Print Solutions
Fujifilm has announced its third generation B2 inkjet press, the Jet Press 750S. With higher productivity of 3600 B2 sheets per hour, and a range of other changes which further improve the already impressive up time, versatility, colour capability and quality.
With over 150 Jet Press installations worldwide, more and more print buyers have recognised the standard that this press delivers. Now with the continued, steady increase in demand for short run work, the introduction of the Jet Press 750S means that more and more jobs are going to fit the sweet spot of this new press.
The target for this press is not the toner dominated, on-demand market where runs of ones and twos predominate. The Jet Press 750S is likely to be highly competitive for print runs up to 5000, depending on ink coverage, allowing it to compete with offset presses in the production of high quality, short run print jobs. This makes it an ideal investment for a much larger range of commercial and packaging printers.
Like the Jet Press 720S, the new press is a blend of old and new technologies. Built on an offset chassis, it features superb sheet to sheet, front and back registration and up time on a par with offset, combined with the very latest industry leading Samba inkjet printheads, to deliver print quality that out performs offset.
The Jet Press 750S is set to improve on its performance and uptime further, thanks to two new features. The first is a new printhead self-cleaning process called ‘Overflow Cleaning’ which carries out head cleaning at times when the press is between jobs or the printhead assembly is in motion. The second is a new Active Head Retraction (AHR) system which lifts the print bars from the drum when a paper deformation is detected, reducing the likelihood of jams caused by damaged paper.
The increase in top line press speeds has been achieved by the further development of two major parts of the press. The first is the inclusion of the next generation of Samba printheads. Printing on paper moving at the higher speed of 3600 sheets per hour requires a corresponding speed upgrade to the number of ink droplets deposited per second. The jetting frequency of the new generation Samba printheads has therefore been increased from 25 kHz to 33 kHz to speed up dot placement and counteract the increased effects of possible turbulence. It also has the additional benefit of reducing dot placement variations, therefore improving quality.
The second new technology contributing to increased efficiency and speed is the introduction of a completely new drying system, in which a printed sheet is passed onto a transfer belt heated via rollers, with a vacuum applied as the sheet passes through the drying section to keep it dimensionally stable. Drying is carried out via a combination of the heated belt and hot air applied from above. As well as operating at higher speeds, this new system allows greater control and fine tuning of temperatures, extending the range of substrates that can be printed.
The combination of a larger sheet size (increased from 750 x 532 mm to 750 x 585 mm), even better up time, a 33% faster press speed, and quicker finishing mean the overall ability of this new press to print longer runs and improve job turnaround times still further is significant.
The Jet Press 750S features the existing Rapid Coagulation Primer technology, allowing it to be used with standard coated and uncoated offset paper stock, benefits from the same superb sheet to sheet registration, and the addition of the latest generation of Samba printheads improves dot placement accuracy even further. The press also features the same extended colour gamut called ‘MaxGamut’ which, depending on the media used, allows up to 90% of the Pantone library of 1872 colours to be printed within a Delta E of three or less, providing an exceptional colour match on a four colour press.
To improve the press’s capability with regards to spot and Pantone colours even further, Fujifilm has added a new module to its XMF ColorPath tool, called XMF ColorPath Brand Color Optimizer. This new module enables users to profile the entire Pantone library for any chosen media type, and will ensure that each and every Pantone colour is printed as accurately as physically possible. Brand Color Optimizer, however, can predict how accurately a Pantone colour will be printed before actually printing. This means decisions about printing a specific job can be made up front, and no time is wasted trying to achieve what is not possible.
