Stitchmaster ST 450 Saddlestitcher from Heidelberg to Make North American Debut at Graph Expo 2006

KENNESAW, GA—09/26/2006—Heidelberg will introduce its Stitchmaster ST 450 saddlestitcher to the North American market at Heidelberg booth #1200 at Graph Expo 2006. The new saddlestitcher is designed to meet market needs, fusing high performance with reliable quality at speeds up to 14,000 cycles per hour.

“The Stitchmaster ST 450 opens up new possibilities for saddlestitching by delivering greater productivity, increased flexibility and the ability to handle a broad range of applications,” said Ralph Pasquariello, vice president, Postpress Product Management. “The combination of high speed and quick, automated makereadies enables customers to produce a wide variety of high-quality short- and long-run jobs economically, while increasing net production by up to 20 percent.”

Customizable Features
Instead of a fixed feeder configuration, mobile feeders equipped with servo drives now make it easy to work with signatures. Because they can be placed on either side of the gathering chain and adjusted as needed, feeders can be quickly reconfigured to meet the specific requirements of each job. The Stitchmaster ST 450 can process untrimmed paper formats from 3.35 x 5.04” up to 12.60 x 18.90” at a maximum thickness of 12 millimeters. It also can process A6 (4 x 6”) landscape pages in single sheet mode and is customizable for particular products and special customer requirements.

The ST 450’s compensating stacker can be pre-set to each job’s format to speed makeready, even for small or special formats, multiple-up and difficult products. This ensures reliable delivery without reducing production speed. The wear-resistant trimmer boosts the ST 450’s ability to produce multiple ups and integrate hole punches with minimal extra makeready. Many available options extend the wide range of applications. For example, one or more sample gluers can be deployed for applying booklets, cards, merchandise or CDs. A stream feeder permits continuous replenishing of horizontal sheet feeders while ensuring a nearly constant pile height.