Tried & Tested

Full automation used to be something reserved for presses, but in today’s competitive market, speed and technology makes all the difference in finishing. Demand for a high-tech, fully automated version of MBO’s popular K-series of com­bination folders, launched in 1967, led to the develop­ment of the K800, which was unveiled at Drupa 2000.

At the time of launch, the MBO K-series was already a frontrunner in the combination folder market. The K800, a high-tech version of the Perfection series, was designed with a number of new technological advances. According to MBO’s UK distributor, Friedheim International, it would be hard to find a more automated kit than the K800, with it having an automated pile feeder and a continuous feeder.

“The machine has done very well, but, installation wise, the numbers don’t tell the true story,” says Bob Sugg, technical manager at Friedheim International.

Success story
One of its most notable success stories is Cambridge University Press. The printing arm of the publisher has three machines installed for Bible production. Also, last August, the Vatican’s print house ordered an MBO K800.

Compared to the array of combination folders out on the market, the K800 is quite unique, says Sugg. “The folding knife is made out of carbon and is air-driven,” he adds. This makes it faster with high accuracy.

A spiral fold roller design is a patented feature of every MBO machine. It ensures minimum ink pick up, no marking from the steel knurls and the facility to regrind the roller, rather than purchasing a new one.

Some of the fully automised features include an electronic set-up system with RAPIDSET automation and fully automatic fold plates. MBO’s Navigation Control system is available as an option. Guide plates, guide rails and smoother bar elements are replaced by air tables and non-contact air smoother bars, which are independent from size.

There are four models in the range, the KL, KTL, KTLT and the KTZ launched at Ipex 2006.

The KL offers a crossfold knife and left threefold knife, while the KZ offers a crossfold knife, left and right threefold knife. Super KTL has integrated, non-removable slitter shafts through plug bearings in the crossfold, after the folding knife and the parallel buckle knife. The Super KTLT includes an additional parallel buckle plate and a pair of slitter shafts, after the threefold knife on the left. Three types of feeder are available on all models: pile feeder, continuous or palletized.

The Navigator Control allows for sheet gap control and sheet monitoring. There were slitter shaft cassettes added just prior to Ipex 2006 and gradual changes made since its introduction. Unfortunately, these changes are not retrofittable, as each machine is built to specification.

However, links to the latest MIS software and data manager packages can be retrofitted. Friedheim International has 16 engineers in the UK and three specialist folding technicians. It also offers service contracts. Nyland Graphics, among others, deals in secondhand MBO K series models.