Plan cutter
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A plan cutter is a machine in the bookbinding or finishing department of a printing company . It is used to cut leafy materials such as paper, cardboard, cardboard or plastic film.
Surname
Different names have been coined due to the different uses of the plan cutter.
- Paper cutting machine
- The term paper cutting machine comes from its original use. In the past, plan cutters were used exclusively for cutting books, paper and cardboard (see also DIN 6730 "Paper / Cardboard - Terms").
- Plan cutter
- The term plan cutter refers to flat sheets (flat, i.e. flat, lying sheets of paper) and thus distinguishes this machine from roll cutting devices for paper webs, as used in rotary printing machines. The term has nothing in common with the cutting of plans.
- High-speed cutter
- The term high-speed cutter was probably coined by Ferdinand Heim. Around 1878 he built a cutting machine in which the pressing was carried out together with the cut and without major adjustments and thus quickly.
history
Forerunner of the plan cutter
Long before plan cutters were known, paper was cut. Individual sheets were cut with knives or scissors. The bookbinders were looking for more and more mechanized devices to make their work easier.
Trimming plane with a disc-shaped blade
The first mechanical device for trimming books was the trimming plane. The invention of the trimming plane not only made work easier, it was now also possible to give a book a smooth and uniform cut . This made leafing through the book much easier. In addition, the smooth trim created better conditions for a possible decoration of the trimmed areas.
The book was fixed in a wooden press for trimming. Chip by chip was then cut off with a disk-shaped knife. So it was practically cropped side by side one after the other. In the picture “The Bookbinder” from Abraham a Santa Clara you can see a trimming plane from below on the front right. The round disc, which acts as the blade of the plane, can be clearly seen.
Tongue plane
Tongue planes, also known as French planes, later appeared as a replacement for the disk planer. The tongue could be ground more easily and much faster than the disc in the trimming plane used up to now. In the picture "Machine with integrated tongue plane, approx. 1820" you can see a machine with a tongue plane. This device represents the next step in the use of the trimming plane in terms of further development. As can be seen in this picture, the tongue plane has been incorporated into the overall construction. As a result, the book press and the actual cutting tool were combined into one device. The movable table is also remarkable. The table acts like part of a book press and is used to hold the movable stop (later called the saddle) for format setting.
Plan cutter with vertically acting knife
Middle of the 18th century the step away from the tongue planer towards the cutting machine is finally taken. The first machines did not only have metal housings. Wooden constructions were also common. However, with the advancement of foundry techniques, the wooden structures disappeared very quickly. In 1837 Thirault built the first machine with a fixed knife. This was a machine with a knife larger than the maximum cutting width of the machine. A comparable machine is in the museum near Polar-Mohr in Hofheim. In 1844 Guillaume Massiquot (1797–1870) received a patent for a cutting machine comparable to today's plan cutters. The special thing about this machine was an inclined knife down and up movement. The knife screwed into a knife bar was guided between two vertically arranged cast plates. Two sliding blocks led the knife bar laterally diagonally. Due to the diagonal cut, the forces to be applied for the cut and the return of the knife were very low. This arrangement of the mechanical components for the cut has not changed significantly to this day. The actual beginning of the industrial production of plan cutters is attributed to the Krause company in Leipzig.
Guillotine cutting machine
Hand levers were often used to drive the cut on very small machines.
Wheel cutting machine
Straight-toothed gears were used in medium to large machines. The wheel cutting machines were driven with a large wheel-shaped crank or via transmission shafts and belts. At the start of the cut, the operator engaged a mechanical clutch. The mechanical clutch was disengaged again at the end of the cut by a forced cam.
Historical development of the knife movement
With the different designs of the knife movement, new modes of operation were developed again and again in accordance with the respective epoch-making technical possibilities.
Historical development of pressing
Because the paper and cardboard cut earlier had a higher fiber content, the required pressing force was significantly lower than it is today. The cutting machines, which had pressing and cutting as two separate operations, primarily had a spindle pressing. A spindle arranged vertically in the machine housing pressed the press beam from above. By tightening the spindle to different degrees, the pressure could be at least roughly regulated. In cutting machines in which the pressing and the cut were combined in one work step, the spring pressing was until the middle of the 20th century. common. During the downward movement of the knife, the pre-set spring force was transferred to the press beam by means of a forced cam. When the knife moved upwards, the spring was tensioned again by the forced cam. Middle of the 20th century the Schneider company brought the first hydraulically controlled pressing onto the market. Polar has been offering automatically regulating and programmable pressings since the 1980s. This means that the plan cutter automatically presets the pressure before each cut.
Historical development of the saddle
The historical development of the saddle as a rear stop in the plan cutter must be divided into two groups. The saddle drive was done manually until the middle of the 20th century. For this purpose, a spindle was turned by means of a crank or a handwheel arranged horizontally under the front table. The spindle moved the saddle back and forth. Small to medium-sized machines also had drives with a locking crank arm instead of the handwheel and a steel belt instead of the spindle. After the introduction of the electromotive saddle drive by Polar, automatic saddle movements began to be constructed very quickly. At first it was only possible to move to saddle positions repeatedly. Then correction and repeating functions were added. Today, plan cutters have freely programmable computer-controlled program sequences for moving the saddle.
There have been three main developments in the design of the saddle. After the first saddles were purely a stop, more and more moveable saddle rakes or moveable gliders were used. Before the computer-controlled saddle movements became modern, people used a so-called three-part saddle, for example, to trim books. The saddle was adjusted to the size of the front cut. The two outer adjustable saddle rakes were adjusted to the dimensions of the foot and head trim. This resulted in a saddle with three different positions without having to move the saddle. Middle of the 19th century Functions such as rotating saddles, tilting saddles, anchor marks and hold-down devices in front of the saddle appeared.
Functionality
From the former three functions, adjustable stop, pressing and cutting, more and more aids for the operator have emerged in the last 150 years. The range of functions of current plan cutters varies greatly and depends on the manufacturer and model. Simple machines for manual operation up to fully automatic, computer-controlled cutting systems with well over a hundred functions are also offered.
Essential assemblies
- Stand:
- The stand is the actual machine housing. It takes the cutter bar, the press bar and their guide elements, the table and, in modern machines, the electrical control.
- Table:
- The table serves as a work surface for the operator and holds the saddle, the saddle guide, the spindle and the side rulers.
Plan cutter today
function
The functional principle corresponds to the manufacturing technique of wedge cutting according to DIN 8588. During the cut, the material to be cut is divided by a vertically moving wedge-shaped knife. The material to be cut is supported from below by the machine table with the cutting bar. In order to achieve a good cut quality, the material to be cut is fixed by pressing against the machine table before cutting. This means that the material to be cut cannot slip. In addition to pressing and cutting, the plan cutter has the movable saddle, which serves as a rear material stop for positioning the material to be cut. For a workflow, the material to be cut is first placed against the saddle. Then the cut is activated with the advance pressing.
handling
Stacks of paper are inserted into the plan cutter and held in place by means of a press beam that presses down from above before the cut is made. Then the cut is made from top to bottom with a knife and then the press beam is released again. Earlier face cutters were manually driven by means of a flywheel. Today they have electric motors and electronic control equipment. In the latest models, the cutting positions are approached automatically after the cutting sequences have been programmed.
Current European manufacturers
- Busch, Germany, brand: Schneider-Senator
- Krug & Priester, Germany, brands: Ideal, EBA
- Perfecta, Germany, Brand: Perfecta
- Polar-Mohr, Germany, brands: Polar, Baum, Mohr
- Schneider-Engineering, Switzerland, brand: Schneider-Engineering
- Baumann-Wohlenberg, Germany, brand: Wohlenberg
- MZE Maschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, brand: Eurocutter
Former European manufacturer
- Bautzener Kartonagefabrik, Germany
- Como, Sweden
- EBA, Germany
- FL, France
- Goetjes & Schulze, Germany
- Herold, Germany
- Johne, Germany
- JUD, France
- Krause, Germany
- Krause Biagosch, Germany
- Mannsfield, Germany
- Romenskij zavod, Ukraine
- RPM, Germany
- Schneider Senator, Germany
- VEB Polygraphische Maschinen Bautzen, Germany
- Wohlenberg, Germany
literature
- Bernhard W. Panek: Printing materials - printing - finishing and alternative reproduction methods. Manufacture and selection of paper, cardboard and paperboard. Classic printing processes, finishing, photocopying and full-color copying. Measurement and testing technology. Security, fire protection. 2nd revised edition. facultas wuv universitätsverlag, Vienna 2004, ISBN 3-7089-0154-1 .
- Bookbinding machines, Mordowin, Prof. BM, VEB Verlag Technik Berlin 1962
- The trimming of books, notebooks and stacks of paper, German book and stone printer 27. 1920, pages 23–24.
- Der Buchbeschnitt, Collin, Ernst, Archiv für Buchgewerbe 49. 1912, pages 249–251
- The rules of book trimming, general. Indicator for bookb. 50th 1935
- DIN 8869 paper processing machines, long knives for paper cutting machines, Beuth sales Berlin and Cologne
- Basics of paper processing, Hesse, R .; Tenzer, HJ, VEB Verlag for Books and Libraries Leipzig 1963
- Teaching and manual of the bookbindery Adam, Paul, Löwenstein'sche Verlagshandlung, Dresden 1886/91
- Cutting machines and systems Polar, JI Jwedtschin (Резальлные машины и комплексы Polar, Ю. И. Хведчин), Heidelberg-Ukraina, Kiev, 2004
Web links
- Description (PDF; 3.6 MB)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Technology. In: The Planschneider. At Polar-Mohr.com, accessed September 28, 2019.