Print Solutions
Canon Europe has introduced two new advanced automation options – a Sensing Unit and an Inspection Unit – for the imagePress C10010VP Series digital colour press.
Boosting time efficiency by removing the need for manual calibration, the new Sensing Unit monitors front to back registration and colour tone before and during printing, automatically adjusting on the fly to ensure consistency with the job settings, from the first sheet to the last. This real time adjustment, with reference to the printed media, adds to the high level of colour control on the image transfer belt offered by the Multi DAT technology, which is a standard feature of the imagePress C10010VP Series.
For customers wanting to eliminate manual inspection against certain criteria, the new Inspection Unit delivers a significant automation opportunity. The unit monitors every printed page for issues such as distortion, as well as identifying defects such as streaks and dirt on the media. Customers can choose to purge and automatically reprint faulty pages, for perfect output without compromising productivity. Alternatively, flawed pages can either be purged without reprinting, or the operator can simply receive a log of the pages which fell short of the pre-set quality benchmark.
The Inspection Unit can spot defects as small as 0.2 mm diameter without impacting productivity, and the sensitivity levels can be tailored to the specific needs of each job. The operator can define up to 64 zones on each page to be checked against the inspection criteria, each with nine possible levels of sensitivity. For example, a higher quality standard might be set for company logos, critical product images and human faces, with less stringent controls for background images.
These two new automation modules can be selected individually or in combination and are compatible with existing C10010VP Series engines. Both enhancement modules can be attached to imagePress products running either PrismSync or EFi Fiery digital front end controllers. In addition to the quality control enhancing, sensing and inspection units, Canon is also making a Cooling Unit available as an option to further enhance production capability – with benefits including flatter output and improved toner adhesion. The Cooling Unit can be specified with or without the sensing and inspection modules.
Joseph Courts, head of product at Canon UK & Ireland, commented: ‘The imagePress C10010VP Series already sets the highest standards of quality and productivity, meeting the expectations of even the most demanding print buyers. These new developments remove the need for any manual calibration and inspection that would require an additional investment of time, visual checks and subjective judgement.
‘The development of these automation options demonstrates that we listen and respond to our customers’ needs. We know how important efficiency is to our customers and therefore they now have the option to fully automate these inspection and calibration processes. This gives them the confidence to produce flawless prints and redeploy staff and expertise to other value adding areas. With these new technologies, customers can boost their productivity and profitability, minimise costly reprints and waste, shorten job turnaround times, and focus operator skills where they add most value.’
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