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LABELS&LABELING |65<br />
Drupa<br />
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST PRINT SHOW, while not a labels-specific event, continued trends seen at Labelexpo<br />
towards digitization of the print process with a new emphasis on automated color control. Andy Thomas reports<br />
Drupa 2012 was in many ways a watershed show in the<br />
commercial print market, with the launch of a range of B2 inkjet<br />
sheetfed presses and of course the much hyped launch of<br />
Benny Landa’s ‘nanographic’ print process.<br />
As there were no live print samples available it was impossible<br />
to assess the claims made by Landa, so we must await the first<br />
production models in around 18 months time.<br />
We covered extensively the big new launches from HP Indigo<br />
and Xeikon in the last edition of L&L, and prototypes of the HP<br />
Indigo 20000 label/flexible packaging press and 30000 carton<br />
presses were on show, as well as the Xeikon carton print and<br />
converting line. Of major interest here was a digital cold foiling<br />
application which used a clear toner as the adhesive to bond<br />
the foil onto the substrate.<br />
The narrow web single pass inkjet vendors were present at<br />
the show, and for a full review of inkjet developments, turn to<br />
the feature by L&L technical editor Barry Hunt on p.52 of this<br />
issue.<br />
Durst launched a wider, 330mm press which prints with<br />
CMYK+white, with orange and violet to be available later this<br />
year for optional extended gamut printing. The speed of the<br />
press is 48m/min (157ft) which translates to 950sqm/hour.<br />
Durst also demonstrated a new white ink, which is broadly<br />
comparable in opacity with a good UV flexo white, as well as<br />
an early trial with metallics. Resolution from the Xaar 1001<br />
heads is 720 x 360dpi, achieved by doubling up inkjet modules.<br />
The press was demonstrated with an inset capability enabling<br />
printing on pre-diecut and pre-printed labels for late stage<br />
versioning.<br />
FFEI was showing for the first time a dedicated white<br />
print station on the 410mm- wide Caslon hybrid flexo/inkjet<br />
press built by Nilpeter. Going forward, FFEI will now sell the<br />
exclusively digital version of the Caslon through its global sales<br />
and support network, while Nilpeter will continue to sell the<br />
hybrid inkjet/flexo press version.<br />
Omet launched its JetPlus in-line inkjet technology, with a<br />
4-color module mounted on an XFlex X6 UV flexo press. The<br />
press was demonstrated printing wine labels at 60 m/min.<br />
The press line also incorporated Omet’s Monotwin Cut single<br />
cylinder die-cut system, where format changes are achieved<br />
simply by replacing the flexible die.<br />
Focus announced its entry into the digital print market with<br />
the launch of its d-Flex combination inkjet press. The press<br />
adds 4-color inkjet heads to the existing Reflex servo UV flexo<br />
press.<br />
Heidelberg formally launched its own badged narrow web<br />
inkjet press, the Heidelberg Linoprint L. This was otherwise<br />
the same machine seen at Labelexpo Brussels on the CSAT<br />
stand after Heidelberg acquired the company, with a print width<br />
of 210mm and resolution of 600dpi using LED-cured Kyocera<br />
heads to print at speeds up to 48m/min.<br />
Daniel Dreyer, head of Heidelberg’s Linoprint program, said<br />
most interest had come from Heidelberg’s existing sheetfed<br />
customers, both label converters and general commercial<br />
printers looking to move into PS labels.<br />
EFI Jetrion were another Xaar user which had increased the<br />
print resolution of its Xaar-based inkjet press, demonstrating<br />
a new 720dpi mode on its 4900 press – which also includes<br />
a dedicated laser die-cutting section. The company also<br />
announced a broadening of its qualified portfolio of flexo<br />
substrates that need no special coating or overlaminating. This<br />
means the Jetrion 4830 and 4900 are now compatible with<br />
additional stocks from 3M, Avery Dennison, Flexcon, Raflatac,<br />
Ritrama, Spinnaker and Wausau.<br />
Drupa also gave converters a first glimpse at a prototype of<br />
Screen’s new UV inkjet press, one part of a major move by the<br />
company into the package printing market, which included a<br />
carton-optimized inkjet press and a flexo CTP unit.<br />
Stork Prints showed its established DSI UV inkjet press with a<br />
new digital primer, enabling printing on machine-coated paper.<br />
The press is supplied with four print heads as standard, but an<br />
additional six can be added to enable options like the digital<br />
primer, digital white and an extended color gamut through<br />
orange and violet.<br />
Konica Minolta introduced a successor to its established<br />
KM1024 industrial inkjet head. The KM1024i has a printing<br />
speed approximately three times greater than the KM1024 and<br />
is compatible with a wider range of industrial inks, aqueous,<br />
solvent and UV. The unit has 8 grayscale gradations with13 pl<br />
droplets.<br />
For label converters, OKI is majoring on its proColor<br />
pro510DW roll-fed digital label press – part of the proColor<br />
Series of digital printers – launched last year. The press uses<br />
using a drum and toner model using LED imaging to fix the<br />
toner particles rather than laser imaging. Its consumables are<br />
based on OKI dry toner that adheres to a drum roll where the<br />
image area charge is neutralized by small LED printheads. The<br />
image is then transferred from the drum to the media.<br />
The pro510DW digital web press has four color stations and a<br />
print width up to 12.9 inches. It runs up to 30 ft/min (10 m/min)<br />
with fully variable data where required. A three inch core holds<br />
up to 300 feet of material.<br />
The press is equipped with auto insertion hardware and<br />
software that allows converters to ‘cut-on-the-fly’, so when<br />
multiple jobs are run on a single roll, each can be cut and cored<br />
while the material is automatically held and set for the next run.<br />
As well as new wide-web inkjet kit, Roland DG introduced<br />
a white ink for the BN-20 desktop printer/cutter, adding to<br />
the metallic option for this CMYK unit. Typical applications<br />
for the system include textile heat transfers, labels, stickers,<br />
promotional material and signs.<br />
Atlantic Zeiser showed a hybrid digital/sheetfed print solution<br />
by mounting a Delta inkjet system for serializing and coding<br />
onto a KBA Rapida 105 sheetfed offset press.<br />
JULY 2012 | L&L