Ricoh has announced the Pro C9200, its latest series of high volume sheetfed toner-based digital colour presses, which replaces the existing C9100 series.
This is hardly a surprise given that Ricoh has already updated both its light production and mid-volume printers. There are two models in the series: the C9200, which can produce up to 115ppm A4 and average monthly volumes of 245,000 sheets; and the C9210, which runs at 135ppm A4, with an average monthly volume of 300,000 A4 sheets. Ricoh says that the main difference between the two is the speed and that there’s no option to upgrade the C9200 to the faster model.
Not surprisingly, the new series gains the inline sensors and calibration that was introduced last month with the C7200 series. However, the C9200 series also boasts a new Auto Colour Diagnosis technology that can detect and adjust subtle tone fluctuations while printing. This is an enhanced feature which “reads” the printed image, compares it to the electronic RIP’ed image and makes adjustments as required.
Ricoh says that the print engine has benefited from a number of technical and physical changes, primarily around registration and image quality. It uses a new toner, which is an enhanced formulation of the C9100-series toner. The toner can now be replenished on the fly.
Ricoh has improved the ability for handling long sheets, with the C9200 able to auto duplex sheets up to 1030mm long, and to print on single-sided sheets up to 1260mm long. It can also support media up to 450gsm in weight, with no penalty in performance for the heavier stocks.
The registration system has also been improved and now references the media on its side edge, rather than front edge. It also incorporates a “swing and shift” mechanism to steer media as well as moving front to back.
The C9200 is a four colour engine, with no option for adding more channels. Eef de Ridder, director of Commercial Printing for Ricoh Europe, says that Ricoh sees fifth colour capability as a relatively specialist requirement that currently does not demand high volume output, adding: “We believe the Pro C7200x Graphic arts Edition is capable of covering the volumes required for this type of work.”
There’s a choice of front ends, with the Fiery E-45 and E-85 from EFI as well as Ricoh’s own TotalFlow Print Server R-62. There’s an option for IPDS support for AFP datastream printing environments.
De Ridder comments: “All these advances have been developed to flexibly support higher quality, on demand production of a wider range of services, printing on a broad choice of substrate types that includes synthetics, carbonless paper, coated and uncoated stock and envelopes. They help PSPs maximise production uptime and expand capabilities to more efficiently, cost effectively and profitably answer broadening market demands.”
The Pro C9200 series should ship in Europe from the start of next month. Heidelberg, which rebadges the Ricoh toner presses, has also confirmed that it will be offering its own version, the Versafire EP, with an option for its own Prinect front end.
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