Kodak has optimised the performance of its toner press technology to produce the Ascend, a five-colour press that is targeting carton and display graphics applications.
The key difference compared to the Nexpress and Nexfinity machines is in the substrates it can print on. Ascend can print on 762 micron calliper and 687gsm boards. By comparison, the B2 format HP Indigo can go to 600 micron cartonboard, equivalent to 450gsm.
The HP Indigo press, however, is B2 in format while the Ascend is limited to 352mm printing width. This is less important, says Kodak, because it can print on a sheet up to 1200mm long, with nesting functions on Prinergy DFE to make full use of the sheet length. Running a sheet by sheet comparison results in a 23% printable area increase for the Ascend, according to Kodak.
The 600dpi machine will run at 7,200 A4s/hour, as fast as the fastest Nexpress, and equivalent to 572m2 an hour, twice as fast, Kodak says, as a comparably priced flatbed inkjet press.
The press has five slots for toner cartridges, offering 13 choices of ink, including opaque white, clear, antimicrobial clear, a foil effect dry ink, pearlescent, gambit enhancing violet, orange, light black, gold, dimensional and a red fluorescent ink for security applications. This can be positioned in different locations on the press, not only in the first or final slots. Kodak is also able to produce PMS matching toners for specific brand colours. Changeover between the different toners is eight minutes, faster than similar machines.
The colours are branded as Kodachrome Inks, a new and different ink set to those used on the Nexfinity, developed for the packaging market. They are produced from food safe components and are rated for indirect food contact. The foiling effect can be more precise than with offline embellishment presses, according to Kodak, because the print and foiling steps take place in a single pass.
There is no price on the machine, though orders are being accepted ahead of a launch in Q2 next year. By then there will be a tight integration with Prinergy and availability of packaging specific functionality, as well as links to other software and hardware providers. There will be inline integration possible to coaters and die cutters, for example, and there is an integration to Arden Impact CAD design application used for FSDU design, as well as for cartons.
“Due to the open output architecture of the Ascend a multitude of finishing devices can be put inline or nearline with the machine. It is able to vary its speed and have bidirectional communication with finishing devices that are equipped to do the same. This can include lasers, die cutters, as well as UV coaters,” says Diego Diaz, workflow specialist at Kodak’s digital print division.
The revelation of the packaging specific press is joined by a series of other announcements from the US company. Prinergy On Demand Access expands the scope of the cloud based workflow to include smaller business that might not have been suited the full Prinergy on Demand. It includes Microsoft Azure cloud security.
There is mobile access to data from a platesetter, to show job status and job flow via an app on a mobile device. Mobile CTP Control App will watch and control up to ten platesetters.
Back in packaging, the company has produced a clear inkjet varnish that can be applied by a Prosper S or Prosper Plus printhead mounted as part of a finishing line. The use of the digital application method means only applying the inkjet varnish where it is needed for enhancement or protection of, for example, a variable barcode.
