Inca’s Spyder X-49 is available as a straight flatbed or as a hybrid with roll-feed
If you want to print digitally on thick or rigid media then a flatbed or hybrid inkjet printer is what you need. And there’s a huge choice in size, quality and cost as Simon Eccles explains.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of what was in retrospect probably the first flatbed inkjet printer. Spider was a prototype UV inkjet shown at Ipex 98 by a team at Cambridge Consultants, which was soon spun off into a start-up called Inca Digital which started shipping its Eagle 44 production printer in 2001. Around the same time Océ shipped its first Arizona flatbed, the first in a highly successful family that remains a market leader today – Fujifilm sells its own versions as the flatbed models in its Acuity brand range. Vutek, Rastek (both now owned by EFI), Scitex Vision and Nur (now owned by HP) and Zünd were also early entrants into the market in the 2000s.
Today there are at least 12 major manufacturers selling approximately 65 current ‘pure flatbed’ models into the UK market, and that’s not counting the more numerous hybrid types based on roll-to-roll printers with add-on rigid support tables. Over the years manufacturers have come and gone or been taken over, while the longest-established manufacturers are on their third or fourth generation models by now. There are other makes too, largely confined to sales in China and the Far East, though you’ll see a few small-scale imports.
Duncan Smith is director of industrial and production solutions at Canon UK, which now owns Océ and is responsible for the Arizona flatbed range. He says ‘The entry level and mid-volume devices are by far the most popular and more affordable for PSPs looking to invest in flatbed technology, offering a growth path to either add additional printers or trade up to faster machines as business grows.
‘Many are using flatbeds as a business development tool, not just to increase their productivity and profits by printing straight to substrate, but to develop more margin-rich applications. That helps attract more business from existing and new customers as well as enter new markets.’
In the Arizona range the mid-range is catered for by the 1200 and 2200 series. These come in two bed sizes, 2500 x 1250mm and 3000 x 2500mm, with production speeds up to 23 and 43sqm/hr. ‘We offer 10 different configurations in total from four to eight channels. A roll-to-roll option is also offered,’ says Mr Smith.
Last year’s Fespa show saw the introduction of a new High Flow Vacuum option for the Arizona 6100 series. This is designed to improve handling of “challenging” rigid media such as corrugated board, plywood, MDF and fibreboard, Mr Smith comments, ‘with it, no tape is needed around the edges to secure the boards.’
Two-up production
Although the largest flatbeds can print enormous sheets, their main purpose is to allow more efficient throughout of smaller sheets. One can be printed on half the bed area while the other half is being unloaded and the next sheet loaded and positioned. Then the printer swaps sides and the process is repeated. This adds considerably to productivity. The Océ Arizona XT models (with 2.05 x 3.05m beds), Fuji’s related Acuity F models, Mimaki JFX200-2131 and Agfa’s Jeti Mira are among the big flatbeds offering this.
A common technical theme in recent years has been the introduction of LED UV curing lamps instead of the original mercury vapour lamps. We’ve covered the advantages of LEDs in the past, but briefly they are long life, low power consumption and cool running as there is little or no lamp heating or infra red radiation. Cool lamps mean that heat-sensitive media such as thin plastics can be printed. Mercury vapour is still used on larger high throughput flatbeds, as the cost of an adequately powerful LED array is still prohibitive.
InkTec’s Jetrix LX8i LED images up to 3.2 x 2m. More LED models are expected this year
The most sophisticated UV models use a combination of inks and curing lamp timings to vary the finish of the cured inks between silk and gloss, rather than the rather rough matt of early UV flatbeds.
Last October EFI introduced the Pro 24f LED, a dedicated mid-sized flatbed with a bed area of 1.2 x 2.4m and able to take rigid media up to 50mm thick. It will cost about £99,000. David Lindsay, PR manager for EFI, says ‘the Pro 24f is the first dedicated flatbed LED printer from EFI, as opposed to hybrid roll/flatbeds. We of course have hybrid Vutek GS and EFI Wide Format LED printers that can convert from rigid to roll-to-roll. While printing rigid materials with those hybrids still results in outstanding quality work, it is a process where boards move through the printer while the imaging head scans over the substrate. With the dedicated flatbed architecture, the substrate remains still and only the imaging head moves, which makes it even more exact in terms of accuracy and placement. A dedicated flatbed is a great choice for lenticular prints, for example, because of that added accuracy.’
The Pro 24f is intended for signage, photographic backlit displays, art reproductions, membrane switches, graphic overlays, lenticular prints and other specialty applications. ‘Given the broad range of applications I believe it is useful for both commercial print companies as well as signage businesses,’ says Mr Lindsay.
InkTec has built the Jetrix range of UV-cured flatbeds for years, with mercury vapour curing lamps. It’s now progressively introducing LED models. Last year it introduced the LXi8 LED UV at the Sign & Digital show. This has a 3.2 x 2.0m bed area. This year it is following up with at least two more LED models.
The Jetrix LX7 will take boards up to 2440 x 3060mm and up to 100mm thick, with a production speed of 49sqm/hr. Maximum resolution from the Konica Minolta KM1024 print heads is 1440 x 720dpi. The Jetrix KX6U-LED is a smaller machine taking boards up to 2440 x 1220mm and 100mm thick. Production speed is up to 30sqm/hr with the same heads as the LX7.
‘Whilst LED will not be replacing conventional UV lamps, it’s all about choosing the right curing method for the application,’ says Ben Woodruff, head of national sales at InkTec Europe. ‘With Jetrix printers you can now choose LED or UV and we also give our customers the option of testing both, so they can ensure they are making the exactly the right decision for their business.’
High throughput hybrids
The extensive HP Scitex FB range of rigid media printers starts with a couple of hybrids, the FB550 and FB750. Its dedicated flatbeds are all high capacity large format industrial models, starting with the FB7600 announced in 2011 as a replacement for the earlier FB7500. This takes boards up to 1650 x 3200mm and can print up to 95 full-sized sheets per hour. The 9000 model has the same format and runs a little slower, but uses advanced HDR (high dynamic range) inks. The 11000 is the top model likely to be used for commercial graphics work – the 15500 and 17000 are modifications of this with media handling features aimed mainly at the corrugated packaging market.
The Mimaki JFX200 is available in two bed sizes
SwissQprint has quietly built up a respectable installed base, and recently installed the 200th machine in Germany.The company was set up by former Zünd staff after that company dropped flatbeds in favour of cutting tables. In the UK it’s distributed by Spandex. The entry level is the Oryx LED, for rigid panels up to 2.5 x 2.0m. This features tandem operation for print-while-prepare working. Impala LED has a bed of 2.5 x 2.03m but can take sheets up to 4m long thanks to a moving belt. Nyala LED is the top of the range 3.2 x 2.03m model with a throughput of 206sqm/hr with production quality.
Another Swiss inkjet maker, Signracer, makes a range of roll fed and flatbed printers, handled in the UK through SSE Worldwide. The four current HT series LED-UV cure flatbeds range in size from a compact 1.6 x 1m to 3.05 x 2.05m, with speeds ranging from 20 to 65sqm/hr. Either Kyocera or Ricoh Gen. 5 heads are used.
Inca Digital continues to refine its high speed industrial multi-pass printers, the Onset range, now available as the X1 (200sqm/hr), X2 (420sqm/hr) and X3 (707sqm/hr) with prices ranging from about £350,000 to £900,000. These work by passing the sheets on a bed that moves as a whole, rapidly passing back and forth under the head gantry while the print heads advance across the width.
At Fespa 2017 Inca announced the Onset M, a new flatbed configuration with an offset-style B1 sheet feeder and delivery that may attract commercial printers. Initially the primary application is seen as display boards and similar POP applications, though it also can handle thin paper, cartonboard and plastic sheets up to 10mm thick. The first Onset M has been running in a so-far unnamed beta site since last year, with a second due to go in early this year. Pricing is predicted to be in the “mid-range” of the Inca family.
The company also makes Spyder X, a large format (2.0 x 3.2m) machine aimed at a lower price point and throughput than the Onset models. Here the bed is fixed and the gantry holding the scanning print heads moves across the print area. Throughput is 150sqm/hr. A 3.2m roll-to-roll kit is an optional extra. Screen also sells this model as the Truepress Jet W3200 ST, with an HS version intended for packaging work.
Agfa has three pure flatbeds in its range at present: the Anapurna FB2540i LED (for 2.54 x 1.54m sheets and a ‘production mode’ throughput of 49.5sqm/hr), the non-LED version of the same model and the high end Jeti Mira (for sheets up to 1.69 x 1.6m).
‘In the early days hybrids had a reputation for not doing double-sided print very well, as they weren’t very accurate for front-to-back register,’ says Steve Collins, Agfa Graphics’ inkjet marketing and channel manager for the UK. ‘Flatbeds were preferred at first, but now the hybrid belts are much better so nowadays there’s little difference between them. The FB2450i LED is the entry level to Afga flatbeds, costing £120,000.
Durst began making high quality, high end inkjets in the late 2000s. All of its sign and graphics models are technically hybrids, but most have particularly heavy duty sheet and board feeders that can rival true flatbeds. The latest P5 family is a case in point. Durst’s rigid substrate-only machines are heavy duty models for specialist industrial applications.
If these are outside your budget or requirements, Mimaki and Roland DG may provide alternatives. Available through UK and Ireland distributor Hybrid Services, Mimaki’s JFX200 is available in two sizes, 2.5 x 1.3m (JFX200-2513, for about £60,000) or 2.5 x 3.1m (JFX200-2531, for about £84,000), with speeds up to 25 or 12.5sqm/hr with white ink. It’s intended for printing standard 8 x 4ft boards singly or in tandem – the larger model lets you prepare one while printing another. The JFX500 has a slightly smaller 2.1 x 3.1m bed but is roughly twice as fast.
Roland DG’s VersaUV S-series flatbeds are modifications of its roll-fed and hybrid VersaUV models, with a similar print engine modified as a moving gantry above a fixed bed. They’re notable for taking media up to 200mm thick. They don’t however, include cutting knives like the roll-fed models. The entry level is the LEC-330S-F200, for £47,999. This has a bed size of 826 x 2090mm. There are three progressively larger models up to the LEC 640S-F400 (1696 x 3818mm) at £78,999.
Roll and non-UV options
Quite a few true flatbeds have a roll-to-roll feeding option over the bed, including Agfa with the Jeti Mira and Inca Digital with the SpyderX (and Screen’s corresponding TruePress Jet 3200WX). This certainly increases the versatility and makes the printers in effect hybrids. However, the roll system can slow down printing compared to rigid sheets. Hybrids based on roll printers tend not to have this problem, as the same media advance belts are used for rigid or flexible media.
Conventional production-class flatbeds nearly all use UV-cured inks. The exceptions are a couple of fast 1.07m-wide single-pass hand-fed machines for short run corrugated and cartonboard packaging – Xanté’s Excelagraphix 4800 and the New Solution Multi which use Memjet heads with water-based dye inks. New Solution is also working on a larger, faster 1.6m wide flatbed packaging press with auto-loading, using the latest Memjet DuraLink heads and pigment inks that will be suited to longer runs.
There have also been rumours for a couple of years that HP is working on a flatbed to use its Latex water-based inks. The rumours are getting stronger but nothing has actually been announced so far. Maybe we’ll see something at Fespa this year?
