For Eddie Gulmen, principal of Gulmen Digital, the development of any of the machines in his company’s range is an ongoing process. He is always on the lookout for new capabilities to add to existing machines or listening to his customers to find ways to increase the convenience and efficiency of the products.
The Bladerunner digital label die-cutter is a case in point. The name came about from the design of the machine which cuts the label with a blade that runs along the web as it cuts. After a three-year gestation period, the initial model was released in 2021. It can now be used for a range of product processing from laminating, die-cutting, waste-disposal, slitting and rewinding all in one, making it an ideal partner for digital label printers.
The versatile machine can cope with the requirements of different shapes, fast delivery and complex graphics. The ability to handle not only die-cutting but also operate as a slitting machine means it is widely used in label, tag packaging production and processing. The inclusion of a lamination station significantly saves space and increases the speed of work.
The Bladerunner is characterised by high speed and accuracy with precision cutting action thanks to the highest quality automation and electronics components. The input of parameters can either be from a connected PC or an ergonomic touch screen for easy operation, precise overlap control and maximum reliability of the machine. The programmable control system allows automatic job change blade setup, fully automatic control of web tension, automatic temperature control and material feed as well as automatic counting of the finished label production by either metres or number of labels.
Labels and stickers of any size and shape can be cut from a reel of self-adhesive paper, adhesive label, PP, plastic film, PET, PVC, white card paper, art paper or other soft materials with a cutting material width from 40 to 350mm.
“The next development will be a machine that can operate in line with the Quantumjet Lite, making it a solution for both printing and finishing,” Eddie noted. “The Quantumjet is a high-capacity, high-volume industrial labelling machine capable of ensuring accuracy in high-capacity print jobs, producing consistent, high-volume output 24/7. Quantumjet Lite has tremendous capabilities and longevity for the label printing industry.”
Equipped with the DuraBolt 325C PrintEngine, Quantumjet Lite is purpose-manufactured for high-volume reel-to-reel or reel-to-sheet to deliver CMYK colour simplex and duplex printing. Leveraging Memjet’s proprietary printhead technology, DuraBolt provides precision colour distribution at print speeds of up to 135 metres per minute. Each printhead can jet up to 240 litres of ink and deliver four times nozzle redundancy for every colour. It can achieve print resolutions of up to 1600 x 1280 dpi and can be used for extended production print runs with low maintenance requirements.
DuraBolt PrintEngine’s digital front end (DFE) delivers powerful process control and system automation and streamlines the interaction between the print engine and all aspects of the printing process. The Human Machine Interface (HMI) gives operators an intuitive and interactive dashboard as well as real-time status of consumable levels, press components and environmental conditions.
“The combination of a web-handling robust printing engine, powerful control architecture with the finishing capabilities of Bladerunner will deliver a solution that provides rapid integration cycles, and straightforward user operation and productivity. Further applications can be developed, just depending on your creativity,” Eddie concludes.
Caption:
The Bladerunner digital label die-cutter
