non-stop feed and delivery

[Albert Noel]

my press is equipped with both, but both are currently not working. (various reasons) i'm trying to justify the time and effort needed to get them working again, so my question is, does your press have them and do you use them?
the senior operator insists that they aren't worth the hassle to fix (the feed anyway, he doesnt mind the non-stop delivery) but I'd really like to form my own conclusions.
(ive never seen the non-stop feeder actually function in the 7 years ive been with the company.)
i'm thinking i could save alot of time on longer runs IF i can get them functioning (and smoothly at that, with no miss-feeds)

any opinions and suggestions?

 

[nhprinter]

Hi Albert,

I've run both and it use to drive me crazy to have a long run and not be able to pre-load the feeder on the press that didn't have it. It's such a time saver.

I never used the non-stop delivery except to put stackers in. I never felt that saved much time. It only takes 30 seconds to change the delivery skid.

Dave

 

[RGPW17100]

Half the time if you do it wrong usually in the delivery if you dont stab it right it will cause a jam and then you have to clear all the sheets in the press. The feeder has to be just right as well when doing it. If you are running board weight it might be a good idea to have it working however if your press operator wont use it then it is wasted money. On book stock after around 3000 imps we usually do blanket washes any ways and because ours are automatic we have already pre loaded the feeder and we have plenty of time to engage the new feeder load and un load the delivery by the time the blankets are done cleaning.

 

[Albert Noel]

Half the time if you do it wrong usually in the delivery if you dont stab it right it will cause a jam and then you have to clear all the sheets in the press. The feeder has to be just right as well when doing it. If you are running board weight it might be a good idea to have it working however if your press operator wont use it then it is wasted money. On book stock after around 3000 imps we usually do blanket washes any ways and because ours are automatic we have already pre loaded the feeder and we have plenty of time to engage the new feeder load and un load the delivery by the time the blankets are done cleaning.

i AM the press operator. we run in two shifts just he is the senior operator in the shop.
it's just was just never functional since ive been an operator on the press. i would use it if possible

 

[Sfdp2300]

We tried along time ago to use the continous feed on our Heidelbergs and failed horribely. We did have success on our Planetas which are large format 50" and higher. The Planetas had a different set up where the auto pile hieght had a smoother flow to it, compared to the heidelberg which had a bounce when the pile moved of up. As of today we do not us any continous feed due to almost all runs are very small.

I know it was an awsome sight to watch the press non stop for an 8 hour shift with the only stops were to wash blankets... (Whoooo-Ra!).

If your continous feed is operational and your schedule allows you some play time with it. Try it out it is awsome when it works. We are in a bussiness that pays by the minutes now... Good Luck

 

[Albert Noel]

it's kind of funny to hear that a larger format press did it flawlessly. you would think it would be harder with a sheet that size.
i'm hoping to make this one work, even if it's a half-size. we do large runs for medical supply instruction sheets that are 50,000+ sheets each and it would be great to do them straight without ever stopping.

thanks for the insight

We tried along time ago to use the continous feed on our Heidelbergs and failed horribely. We did have success on our Planetas which are large format 50" and higher. The Planetas had a different set up where the auto pile hieght had a smoother flow to it, compared to the heidelberg which had a bounce when the pile moved of up. As of today we do not us any continous feed due to almost all runs are very small.

I know it was an awsome sight to watch the press non stop for an 8 hour shift with the only stops were to wash blankets... (Whoooo-Ra!).

If your continous feed is operational and your schedule allows you some play time with it. Try it out it is awsome when it works. We are in a bussiness that pays by the minutes now... Good Luck

 

[jbeniston]

Albert, that delivery non stop is mechanically/manually operated. It should work o.k. Is it broken near the suction roller.

 

[Albert Noel]

Albert, that delivery non stop is mechanically/manually operated. It should work o.k. Is it broken near the suction roller.

yeah some of the sheet stops are missing or broken. just wear and tear in general and the cast peices that hold the rails on are broken from feeder/helpers putting empty skids on and not paying attention, not to mention the switches that allow the pile to move while the board is in aren't working right either. (for whatever reason)
we get along very well without it all working, but it's nice to know it's there if needed.
it's mostly alot of little things that just add up to neither of them functioning.

 

[Albert Noel]

well i had a 10,000 sheet run of on press scoring to do so i got out the ol' non stop delivery board and took a stab at it.
it worked out pretty well considering the rails have broken supports but i was able to make it work fairly smoothly. i can see it will take some practice to get good at it when i am actually printing something. (ie: not destroying a stack of freshly printed sheets)

just need to order some new brackets now. and then on to the feeder

 

[67drake]

Practice!
It does take a bit of practice to get good at these. My helpers are still trying to learn how to do the quick change on the feeder end without stopping the press up,but they do get better as time goes by. The delivery end,same thing,just getting your timing down for inserting the rake can be a challange when your not used to doing it. But if you get used to it,you'll never want to NOT use it.
At my shop we HAVE to use the quick changes for production reasons.
Good luck!

 

[Albert Noel]

well, not to bring a dead thread back, but i fixed the continous feed system and finally tried it out. considering it stopped working 6 years ago (long story) and i've never used it, i got the hang of it pretty quick.
this one isn't very automated, the press advances the pile up to the residual stack and all that but the initial raising and lowering of the residual bar is manual. overall, it took a couple of tries but i got it figured out. using some old leftover stock thats been sitting on shelf for a few years, i managed to non-stop feed 50lb uncoated 17.5"x23" at 15,000sph (off impression, just sheet feed only)

cant wait to get to our next long run to use it.

 

[arfamoe]

Congratulations Albert, now all you need is ink pre-setting and closed loop colour control and your in the 21st Century

 

[Albert Noel]

thanks for the condescending (hopefully sarcastic) comment

 

[arfamoe]

Not meant to be disrespectful at all, just common sense, if you are serious about bringing your press up a notch. you cant add auto plate loaders to an old press or many other of the auto functions that exist on newer equipment to increase the presses performance but you can add some colour tools such as presets and closed loop to be more competiitive.

 

[akiyama_king]

Not meant to be disrespectful at all, just common sense, if you are serious about bringing your press up a notch. you cant add auto plate loaders to an old press or many other of the auto functions that exist on newer equipment to increase the presses performance but you can add some colour tools such as presets and closed loop to be more competiitive.

welll i suppose he has the same problem as yo do when it comes to tha respect, but in your case they wont even get you a pile turner - that makes more common sense

 

[arfamoe]

welll i suppose he has the same problem as yo do when it comes to tha respect, but in your case they wont even get you a pile turner - that makes more common sense

Ouch, that stung!!

 

[akiyama_king]

Ouch, that stung!!

im only kiddin, have you persuaded your lot about a pile turner yet?

 

[arfamoe]

im only kiddin, have you persuaded your lot about a pile turner yet?

I know.
When they do the first run of 50,000 sheets of .020" Plastic and the helpers are all off with back injurys they'll be begging me to get one.

 

[Adaboy]

Well...it's good to see someone that wants to use the continuous feeder. I've had people sit and watch to see it happen. They said "Wow, I've worked here for ten years and never saw anyone do that !"
One thing I can say is that if you see that you accidentally create a "hanger" or wrinkled sheet between the two loads...it's better to clear the feeder before it sends it through and whacks all the blankets. You'll be able to start it back up within seconds, rather than an hour and a couple hundred dollars later. The hanger will most likely trip it off but damaged sheets are more likely to go through.

Just remember..
"The number of people watching you is directly proportional to the stupidity of your action."
So don't let anybody watch!

 

[Freeman A.Gain]

I have to say that I must be blessed with a better work environment than most pressrooms. We have a pile turner, AND we also use our continuous feeder and delivery. I'd like to use the feeder aspect more, but with some stocks, the quality has taken a real dive, so the amount of filler or calcium that is in stocks these days, make you stop and do blankets occasionally.
But as stated previously.. practice,practice, practice! and patience!