Muller Martini will unveil its new Vareo perfect binder, which is designed for processing digital and offset products, at Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne (from February 23 to 26). It represents a technological revolution as the first perfect binder where each of the three clamps is equipped with its own servo motor and is driven individually. Every processing step can be individually adapted to the product to ensure optimal quality and high productivity. 

Until now, there have been two types of drive for perfect binders, both based on a number of clamps on a chain being driven by a motor. With continuous drive, the motor is always running when the perfect binder is in operation, and all the clamps are in motion. The benefit is a level of high output, depending on the number of cycles. A perfect binder with discontinuous drive runs and stops intermittently. In other words, the clamps do not run all the time. Advantage: the nipping time is set individually, enabling the binding quality to be influenced directly. 

With unit drive technology for every clamp, Muller Martini’s new three-clamp Vareo perfect binder is the first to combine the benefits of both technologies. The asynchronous motions of the Vareo mean that every processing step can take place exactly when necessary to achieve the best possible quality of the end product, for example, optimal overtravel speeds or longer cover nipping times, while the overall performance remains the same.

The All-Rounder for Offset and Digital Printing

With its excellent price-performance ratio, the Vareo all-rounder comes into its own not only in digital printing for ultra-short runs right down to one copy per job, but also for medium runs, regardless of whether the brochures are produced using offset or digital printing. That makes the Vareo, which provides maximum flexibility with a mechanical performance of up to 1,350 cycles per hour, the ideal perfect binder for bookbinders and printing plants that use conventional printing methods and are thinking of entering digital printing or are already engaged in digital printing. 

Vareo's flexible equipment enables various applications. Photo books, personalized catalogs and high-quality brochures can be produced cost-effectively thanks to short setup times (e.g. in less than one minute from A4 to A5), which are indispensable for ultra-short and one-copy runs, and short production times. That enables producing high-quality books extremely quickly, with the very first copy being sellable. 

Modular Design for High Investment Protection

The Vareo has a modular design, which means that the machine can be easily extended and adapted to meet future production requirements, thereby providing a high degree of investment protection. It can be turned into a complete perfect binding line, for example by adding a customer-specific cooling section, a three-knife trimmer or an automatic book block infeed. That enables connecting the Vareo with digital printing presses. The finished signature stacks or loose-leaf stacks are then transferred directly to the clamps of the perfect binder. 

The setup wizard leads the machine operator step by step through the process of setting up a new job on the central touch screen. The control system provides assistance when making fine adjustments by displaying the desired changes straight on the screen as a preview animation. That enables the operator to check whether the intended effect will be achieved, even before a new book is actually bound. These fine adjustments can be saved for repeat jobs and accessed again. 

A particular benefit of the Vareo is the optional book thickness measuring system. This enables efficient one-off-book production, without any production waste. A size calibration station is available to ensure even shorter setup times and avoidance of operating errors. It allows measuring book block sizes, cover sizes and scoring positions. The input data are automatically transferred to the control system.

Effective Spine Preparation

The high-performance milling tool combines milling, roughening, notching and brushing and can process book thicknesses of up to 60 millimeters. The milling depth is entered automatically on the touch screen. Digitally printed loose-leaf stacks are also conveyed reliably and stably. The milling station can be lowered for thread-sewn or thread-sealed products as standard. A separate saw dust extraction system tailored to the ambient requirements of digital printing presses is available specifically for digital printing plants.

Hotmelt and PUR – with a Fully Integrated PUR Nozzle System

The Vareo can be used both for hotmelt (roller) and PUR production (roller or nozzle). The fully integrated PUR nozzle system is controlled centrally from the touch screen. The parameters relevant to the glue film are entered during the setup process and the necessary glue quantity is automatically calculated and delivered in the volume needed. The glue application monitoring system, which consists of a laser and photo sensor, enables monitoring both the glue film thickness and flawless glue application over the whole width and length of the book spine. The measured layer thicknesses are either displayed as a two-dimensional cross section or as a three-dimensional profile on the touch screen. 

The glue application systems are installed in the machine as standard. There is also, however, the option of mounting the systems to a trolley so that they can be exchanged easily. The trolley system can be added later for all application systems.

Bar Code Recognition Prevents Production Waste

The Vareo can be equipped with an integrated barcode recognition system to ensure that the content and cover match. The cover barcode is checked before scoring, which means that a misfed cover can be reused, instead of becoming production waste. For hardcover print finishing, an integrated ink-jet printer can print an additional barcode on the bound book block, which can be checked during the subsequent casing-in.

Live at Hunkeler Innovationdays

Visitors to Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne will have the unique opportunity to see the Vareo live in action at its world premiere at the Muller Martini booth. You can see for yourself how quick job changeovers between the production of two notebooks, a children’s coloring book, and a cocktail book are with the new perfect binder.