Domino Printing Sciences has launched its next generation inkjet label press as the first of its machine to use BitStar piezo inkjet head from Brother. It comes five years after the Japanese company acquired the British inkjet specialist.
The same head and array becomes the Generation 7 platform and will appear in a host of other Domino products. The big step forward is a move from 600dpi to 1200dpi with four levels of grayscale from a 2.1pl droplet to 3.3pl in size. This resolution is rapidly becoming standard for label presses and for commercial printing, less so for large format graphics and corrugated. It will run at 70m/min.
The first of the N730i label presses has been installed at Olympus Labels in Leeds which already runs a pair of N610s. The new press has the latest version of Domino’s i-Tech SetAlign head alignment and stitching technology and a new version of the automatic cleaning system i-Tech CleanCap. Quality is further enhanced through the ability to adjust the voltage at each nozzle actuator pumping the UV curable ink.
The UV90 inkjet includes a white and the N730i press includes two white ink arrays to achieve an opacity of 76%, matching many screen presses, says Domino. It can also print a clear ink as a spot varnish or to create a textured label effect.
The press configuration in Leeds, expected to be the standard, includes a flexo unit to apply a primer to the substrate ahead of the gentle arch of the inkjet array and a flexo unit, after printing to apply an all over varnish if required.
Managing director Adrian Brown says: “Perhaps 5% of our work today requires 1200dpi, but this is becoming the new normal and it will be a standard requirement in a few years time.”
The press is controlled though a SunLight control system, linked to an Esko DFE and offering a new design of user interface. It offers support for JDF/JMF enabling connectivity to MIS and automated set up via information received from the MIS or production workflow.
Domino will be hoping to repeat the success of the Generation 6 inkjet presses which have notched 1,000 installations. It will be hoping too to push further into UV flexo territory, building on the reputation for productivity that the N630i has achieved. This press remains in the range as a 600dpi press as not all customers will want the additional resolution.
The Generation 7 technology must also be considered for wider format printing, aiming at a growing market for short run flexible packaging and pouch production.
Philip Easton, director of Domino Digital Printing Solutions, says: “This is the most significant new product we have launched since we started in the digital label press business. It has been a huge collaborative team effort, spread over five years, involving our colleagues at Brother Industries, supplier partners, our development team and our existing customers. Today, we are so proud of what the N730i delivers, as we truly believe it is setting new standards in high performance inkjet label printing.
“It is the first product based on the the Generation 7 platform released as a result of collaboration with Brother.”
The enhanced cleaning cap technology is one of a number improvements made with the release of Generation 7 inkjet technology by Domino. It brings 1200dpi resolution and a potential throughput of 70m/min to label presses with further products to come.
