Zünd Launches New Flagship Q-Line Cutters
By Printweek
Swiss manufacturer Zünd has launched its first pallet-to-pallet digital cutting table series, the Q-line.
Significantly faster than previous models, and with an unprecedented level of automation for the brand, the Q-line has taken up prime position in Zünd’s portfolio.
Powered by new linear drive technology, the new machines’ beams can accelerate at up to 2.1g, to reach a maximum speed of 2.8m/s – effectively double both the speed and acceleration of the manufacturer’s other models.
Sold as standard with Zund’s BHS180 board handler and Undercam registration system, the Q-line tables can cut and stack unsupervised, too, allowing for a 35% overall increase in productivity compared to previous machines.
Designed to eat into die cutters’ dominance of smaller packaging runs and flat signage, the Q-line will be able to competitively take on jobs of up to 500 sheets, up from around 100-150, according to Zünd.
Launching the product last week, the company said: “[The machine] offers exceptional performance for any display and packaging manufacturer, and each component of the system is replete with exciting new features.
“The bottom line is that this constitutes an investment that can help customers sustainably improve their competitive edge.”
The Q-line’s Undercam registration system works by matching the cut to the print, rather than to the board, identifying any distortions and adjusting to them. During the feeding process, each board is aligned automatically – and realigned if outside of the machine’s tolerance – so that it can be fed onto the cutter without interruption.
The BHS180 stacking system itself works in tandem with Undercam by scanning QR codes on each print, automatically processing each sheet and stacking it into stacks offset by job, and automatically stacks any faulty boards with an offset for easy identification.
Each of the table’s two carbon fibre and polymer beams comes equipped with two high-speed tooling arms, one 50kg tooling arm – intended especially for large creasers – and a fixed sensor to detect registration marks, QR codes, and material edges.
Q-line cutters come with an automatic tool-changing system as standard, with a digital tool management client able to save presets with linked tools.
Available in three different widths of 3.2m,2.2m, and 1.8m, the Q 32-32D, 22-32D, 18-32D are commercially available from 1 June with both BHS180 and Undercam as standard, though Zünd said that the cutting table would be available without the stacker or registration system later in its lifetime.
Zünd has already won praise for the 3.2m model of the machine, the Q 32-32D, which was awarded a Red Dot Award for its product design.
The Q-line will be available to see in-person in May at Fespa 2023, though will not be in operation at the show.
This article was published in Printweek April 26, 2023. Zund America, Inc. is a member of SPESA.
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