Fujifilm to Launch Flexible Packaging Inkjet Press at drupa 2016

A rendering of Fujifilm's stand at drupa 2016

Fujifilm has announced it will be using drupa 2016 as the platform to unveil a new, next-generation UV LED inkjet press suitable for flexible packaging applications. This new press is ideally suited for printing on the underside of flexible packaging, and is powered by proprietary new Fujifilm image forming technology called “EUCON” (Enhanced Under Coating and Nitrogen purging technology).

A major challenge for the flexible packaging market in recent years has been to effectively respond to increased customer demand for shorter runs, quicker turnarounds and a more diverse range of products. This trend will continue to rise, due to the ever-changing marketing methods and the shortening of product lifecycles. As a result, traditional analog print processes face growing challenges in terms of meeting these requirements from both a production and a profitability perspective. Fujifilm’s new UV LED inkjet press is set to offer a real and robust production solution to help address these challenges and meet the needs of a changing market.

The new press takes advantage of the knowledge Fujifilm has gained in commercializing an extensive range of leading inkjet solutions for the graphic arts industry since the early 2000s. These include the company’s ground breaking B2 J Press 720S for commercial print and folding carton applications, still the industry benchmark for quality and reliability, and the hugely successful Acuity LED 1600, which has gained high praise worldwide for its outstanding quality, versatility and productivity. Fujifilm’s “EUCON” technology, at the heart of its new UV LED inkjet press, is the latest innovation to come from the company’s industry-leading core inkjet expertise.

Fujifilm’s new UV LED inkjet press for flexible packaging applications continues this philosophy of offering high performance, high quality digital print production and thanks to a reliable media handling system, can deliver productivity of up to 50m per minute using the five standard CMYKW ink colors. In addition, as this new press uses an UV LED curing and drying system, the amount of heat applied to the substrate is minimized, 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 odor of UV ink.

UV Ink

The ink used in the new UV LED press offers stunning and stable color reproduction with superior color 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 sterilization during pouch production or conversion.

Undercoating Technology for Superior Image Quality

The new EUCON technology used in the UV LED inkjet press 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 color reproduction.

Nitrogen Purge Technology to Reduce Odor

Fujifilm has 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 odor by completely isolating the substrate from oxygen, virtually eliminating the residual monomers.

Using Fujifilm’s proprietary “EUCON” technology, this new, next-generation UV LED inkjet flexible packaging press is set to offer printers a high performance, high quality, low odor production solution to meet the needs of a growing number of high quality, shorter run applications. And being highly versatile, it can also deliver personalization 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.

Fujifilm will continue to develop new UV LED inkjet technologies suitable for the EMEA and American markets.

Source: Fujifilm.