Autobond to Takes Laminating to New Levels at GRAPH EXPO

HARTFORD, CT—September 1, 2008—The recent decision of UK manufacturer Autobond to incorporate different finishing processes within its laminators, means that the company will show one of its most versatile laminators ever at this year’s Graph Expo exhibition in Chicago, October 26th – 29th. The new Mini 76 TPE-H-FM is a thermal model that can laminate thin film one or both sides of the sheet in one pass plus edge seal work. In addition, it can produce floor graphics, pressure sensitive adhesive and jobs, such as fridge magnets and magnetic business cards, which require lamination with a magnetic material on one side.

“The Mini 76 TPE-H-FM can be built to suit customers’ specification,” says President John Gilmore. “For example, if there is a need to handle stock down to 8.5x5.5˝, we can fit a Heidelberg Speedmaster 52 feed head. However, if 8.5x11˝ is the minimum sheet, we would fit a Speedmaster 74 feed head.”

The machine’s angled feed table has micro-adjustable side lays to ensure accurate side positioning of the sheets - essential during edge seal and flush cut work. New electronic front lays operate as a servo-driven sheet correctional device. When laminating thin film, the grip edge of the sheet is under-lapped and the ultrasonic detector is used, which ensures an accurately controlled under-lap of sheets.

When the Mini is being used for edge seal work, the operator can set the gap between the sheets at a precise distance, and this will remain completely accurate throughout the run, because any sheets that are fed out of sync are advanced or retarded to give an exact gap. The advantage of this is that only one cut is required to separate work, which is estimated will save around 10 per cent on film compared to cutters requiring a double cut.

To handle heavy gauge plastic film, the Mini can have a servo driven cross cutter (CC 76) added, or the customer’s existing cutter can be used, if suitable. The CC 76, however, is fitted with a separate servo-driven in-feed that pulls the web in at extremely high speeds. The web stops exactly at the centre of the gap, where the servo-driven flying knife cuts the sheet.