Canon launches V1000 laser press

Canon has announced a new cut sheet laser press, the ImagePress V1000, a compact press aimed at the graphic arts market and able to maintain its full rated 100 A4 ppm speed regardless of paper weights. Canon has shown off a prototype version at this week’s Print4All show in Milan.

The V1000 can print at 2400 x 2400 dpi resolution with front to back registration tolerance of 0.70mm. It can take papers up to SRA3S in size, and from 52 to 400gsm in weight. It can take envelopes and transparent films as well as synthetic and magnetic media. It can also print banners up to 1.3m in length, which can be automatically duplexed. There’s a range of paper drawers available including a Multi-Drawer paper deck unit that can hold various media in upper, middle and lower drawers. 

It boasts a number of new technologies. The print engine is split into two units, with the actual imaging in one followed by fixing and cooling in a second. Canon has added a new fixing unit that uses aluminium rollers to control the temperature on the media. This is followed by a cooling unit that can cut the temperature on the media by around 25 percent. This helps prevent any sticking between copies that might occur if there’s been a heavy toner coverage on the sheets. It also helps to minimise the overall footprint of the press. 

There are four spectrophotometers inline, one for each colour. The V1000 takes CMYK toners with no space for other channels. Gianluca Ghiadoni, professional print product business development for Canon Italy, says: “Its not our intention to follow this trend for more colours.” Instead he says that any other processes can better be done in dedicated machines. 

Both the toners and the waste cartridges can be changed on the fly without stopping the press. The toner itself is similar to that used in the existing CV-series presses.

The machine automatically adjusts the paper path depending on the weight of the media, altering the transfer rollers for heavier papers to change the angle that the paper enters the print unit, which helps to maintain the speed across all media weights. There’s also a new registration path that lines the paper up and checks front to back registration.

There’s an optional sensing unit that can measure a colour patch printed in the margin of each sheet. Ghiadoni explains: “It can allow the operator to automate the checking of the colour density and the registration when the machine is running.” He adds: “It communicates the variability to the main engine in real time so the machine can adapt to this.” The sensing unit can also  help with registration because it can infer any misregistration from the angle that the colour patch is presented to the sensor. 

Another option can prevent sheets being double-fed to the print engine without having to stop the press. There’s a choice of two DFEs, including Canon’s own PrismaSync as well as the EFI D3000. It also comes with a 600 dpi copier that can also scan at 100ppm. 

Hiro Imamura, vice president of Marketing & Innovation for Canon Europe Digital Printing & Solutions, commented: “The ImagePress V1000 raises the bar on productivity and can handle a very broad variety of media. By responding to the needs of our customer base, we have brought a fresh perspective to digital toner press design, exploring innovative ways to tackle everyday production headaches and helping print businesses to work better, faster, with more scope to offer their customers creative print products. Packed with features that overcome common challenges for print businesses, the ImagePress V1000 can take on a wider variety of print jobs and meet more demanding timescales. By ensuring consistently high productivity and building in more automation for great print quality with minimal intervention, we’re freeing up operator time for our customers, enabling their expertise to be channelled into creating value for clients and developing the business in new directions.”

The press is listed on the Canon website and can be ordered now though deliveries won’t start till the middle of June. Pricing depends on the configuration but is around €169,000 for a standard configuration including the Multi Drawer and sensing unit as well as a Plockmatic booklet maker. You can find more information from canon-europe.com.