Ibis Smart Binder

How the Smart-binder works


The Smart-binder takes printed or folded sheets at speeds of up to 450 sheets/min and can produce up to 7,000 high-quality stitched and trimmed booklets/hour/shift, or 14,000 booklets/hour/2 shifts with the optional centre knife.

The Smart-binder SB-2 wire-stitches booklets up to 10 mm thick. Sheets are accurately aligned, collated and pre-folded in the Smart-binder. After stitching, each booklet is trimmed on 3 sides before being delivered onto the conveyor.

The Smart-binder SB-3 adds ISG cold-glue binding as an alternative to wire stitching.

The Smart-binder SB-4 and SB-5 can connect to a hot-melt perfect binder and produce books up to 60 mm thick.

A code printed on each sheet is read at the Smart-binder infeed. The numerical data in this code lets the Smart-binder track every sheet in the booklet for correct assembly and automatically perform other functions, such as selective stitching/gluing and selective perforating.

To achieve good book quality, the sheets – typically containing 16–28 pages – must be cold-glued before they are collated and folded. These sheets are delivered inline to the optional book binder and trimmer (SB-4 system).

Smart binder stitch glue process flow :



Smart binder stitch process flow:



Smart-binder features and USPs

A 24/7 production system for maximum uptime:

• More than 180 Smart-binder systems installed worldwide
• Reliable 24/7 production system for continuous use
• The most widely used finishing system for high-speed digital web printers
• Continuous 3-shift, 24/7 operation
• Can produce more than one million booklets every month
• Outperforms other systems in its class

Sheet and book integrity checks to ensure a good result

• Controlled data tracking for personalised booklets
• Integrated sensor and software system for 100% accurate tracking of every sheet
• Incomplete booklets are rejected automatically
• Separately fed covers can be verified to ensure they match the inner sheets
• A detailed log file provides data on individual booklets and can be used to reprint missing booklets

Booklet and book quality

• Each sheet is folded individually (the system folds several sheets together)
• High-quality folded sheets
• Three-side trimming for a high-quality finish
• Unique gripper device to minimise spine-corner tearing when producing books up to 10 mm thick

Bind-on-demand for personalised books or short runs

• Unique ability to vary book thickness during a run without adjustments
• The trimmer uses gravity registration to process books of variable thickness
• Integrated sheet and book tracking makes the Smart-binder a true bind-on-demand system.

Personalised cover-to-book matching

• Optional code reader on the cover feeder
• Integrated software for personalised cover-to-book matching

Multiple configurations

• The widest variety of possible system configurations
• SB-2 produces wire-stitched booklets only
• SB-3 also offers ISG cold gluing
• SB-4 and SB-5 systems offer both stitching and fully automated inline perfect binding
• Can be configured to run either directly connected to a printer or offline from a roll feeder or sheet feeder
• Can run both connected to the printer and offline, with quick changeover

Higher production speeds deliver more booklets every shift

• Up to 7,000 booklets/hour/1 shift or 14,000 booklets/hour/2 shifts
• Speeds of up to 130 metres/min (426 feet/min)
• 180 metres/min (590 feet/min) with a sheet folder

ISG cold-glue finishing for improved book quality

• Unique, patented IBIS ISG cold-glue option
• Cold-glued books are stronger and lie flatter than wire-stitched books
• Automatic switching between stitching and gluing

Extended Smart-binder models –X, –W and –XW

• The extended SB-X model increases the maximum spine length from 320 mm (12.6") to 457 mm (18")
• Can produce 11,000 A5 portrait booklets/hour/2 shifts
• The SB-W model increases the maximum book width from 230 mm (9 in) to 273 mm (10.75 in)

Unique Smart-Buffer system

• The SBS-100 sheet buffer lets the Smart-binder run at a different speed from the inline printer or roll-cutting line
• Lets the Smart-binder stop without stopping the printer
• Increases the operating efficiency of the inline system or roll-cutting line

Customisation to give you a competitive edge

• Smart-binder system customisation available for a wide variety of applications
• Can connect to devices such as envelope inserters, sheet stackers, sheet folders, booklet drilling units, cutting and folding units, and many other options
• Additional sheet feeders, cover insert feeders, cover folding, centre knife, feed carts, envelope rotation, sheet perforating and punching, and much more

Easy to use and maintain

• Easy to operate
• Good access and visibility
• Easy and economical to maintain

Compact footprint

• Very compact overall system footprint

Smart-binder presentation video