Our colleagues from Africa and the Middle East's leading sign industry magazine, Sign Africa (www.signafrica.com) also represented Wide Format Online magazine at FESPA and adds to our coverage by our own correspondent, Tom Staiger.
Products seen by Sign Africa, listed in alphabetical order, included:
(Please bear in mind that since this reporting comes from South Africa, some of the products highlighted may not be made available in our region.)
3M Scotchcal Translucent Graphic Film 3630LED, 3M Clearview Window Film 8150 and 3M Controltac 85 CV3. Scotchcal Translucent Graphic Film 3630LED is a backlit film that has been designed to enhance side illumination using LED and Back Illumination. The car wrapping film is available in 22 colours and improves application time by 20%. In addition, more colours have been introduced in the 3M Scotchcal Opaque Graphic Film Series, from 80 to 170 with a total of 40 metallics.
The Agfa 3.2m Jeti Aqua Jeti printer was showcased with the latest generation of aqueous-based disperse dye AquaJet Pro inks, powered by DuPont Artistri ink technology. They produce brighter, more vibrant colours and deliver faster throughput on polyester based fabrics. The Jeti 1224 UV HDC inkjet printer features the widest colour gamut and highest productivity in its class, demonstrating high definition, sharp fine text and photographic detail with bright intense colours. It features a unique, linear motor driven vacuum bed for highly accurate dot placement in both flat bed mode or with the optional roll-to-roll (RTR) feature. The flatbed architecture can print on anything that is reasonably flat up to five cm thick and with its industrial grade construction can support media rolls up to 110 kg. The Jeti 1224 UV HDC is the first Jeti printer to use the Ricoh Gen 4 variable grayscale print head technology.
Caldera users are now able to monitor printing jobs on APPLE’s iPad. Fully integrated within the Caldera RIP, Costview 2.0 enables production cost management and monitoring as well as the set-up of a pricing policy. It is a production management solution, which extracts information about jobs directly from the RIP spooler, enabling a production manager to control, modify, study and export all costs pertaining to a job. Users can also export their job listings with all relevant costs as a spreadsheet ready for further analysis in other ‘csv’ compliant software.
Dataplot showed the EMBLEM Hand Punch. The punch can repair Eyelets on-site (this product will be seen at Sign Africa 8-10 September 2010 on the Dataplot stand). The company also showed the EMBLEM Easydryer, which is a space saver unit where you place printed rolls of media in the dryer rather than lying unfolded in a factory. It also speeds up the drying process by 20-30%. Lastly, an EMBLEM Automatic Eyelet Machine and EMBLEM Easy Dome Stickers were presented. The stickers are pre-made dome caps that can be stuck over printed Rectangle, Square or Circle prints.
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| The Durst 3.2m-wide Rhotex 320 |
Durst launched the 3.2m-wide Rhotex 320. The machine prints directly onto textiles at speeds of up to 70sqm per hour. It is available in six-colours and uses water-based dispersed dye inks. Apart from graphics, applications include flags, banners and furnishings. Durst also unveiled the 180sqm per hour, 600dpi Rho 750 at FESPA. It’s a six-colour modular flatbed inkjet machine that uses Quadro Array 30D print heads with silicon nozzle plates.
The highlight of Grapo Technologies’ FESPA presence was the debut of the new Gemini flatbed UV printer. With speeds of up to 90 square metres per hour, the Gemini offers double the speed of previous generation Manta printers when printing with white ink, at 15 to 30 square metres per hour. Gemini is ideal for screen printers seeking to move to more efficient digital technologies as well as digital sign printers wishing to migrate their operations away from less environmentally friendly solvent printing solutions. Offset and flexo printers can also effectively use Gemini for the cost-effective production of short-run samples and/or to diversify their product offerings.
Two new PVC-free Hexis films, the HXL300WG2 and PL300CG HXL300WG2 were shown. These are self-adhesive media for solvent inkjet printers. The HXL300WG2 is made of a white latex film with a thickness of 100µm coated with a grey pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive. The adhesive has a microstructure to ensure easy transfer and convenient egress of any trapped air bubbles. The film can be printed with Mutoh Bio Inks and with HP Latex Inks. The surface finish is gloss. The PL300CG meanwhile is a cold laminate for the latex film HXL300WG2. It is made of a clear latex film with a thickness of 30µm coated with a pressure sensitive acrylic adhesive. The surface finish is gloss.
HP introduced its first HP Scitex large-format printers using HP Latex Inks, the 3.2-m HP Scitex LX800 and 2.6-m HP Scitex LX600. The LX800 features roll-to-free fall, roll-to-collector and dual-roll (up to two 1.52-m/60-inch rolls) capabilities. It also produces high-quality output with 1 200 dpi resolution at production speeds up to 88 sqm/hr. for outdoor billboards and 45 sqm/hr for indoor applications. The new HP Scitex FB700 Printer, a versatile 2.5-metre flatbed printing solution that can load, print and collect up to six sheets of media simultaneously and offers an optional White Ink Upgrade Kit for specialty applications, was also on show.
This printer features efficient media loading and the ability to print on materials up to 6.4 cm thick and up to 2.5 m wide by 3.05 m long for the production of durable outdoor and indoor applications, including point-of-purchase displays, tradeshow graphics, interior decorations, banners and furniture. Advanced features such as an onboard camera, an HP Embedded Web Server and a solid media feed system help ensure consistent results and worry-free operation. For the high-volume sign and display market, HP's newest TJ-series UV printer, the HP Scitex TJ8600, features full and selective gloss print modes with exceptional quality and new HP TJ210 Scitex Inks. It supports an expanded range of applications, including most fleet graphics and point-of-purchase applications, due to higher elongation, improved flexibility and reduced odour compared to HP TJ200 Scitex Inks.
Innova showed its Jetmaster Display System. This is a brand new, innovative product and was awarded with one of the FESPA Innovation Product awards. It is a corrugated, creased and die-cut, do-it-yourself ‘Box-Frame’. You peel a thin film off and apply your graphic art print. Then trim the edges and fold into a box frame. All told this happens in 12 easy steps and takes less than 5min to complete.
Textile manufacturer Junkers & Müllers launched a material that is flame-retardant when printed with UV-curable and solvent inks. Developed in conjunction with Durst Phototechnik, Mediatex Bermuda is being targeted at the point of sale display market. It is certified to Germany’s B1 standard. The JM stand featured an oversized reproduction of the Burning Man by artist Tomas Loewy to illustrate the flame-retardant material.
The Kornit Breeze 921 is a Drop-on-Demand Direct to Garment Printer. It produces up to 40 Shirts an hour and is totally automated from the pre-treatment to final print. The sale of the first Kornit Storm in South Africa went to Grant Petit from Tao Promotions in Cape Town. This unit was installed by NSDS (Steve Harcourt-Wood) and Petit is exceptionally happy with the purchase. The Kornit Storm prints 220 Garments per hour and as per all models it prints over seams, pockets and zippers with ease.
Matan presented the DTS36. The DTS36 is the fastest and most cost effective digital traffic signs solution. Based on the 100% green thermal transfer technology, the DTS36 is capable of printing on all the types of Avery Dennison reflective sheeting, enabling any application with a warranty of up to 12 years. It is also capable of printing at a production speed of 54sqm/hr.
MultiCam’s Digital Express combines high-speed digital registration with powerful routing and knife cutting capabilities in a fast, wide-format sheet fed cutting platform. Companies that are looking for a platform that can register, route, and knife-cut at high speeds will appreciate the affordable price point of the MultiCam Digital Express.
Large format piezo inkjet printer manufacturer Mutoh announced the availability of new water based Direct Disperse inks. This new ‘zero harmful VOC’ four-colour ink set has been specifically tuned for Mutoh’s existing direct to fabric Viper TX and Viper TX Extreme series printers. The fast drying inks offer an excellent colour gamut and nozzle stability. Application possibilities are volume production of soft signage and double sided flags.
New Neschen fabrics were exhibited to coincide with the launch of the HP Scitex LX800 latex printer. The focus was on the multifunctional ‘varitex decoframe’ digital printing fabric in a printing width of three metres. Thanks to its novel coating, it can be printed with latex inks without losing any of its pleasant tactile properties. Digital prints produced using HP latex inks are odour-neutral and emit extremely small amounts of VOCs. During the printing process they generate no ozone, and they also contain no other hazardous air pollutants. Furthermore, they are neither flammable nor combustible and are not classified as hazardous waste.
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| Océ launched the Arizona 550 XT |
Océ launched the Arizona 550 XT flatbed printer. It offers customers the best value in the market for high-quality, large format rigid graphics production. High capacity print providers can now produce high quality display graphics on the largest rigid boards their customers need, at even lower costs. The Arizona 550 XT prints approximately twice as fast as the Océ Arizona 350 GT printer, and three times as fast when printing banner and outdoor work.
Screen demonstrated the 2.5m-wide Truepress Jet2500UV and 1.6m-wide Truepress Jet1600UV-F. The Truepress Jet2500UV is an extremely versatile large format UV inkjet printer, while the Truepress Jet1600UV-F is a high-quality flatbed printing system launched in 2009 for the sign and display sector. Its high-performance production of vivid, full-colour at 1 200 x 1 200 dpi on a variety of media gives significant advantages in the field of backlit graphics, wide-format posters, POP displays, commercial furniture and construction signage.
Summa released its first flatbed cutter, the F Series. Visitors saw, for the first time, the F1612 model in action. On this flatbed cutter, up to three work modules with different working tools can be mounted at once. This guarantees the highest cutting quality and versatility. Another Summa highlight was the OPOS-CAM, a factory upgrade option. This camera recognition alignment solution for the S75T is particularly interesting for sheet applications in the screen-printing industry.
Swiss Q print’s Impala is a flatbed printing system that is expandable as required. The standard CMYK may be supplemented by as many as five additional channels, including effect varnish, or primer for printing onto media that have traditionally resisted inkjet methods. The UV-curing ink set adheres to highly diverse materials and does not crack even during trimming. An auxiliary module comprises a set of rollers for paper, fabric, blueprints or other stock up to 2.5 metres wide. Thanks to the universal ink’s high elasticity, appropriate materials may be deformed without stress whitening.
Teckwin International launched the Teckstorm TS300. The flatbed unit has a roll-to-roll option and is equipped with Spectra Polaris print heads, which offer a droplet of 15 Pico litres and a print resolution of 800dpi. It has a top speed of 84m2 per hour and is configured with two print heads for each process colour and two for white. For printing on rigid media, it has a maximum print area of 2 400x1 200mm and incorporates a vacuum bed with eight individually activated zones. The machine can handle substrates measuring up to 50 mm thick and weighing up to 35kg/m2. With the roll-to-roll option, the maximum print width is 1 800mm.
The transportation belt of WP Digital’s Virtu RS printer can be stopped, enabling the machine to function purely as a flatbed printer for 3.5 x 1.2m materials, with impeccable quality provided by the precise advancement of the printing beam. Linear motors and zoned vacuum beds mean that glass, wood and aluminium sheets can be printed with consistent precision, along with plastics, acrylics, MDF and other typical heavy and lightweight display materials. Switching from flatbed to roll-fed and back again is carried out simply via an easy-to-use function in the integrated software.
By Tristan Wiggill of Practical Publishing, South Africa
www.signafrica.com)
