As the latest in a line of Heidelberg saddlestitchers, Heidelberg’s Stitchmaster ST 500 offers greater versatility and opportunities for creative finishing
Presenting its Stitchmaster ST 500 saddlestitcher at drupa this year, Heidelberg said the versatile machine delivers reliability, productivity, and high quality with a mechanical capacity of up to 13,000 cycles an hour
The Stitchmaster ST 500 saddlestitcher covers a range of work including short runs; time-critical jobs; products of varying complexity and numerous format changes; and long runs in monitored high quality.
It processes untrimmed formats with spine lengths of up to 500mm and widths of up to 330mm and trimmed formats with spine lengths of up to 475mm and widths of up to 315mm. The maximum product thickness is 12mm. Brian Evans, product manager at Heidelberg Australia New Zealand, says that this makes it easy to produce highly standardised products and customer-specific special applications cost-effectively.
He says, “The Stitchmaster ST 500 opens up new applications for commercial print shops and bookbinders, enabling them to take a flexible, needs-based approach to the end customer’s requirements and ultimately stand out from the competition. Its individual drive technology, centralised control system, and wide range of feeder models make it suitable for rapid, all-purpose use in industrial saddlestitching.”
Collating for adhesive bind
Heidelberg has introduced an optional collating function for adhesive binding. The company says that makes the Stitchmaster ST 500 the first machine to enables stack-signature brochures to be collated for adhesive binding, opening up a new range of applications for saddlestitchers.
The signatures are stacked on top of each other in closed format and output as a book block for subsequent adhesive binding.
During this process, the signatures are deposited separately in consecutive saddle chain segments and can then be collated as a stack-signature brochure in the missing sheet delivery, the stream delivery, or the compensating stacker.
Heidelberg sees opportunities in this process for printers and print finishers to move ahead. Evans says, “This innovation enables small to medium print and finishing businesses in particular to significantly expand their portfolios beyond pure saddlestitching without making additional investments in gathering machines.
“Using the Stitchmaster ST 500 as a collating solution for adhesive binding, ensures much more effective use of current investments in saddlestitchers and adhesive binders and boosts cost efficiency in finishing.”
Creating options
Looking to create new options for users to boost added value in their finishing, Heidelberg has added a third carrier bar to the knife carrier in the trimmer for an additional processing step. This means that tools for the central trim and hole punching can be used at the same time or the central trim can be performed with two parting cuts, regardless of the product thicknesses, for two-ups with hole punching for example.
A variety of tools enables customised print products such as bound calendars with calendar perforation, file hole punching, and multiple-ups with flexible parting cuts.
It can also be fitted with vertical, horizontal, and cover folder feeders for greater production flexibility.
The machine’s designers have integrated various quality controls into the Stitchmaster ST 500. Chromium-plated sheet guiding elements in the feeder area reduce the risk of marking and precise sheet travel and lateral alignment by means of lateral joggers in the trimmer help ensure exact trimming.
Evans says, “A further strength of the Stitchmaster ST 500 is the user-friendly control via a touch screen, with the makeready assistant guiding users through all stages of the process.”
He adds that the touch screen saves time and money. He says, “This cuts makeready times, enables straightforward actual costing of individual jobs, and plays a key role in ensuring production gets underway quickly and cost-effectively.”
Heidelberg meets the market
Evans says that strict market demands for industrial saddlestitching means that printers and print finishers must meet a large number of needs while delivering cost-effective and high-quality products. He says, “The Stitchmaster ST 500 equips printers and print finishers with a versatile and flexible solution that enables them to satisfy their clients’ needs. That allows them to stand out from the competition.”
At a glance, Heidelberg lists the Stitchmaster ST 500 saddlestitcher’s features:
Mechanical capacity up to 13,000 cycles an hour
Upright and horizontal feeders for every need
Collating function for multi-layer brochures opens up new applications
Optional, third stop position in the trimmer supports further processing options
Wide range of integrated quality controls for high-end production
Chromium-plated sheet guiding elements in the feeder offer optimum end-product quality
All-purpose machine for saddlestitching
Individual drives set standards in shortening makeready times in this class
Optional collating function for adhesive binding now possible with a saddlestitcher
New options enable creative applications and boost added value in finishing
Integrated quality control ensures reliable and stable production
