A little insight into my job…

Printing press and Folder

In 1892, Luther Crowell was issued a patent for a printing press that could also be run in line with a folder. The operation could be made with any size cylinder press, but for the sake of simplicity in his patent, he used a single-cylinder, offset perfecting press. The invention was really an attachment to a press, more than an entirely different machine altogether. The folding apparatus was actually set below the press machine.

The original concept behind this was that the press would run the sheet through, printing on both sides, and then feed it out as usual. From there, if the folding machine was in place, the piece would be picked up and be folded down to a four or eight-page document, or the document could consist of two folds. This process cut down the cost of having to run the piece through two separate machines. The original purpose was to print and fold paper bags, but this technology, or one of a similar sort, would be used in the newspaper industry further down the road.

In today’s modern print world, a machine of this type would be nearly unheard of. Most of the offset inks, used in most presses, need hours or days to dry completely enough to where the piece is workable by the bindery, where folding happens. The only way this machine could be utilized is on a UV coating press, where a UV, or ultra-violet, coating gets put on the piece. The UV ink coating dries almost immediately after being exposed to an Ultra-Violet light system, equipped inside the press’ delivery. An aqueous coating on the piece will also enable a faster drying, but time is still the biggest factor in bindery.

Another possible issue with this is that folding and press were two separate trade crafts. While the pressman was running the machine, a folder operator would have to be there to observe the folding unit. Make ready was also very different. The pressman had to make sure everything was on with the press before the folder operator could complete his setup.

“Folding was probably the first “post press” operation, going back to the time of the Egyptians and papyrus. Knife and buckle folders probably developed along with lithography beginning in the 18th century. Operating a folding machine was always a bindery “craft.” with a lot ot skill and experience needed to correctly set fold rollers, buckle plates, deflector plates and cross-fold knife units.” (Piontek, 2005)

There are currently inline systems that have the ability to do what the bindery usually does that can be attached on the back end of a process, but such systems are made mainly for print shops that specialize in direct mailers, since they are expensive to operate for companies that may not run many mailers. The systems do require some bindery operators to operate such equipment as the plow folders, cutters, die-cutters, and inkjets.

The only presses that currently operate solely on this kind of equipment are newspapers. There high-speed web presses are set up to run the same thing every day. This is very time saving, since there is no need to really change any of the settings. The only thing that changes is the plates that carry the offset ink onto the paper. The machine otherwise have the same set-up 24 hours a day. The reason that the ink on newspaper doesn’t bleed onto opposite pages is because the stock that is used. The very thin dull text paper stock quickly absorbs ink into its porous body. The inks that are used are also very quick drying, but can still be rubbed off.

Today’s modernized digital printing also has the ability to be handled right after press work. Digital print is classified as a sheet that does not use plates like a regular press, but is more like a gigantic computer printer that can run at much faster speeds. One of these machines is Xerox Corporation’s new iGen3, which uses an ink that is almost classifiable as a plastic. The process can printing on something already printed, like a mailer, for example, like most digital print machines can. On top of that, the iGen3 can also print in full color, adding a mailing list into the pieces printing, even making names appear in several place. The pieces that come off the iGen3 are able to be handled by the bindery as soon as it’s off.

Luther Crowell’s invention has served a purpose, but not necessarily for most printing today. The ink used in most companies doesn’t dry quickly enough for such a quick post-press operation. There are, however, solutions to that issue. Digital print and certain ink coatings are all able to counteract the inks wet state and enable the automatic post-press folding machine to take on its role.

Works Cited

Eskildsen, Jan. “Xerox: Digital and Coated.” The Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing

Technologies October 19, 2006: 3

Hamilton, Alex. “Finishline: Coating Key to Durability.” Graphic Arts Monthly July 2007: 40

Kalkowski, John. “Ink Staying Strong.” Graphic Arts Monthly December 2007: 17-22

Lenatti, Chuck. “Digital Print is Growing: but, is it Good for Printers?” Seybold Report: Analyzing Publishing Technologies February 21, 2008: 14-16

Piontek, Dan. “New Face for Folding.” Graphic Arts Monthly April, 2005: 34-38

Toth, Debora. “Inline Systems Finish Web Jobs.” Graphic Arts Monthly May, 2000: 59-62