C.P. Bourg the world's leading technology developer and supplier of on-line and near-line document feeding, binding and finishing equipment, has introduced high-speed sheet-feeder and vertical stacker options for the Bourg PowerSquare(TM) 200. The options are designed to increase PowerSquare 200 productivity and convenience, especially in digital printing environments.

The PowerSquare 200 is a multi-purpose square-edge booklet-maker available for standalone off-line production or dedicated production online with various manufacturers' digital presses. Manufactured in the UK by Watkiss Automation and sold and serviced throughout the Americas by C.P. Bourg as the Bourg PowerSquare 200, the device combines stitching, folding, spine forming and

trimming to produce SquareBack(TM) books up to 200 pages thick. It also features fully automatic settings for different book size and pagination, including variable stitch leg length for varying book thickness.

Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder Option
Adding the Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder transforms the Bourg PowerSquare 200 into a high-speed near-line booklet-making solution. With it, documents printed by any number of color or monochrome digital presses can be finished automatically at production speed, while maintaining integrity of collated sets.

The Bourg BSF features two feeding compartments that can accept pile heights of 20 inches for primary content and up to 6.3 inches for covers or other content. Able to feed up to 12,000 sheets per hour, the sheet feeder uses an innovative air-table design that allows its operator to load and easily center stacks of collated print output "virtually hands free" from stack carts common to many HP Indigo(TM), Kodak Digimaster(TM) and Xerox DocuTech(R) and Nuvera(R) printers.

To maintain integrity of collated sets, the Bourg BSF detects double sheets or missed sheets from both compartments, and detects when either stack bin is empty. Optional barcode scanning with a flexible positioning scanner allows the Bourg BSF to read a bar code placed anywhere on the sheet, eliminating traditional "hard fixed" bar code placement. The Bourg BSF can accept sheets from as small as 8 x 8 inches to 13.4 x 19.7 inches to match the PowerSquare 200 full input range.

Vertical Stacker Option
The optional PowerSquare Book Stacker (PBS) maximizes cost-efficiency by allowing the PowerSquare 200 to run unattended for extended periods. The new accessory stacks finished books vertically on their spine, which is extremely space efficient; and it requires very little additional floor space. With a capacity of 36.6 inches (930mm), it can run for up to an hour without operator intervention. The stacker also accommodates different sized books without adjustment, and can be unloaded on-the-run to provide uninterrupted production. The PBS connects to the PowerSquare 200 in any configuration -- offline with manual feed, near-line with the Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder, or online with any of various manufacturer's digital presses.

"Adding the Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder or the PBS vertical stacker to a Bourg PowerSquare 200 system can result in substantially increased booklet-making productivity and efficiency," said Richard Trapilo, Executive Vice President and General Manager, C.P. Bourg, Inc. "Configuring the PowerSquare 200 with both options enables unattended operation at maximum speed for extended periods, which can boost booklet-making productivity by 50% or more, to drive profitability and maximize the user's return on investment," he added.

A video of the Bourg PowerSquare 200 connected to BSF Sheet Feeder and PBS vertical sacker options is available on YouTube here. The Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder and PBS vertical stacker productivity options are available immediately from C.P. Bourg at +1-508-998-2171 or by e-mailing [email protected].