Thanks to the constant development of new printing methods, as well as techniques that can be adapted to different materials, inkjet printing has become more popular on the last century.
One of the most popular techniques in the digital printing industry is the use of UV curable inks, which can be used to print onto a wide variety of porous and non-porous substrates (even metal or glass). This type of ink is cured almost instantly thanks to a ultra-violet lights that turns the ink immediately from liquid to a solid.
The development of LED curing technology for UV inks has opened new opportunities for printing onto different materials and substrates; that previously could not have been used as a result of the extreme heat produced with mercury lamps.
A.T. Inks (Rex-Tone Industries Limited) has a long history in the world of colors. Mr. Harish Goswamy founded this company in 1994 and since then they have added a wide variety of products to provide solutions to the different printing techniques.
Here are some of the UV and UV-LED inkjet inks that they have nowadays:
Credence F107 Ink – UV/LED
Ink is designed to work on multiple printheads and can be used on hybrid and roll-to-roll machines.
Ultra Elite EFF170 Ink – UV/LED
Works with both mercury UV lamp and LED Lamps 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). This ink is designed for flexible surfaces.
Ultra Elite EFF250 Ink – UV/LED
Works with both mercury UV lamp and LED Lamps 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). It is designed to work on multiple printheads and can be used on hybrid and roll-to-roll machines.
Ultra Elite EFH100 Ink – UV/LED
Works with both mercury UV lamp and LED Lamps 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). This ink is designed to work on hard/rigid surfaces with or without white ink and gives good to excellent adhesion on most rigid substrates (with/without primers)
Ultra Elite F027 Ink – UV/LED
Works with both mercury UV lamp and LED Lamps 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). This ink is designed for flexible surfaces.
Ultra Elite GF057 Ink – UV/LED
Ink specifically designed to work on Ricoh GH2220 printheads. Work best with LED lamps at 395 nm wavelength (8W or more) and also with UV mercury lamps. This ink is designed for flexible surfaces.
Ultra Elite H027 Ink – UV/LED
Work with both mercury UV lamp and LED Lamps 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). This ink is designed to work on hard/rigid surfaces with or without white ink and has good to excellent adhesion on most rigid substrates (with/without primers).
Ultra Elite XH067 Ink – UV/LED
Ink specifically designed to work on Xaar 1201 printheads. Work best with LED lamps at 395 nm wavelength (8W or more) and also with UV mercury lamps.
Ultra Elite H017 Ink – LED
LED lamp curable ink with LED at 395 nm wavelength (8W or more), designed to work on hard/rigid surfaces with or without white ink.
Ultra Elite F017 Ink – LED
LED lamp curable ink with LED at 395 nm wavelength (8W or more). This ink is designed for flexible surfaces.
EFi has a new line of medium-range roll-to-roll printers using UV-curable inks: VUTEk D3r and VUTEk D5r LED printers. These new line of VUTEk printers have many similar capabilities as the VUTEk 3r+ and 5r+ printers but for mid-volume printing runs.
“The ‘D’ in the name for these new printers is for ‘Design,’ and they are absolutely designed to offer the right mix of features, productivity and cost to create new opportunities for signage and graphics professionals,” said Ken Hanulec, EFI’s vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We listened very closely to our customers for feedback to create a mid-volume solution that will be the technology of choice for print providers seeking to profitably grow their businesses with high-end applications.”
Both the EFI VUTEk D3r and D5r printers use LED-curing, which translates into more benefits:
Two types of UV-curable inks are compatible with the VUTEk D series printers: the efi 3M SuperRange XF inks and the SuperFlex inks for car wrapping and fleet graphics. So you get a choice of ink depending on what you need to print.
One of the features worth mentioning for the VUTEk D3r and D5r printers is the Museum print mode with ultra-high definition and photographic quality at a resolution of up to 1,200 dpi.
Some of the suggested applications for the VUTEk D models are:
Just like with many printers you can customize them to adjust to your specific needs, you can choose from:
Specifications
VUTEk D3r LED | VUTEk D5r LED | |
Width | 138 in (350 cm) | 205 in (520 cm) |
Media thickness | 0.43 in (11 mm) thick | |
Maximum roll weight | 1,653 lbs (750 kg) Optional 10.5 ft (3.2 m) super duty winder enables working with large media rolls up to 1,749 lbs (793 kg) | |
Multi-roll | 2 rolls of 63 in/1.6 m | 3 rolls of 63 in/1.6 m |
Curing device | LED lamps | |
Ink types | LED-curable UV inks | |
Ink colors | CMYK, White and Clear | |
RIP | EFI Fiery proServer SE |
We had to opportunity to see the VUTEk D3r printer in action at EFI manufacturing plant in Israel; you can see the quality samples produced with this printer.