Fujifilm Corporation is launching the next generation LED-UV inkjet press, suitable for flexible packaging applications. The press is ideally suited for printing on the underside of flexible packaging, and is powered by proprietary new Enhanced Under Coating and Nitrogen purging technology (EUCON).
Fujifilm will use drupa 2016 (31 May-10 June 2016, Düsseldorf) as the platform to launch the new LED-UV inkjet press, set to offer a real and robust production solution to help address these challenges and meet the needs of a changing market.
Fujifilm’s new LED-UV inkjet press for flexible packaging applications has a reliable media handling system that can deliver productivity of up to 50 metres per minute using the five standard CMYKW ink colours. In addition, as this new press uses an LED-UV curing and drying system, the amount of heat applied to the substrate is minimised, reducing power consumption and enabling the press to be used with a wide range of flexible substrates.
The proprietary ‘EUCON’ technology in the new press is composed of three core components: a newly developed, high performance UV ink; a unique undercoating technology used to prevent ink bleed; and a Nitrogen purge technology, which is used to significantly reduce the characteristic odour of UV ink.
The ink used in the new LED-UV press offers stunning and stable colour reproduction with superior colour consistency compared to liquid toner, and takes advantage of Fujifilm’s high performance UV ink technologies developed for wide format applications. Fujifilm’s new UV ink also exhibits superb adhesive strength to film substrates, preventing peeling or cracking of the ink even when the print surface is heated. This means a high quality finish can be obtained for food packaging applications. Unlike most competitive systems on the market the new Fujifilm solution fully supports heat-sealing and high temperature sterilisation during pouch production or conversion.
The new EUCON technology applies a newly developed and dedicated primer designed to generate superior image quality, even on non-absorbing surfaces. Applying this primer as an undercoat before depositing the CMYKW ink significantly reduces ink bleed and enables vibrant colour reproduction.
Fujifilm developed a new Nitrogen purge technology which instantly covers the surface of the substrate with nitrogen gas as it is being transported at high speed. This decreases the odour by completely isolating the substrate from oxygen, virtually eliminating the residual monomers.
Using Fujifilm’s proprietary ‘EUCON’ technology, the press is set to offer printers a high performance, high quality, low odour production solution to meet the needs of a growing number of high quality, shorter run applications. And being highly versatile, it can also deliver personalisation and variable data printing, while also being suitable for seamless printing, making it ideally suited for high mix, short production runs, to fully support the shortest lead times.
