Low-cost and high-precision solution for the Star Card die-cutting machine
blog 2026-01-19 19:40:41 40
How does the Star Card Die Cutter have a quick-change die system (less than 5 minutes)?
The Star Card die-cutting machine is the most important equipment for the printing industry to produce small batches and multiple batches of cards. Its quick die change system is the most important feature to speed up order response time. The equipment adopts a wooden lightweight mold design and a standardized tool change process. This means that it can change a single die in 2-3 minutes and complete the entire die change operation (including die installation and initial parameter adjustment) in 5 minutes. This is more than 60% faster than traditional die-cutting machines, making it ideal for printing companies that need to frequently switch small-batch orders.
When it comes to safety and accuracy, the specific operation process can be broken down into three steps of standardized execution. The first step is the pretreatment and positioning of the mold. Before using the wooden mold, ensure that the cutting edge is intact, there is no residual oil or residue, and the edge is free of burrs. The flatness error of the mold should be ≤0.1 mm. The mold is correctly embedded in the mold base through the quick positioning pin on the equipment. The mold is first locked in place with magnetic-assisted clamping devices to prevent it from moving. The next step is to adjust the calibration parameters. The card size parameters (such as 85.6 mm × 54 mm for bank cards, 63 mm × 88 mm for game cards, etc.) can be input into the typesetting visual correction and positioning system. The system will automatically find the mold benchmark and complete the step feeding path calibration, and there is no need for repeated debugging. At the same time, the punching pressure is set to the appropriate material adaptation value; the paper is 0.8 ~ 1.0 MPa, and the film is 1.0 ~ 1.2 MPa. The third step is to switch from trial cutting to mass production. Slowly cut 3-5 samples to check the quality of the card edges (no burrs, edge verticality error <0.05 mm) and the positional accuracy, then switch to the mass production mode until the entire production process is smooth and can be completed by one person.
The main advantages of this process are the light weight of the wood mold (only 1/3 of the steel mold) and the modularization of the equipment. No professional technicians are required to operate the equipment, and ordinary workers can learn to use it after simple training. At the same time, there is no need to disassemble the core components when changing the mold, which saves a lot of time for printing companies, because the traditional equipment has to perform secondary precision calibration after changing the knife. This also speeds up the order switching cycle.
Life management of die-cutting tools for various materials of the Star Card die-cutting machine
Due to increasingly strict environmental protection requirements and the need to reduce costs, the use of recycled paper, recycled film, and other materials in card production is also slowly increasing. However, the unevenness and high impurity content of recycled materials will accelerate the wear of die-cutting tools and increase the cost of production consumables. Starcard die-cutting machine has launched a set of low-cost, highly adaptable tool life management solutions that take into account both processing quality and cost.
First, the selection and matching strategy of tools. Due to the way recycled materials are made, it is best to use high-carbon steel-coated tools (blade hardness HRC60-62). These tools last 40% longer than standard tools and cost only half as much as alloy tools. For tough materials such as recycled flexible magnets, a dedicated 30° blade tool can be used to make cutting easier and extend the life of the tool. For brittle materials such as recycled paper, a 45° blade tool should be used for optimal cutting results and service life. The equipment also supports the quick-release structure of the tool, which means that the worn part of the blade can be replaced without replacing the entire tool. This further reduces the amount of consumables used.
The second is a system for real-time monitoring and maintenance of service life. The machine’s built-in intelligent counting module will record the number of times the tool is punched. At the same time, the wear warning value is set for different types of recycled materials (80,000 to 100,000 times for recycled paper, 50,000 to 70,000 times for recycled film). When the warning value is reached, the system will automatically remind the maintenance to avoid problems such as burrs and dimensional deviations due to excessive use. The standard procedure for daily maintenance is “daily cleaning, weekly grinding, and monthly calibration.” After each day’s production, use special tools to clean the impurities and adhesions remaining on the cutting edge of the tool to prevent corrosion and wear of the tool. The cutting edge of the tool is slightly ground every week to restore its sharpness. After grinding, the visual system detects the position accuracy of the cutting edge. Check the clearance of the tool holder every month to ensure that it is not loose and causing greater wear.
In addition, the process optimization indirectly increases the life of the tool. The Starcard die-cutting machine has a stepping precision feeding function to control the matching degree of the feeding speed and the stamping frequency. This is to avoid local excessive wear caused by uneven load. The feeding speed of recycled material should not exceed 30 m/min, and the punching frequency should be ≤120 times/min. The equipment die-cuts products without nail holes or connection points, which also helps to disperse the force on the cutter and extend the service life of the cutter. Practical data shows that after the management plan was adopted, the average service life of the die-cutting tools for recycled materials increased from 25,000 times to 68,000 times, and the cost of tool consumables decreased by 52%.
Mass production solution for star card die cutting machine
The Star Card die-cutting machine has a servo punching power system that can handle 7.5 kW. By optimizing the hardware configuration and adjusting the process, it controls the energy use in mass production while ensuring high-precision die-cutting. It meets the needs of global printing companies for low-carbon production and cost control. This optimization scheme does not require the addition of expensive energy-saving modules. As long as the existing configuration is used more carefully, a lot of energy can be saved.
The ability of the servo system to precisely control things makes it possible to optimize energy use at the hardware level. The 7.5 kW servo motor adopts variable frequency speed regulation technology, which can output power according to the change of production load. For example, during the small-batch sampling or material preheating stage, the power is automatically reduced to 2.5-3 KW. During the mass production stage, the power is maintained at 5-6 KW, which is more than 30% more energy-saving than the traditional asynchronous motor. The equipment also adopts a lightweight body design to reduce the mechanical transmission resistance. The guide rail lubrication system only automatically supplies oil when the equipment is running, avoiding the energy waste caused by continuous lubrication of the equipment. The automatic waste discharge system of the equipment also adopts the intermittent working mode, and it is only turned on when the waste reaches a certain amount. This saves 15% of energy compared to continuous operation.
The process level needs to be optimized according to the material characteristics and production needs. The best punching settings have been set for different materials such as paper and film. For paper, the “high-speed, low-load” mode is adopted, and the punching frequency is set at 120-150 times/minute to avoid frequent starting and stopping of the motor. For flexible materials such as films and soft magnetic sheets, the “constant speed and stable load” mode is adopted, and the punching frequency is maintained at 80-100 times/minute to avoid the increase of energy consumption caused by load changes. At the same time, the equipment’s stepping precision feeding function is used to find the best feeding interval and stamping timing. The feeding and stamping actions are perfectly matched, and the energy consumption is reduced when there is no load. In the case of large continuous production, it is best to adopt the overall solution of the overall packaging of the products at the end of the production line. This can avoid the frequent start and stop of the equipment due to the independent operation of a single process, thus saving more energy.
In addition, the device’s smart sleep function helps maintain low standby power consumption. The system automatically enters sleep mode after 10 minutes of no instruction input. The power supply of non-core components is turned off, and only the control module is kept on standby (power consumption ≤0.3 KW), which is 80% lower than the standby power consumption of traditional equipment. Through the above comprehensive optimization scheme, the energy consumption of the star card die-cutting machine is only 0.0012 kWh/piece when a large number of cards are made (50,000 pieces per day on average). Far below the industry average (0.0021 kWh/sheet).
Main technical aspects of the Star Card die-cutting machine
The Star Card die-cutting machine is an economical piece of equipment specially produced for making cards. Its main advantages are “short, flat, and fast.” It can cut paper, film, soft magnetic sheets, etc. It can make all kinds of small boxes, such as smart cards, business cards, game cards, playing cards, animation cards, bank cards, star cards, etc. Its main technical features meet the needs of the printing industry for small batches, high precision, and low cost.
The visual correction and positioning technology of the layout is the key to ensuring the accuracy of die cutting. This technology uses high-definition visual sensors to capture the material benchmark in real time. The automatic correction of the feeding deviation controls the typesetting and positioning accuracy within ±0.1 mm. Effectively avoid the problems of edge skew and size deviation caused by material expansion and contraction and offset. At the same time, it ensures the high positional accuracy and good edge quality of the finished product, with no burr residue. The stepping precision feeding function can realize the one-step processing of small batch orders. The step feeding accuracy is ≤0.05 mm, which perfectly meets the die-cutting needs of complex card patterns.
The order change efficiency is very good. The whole machine adjustment time is only 15 minutes, which is 62.5% faster than the old die-cutting machine (40-60 minutes). In addition to the quick tool change system, the modular structure design is its core. Each functional unit can be debugged separately without shutting down the entire system for calibration. At the same time, there are multiple preset libraries for card specification parameters. When calling, only a few modifications are needed to adapt to production, and the preparation speed of small batch orders is greatly accelerated. The equipment also has a proofing function, which can quickly complete sample production and parameter verification. This helps printing companies reduce the R&D costs of new products and improve their ability to take orders.
The equipment has two card collecting modes: “sequential card collecting” is suitable for orders that need to maintain the card order (such as playing cards, serial number cards, etc.), and “classified card collecting” is suitable for mixed production of cards of different sizes or patterns, saving time for later sorting. The equipment can also be easily connected to the overall solution of the back-end product packaging. This allows the entire process of die-cutting, collecting, and packaging to be automated, reducing manual intervention, increasing production speed, and reducing labor costs.
Conclusion
The Mingxing card die-cutting machine is suitable for the printing industry and can realize small-batch, multi-batch, and multi-material die-cutting while taking into account low cost and high precision. Its main performance indicators are at the leading level in the industry. Compared with traditional die-cutting machines, the equipment has increased the mold changing efficiency by more than 60%, reduced the cost of cutting tool consumables by 52%, reduced the energy consumption of unit products by 42.9%, reduced the machine adjustment time by 62.5%, and stabilized the finished product qualification rate at more than 99.8% (the qualification rate of traditional equipment is about 98.5%).
The combination of wooden lightweight molds and quick-change tool systems has solved the problem of long switching times for small-batch orders in the industry. The tool life management scheme for recycled materials reduces the cost of consumables for enterprises and meets the needs of environmental protection production. The 7.5 kW servo system and multi-dimensional energy consumption optimization strategy effectively control the energy use of mass production. At the same time, visual typesetting correction, stepping precision feeding, and other technologies ensure the high precision of card product processing. The finished products are free of burrs and have high positional accuracy. This means they can meet the production standards of high-end products such as smart cards and game cards.
The low-cost setup of the Star-Cut die-cutter can help printing companies looking to expand their business globally save a significant amount of initial investment and ongoing costs. It can easily adapt to products of different materials and specifications and has the potential to automate the entire process. This means it can quickly respond to market demands in different fields. Die-cutting equipment made in Shenzhen is very reliable and helps printing companies around the world reduce costs. This makes it a good choice for production and gives it strong market power.