LFP - Large-Format-Printing
Fujifilm showcases Inca Onset S20 handling system at FESPA 2010
Wednesday 23. June 2010 - Fujifilm today announces the launch of the latest material handling system for the Inca Onset family of flatbed inkjet printers. Designed for the Onset S20 device and with the ability to increase output to 275m2/hour, the handling system, which can be seen in action on Fujifilms stand Hall B1 Stand 220, offers users even more flexibility for wide format UV flatbed printing.
One of the biggest factors in the success of UV flatbed technology has been its versatility; users enjoy the freedom to print onto a wide variety of media, thicknesses and sizes. Naturally, as the speed and quality for UV flatbed has improved so has the desire to add a material handling system, but often, once a handling system is attached to a printer there is a tendency to limit the flexibility the printer offers by impeding direct access to the print bed. Consequently, rather than increasing efficiency the performance productivity ratio declines.
Fujifilm and Inca, with their heritage in screen printing, know from experience that the vast majority of screen print machines are still manually loaded, and have invested in making sure that this Onset system is designed around the customer, and does not detract from the ability of the Onset to switch between jobs quickly. Printers can continue to use lots of different substrates individually for one off printing jobs, or enable the handling system to run a high volume job with minimal intervention.
“We have worked closely with Inca over the past year to ensure that the customers needs take priority,” comments Tudor Morgan, group marketing manager, wide format at Fujifilm. “The handling system is designed to optimise the timing of high volume print jobs, and will potentially increase material handling efficiency levels by another 36%, which is a huge benefit to the printer and his customer. The system is extremely simple to operate, with assisted loading and automated unloading, and we have had very positive feedback from our beta user, Imprint Creative Print Solutions.”
“The automation has given us increased productivity immediately and is very operator friendly,” says Dave Bullivant, Group Business Development Director at Imprint. “The multi-sheet feed aspect of the automation is a real benefit and allows a quick changeover between different size materials.”
The Onset S20, a UV curing inkjet flatbed printer, is the most recent high performance addition to the Onset family which has changed the face of the wide format industry. Developed to meet the demands of customers for rigid print between 1500 to 4000m2 per day, the six-colour device has enabled UV digital flatbed to become an economical method of producing high-impact visual images, and produces far more print than any other digital flatbed printer currently available. The Onset S20 has an ever growing customer base, using the device for its superb quality, flexibility and finish.
The device prints edge to edge onto substrates of 3.14m x 1.6m and up to 50mm thick. The vacuum table with accurate, 11 pin positioning allows users to print single and double-sided work on a variety of media sizes. The Onset S20 uses FUJIFILMs own Uvijet inks, and at FESPA it will be printing Light Cyan and Light Magenta Uvijet Enhance ink alongside CMYK to produce high-quality results, expanding its capabilities still further. With this new ink set, Onset S20 can now produce prints to match the sheet fed offset colour standard ISO 12647-2, enabling the production of consistent results, regardless of the print process used. In addition, the Onset S20, in combination with Uvijet inks, also features gloss level control to produce finishes from matt, through satin to high gloss depending on application, bringing massive versatility in the range of products that can be printed, e.g. display POP, exhibition graphics, backlit/frontlit displays and outdoor signage printing.
With up to an amazing 758 million drops of ink jetting per second on the Onset S20 and two UV curing lamps providing for near-instantaneous curing, the printing quality and results are so impressive that it is hard to tell the difference between Onset, screen and offset print. The machine is armed with a full bed width printhead array that features built-in automatic head cleaning and fault tolerance software.
The handling system featured at FESPA has been developed to further exploit the productivity of the Onset S20, increasing effective volumes produced to 275m2/hour. The handling system can place sheets up to 10mm thick, weighing up to 2kg/m2 with precision, giving print registration within 0.5mm. The unit will be demonstrated throughout the show, switching to and from manual handling to demonstrate how quick and easy this is.