Printing technologies

compared

The digital universe of paper and printing knowledge

www.sappi.com/houston

Source :

Frank Dieckhoff

fd@digi-com.org

Analogous printing processes

• Silk screen printing

• Planography (offset printing)

• Letterpress printing (flexo, typesetting)

• Gravure printing

Offset printing

Printing unit

1.Ink fountain

2.Ink fountain roller

3.Film roller

4.Ink transfer roller

5.Ink oscillator roller

6.Ink form roller (oscillating)

7.Ink form roller (oscillating)

8.Water fountain pan

9.Water fountain roller

10.Dampening transfer roller (oscillating)

11.Dampening form roller (oscillating)

12.Oscillator

13.Plate cylinder

14.Blanket cylinder

15.Paper web

Source: manroland

Reel offset printing

• Coldset process

(newspaper print)

Reel offset printing - History

• Offset replaces lead typesetting (1970)

• Increasing use of colour in newspaper offset print

(1980)

• 8-Couple printing towers and satellites replace

arch type and 6-cylinder units

Reel offset printing - History

• Speed increase:

– 20.000 Rev./hour in 1980

– 35.000 Rev./hour in 1995

– 50.000 Rev./hour in 2010

Current state of affairs in

reel offset print

• Web speed up to 17.2 m/second (1032m/minute)

• Machine width approx. 2 meters

• Gapless single drive

• MIS-systems

• 6/2 configurations

Digital printing processes

• Electrophotography

• Ionography

• Inkjet

• Magnetography

• Nanography

• Thermoprocessing

– Thermotransfer

– Thermosublimation

Electrophotography

Source: bvdm

Electrophotographical

processes

– Dry toner

• Kodak Nexpress

• Océ ColorStream

• Xerox iGen

• Xeikon

– Liquid toner

• HP Indigo

• Océ Infinity-Stream

• Xeikon “Trillium study“

Electrophotography

High-speed digital printing presses based on the

electrophotographical principles:

- Nexpress SE 3900

- Océ-Infinity-Stream

- Xeikon-8800

Nexpress SE 3900

Toner sheet presses

Kodak

- Nexpress SE 3600

- 5c printer

- Printable surface 340 x 510 mm

- Speed

3600 sheets/hour (A3)

131 sheets/minute (A4)

- Resolution 600 dpi

- Optional: reels instead of sheets;

gold, silver and safety colours

Océ-Infinity-Stream

Toner web presses

Océ

- InfinityStream

- High-viscosity liquid toner

- Machine width 710 mm

- Speed

up to 120 meters/minute

(approx. 7200 B1 sheets/hour)

Xeikon-8800

Toner web presses

Xeikon

- Xeikon-8800

- 5/5c printer

- Machine width 512 mm

(print range 504 mm)

- Speed

up to 260 sheets/minute

(A4, depending on substrate)

- Resolution 1200 x 3600 dpi (240 lpi)

Inkjet technologies

• Continous Inkjet

• Thermal

• Piezo

Inkjet processes

– Drop on Demand

• Thermo

– Dye/pigment

» HP Txxx

• Piezo

– Mostly dye/pigment

» InfoPrint 5000

» Océ JetStream

» Kodak VL

– Continuous

– Dye/pigment

» Kodak Prosper

Short history of inkjet

technology

• First continuous inkjet printhead

(Mead Printhead, 1970)

• Versamark printhead (1982-1986)

– 1600 jets, 120 dpi

• Scitex printhead (1992-1996)

– 1024 jets, 240 dpi

Current state of affairs

in inkjet technology

• Machine widths 0.5 to 0.8 meters

• Resolution 600 to 1200 dpi

• 4 Grey shades (sometimes)

• Pigment and colourant inks

• Infrared dryers

• Speed up to 220 meters/minute

Web presses Machine Width

(cm)

Speed (m/min)

Pages/

minute

(A4)

Resolution

(dpi)

HP T400 106.6 183 4926 1200 x 1200

Kodak Prosper

6000 XL

62.4 200 3600 900 x 600

Océ JetStream

3300

76.2 150 3030 600 x 600

Screen Truepress Jet 520ZZ

57 220 2917 720 x 360

Kodak S10 10.56 306

600 x 600

Xeikon 8000

51.2 17 Max. 230 1200 x 1200

Production systems

Quelle: manroland

HP T410

Inkjet web presses

HP

- T410

- 4c printer

- Machine width 106 cm

- Speed

183 meters/minute (4C)

244 meters/minute (B/W)

- Speed 1200 x 600 dpi

Impika iPrint eXtreme

Inkjet web presses

Impika Inkjet Solutions

- iPrint eXtreme

- 4c printer

- Machine width 71.1 cm

- Up to 375 m/min

- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi

KBA RotaJet 76

Inkjet web presses

KBA

- RotaJet 76

- 4c printer

- Machine width 78.1 cm

- Up to 150 m/min

approx. 3000 pages/minute (A4)

- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi variable drop size

Xerox CiPress 500

Inkjet web presses

Xerox

- CiPress 500

- 4c/4c printer

- 152 m/min

Up to 2050 pages/minute (A4)

- Resolution 600 x 400 dpi

- Granular resin ink

Landa W50

Inkjet web presses

Landa

- W50

- 4c printer

- Machine width 56 cm

- Up to 200 m/min

- 40-300 g/m2

- Resolution 600 x 600 dpi

Nanography

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVrCvocyC2o&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Nanography

Advantages and disadvantages

– Thin ink layers/low ink consumption

– Suitable for most substrates

– Fast print runs (?)

– High quality (??)

– Possible health hazards (???)

The 4 elements of nanography

• Nano ink

• Printing process

• Printing presses

• Partnerships

Ink layer thickness

Procedure Wet Dry

Screen printing 15-50 µm 15-50 µm

Offset 4,5 µm 1.1 - 8 µm

Elec.photography, dry toner

-- µm 18 µm

Elec.photography, liquid toner

18 µm 4.5 µm

Inkjet (water based)

20 µm 1.5 µm

Nanography ?? µm 0.5 µm

Ink layer thickness

Nano inks

• Colour pigments (10 nanometer)

• Water based inkjet print

• Good light reflection

• Brilliant colours

• Dry ink film

• Good dot definition

• Gloss depending on substrate

Nano inks

• Dot definition

• Dot definition

Nanography

• Kyocera piezo inkjet printheads „ink ejectors“

• 600 dpi

• Striped print samples

• Sheet presses have Komori paper transport

mechanisms

Nanography

Nanography

• Partners:

• Komori

• Manroland sheetfed

• Heidelberg

Nano inks

Thank you for your attention !