KBA – KOENIG & BAUER AG

The Koenig & Bauer AG, better known as KBA, claims to be the inventor and oldest manufacturer of printing machines. The company is based in Germany for more than 200 years now and has become a worldwide leading manufacturer for printing machines with high quality.

In 1814, the daily newspaper “The Times” was printed on a steam-driven printing machine for the first time. The founder, Mr. Friedrich Koenig, developed the cylinder printing machine. Thanks to their innovative printing machines, KBA is world market and technology leader in the fields of security printing, large-format sheetfed offset printing, packaging, newspaper and metal sheet printing. The company is distinguished by its wide-ranging expertise and the largest product range of any printing press manufacturer.

The core competence of the group is clearly in the field of sheetfed offset printing.

ALL USED KBA SHEET-FED OFFSET PRINTING MACHINES

SHEETFED OFFSET PRINT

The wide product range covers everything from 36 x 52 cm to 151 x 205 cm (currently the largest print format).

35 x 50	50 x 70	70 x 100	100 x 140 to 180 x 200
Genius 52UV	Rapida 66	Rapida 104	Rapida 145
	Rapida 74	Rapida 105	Rapida 164
	Rapida 75	Rapida 106	Rapida 142 / 130 – 162a
	Rapida 76		Rapida 185 / 205

In addition to sheetfed offset printing, KBA also offers web offset presses in various categories.

WEB OFFSET PRINTING MACHINES

Newspaper Offset Printing	Commercial Printing
Cortina	C16
Continent	C32 – C80
Comet	C32 SG – C56 SG
Commander CL
Commander CT
Commander 6/2

DIGITAL PRINT

In digital printing, KBA offers the KBA RotaJET 76 for both on-demand and customised production of 4-colour products.

In order to be able to adapt sheetfed offset presses to individual requirements, KBA offers a wide range of extensions and upgrades. KBA divides the upgrades into makeready time reduction and print quality.

UPGRADE REDUCTION OF MAKEREADY TIME

Collecting Sheets Backward	The traversing sheet triggers a push button and the sheet is guided back to the feeder pile via suction belt. The manual removal of sheets from the feeder is no longer necessary.
Impression Cylinder Washing Device	The ErgoTronic control panel regulates the impression cylinder washing unit which is cloth-based: a sensor controls the consumption of the cloth.
Dynamic Inking Control	The dynamic inking control minimizes the paper waste by up to 80 %. By the overmodulation of the printing units, an area coverage of under 5 % can be achieved already after 120 sheets.
ErgoTronic ACR	The ErgoTronic enables the printer to adjust the register which then will be automatically controlled by a camera. The automatic system records the register differences and transmits the required control values to the respective printing unit. In order to use the automatic system to its full extent, it is necessary to expose a specially defined measuring field. The camera can then send any section of the image to the control station at 50-fold magnification.
Flying JobChange	With Flying JobChange, KBA offers the option of preparing printing units that are not yet required for the next job while the press is still running. The module is suited mainly for 1/1 colour print with a 4-colour printing machine with perfecting. Main requirement for this module is the extra equipment Plate Ident.
LogoTronic Professional	LogoTronic is the interface between management system and printing machine. The module guarantees the perfect transfer of the presettings of the printing machine. The LogoTronicProfessional module consists of further components such as SpeedWatch and PressWatch. These enable an analysis of the current print job. The module is linked with the central data base, so that the printer is able to inform his customer about the order status at any time.
Plate Ident	The Plate Ident system identifies the various printing plates and does the presetting of the register. The identification is done by a camera in the plate duct with exposed measuring points. The system then automatically calculates the presettings for the printing units of the sheetfed offset press from these.
Plate Correction Programme	When the programme starts, the plate cylinder protection is automatically opened via the press control console and the plate cylinders are positioned so that the correction screws of the rear plate rails are directly accessible to the printer. The system facilitates press handling and shortens makeready times between jobs.
Doctor Blade Chamber	The additional doctor blade chambers are recommended when changing between UV and dispersion coatings. They shorten press downtime and allow cleaning outside the press.
Clean Printing	The Clean Printing system stops the inking rollers of the plate cylinder at the end of the print job and cleans the blankets with 20 sheets. The system minimizes the cleaning time or even replaces it.
ASP – Automatic Suction Ring Positioning	The system saves the printer from having to manually adjust the suction rings in the delivery. This only needs to be entered at the press control console and is done fully automatically by the suction ring positioning system (ASP).
Quick Plate Change	The software upgrade for the fully automatic plate change reduces the program sequence by 50 % to approx. 3,5 minutes.
Washing Unit Impact System	The Impact washing system enables you to wash the blankets and rollers simultaneously to the speed of roller washing.
CleanTronic	With CleanTronic it is possible to leave the UV interdeck drying in stand-by mode during washing. This is made possible by a shutter system consisting of movably mounted reflectors. When production stops, the shutter covers are closed and the UV lamp is reduced to 30 % of its output. When production continues, the shutter covers open automatically and the production temperature of the UV lamps is immediately available again.

UPGRADES QUALITY

DensiTronic	Densitronic is used for densitronic quality control with special measuring tapes. These measuring tapes can be installed between 3 and 23 mm from the rear or the front edge of the sheet. The measurement takes 4 to 8 seconds and is fully automatic.
DensiTronic Professional	DensiTronic Professional is like DensiTronic a 2D measuring and control system for print quality. In comparison to DensiTronic, DensiTronic Professional comes with several innovative upgrades, such as a combined detector head with densitometer and spectrometer.
Impression Switching at 5.000 sheets/h	A system that immediately brings the press to the pre-selected production speed, thus reducing start-up waste.
Ink Agitators	The ink agitator keeps the ink in constant motion in order to avoid the so-called “standing still”, especially with highly viscous ink.
Ink Unit Temperature Control	To prevent temperature fluctuations in the inking unit from affecting process stability, an inking unit temperature control system is installed. The coolant, a water-glycol mixture, flows through holes in the duct roller and into three distributor cylinders. The water can be used for heating or cooling. This makes it possible to keep the temperature constant at all times or to adapt it to the press status.
KBA Jackets	A further developed impression cylinder especially for perfecting printing. Its modified surface increases the service life of the cylinders and the print quality with high ink coverage. The cylinders can be adapted to the respective requirements of the sheetfed offset press up to a maximum substrate thickness of 0.5 mm.
KBA LongDamp	The LongDamp dampening water filter system makes it possible to shift the time intervals for filter replacement to within the range of 18 weeks. Cleaning the dampening solution tank is even necessary after about 40 weeks.
QualiTronic	QualiTronic is a powerful system for inline sheet inspection. This is particularly important if you want to convince demanding customers with your top quality and its complete control. At a speed of 18,000 sheets per hour, the inspection system detects 100 % of all defects, be they ink splashes, hickeys, paper defects or ink defects. This allows targeted intervention before the sheets of faults are deposited in the delivery beyond the defined tolerance threshold.
Qualitronic ColorControl	ColorControl is an additional system to QualiTronic that automatically controls the zone openings. The zone openings control the ink profile in the inking unit. This results in reproduction true to the original with constant print quality.
QualiTronic Professional	QualiTronic Professional is a combination of inline sheet inspection and inline colour measurement. The system guarantees the inspection and colour measurement on both sides of the sheet.
Riding Roller (Dampening Unit)	The chrome rider roller optimizes the dampening solution film, which is recommended for high ink/water balance requirements.

MACHINE ADD-ONS

BDE – Interface	The BDE interface connects the machine control station with the PPS system. This allows basic order and production data to be sent via the network as XML files. The PPS system sends the following job data to the press: – Order list, order number, order name, comment, customer, partial orders with sheet length, sheet width and print protocol During production, the printing press transmits the following production data to the PPS system every minute – Job number, part job number, print log number, number of copies, date, time, net sheet, gross sheet, machine speed in sheets per hour, production start and end, automatic plate change start and end, job start and end, start and end times for impression cylinder, blanket cylinder, plate cylinder and roller washing.
Lightweight Package	This package converts print substrates with a minimum thickness of 30g/m².
Gallery Venting	If the press room temperature is high, the temperature level under the gallery on the drive side can be lowered with the gallery ventilation.
Timed Impression Cylinder Washing	The timed washing of the impression cylinder guarantees that washing bar does not touch the gripper system after the first washing, avoiding contamination. Only one clean blanket gets in touch with the grippers. With clean grippers the register stability is maximized.
Hybrid Package	The hybrid system combines the ability to use mineral oil-based and UV-reactive inks. This allows you to achieve a plus in quality on your printing press and to realize effective spot coatings.
Camera Package	The camera package supports the printer in checking sheet travel in the press and enables early detection of uneven sheet travel. With the help of the quad function, up to 4 camera images can be displayed on the monitor, which provides control of the complete sheet travel via the control console.
Capacitive-optical Double Sheet Control	For thicker materials, the capacitive-optical double sheet detector is preferably used. During adjustment, the printing press automatically switches between capacitive or optical.
Carton Blowing Package	In carton blowing, continuous blowing air is applied to the printed sheet to prevent contact with the blanket cylinder or other components of the printing press. Cardboard blowing is just as effective as the intermittent blowing air systems, but much more energy-efficient.
Cooling of Main Switch Cabinet	At high pressroom temperatures, cooling of the main cabinet prevents overheating and thus ensures the reliability of the press. Additional filters reduce the contamination of the components in the main cabinet.
Slitter ICS	With the ICS longitudinal cutting device, there is no need for an external cutting machine. Considerable time can be saved, especially for small runs in paper and carton printing.
Conductivity and pH Value	A control device for monitoring the quality of the input water and dampening solution. The pH value measurement can be used to check whether the metered amount of dampening solution additive adjusts the pH value to the desired range.
Nonstop Pallets	In the case of a feeder with an automatic non-stop device, standardized non-stop pallets are absolutely necessary in order to maintain the correct spacing.
Eco Package	By retrofitting the eco-dampening unit, eco-washing unit and eco-powder spray system, the press is given all the technical prerequisites for obtaining “emission-tested” certification.
Performance Upgrade RA106	Includes the following hardware and software upgrades: Adjustment of feeder pile from control panel feeder side edge control and sheet regulation order change program package control with capacitive sensor improved dampening controlling Update existing CIP link and LogoTronic Professional: order list with CIP link CIP3 preview in order list pallet labels transfer of all CIP3 contents in the order mask installation, commissioning and training
Anilox Roller	In order to meet the different needs, there are anilox rolls with differently structured surfaces. These offer the possibility of applying different coating thicknesses.