Bobst will be highlighting two of its products at the Gulf Pack Exhibition.

The first is the Flexo160-Vision, which completes the Bobst range of high quality printing and die-cutting equipment, and second is the Power Register feeder for the SPO 160-Vision.
“Today, most of the corrugated boxes are printed in at least two or three colours, and with strict requirements for accuracy and print quality,” a Bobst spokesman said while discussing the Flexo 160-Vision.
“The position of the print on the sheet (i.e. distance to the sheet edges) is carefully checked with a fine scale rule, the register between colours is measured with a graduated glass magnifier and accuracy requirements are now specified down to a few tens of a millimetre.
“Good precision starts at the feeder, the suction plate gives the sheet to the feed rolls and the first vacuum transport section. This makes sure that the first colour is printed at the right position.
“Transport of the sheets through several printing units is ensured by driven rollers and vacuum. In order to prevent the surface of he sheet, which received the print, from coming in contact with pullovers, belts etc and eventually damaging the print there is bottom printing and vacuum transport. This vacuum transport can convey sheets through several printing units with a very high accuracy.”
One can assume that the printing plates are correctly glued on the polyester support, he said. A centring pin grants their exact position on the printing plate cylinder. Skewing of the printing plate position is mechanical.
The print surface on each plate varies from one colour to the other. The pressure of the anilox roll and the board has a tendency to stretch the printing plates; as a consequence, the same length of plate at rest, corresponds to a different colour length on the board, the spokesman pointed out.
“To make-up for this inconvenient, the Flexo 160-Vision printing units are equipped with an independent drive that can electronically control the length of print of each colour,” he explained. “Therefore, the print is not only in register close to the lead edge of the sheet but over the full length of the sheet.”
The transport of the sheet to the feeder of the flatbed die-cutter is also ensured by a vacuum conveyor to avoid any contact with the freshly printed board. A sheet ejector is provided to allow easy take-off for quality control.
“The line is completed with the well known SPO 160-Vision flat-bed die-cutter, prized by many converters for quality at affordable price. The adjunction of a g Break separator allows running the line at maximum of its capacity,” the spokesman said.
Explaining the working of the Power Register, he said a good print-to-cut register depended largely on the feeder of the flatbed diecutter. The feeding of corrugated sheets into the gripper bar of a SPO platen press is carried out with an accuracy of +/- 0.75 mm. This accuracy depends mainly on the cutting quality and the squareness of the sheets coming from the corrugator.
The accuracy can be improved by using register lays against which the corrugated sheets will butt. However, it is difficult to set these mechanical stops, because of the crushing and rebounding of the sheets.
The Power Register is an “ intelligent” feeder, which uses linear motors. The corrugated board is taken by the suction plate, the position of the sheet edge is scanned by photocells. The stroke of each motor is determined in such a way that each sheet is positioned in the grippers with an accuracy of +/- 0.25 mm.
It is possible to adjust differences of +/- 5 mm in running as well as in crosswise direction and to adjust a skewing of +/- 2 mm.
“Apart from the detection of the edge of the sheet, the Power Register feeder can also scan printed register marks. This scanning of triangular register marks is even more accurate than taking the blank edge as reference,” the spokesman said.
The Power Register feeder is particularly appreciated for its precise converting of high-quality flexo printing and of laminated offset sheets.
Quite a few SPO 160-A Matic and SPO 203-A Matic, equipped with the Power Register, are already in production in countries including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the US and Saudi Arabia.
Bobst products can be seen at Stand No. K52 at Gulf Pack.
With over 30 companies around the globe, Bobst Group forms the most efficient organisation serving the worldwide solid board, corrugated board and flexible materials industries.
The Group says it aims to help its customers with the differentiation of their businesses and the diversification of their products and services.
Bobst, Asitrade, Martin, Rapidex, Schiavi, Rotomec, Atlas, General, Midi and Titan along with its strategic partner BHS design, develop, and manufacture their own products. In addition to Switzerland, France, Italy and Germany (BHS), manufacturing and assembly are also performed at the group’s facilities in Brazil, China and India.
“The Group is formed of companies that complement each other. Its partners share their know-how when seeking quality solutions, which enable purchasers to realise the best return on their invested capital, Bobst said.
 The worldwide service and sales network of the Group is composed by numerous companies and exclusive representatives around the world. These local companies maintain solid, close relationships with all members of the Group and strengthen their position with regional training and demonstration centers.
“Thanks to its regional presence, the Bobst Group can intervene with appropriate solutions and the ability to adapt technical support to meet varying needs,” it says.
“The numerous service and sales organisations and representative agencies all strive to deliver quality service. They are locally able to respond to customer demands with regards to training, specific adaptations, or spare parts requests.
“With the objective to satisfy their customers, the Group companies make every attempt to establish close relationships with them.”