Printhead manufacturer Xaar will be featuring strongly at the Tecnargilla '08, the ceramics industry event (Rimini, Italy, 30th September - 4th October 2008).
The company's latest greyscale Xaar 1001 printhead will be seen in action driving several digital inkjet ceramic tile printers, including the Newtech KeraMagic and the CretaPrinter.
The four-colour digital Newtech KeraMagic printer, making its worldwide debut at Tecnargilla 08, is the first digital printer developed by Newtech and has been specifically developed to print durable, high quality high resolution images directly onto tiles quickly and reliably. It features the Xaar 1001 inkjet printhead which can jet pigmented and non-pigmented ceramics inks and suspensions in a single-pass with ease and accuracy.
Creta Print, Spain, is showing the CretaPrinter digital inkjet, single-pass industrial printer for ceramic tile decoration (Hall B7 Stand 040). Developed in collaboration between CretaPrint and Xennia Technology and featuring the Xaar 1001 printheads, the CretaPrinter can produce a different and random pattern on each tile it prints, mimicking the patterns of natural marble and other materials. The total recirculation of ink within the printheads allows for the use of difficult materials like ceramic pigments. Patterns are printed in greyscale to produce clear, high resolution images. Its modular design allows tile manufacturers to print widths of between 280mm and 1120mm.
The design of the award-winning Xaar 1001 answers the ceramics industry's need for an industrial strength inkjet printhead that can handle a variety of fluids with ease to produce short run volumes of bespoke tiles at high quality and cost-effectively. Designed for high-speed, single-pass applications, the Xaar 1001 delivers excellent drop formation and drop placement accuracy with outstanding operational durability. The Xaar 1001 printhead design features Xaar's patented Hybrid Side Shooter (HSS™) technology. This includes Xaar's patented TF Technology™ , which means that ink flows past each nozzle opening, keeping the channels primed and fully operational. This results in lower maintenance cycles and high nozzle reliability giving consistent high quality and high productivity.
Xaar operates an 'open' ink policy that gives printers the flexibility to choose the suppliers that best meet their needs. Consequently, Xaar partners with the widest range of market-leading ink manufacturers to develop high-quality ink solutions for use in its printheads. At Tecnargilla Chimigraf (Fritta D5/080) and Itaca (D5/155) will be presenting their specialist inkjet inks for ceramic applications.
"The ceramics industry is quickly realising the commercial benefits of producing digitally printed ceramics tiles, such as fast production times, cost-effective short runs, and high-quality greyscale images reproduced in vibrant colours," says Steve Knight, European Sales Manager, Xaar. "The technology and inks on display at Tecnargilla are visionary pioneers of a market that I expect will expand very quickly."
Xaar PLC
www.xaar.co.uk
