Ricoh’s new continuous feed inkjet press, the VC60000.
There has been a pair of new technology announcements from Ricoh, covering both cut sheet and continuous feed digital printing presses.
The Ricoh Pro C7100 is said to be ideal for small to medium sized graphic arts business, direct mailers, service bureaux, digital printers and centralised reprographic departments, with features that are intended to help users to enter new markets and explore new digital opportunities by providing capabilities not previously available with this engine class.
Capable of speeds up to 90 pages per minute and supporting media up to 360 gsm, it has an optimum image quality up to 1200 x 4800 dpi, achieved with Ricoh’s Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) technology. It delivers a premium finish, and supports an extensive range of media, including new textured media technology, enabling many different applications such as light packaging, demo packaging, direct mail, books, brochures and business cards. This Ricoh however has a fifth colour station, allowing clear gloss or white toner applications.
Stephen Palmer, head of production print, Ricoh UK, commented: ‘The ability to apply spot or flood clear gloss and white, and to quickly switch between the two, is unprecedented at this price point.’
The Pro C7100 series also makes possible air assisted simplex banner printing up to 700 mm. It has a maximum monthly volume of 240,000 A4 impressions, with a duty cycle of 700,000.
On the continuous feed side is the launch of the Pro VC60000, which extends Ricoh’s range of continuous feed inkjet presses. It is a versatile, modular press, designed to excel at direct mail, book printing and marketing materials.
Ricoh believes the Pro VC60000 will set a new benchmark for quality in its class as a result of its multi-drop ink technology, achieving a physical resolution of up to 1200 x 1200 dpi with a dynamic variable drop size within each pixel, providing significant additional perceived print quality. It is a duplex system that can produce nearly 100,000 A4 images per hour, up to 40 million per month.
The need for flexibility is met with its ability to produce premium output on a broad range of media that includes uncoated, coated offset, digital, treated and recycled. An optional protector coat unit provides a durable ‘scratch & scuff resistant’ layer. The system’s TotalFlow Print Server R600A ensures native support for PDF, PDF/VT and AFP/IPDS, together with JDF and advanced colour management support. Further software support comes from Ricoh’s Process Director and Process Director Express, automating the flow of jobs through production smoothly and with complete integrity.
Complementing the existing InfoPrint 5000 series of presses, shipments of the Pro VC60000 are expected to start in EMEA in early 2015.
