Japanese press makers Miyakoshi and Ryobi have jointly developed a high speed B2 format sheetfed digital printing press, using liquid ink electrophotographic technology. It will run at 8000 sheets per hour with 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution, well in excess of the B2 format inkjets that are starting to be announced, which mostly run at about 3000 sheets per hour. The size is described as ’29 inch’, meaning 737 mm, so this will be a landscape fed press.
So far unnamed, the press will be shown at drupa next month as a ‘pre-market’ demonstrator on the Miyakoshi stand. It appears that it is not yet certain that it will come to market: the joint announcement said that ‘based on the response it receives at drupa 2012, preparations will move toward its market release.’
At drupa 2008 Miyakoshi showed a prototype web fed liquid toner press, the MD-Press5000, saying it was several years from fruition. It appears that the collaboration with Ryobi has allowed the technology to be developed for sheet fed operations.
‘Digital printing technology has been attracting wide interest for its ability to handle short run variable data printing with short lead times, and a variety of digital presses are already on the market,’ says the joint announcement. ‘But traditional offset printing technology still offers many advantages over digital printing, including higher printing quality, lower running costs, faster printing speeds and the ability to handle long run jobs. This has led to strong demand for a new type of press that combines the strengths of both technologies. Responding to that need, Miyakoshi and Ryobi jointly developed a new type of digital press that enables high speed printing on media as large as B2 size with quality comparable to that of an offset press.’
The technology works by offset transfer of ‘ultra fine particle’ liquid toner from a photosensitive drum to the media. According to the developers, ‘this new digital press is able to offer high printing quality comparable to offset printing’, adding ‘Although recent advances have been made in commercial inkjet printing quality, this high level of quality is not yet achieved with an inkjet system.’
Specifications describe the press as using an electrophotographic process with ultrafine particle liquid toner. There is an independent toner supply device with automatic density adjustment. Drying is a combination of infra red and a fuser roll systems. Paper weights range from 64 to 360 g/m2. Although there’s no mention of paper types, the liquid electrophotographic toners used in early large format inkjets were notable for being able to print on uncoated media.
Apex Digital Graphics is the UK agent for Ryobi.
