drupa 2000

HELL automates engraving

At drupa taking place from May 18 - 31, 2000 in Dusseldorf, Germany, HELL Gravure Systems will be present in Hall 17, booth no C 42. The focus will be set to automating functions and workflow improvements within the two digital production lines of engraving cylinders in packaging, product and label on one hand and publication on the other hand. For flexo printing HELL will come up with a world premiere: the computer-to-plate imager HelioFlex F2000 with a high performance laser head that sets new standards regarding beam quality and exposing speed. Besides for flexo cylinders the machine can be used for halftone gravure as well.

Innovations for all production lines

• HELL Quality Plus
  Under the name "HELL Quality Plus" HELL will offer for the first time a range of products, functions and measures to improve the engraving quality. In packaging engraving a new process to control the HelioKlischograph will be demonstrated that allows the user to influence engraving of text and image in a brand new way.
• Workflow Integration
  At drupa, HELL will show one standardized workflow solution for CtP-production in various printing processes. This solution will cover the whole range from halftone to semi-halftone gravure to flexo and offset printing.

Innovations for packaging, product and label engraving
The HelioPackaging production line to be shown on drupa consists of:

• HelioCom
  The work preparation station HelioCom is used for the import of various data formats as well as for the creation of the cylinder layout under visual control. Job tickets which contain all production parameter and enable an automated workflow from design to engraving can be created with the optional software HelioDisk. Calculation of ink volume and engraving time for each cylinder is as well part of the performance.
  At drupa the following new functions will be demonstrated:
  - PDF-Import
  allows the import of PDF-data version 1.3.
  - Flightcheck
  checks all incoming PostScript data, creates a record and warns in case of critical settings.
  - Testcut-Layout
  allows the testcut to be exactly positioned at a free selectable area within the cylinder layout under visual control. The coordinates are calculated automatically and transferred to the engraving machine in the job ticket.
• HelioFormproof Packaging
  The unique function MultiProof allows to print the cylinder layout prior to engraving in order to control placement and completeness for all colors
  -separately or together - on a large format plotter.
  The innovations on drupa are:
  - Output of the testcut layout
  The testcut positioned into the cylinder layout on HelioCom can also be printed into the cylinder proof. This offers a higher safety for the engraving especially if the testcut is placed inside the cylinder layout.
  - Seamless proof
  For the first time it is possible to check seamless engravings in advance.
  - Windows 2000
  HelioFormproof is now available in a new version being compatible to Windows 2000.
  - Color-Management
  HelioFormproof now supports the Heidelberg Color Management.
  - Connection to Epson 9000
  HelioFormproof now supports output to the large format printer Epson 9000.
• HelioKlischograph K500
  The compact engraving machine has a modular construction which allows configurations from manual production up to fully automatic workflow. Engraving is done with the fast engraving head HelioSprint standing for symmetrical cells and high volume. The testcut is automatically performed by CellGuard which guarantees a constant quality.
• HelioRobot
  HelioRobot is HELL Gravure Systems' concept to force ahead the target of complete HelioKlischograph automation. The HelioKlischograph K500 already fulfills the requirements to be integrated into a fully automatic cylinder production line:
  - symmetrical design
  - mobile bearing blocks
  - elevating platform
  - automatic engraving support
  - automatic testcut with CellGuard
  At drupa 2000 HELL will demonstrate the components building the infrastructure for process automation. These are:
  - Production Manager
  The Production Manager is a software that controls the working steps of cylinder production (layout creation, formproof and engraving). Whether the production is done manually or fully automatically, the production manager cares for transparent and safe workflows by recording and listing all process steps. This information can be used to check the load of each station at a glance. In addition links to production planning and control systems (PPS-systems) offer the possibility to import commercial data to be integrated into the cylinder production as well as to export production data to be taken for re-estimation of jobs.
  - Helio Remote Interface K500
  The Helio Remote Interface K500 enables the HelioKlischograph K500 to be controlled by an external place. In this case the software continuously checks data that is coming into a hotfolder being created for this purpose. As the data format is open every host computer suitable can be used to control the HelioKlischograph K500 and connect it to a fully automatic cylinder production line.
  Innovations for the publication sector
• HelioKlischograph K406
  The engraving machine works with up to 16 engraving channels simultaneously. These can be equipped with normal engraving heads as well as with the fast HelioSprint engraving heads. Besides HelioSprint the following automation functions are the highlights:
  - CellGuard
  automatically executes the testcut for all engraving heads. This is made possible by a camera which records the testcuts for all engraving channels in a succession. The CellGuard software then measures the cell geometry and adapts this automatically and in a minimum of time to the target values. Use of one single camera for all channels ensures a very high degree of consistency between the ribbons.
  - AutoSpacer
  the automatic positioning of engraving heads enable a precise start position for each ribbon.
• HelioForm
  With the preparation station HelioForm impositioning schemes and cylinder layouts can be created under visual control. Register and control marks are loaded from the archive or can be created directly. Image and text data are automatically imported into the impositioning scheme according to the page names. Once an impositioning scheme has been created it can be re-used for all further products by setting a link to the new page contents.
  At drupa, a new software version containing interesting new functions will be demonstrated:
  - Integration of special geometries as e. g. center fold
  - Symbol fade-in with form specific contents (e.g. ribbon number, segment number, engraving machine)
  - Automatic back-up concept for two or more stations
• HelioPlan
  The software HelioPlan can be run on the HelioForm station or on an external computer. It is used to create the impositioning scheme and already covers standards as well as a huge amount of special functions (e.g. export of page list, support of up to 32 ribbons, overview of signature structure, combination of several forms a single cylinder, optimized collection sequences, special pagination etc.).
  Now two further functions have been realized that again improve quality and operation:
  - Generation of pre-settings that cover individual printing machine parameters to be considered during engraving.
  - Automatic generation of page names
• HELL MultiServer
  The HELL MultiServer is the central data pool for all pages. Besides import of complete pages, conversion of data formats, the storage and administration of packs of data, standardizing and printing form relevant output of pages as well as automation of process steps are the main tasks of the HELL MultiServer.

Innovations for flexo printing

At drupa 2000, HELL will step into a new market segment by showing their new HelioFlex F2000 for the first time. The HelioFlex F2000 is a brand new computer-to-plate imager for digital production of flexo printing forms. The high performance laser head of HelioFlex F2000 sets new standards regarding beam quality and exposing speed. Besides for flexo cylinders the machine can be used for halftone gravure as well.
The HelioFlex F2000 is characterized by the following features:

• Automation functions for easy loading · PC control, Windows NT operation system, touch screen
• Processing of plates and sleeves
• Formats up to 1.200 x 1.600 mm2
• Exposure of TIFF and LEN data
• New high performance laser head with excellent beam quality and depth of focus
• High exposing speed
• Modular upgradability to higher performance
• Strong front-end
• Processing of Artpro, TIFF, PDF and PostScript data
• Integrated flexo specific functionality
• Connection of Barco systems via PostScript or LEN
• Easy maintenance and worldwide service
• Outstanding price / performance ratio

By entering the flexo market HELL is reacting to the continuously increasing requirements for flexo plates and sleeves. The fundamental knowledge about constructing and building of engraving machines, scanners and film recorders as well as writing of software for digital workflows makes HELL a competent supplier in this field. The superior price / performance ratio of HelioFlex F2000 will support computer-to-plate becoming a standard in flexo as it is in gravure already.

Research and development for the gravure market will be continued with full capacity. HELL's innovations to be shown at drupa reflect the long term trend which can - not only in gravure - be seen in a good balance between automation and flexibility. HELL as a moving force in this industry is continuously working on solutions to improve productivity and quality for their customers worldwide and to strengthen their competitiveness. (The components for CellGuard, automatic engraving support as well as automatic loading are currently not available in the USA.)