Used Machinery: Folding machines

Folding machines – The twist with the fold

The folding machines belong to the field of printing technology, i.e. to the category of printing machines. Folding machines for newspaper production were developed as early as the mid-nineteenth century. These were manually operated machines. The development of the folding machine was gradually advanced and ends today as part of the fully automatic bookbinding machines.

In addition to the quite complex bookbinding, folding machines are used wherever paper has to be folded. The 4-page DIN A5 brochure only has to be folded once if the original sheet is a DIN A4 sheet. With the well-known standard letter in a long envelope, the DIN A4 sheet is folded twice (zigzag fold) and this process can also be carried out fully automatically by a folding machine.

In addition to the fully automatic folding machines, there are also semi-automatic and manual models. As in many other areas, the use depends on the number of sheets to be folded. The sheets of paper to be folded can be printed or unprinted. That depends on the end product of the print finishing. Exercise books, brochures, direct mail, newspapers and magazines are some examples of print finishing. At the end of the production chain, after the folding machine, there is the stapling, binding or gluing machine, which creates a coherent bundle from the loose collection of sheets.

Particularly extensive folding processes are known to us from maps and even more specifically from city plans, which did not have to be completely unfolded in order to handle them. Due to the use of today's navigation systems and mobile phones, however, the necessary use of folding machines in the field of maps for rural and urban areas has greatly decreased.

But here, too, there are hardly any limits as far as the variety of folds is concerned. In addition to the standard folds, which are known from newspapers and letters, there are also slanted or short folds for decorative cards or invitation cards that do not correspond to any standard. Folding machines must also be able to meet these requirements and they place high demands on the drive and control technology.

A manual folder is a free-standing machine where the sheets are inserted individually or in a stack and the fold is determined by a manually applied blade. This is where the very common knife folding machines come into play.

The situation is different with automatic binding systems between prepress and postpress. The folding machine is located there as part of the overall system between the printing machine and the binding machine. The sheets have to run through the system in a precisely timed and positioned manner so that the printed sheets have the correct page sequence at the end. So-called knife folding machines with guide rollers or buckle folding machines are used for the continuous processes. There is also the combination of knife and buckle folding machines for the most versatile applications existing.

Choosing the right bow

As a rule, booklets and magazines always have a page number that is divisible by four. The reason for this is quite simple. A printed or unprinted double sheet has four sides and only needs to be folded once by a folding machine. The task and thus the challenge of an editor is that his print template has a page number that can be divided by four.

The folding machines and the associated category

At tramao, we have decided to classify the folding units and folding machines into categories in the area of post-press (printing machines).

Of course, the folding of metal is also a conceivable process. However, this method can be found in the field of metal processing machines (metal forming machines).

tramao offers you a large selection of new and used folding machines. Furthermore, you will also find the right service companies for maintenance, repairs and procurement of spare parts on tramao.de.

If you decide to buy a new or used folding unit or folding machine, you will find a large selection of well-known manufacturers such as Horizon, Heidelberg, Weinig, Guk, Herzog + Heymann, Stahl, Bäuerle, MBO or Nagel on tramao.