply called the Bourg BB3202, draws on C.P. Bourg's many years of experience with the company's highly successful perfect binders for on-demand production of digitally-printed books. These are the groundbreaking Bourg BB2005, introduced in 1995 as the world's first in-line perfect binder and for which the company received a prestigious GATF (now PIA) InterTech Technology Award in 1996, and the equally innovative off-line Bourg BB3002 Perfect Binder introduced in 2003.
Both of these predecessor binders are used today in thousands of customer installations around the world, and each will continue to be sold by C.P. Bourg and its worldwide network of dealers.
The new Bourg BB3202 builds on the best of both designs to produce perfect-bound volumes - from monochrome handbooks and manuals to full-color catalogs, family genealogies and personal photo books - at a peak rate of 350 books per hour, depending on printer speed, from digitally-printed content and covers. Final dimensions of books produced by the Bourg BB3202 range from 100 x 100 mm (3.94 x 3.94 in) up to a maximum 385 mm x 320 (15.15 x 12.6 in), and in thickness from 1 to 60 mm (0.04 to 2.36 in) - the largest of any in-line binder currently available.
Like the BB3002 on which it is based, the new BB3202 binder automatically adapts to the thickness of each job to process each book most productively, and sets jogging, power milling and notching, gluing, scoring and suction cover-feeding under program control. A three-cylinder glue tank takes advantage of BB3202 power milling and notching to penetrate glue between sheets, apply the desired quantity along the spine, and ensure perfect glue distribution.
The BB3202 can also make 13 positive or negative high-quality creases utilizing a knife-creasing technology that offers superior results and greater flexibility compared to conventional wheel-scoring, including the ability to create winged book jackets.
A proven barcode system is available as an option for any BB3202 configuration. The barcode system incorporates both book content and cover sensors to ensure accurate cover-to-content matching. Job integrity check and automatic communication with CMT trimmers makes it possible to track books through binding and trimming and to track production statistics to improve workflow efficiency.
"Digitally printed books can be unique and produced almost instantly on-demand -- giving rise to the term 'book run of one' and making it possible, for example, to print photo books for different customers one after the other," says James Tressler, Director of Marketing and Branch Operations, C.P. Bourg Inc.
"Although the BB3202 is a single-clamp binder, in a complex and fast-paced digital printing environment it offers a level of productivity and process integrity that can exceed operator-controlled multi-clamp binders, to bind more books in a given amount of time while preventing costly errors," he adds.
Configuration Flexibility
The BB3202 can be configured to operate in-line with a digital press directly or through various optional C.P. Bourg production modules, or with a Bourg Sheet Feeder for near-line/off-line automated production.
Optional modules compatible with the BB3202 include the CEM DocuConverter for cutting full-size printed output into smaller sheets, and the Bourg BPRF Perforating Rotating Folder which perforates, rotates and folds sheets into nested signatures.
In addition, a BB3202 in any configuration can be operated as a operator-controlled offline BB3002 perfect binder. In this way, short-run jobs can be produced to satisfy immediate production needs without interrupting in-line job setups, or to accommodate book blocks produced from other workflows.
During off-line operation, any custom adjustments for jogging, milling, gluing, scoring and suction cover-feeding can be easily selected from a list of menu options on an operator-friendly touchscreen graphical user interface. In all modes, the binder adapts to the thickness of each job, enabling highly productive, automatic operation.
Whether operating in-line or near-line/off-line, the BB3202 can send the bound books to a reception module for manual removal and trimming off-line, or to a CMT-330 or CMT-130 Trimmer for automatic three-sided trimming.
BB3202 Demonstrated at drupa 2012
Here at drupa 2012 on the C.P. Bourg stand, at 13B69, a BB3202 is connected in-line to a Xerox iGen press and a Bourg BSFx Sheet Feeder in a demonstration of super-efficient in-line book manufacturing. In the demonstration, 26-inch (660 mm) sheets printed 6-up double-sided by the Xerox iGen pass through the dual-mode Bourg BSFx Sheet Feeder bypass to a CEM DocuConverter and Bourg BPRF Perforating Rotating Folder.
The 26-inch sheets are cross-cut by the CEM, and perforated, rotated and folded by the Bourg BPRF into three A5 nested signatures sent to the BB3202. When the last signature is accumulated, the BB3202 measures the spine and binds the book according to pre-set instructions for jogging, milling, gluing and cover application. The bound book is then sent to a Challenge CMT-330 trimmer for three-sided trimming.
Yes, there's an app for that...
Also at Drupa, C.P. Bourg is demonstrating at its stand 13 B 69 new technology that allows an operator with a wireless computer or smart phone to monitor and control the operation of Bourg BSF Sheet Feeders, BME Booklet Makers and new BB3202 automatic perfect binders from anywhere within the reach of a secure wireless local area network (WiFi) connection.
Thought to be the first "app" developed to operate print finishing products remotely through mobile devices, the technology demonstration will feature how an Apple iPad connected by WiFi to various C.P. Bourg finishers can be used to view the finishers' GUIs and change operating parameters, enable diagnostics, or track performance statistics while walking around the booth.
"Although the Bourg BB3202 is designed for a variety of digital printing presses and environments, we are excited to be partnering with Xerox to demonstrate the new BB3202 at drupa 2012 for the first time, and in a way that highlights the capabilities of both the Xerox iGen press and a fully appointed BB3202 manufacturing line," remarks Mr. Tressler.
The new Bourg BB3202 perfect binder is available from C.P. Bourg and through the company's worldwide dealer network, with first shipments beginning by the end of December 2012.
C.P. Bourg - Your Partner in Print Finishing
For more than 50 years, C.P. Bourg has designed and delivered innovative binding and finishing solutions to meet the needs of the global printing and finishing industry. C.P. Bourg's reputation - as the world's leading technology developer and supplier of in-line and near-line document feeding, binding and finishing equipment for the broad spectrum of traditional and digital printing environments - is built on a history of Mr. Christian Pierre Bourg's achievement and continuous commitment to quality, innovation and efficiency. This commitment has led to privileged relationships with numerous digital print suppliers, and with tens of thousands of customers worldwide who rely on C.P. Bourg equipment to turn print on paper into quality finished products.
For more information visit www.cpbourg.com.
James Tressler / C.P. Bourg
Hall 13 Stand B69
+1-717-575-3102
j_tressler@cpbourg.com
C.P. Bourg s.a./n.v.
Ottignies, Belgium
+32 (0) 10 62 22 11
u_bar@cpbourg.com
C.P. Bourg Inc.
New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA
+1-508-998-2171
j_tressler@cpbourg.com
