2.6m direct-to-textile printer from Mutoh
Mutoh's first 2.6m (102in) wide direct-to-fabric printer has emerged in the shape of the Viper TX 100. The machine, which will be presented to the public at Fespa 2010, has built-in switchable and rotatable print bed, enabling both direct-to-fabric printing and transfer paper printing (sublimation). With a top speed of 76m/h (production speed up to 36m/h) it is aimed at volume producers of soft signage, garment/apparel and industrial applications such as home furnishings.
"Today's expanding demand for textile prints such as soft signage, home furnishing and apparel is driving growth for digital printing in the wide-format graphics industry", said Arthur Vanhoutte, president of Mutoh's European operations. "At the same time, the obvious benefits of using environmentally friendly water-based inks for printing on recyclable materials to produce exceptional quality, durable and washable prints for a wide variety of applications continue to push this technology forward. The TX 100 will open up a host of new business opportunities for print providers requiring a versatile floor-to-ceiling production oriented printer that will complement their existing screen printing and/or digital imaging equipment."
The TX 100 can print on fabrics with open or closed structure. This is made possible by the incorporated ink gutter. After rotating the print bed, the TX 100 is ready for sublimation printing onto the thinnest available transfer papers. Either way, production versatility ranges from customised one-off projects to speed-intensive volume printing.?
The printer utilises Mutoh water-based direct disperse inks (for direct-to-fabric printing) or Mutoh high-speed dye sublimation inks (for transfer paper printing), available in bulk 1litre bottles. The Viper TX 100 printer is ready for connection to Mutoh's optional continuous ink delivery and refill system. Prints are instantly acclimatised and dried with the aid of three built-in, digitally controlled heating elements. They totally remove all water from the printed paper, preventing ghost images during calendering. The heating elements are controlled individually, to a maximum of 70? C. ??
Robustly built, this latest textile printer from Mutoh incorporates eight 360 nozzle printheads and 16 ink channels, offering print resolutions up to 720 x 720 dpi. Using Dynamic Variable Dot Imaging Technology, each ink droplet is individually adjusted to provide high speed and high quality with low ink consumption. The Viper TX 100 printer has an electronically, software controlled adjustable head height that ranges from 1.2mm up to 4.0mm, allowing users to print onto various transfer papers and textiles and offering maximum substrate compatibility. Special fabric retainers have been developed to deal with fabrics of which the edges carry loose fibres or tend to curl up. To compensate for media expansion during printing, Mutoh's patented ETT-system (Extra Tensioning Tool) keeps the media under a constant tension. Additionally, the ETT system easily adapts to support different media roll sizes.?
Unattended roll-to-roll printing is made possible by the integrated fully motorized heavy-duty unwinding/winding system for media rolls up to 100 kg. Media flanges on the (un)winder system maximise grip on the inside of the media core. This power grip mechanism provides increased grip on the cores without disturbing the media tracking. ??
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