CONTROLS, CLEANERS
AMONG HOT TECHNOLOGIES

Precision color controls common on sheetfed press systems and a new system promising to eliminate the paper dust in web press operations were two hot topics Thursday.

During the Hot New Technologies session, Press & Materials segment attendees were awed by presentations of electronic inks and paper first demonstrated during the Pre-Press segment (see E-Ink, E-Books Turn a New Page). But they also welcomed discussion of new solutions for old pressroom problems.

Joe Cherella of Graphic Microsystems Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., said the company’s closed-loop color control technology already is deployed in 55 systems. (An earlier product, Microcolor, has been retrofitted to 350-plus single-width web presses, he added.)

Colorquick measures a color bar during the live run using a video camera and spectrophotometer to provide information to the system's "brains," which in turn drive color-inking controls. Closed-loop control algorhythms -- the brains -- interpret data about the color bars (and soon a set of gray bars) making adjustments during the run to compensate for conditions and adjust preset standards.

Cherella called on NAA to help develop standards for the appearance and placement of the keys in newspapers. It is difficult to place the color bars, but the San Francisco Chronicle is printing them in an index box on page 1, he said.

Spectral reporting, an operator view of how dots are printing on the paper, gray-balance color controls and a new server are expected to enhance the system in 2000, according to Cherella.

The system not only allows newspapers to run presses to preset standards, but also offers a plethora of diagnostic capabilities. It can help verify how newsprint is performing and allows comparisons of jobs, presses and even shifts using scientific rather than subjective data, he said.

Because the system’s software has an open architecture, it can be melded with many existing press-control systems and can report data out as part of a management information system.

The return on investment comes from reduced staffing, less makeready, reduced waste and increased quality, Cherella said.

Wayne Kaim, president of Kaim & Associates of Lodi, Wisc., has for years represented some 50 press products for a variety of manufacturers. Now he has a solution all his own. Kaim devised and is selling a device that removes the dust layer from newsprint. Older systems have used vacuums and brushes with limited results, he said.

His Twin Turbo Web Cleaning System operates by running two cylinders faster than press speeds very near the newsprint. The cylinders create a zone near the newsprint that allows the dust to be freed and vacuumed away before the web hits the first print impression.

"Running dirty newsprint is a quality obstacle," Kaim said, noting that removing dust leaves the paper "purer and crisper for consistent print qualities."

He contends the process, in place at a Spokane, Wash., web-press operation with an additional two units tested and then purchased by The New York Times, also has other benefits. Sludge that collects in ink trays, under blankets, on plates and in machine parts can degrade reproduction quality and increase clean-up costs, he said.

The Spokane printer has even seen a 50 percent reduction in cleanup rag use, Kaim added.

-Bob Sims