July 26, 2007 -- Hauppauge, New York – With the Collibri backgluing machine from Muller Martini, bookbinders can glue-off thread-sewn books in the widest possible variety of ways...meeting a diverse range of customer demands by using dispersion glue, hotmelt or PUR and applying the glue once or twice.  The versatile Collibri is available in two different lengths and with one or two inter-changeable gluing stations.
Collibri with One Gluing Station
The Collibri backgluing machine with one gluing and one lining station is available in two versions: one for melting adhesives (hotmelt and PUR) and one for dispersion glue.
Collibri for hotmelt application is the compact solution for manufacturing simple products with linings.  However in today’s marketplace, an increasing number of books are being glued-off with PUR instead of hotmelt, due to the fact that PUR provides exceptional shelf life and excellent opening and closing characteristics.  In order to glue-off with PUR, the Collibri for hotmelt applications is additionally equipped with a PUR gluing station and a pre-melting device.  Changing between hotmelt and PUR can be completed very quickly, thanks to a separate pre-heating station with exhaust.
The second version of the one-station Collibri backgluing machine is engineered for applications using dispersion glue.  This type of gluing results in the manufacturing of book blocks featuring very good quality and outstanding layflat characteristics.  With the dispersion gluing version of Collibri, a drying and pressing machine follows the Collibri in order to completely dry the book block before further processing.  The block spines are then quickly and efficiently dried on a four-meter long infrared drying section with automatic adjustment and a circulating fan.
All Collibri machines that are designed for one-time glue application can be configured with a pair of pressing rollers before the gluing station – which can eliminate spine swelling.
Collibri with Two Gluing Stations
The Muller Martini Collibri backgluing machine with two gluing stations enables highly flexible production.  This machine is equipped with infrared drying in between, and, a lining station.  Through the use of an exchangeable glue carriage, various gluing processes can be applied utilizing this version of Collibri, including the primer-hotmelt approach.  With the primer-hotmelt process, dispersion glue is first applied to the book block spine.  The book blocks are then efficiently dried on Muller Martini’s newly-developed infrared drying section with a circulating fan until ready for trimming, and then additionally glued-off with hotmelt.  This type of gluing offers a wide array of application possibilities while also delivering excellent product quality.  With a Collibri configured with two gluing stations, bookbinders also have the option of gluing-off twice with dispersion glue.  To do so, the second gluing station is exchanged with just a single manual move.  By applying dispersion glue twice, the highest quality can be achieved at any book block thickness.
To optimize speed when changing from dispersion glue to hotmelt, the hotmelt gluing station can be pre-heated while still running a dispersion glue job.  It should be noted that only one of the two gluing stations can be used on the Collibri at a given time, meaning that the book blocks receive one glue application which can be either dispersion adhesive, hotmelt or PUR (depending upon corresponding equipment).
Innovative, Profit-Enhancing Capabilities
As one of the most unique and productivity-minded backgluing machines on the market, the Collibri automatically trims the liner from a wide reel cross-wise to the book block, positioned and pressed from below and from the side (in all sizes).  The Collibri’s lining station provides a key advantage: the rolls last for a long time. For instance, with a block thickness of ¾” (20 mm), a 984-ft (300-meter) roll will last for 6,000 book blocks. This translates to true time savings along with increased production output.