Screen is to show off a new inkjet press, the Truepress Jet520HD+(plus), at next month’s Hunkeler Innovation Days (HID) event in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Essentially this is an updated version of the existing 520HD, which was first announced back in 2014. This new version has a new Near InfraRed NIR dryer developed by Adphos. This produces a specific wavelength, which is absorbed by the water in the ink but not the water content of the paper. The result is that it leads to much more efficient drying of the ink but without damaging the paper. Martijn van den Broek, Screen Europe’s marketing manager, adds: “Because the NIR dryer is located right after the printhead it means that the ink has less chance to be absorbed into the paper so the pigment sits on top of the paper and enhances the colour.”
The ink is Screen’s own SC ink, which was first shown at the last Hunkeler Innovation Days event in 2017. In theory Screen can also supply the older MD ink though in practice all customers opt for the SC ink which can print to offset coated stocks.
The press still uses a heated drum and air knife but the NIR dryer means that these other systems require less energy, which helps to keep the running cost down. Van den Broek points out: “Also, less heat means there’s less chance of the cockling effect so the paper comes out really flat and that has advantages in the finishing stages.”
The net effect of this improved drying system is that the press can handle a wider range of substrates, including both lightweight coated stocks and heavier weight, coated offset stocks and that it can run at faster print speeds for offset coated stocks. Thus it should be able to run at 120mpm with 600 x 1200 dpi resolution, a marked improvement over the standard version, which typically achieved the higher resolution prints at 50 or 75mpm. This should certainly be one of the highlights of the HID event.
Screen is also working to develop an option to run the press at 150mpm at 600 x 600 dpi. This is still being tested and is likely to involve changes to paper profiles and possibly some upgrades to the licensing or even an additional server.
In addition, existing 520HD presses can be updated to the new HD+ version. The conversion takes about a week, and involves adding in the new NIR dryer and then changing the paper profiles to take account of this. Bluetree Design and Print in the UK and Bertelsmann in Germany are already in the process of upgrading their 520HD presses.
It’s worth noting that although Screen and Ricoh collaborated to develop the Jet 520HD, which Ricoh sells as the VC60000, the two companies have taken different approaches to building on this platform. Thus Ricoh uses its own ink and has developed a different kind of drying unit for its VC70000, as detailed here. Screen will also show the Truepress Jet520NX at the HID event. Screen has now added IPDS as well as PDF/VT support to this to increase its appeal to the transactional market. It doesn’t run the SC ink but does offer 1200 dpi resolution making it an interesting option for some direct mail and transpromo applications and even for some book printing.
Originally Posted on Graphics to Industrial Printing Journal
Click here to access the original article by Nessan Cleary posted on January 10, 2019.