Inkjet Web Innovations
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"Kodak is committed to Stream Inkjet Technology and is investing in new presses and imprinting systems while expanding key partnerships to continue the transformation of the print industry," added Edwards. "This is differentiating technology for Kodak and for our customers, and the opportunities are exciting. drupa will serve as a showplace for all the latest Prosper System Technologies, and customers will be on hand to share their stories of success."
New Digital Book Press
The Timson T-Press, a fully digital duplex, monochrome book printing system, will make its global debut at drupa 2012. The T-Press is a combination of Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology and material-handling capabilities from UK manufacturer Timsons Printing Machinery. It is the fastest, widest inkjet press available for the production of black-and-white trade and textbooks, the partners said. The press delivers productivity, functionality, and cost-effectiveness for fully digital book printing, improving business models for book printers and publishers. The Clays book division of St. Ives Group from the UK will be the first company to adopt the T-Press.
"The new capabilities of the Timson T-Press will enable Clays to continue to be a leader in book production efficiency and to expand the solutions we provide to our publishers," said Clays managing director Kate McFarlan. "We are confident that with these investments we will provide the broadest, state-of-the-art set of services that will support our business objectives and our customers' current and evolving needs."
Designed at the outset as a monochrome solution, the T-Press is targeted for digital production of between five and 14 million books annually. It accommodates paper up to 53 inches wide and runs at a maximum production speed of 650 fpm. To maximize flexibility, the T-Press can run multiple book formats on a single press through a variety of Timson-manufactured finishing solutions, such as T-Book and T-Fold. At the mega show next month, Timson will demonstrate the short-run capabilities of its T-Fold finishing system by producing printed and folded signatures running inline with a Kolbus Binding System.
The alliance with Timsons marks the first agreement from Kodak's recently formed Inkjet Technology Partnerships (ITP) program. ITP enables partners to leverage Kodak's Stream Inkjet Technology imaging subsystem and Kodak expertise in inkjet technologies and materials science to respond quickly to market opportunities with proven technology. Technology packages include the writing head, inks, data controller, implementation expertise, integration, and workflow.
"While digital book manufacturing continues to grow, the majority of books are printed using traditional processes," said Timsons managing director Jeff Ward. "This collaboration allows Timsons to offer customers their preferred choice of technology—digital or offset—from a single supplier, knowing that they are working with a specialist in book production. It's the first agreement of its kind between an offset press manufacturer and inkjet technology supplier, and we look forward to working with Kodak and bringing the benefits of inkjet printing to offset book printers through solutions such as the T-Press."
Narrower Web Applications
In the narrow web space, ink producer INX International (Sakata INX) unveiled the NW140 digital press at GRAPH EXPO 2011, where a tech demo printed labels and film stocks. Featuring UV LED-cure single pass output at print/converting speeds up to 80 fpm and Spartanics laser die-cutting capabilities, the NW140 is presently in beta-test mode at a US customer, with results expected by the end of this month. In addition to a Phoseon FireLine 225 high-efficiency, water-cooled UV LED curing system, it employs an air-cooled UV LED pinning system from Integration Technology along with Xaar 1001 industrial print heads, providing 1018-dpi apparent grayscale print resolution with seven selectable drop sizes ranging from 6 pl to 42 pl (picoliters). The 14 heads on the NW140 press have seven ink channels, including a base coat, white, yellow, cyan, magenta, black, and clear for varnish.
