The Trident heads
The recently launched hybrid AXYZ Trident integrated digital print finishing system has been installed at Hampshire-based Key2 Group.
Managing director Mike Keating said, ‘As a direct manufacturer, we can handle anything, from one off projects and prototypes through to large scale production runs and anything inbetween.’
AXYZ International vice president of market development, Robert Marshall, commented, ‘Sign manufacturers are now venturing into new markets and digital print finishing specialists are being asked to work with a much wider range of both rigid and flexible materials. These invariably require longer, wider and deeper routing/cutting capabilities that traditional routers would find difficult to provide. The AXYZ Trident is one of the most advanced and highly innovative combined routing, cutting and finishing systems currently available.’
The Trident incorporates a triple head configuration featuring a CNC routing spindle with oscillating and tangential knife cutting units. These are interchangeable to enable the processing of frequently problematical thin materials such as aluminium and other non-ferrous metals and aluminium composites (ACM), acrylic and foamed boards.
By comparison with other AXYZ routers, the Trident, which is available in a range of different sizes, can increase manufacturing output by as much as 50%. It also features a narrower carriage that contributes to a 12% smaller footprint. Most significantly, however, it obviates the need to invest in two separate machines to carry out all of the routing, creasing and cutting requirements of digital print finishing. The six inch gantry clearance on the machine enables more efficient processing of thicker materials like foamed board, while the interchangeable cutting blades can be as long as 120 mm to enable harder, heavier and thicker materials to be processed. The machine can handle any length of material due to the ability to increase the length of the standard processing bed in increments of 600 mm.
The machine installed at Key2 Group is a Trident 6010 model with a processing width of 2159 mm and a length of 3048 mm. Mr Keating said, ‘As an existing customer of AXYZ International, we were well aware of the versatility and scope of AXYZ routers. We chose the AXYZ Trident 6010 machine because it was quicker, cleaner and quieter than any previous generation of machine and could handle a much wider range of rigid and flexible materials. Due to the versatility of Trident, we are also able to venture in to new markets like packaging.’
