Industrial Inkjet Ltd, better known as IIJ, which develops inkjet print modules for graphics and industrial uses, has launched a new wider print module for packaging applications such as carton, foil or flexible films as well as décor markets.
To start with, IIJ has developed and installed a single colour module with a print width of 775mm, and which is called the MonoPrint 775i, using KM1024iMHE printheads. This can print up to 160mpm at 360dpi or 80mpm at 720dpi, and has been developed for an industrial packaging application.
However, IIJ’s standard approach is to create a module that’s capable of holding up to four colour bars, which is the basis of its ColourPrint modules so then it’s just a question of fitting however many colour bars each customer needs.
IIJ usually uses Konica Minolta printheads and this new module is no exception, though there is a choice of three different types of heads, with varying widths depending on the size of those heads. Thus, users could opt for 360dpi KM1024i heads, giving a maximum print width of 845mm wide. But there’s also an option to use 600dpi KM1800i heads, which give a maximum print width of 891mm. Yet another option is to fit the new 450dpi, KM1280i printheads which would allow up to 849mm print width at expected speeds of 135m/min.
These wider modules build on IIJs original narrow web modules, which started back in 2009 with the ColourPrint 72, printing four colours, 72mm wide, offering 360dpi and running at 27mpm in a module with a footprint of just 150mm. IIJ has since expanded the range and now has over 55 different models, up to 594mm wide, suitable for narrow and mid-web machines, and can be installed on presses or post processing equipment.
So the new module, which is around 800mm wide takes IIJ into wide web applications. Paddy O’Hara, business development manager for IIJ, says that this could eventually lead to wider modules up to 1.5m wide.
In addition, IIJ works with a number of ink suppliers so there’s a wide choice of ink options available from UV curable inks, including low migration, covert security, low metamerism and highly flexible versions, to pigmented water-based inks for packaging and décor applications.
Anyone interested in IIJ’s print modules should also check out my earlier report from the Japan Inkjet Business Conference, where O”Hara gave an excellent description of IIJ’s approach to designing these modules and the need to keep them as simple and compact as possible. You can find further details from industrialij.com.
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