Samples of Acuity B1 output on display at Fespa
Fujifilm confirmed at Fespa the commercial availability of the Acuity B1 flatbed printer, initially shown at last year’s event, and now targeted at short-run display work.
Shown as a technology preview at Fespa 2017 in Hamburg, the B1 unit is built by Inca and sold by them as the Onset M. According to Fujifilm Graphic Systems Europe product manager Nils Gottfried, Fujifilm has spent the intervening year discussing the device with prospective users and refining the target market.
‘We decided to go with signage and display applications for Fespa 2018. The target is offset printers, for whom small runs of under 1000 are a challenge and very expensive to do,’ Mr Gottfried told Digital Printer. The system uses Fujifilm Dimatix printheads and operates a two-stage UV curing process in which an initial LED exposure “pins” the ink droplets quickly for a matt finish or allows more time for spreading for a glossier result, followed by a mercury lamp full cure for adhesion. In-RIP additions to artwork of cut and register marks can be made to facilitate automated cutting and finishing operations.
A UK beta user, Kent-based Reflex Printed Plastics, has been producing items such as shelf wobblers, beer mats and floor graphics and Fujifilm had a wall of samples on display at the show in Berlin.
Fujifilm is also investigating potential industrial applications for the B1 machine, printing onto metal, wood or flooring materials up to 10mm thick and with a sheet weight of up to 3kg; bulk handling of these could bring potential loading problems but the system’s modular design allows for different feeding systems to be used.
