Fujifilm used its Peak Performance print event in Ratingen, Germany, to demonstrate the recently-announced Revoria GC12500 B2 toner press, and named the first installation site for its JetPress FP790 flexible packaging inkjet press, among other announcements.
Explaining the decision to support both inkjet and dry toner options at the B2 size, Taro Aoki, head of digital press solutions, Fujifilm EMEA, commented, ‘Customers’ individual challenges cannot be addressed by one solution’. Contrasting the strengths of the JetPress inkjet platform and the Revoria toner one, Mr Aoki said the former yields highest quality and consistency , while the latter offers greater ease of use, substrate flexibility and the ability to auto-duplex.
The Revoria GC12500 is aimed at ‘high mix, low volume’ production and offer a maximum format of 750 x 662mm, which is some 25% larger than standard B2, and large enough to accommodate 6-up A4 pages, or 3-up A4 landscape spreads or A4 trifolds. The extra size also benefits postcard, photobook and business card production, according to Fujifilm.
A number of features have been optimised to maximise uptime and maintain quality across the sheet size. A two-step registration process is followed by 12-point gripper paper transport and toner densities for all four process colours are measured between each impression, with adaptive feedback. A new ultra-fine particle toner, Super EA-Eco, coupled with infra-red pre-heating and a lower temperature and pressure fusing stage are designed to prevent the paper wrinkling.
A further quality inspection follows the fusing stage, with registration and colour accuracy checked, before simplex pages are routed to a 100-sheet (80gsm) output tray or into a 64cm depth stacker, or floated on an air cushion to be sent round for printing on the reverse side in duplex operation. The press can print 2500 ‘faces’ per hour, equivalent to 1250sph in duplex operation, at 1200 x 1200dpi with 10-bit image depth.
AI-based image recognition techniques are used to auto-correct photographic content in jobs, tackling a range of common issues, from sky colour to shadow detail. In addition to poster prints, cartons and general commercial print samples, Fujifilm also demonstrated the press’s ability to print personalised wrapping paper on 60gsm paper and on a textured synthetic material, though admitting it wasn’t obvious what the applications for such would be.
Mark Lawn, head of print-on-demand solutions, Europe, reported that there are now over 100 installations of the Revoria PC1120 six-colour SRA3+ toner press. The hundredth was installed in November 2023 at Druckerei Glaudo in Wuppertal, Germany, where it was selected for its versatility as much as for its quality, enabling a broader range of applications and thus attracting a wider range of customers.
Fujifilm also confirmed that the test site for its JetPress FP790 flexible packaging press is UK-based Eco Flexibles, where the beta phase has been successfully concluded and the water-based inkjet machine is now in full production. The company is also expanding its Innovation Print Awards for users of its technology, which previously ran only in the Asia-Pacific region, into a global competition with 13 categories, with the winners to be announced at drupa 2024.
