Xaar has announced a new printhead, the 1002 GS6, designed to replace all versions of the 1001. This addresses newer markets, which now require better response and reliability. It’s a mechanically manufactured head, made at Xaar’s Huntingdon factory in the UK. It’s been developed over the last two years and has been shipping since February of this year.
It’s designed for UV inks and is able to print heavily pigmented high opacity white inks and high viscosity varnishes, helped by Xaar’s patented ink recirculation technology, TF Technology.
Marketing director Mark Alexander explained: “It’s a new product engineered from the ground up. The only components we have kept are the nozzle guards, the mountings and the plastic side guards.” It has a more even ink flow around the head, with Optimised Geometry nozzles for better image quality at higher speeds. Xaar has improved the drop placement accuracy and drop volume for smoother printing and it has a more consistent drop diameter, by up to 50 percent. Xaar also claims that it is twice as accurate in dropping the ink in the right place. Alexander adds: “Drop size, drop placement and drop volume are the key parameters in determining the printed result.”
It also has a new electronic interface that is easier for OEMs to integrate into devices. But it fits into the same mountings as the existing 1001 head so that users can upgrade easily with no change to waveforms, voltage settings or inks. It has a more robust connector and new seals. Pricing is said to be only slightly more expensive than the 1001.
It’s aimed at industrial inkjet applications, and in particular label and packaging markets. Richard Barham, sales and marketing director said: “We see larger and larger arrays being used, with machines over 2m wide in laminates so we wanted to make it easier for our partners to build these wide arrays.”
He added: “Up until now, wide format manufacturers have been slow to adopt recirculating heads in a shuttling environment but we are now seeing some adoption of this and expect to be able to announce printers in the next couple of months.”
The original 1001 GS6 head was launched in 2007 and has been widely used in the ceramics market where Xaar claims and about 40 percent market share worldwide, including most of the UK market.
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