C.P. Bourg Launches BSF Sheet Feeder at 'On Demand'

On Demand Expo; Philadelphia, PA; March 31, 2009 – The first near-line sheet feeder that automatically transfers paper from different manufacturers’ printers and stack carts while maintaining integrity of collated sets for production finishing, was introduced here today at On Demand Expo 2009 by C.P. Bourg, the world’s leading technology developer and supplier of in-line and near-line document feeding, binding and finishing equipment.

The new Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder features an innovative air-table design that allows the BSF operator to load and center stacks of collated sets from stack carts common to Canon, Heidelberg, HP, IBM, Kodak, Océ, Xerox and other manufacturer’s printers virtually without manual intervention.  The Bourg BSF is equipped with two feeding compartments that can accept pile heights of 20 inches for primary content and up to 6.3 inches for covers or other content, and it can feed sheets up to 14.33 x 22.5 inches at up to 15,000 sheets/hour to various C.P. Bourg document finishing modules.

“Despite their increasing speed, even fast digital print engines can’t match the pace at which production finishing lines can operate, which makes near-line finishing financially attractive for some on-demand print environments,” said Rick Trapilo, C.P. Bourg Executive Vice President and General Manager. “However, operators at shops with near-line finishing operations today have to manually transfer heavy stacks of collated paper sets from stacker carts to a sheet feeder, which increases the chances of damaged sheets and stacking errors in addition to risk of personal injury.

“By automatically transferring print output from different manufacturers’ stack carts into the sheet feeder and centering the stack, the Bourg BSF makes it much easier for users in on-demand print environments to reap the productivity benefits offered by near-line volume finishing – and especially as variable data printing (VDP) methods become more prevalent,” Trapilo explained.

Using C.P. Bourg’s innovative approach, the Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder can accept collated sheets from any number or brand of print engines, including analog processes. The Bourg BSF automatically aligns the incoming stack according to its centerline. The operator then selects which of multiple C.P. Bourg finishing devices to send the collated sets for finishing under program control.

The Bourg BSF can connect to any or all of three C.P. Bourg finishing modules: the Bourg BCM Bleed-Crease Module, the Bourg BDF Document Finisher and Bourg’s new BM-e E-Series Booklet Maker. Bourg’s proven vacuum-belt technology is used throughout to accommodate a wide variety of paper types, weights and sizes without marking, scuffing or scratching.

Optional barcode scanning with a flexible positioning scanner allows Bourg BSF users to read a bar code placed anywhere on the sheet, eliminating traditional “hard fixed” bar code placement.

The Bourg BSF incorporates two separate feeding compartments: a lower bin that can accommodate pile heights up to 20 inches; and an upper bin that accommodates pile heights up to 6.3 inches. The BSF detects double sheets or missed sheets from both compartments, and detects when each stack bin is empty. Paper sizes can range from finished products smaller than a CD-ROM booklet to the largest sheet size currently handled by digital printers.

C.P. Bourg is taking orders for the Bourg BSF Sheet Feeder; deliveries are scheduled for the third quarter of 2009.


C.P. Bourg – The Print Finishing Experts
For nearly 50 years, C.P. Bourg has designed and delivered innovative binding and finishing solutions to meet the needs of the global printing and finishing industry. C.P. Bourg’s reputation – as the world’s leading technology developer and supplier of in-line and near-line document feeding, binding and finishing equipment for the broad spectrum of traditional and digital printing environments – is built on a history of Mr. Christian Pierre Bourg’s achievement and continuous commitment to quality, innovation and efficiency. This commitment has led to privileged relationships with numerous digital print suppliers, and with tens of thousand customers worldwide who rely on C.P. Bourg equipment to turn print on paper into quality finished products.

An award-winning supplier and Xerox Corporation Business Partner since 1989, C.P. Bourg most recently was named by Xerox as the Overall Finishing Business Partner of the Year for 2008 for the fifth consecutive year, and as the Xerox Monochrome Finishing Business Partner of the Year for 2008. The company also won a prestigious Prix Wallonie à l'Exportation award for technological excellence from the Walloon Region (Belgium) Export Agency 2006-2008.