Vivid VeloBlade Nexus range
If you are looking to widen your market by providing cut, creased, or finished wide-format products, Vivid has three machines in its VeloBlade Nexus range for the job. Brian Sims finds out more
Principal consultant, Metis Print Consultancy
Tuesday, 22 Nov 2022 17:24 GMT
The Nexus range comes in three models, the VB-N-1816, VB-N-2516 and the largest being the VB-N-3016
Cutting into new markets
We often discuss the changing markets and why they are providing
both challenges and opportunities for suppliers and clients alike. The
world we live in is increasingly looking for more than two-dimensional
products, so once the printed effects have been added to the substrate,
we then quite often need to apply a little more to the product to give
it depth.
The way we can produce these effects is with help from a number of
post-press devices involving cutting and creasing to allow for folding
and assembly, thus creating a third dimension. What a growing number of
manufacturers are considering is printing onto new substrates such as
thick plastic, MDF, and even metals. One example is swissQprint’s recent
launch of technologies which enable digital printing directly onto
glass.
What a growing number of manufacturers are considering is printing
onto new substrates such as thick plastic, MDF and even metals”
With this comes the challenge of completing the finishing of such
materials which are at the extent of the boundary for commonly printed
materials, but also not working to provide more space for additional
equipment.
Vivid Laminating Technologies may well have the answer as it has
extended its offering of digital cutting and creasing machines with the
VeloBlade Nexus range.
Building on from the very successful Volta digital cutting tables,
the company has available three machines within the Nexus range which
boast a wide range of cutting and creasing tools”
Building on from the very successful Volta digital cutting tables,
the company has available three machines within the Nexus range which
boast a wide range of cutting and creasing tools including a CNC router.
Flexibility at heart
The three machines are all based on the same cutting technology and
have a multi-tool head which can hold a number of different cutting,
creasing, and machining tooling.
Firstly, there is a cutting head which can have a kiss-cut head for
1.5mm or 1.0mm materials and applications such as labels. Secondly is
the option of an oscillating knife with a various number of knives for
corrugated board up to 3mm in thickness. This includes one for mats and
carpets up to 5mm and knives for hard honeycomb board up to 6mm and 10mm
in thickness. Finally, the head can carry a driven knife and has
various knife configurations for intricate cutting up to 5mm in
thickness and for all the materials listed above.
There is also provision for a V-Cut head which has two choices for
under 16mm and one for materials under 25mm if you wished to cut
Foamcore, corrugated and Chevron board for example. Further provision is
on the cutting head of the Nexus range for a creasing device. This is
again loaded with a range of options which can crease a choice of widths
and application depths.
The Nexus range of machines would not be complete without the use
of a perforator device. Again as with the other cut and crease tooling,
there is a wide range of hot swappable tooling for a number of different
perforating patterns available.
Where the Nexus range of digital die-cutting machines takes a leap
forward is with the inclusion of the fully equipped CNC router which is
powerful and capable of cutting and shaping material such as MDF and
plastic up to 25mm in thickness.
Routers are a totally different technology to traditional shaping
and forming used in the graphics industry, but Vivid has risen to this
challenge and has equipped the device with a dust removal debris
function which it fits perfectly alongside the more traditional
processes.
When the substrates start to change so much in thickness, a whole
host of other issues for the manufacturer can arise. The third dimension
requires the cutting head to adapt not only for changes in substrate
thickness but also in that if you can control the height of the cutting
device, you can create profiles and contour to the substrate. This
function on the VeloBlade Nexus range is controlled automatically and to
an industry leading degree of accuracy and precision.
Along with the depth of cutting profile the product will need to be
accurately cut and as a result, the range of VeloBlade Nexus machines
use a CCD camera registration system which is able to control accuracy
to a resolution of 0.1mm.
Holding on tight
It's all well and good being able to cut the scope of substrates by
various processes but this equipment is of little use if you cannot
secure the materials themselves. To accommodate this requirement, the
VeloBlade Nexus machines can either handle roll to roll materials or
they can be sheet fed.
Regardless of the form of the substrate, the VeloBlade Nexus uses a
vacuum table that provides a rigid hold of whatever has been selected
for the client’s product. A combination of the powerful vacuum table and
the fact the cutting head is driven by intelligent digital servo
control system, the output of the Nexus range can be intricate, precise,
and efficiently produced.
The VeloBlade Nexus has a range of over 100 knife choices for all three machines
To ensure all these features come together as effectively as
possible, the Nexus range of machines comes with ZipCore software which
allows the operator to quickly and easily control the systems on the
machine and ensure the layout and production is as cost effective as
possible. The ZipCore software is able to specify 0.01mm cut depth
alterations which will maximise efficiency and creativity all in one
interface.
The Nexus range of machines comes with ZipCore Software which allows users to easily control the systems on the machine
To make the VeloBlade Nexus machines as simple as possible to
integrate to the workspace, they are all fully compatible with all main
RIP software packages such as Caldera and Onyx.
Getting the size right
The Nexus range comes in three models, the VB-N-1816, VB-N-2516 and
the largest being the VB-N-3016. The maximum sheet size in order for
each is 1800mm x 1600mm, 2500mm x 1600mm and 3000mm x 1600mm. This is
the only significant difference between the three machines as they all
provide the same level of accuracy and complexity.
As customers' requirements and requests expand, with one of the
VeloBlade Nexus machines you can be assured you can match those
expectations.
Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu
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