Océs acclaimed Arizona 250 GT wide format printer, which was shown recently in March at Océs OpenHouse 2007 expo in Poing, Germany, has now become available in Australia.
The Océ Arizona 250 GT is based on a new Océ-developed platform that combines a true flatbed design and a separate, forthcoming dedicated roll-to-roll capability, offering the best of both systems.
The UV curable ink printer uses a process known as Océ VariaDot technology to deliver near photographic image quality.
It can print onto rigid media up to 1.25m wide x 2.5m long x 48mm thick. The upcoming optional roll-to-roll module can print onto flexible roll media up to 2.2m wide. Using four-colour (CMYK) UV curable inks with near-photographic image resolution it delivers a true production print speed (sellable prints) of 16m2 per hour.
The Océ Arizona 250 GT breaks with the tradition of printing onto flexible film and then laminating to a rigid substrate by printing UV-cured ink directly on to a range of materials not predetermined simply by square, flat and thin.
It can produce applications beyond normal including custom furniture, glasswork, fixture enhancement, fine art, or nearly anything that the imagination can conceive.
Potential users will see applications that include event graphics, point-of-purchase displays, signage, banners, backlit and reflective rigid displays, transit advertising, and directional signage.
The quality truly has to be seen to be believed, said Adrian Morris, Product Manager, Display Graphics Imaging Systems for Océ-Australia Limited.
Just imagine the opportunities this opens up to specialty work that commands higher prices for end users.
The Arizona 250 GT has a number of breakthrough features which have already proven to be very appealing to the Australian display graphics market.
The Océ VariaDot imaging technology enables a print head to produce dots of variable size versus print heads using fixed-droplet technology. Océ VariaDot technology creates these variable dots by dispensing ink droplets that vary in size from six to 42 picolitres.
This ability to go as low as six picolitres produces sharp images with smoother gradients and quarter-tones. The larger droplets up to 42 picolitres produce dense, uniform solids. The result is near-photographic image quality with sharpness only before seen at resolutions of 1,440 dpi or higher. You can actually read text as small as six point.
Output is far superior to the quality of that printed on current six-color printers using earlier fixed-droplet-sized print head technology.
Morris says that Océ VariaDot imaging technology with four color inks uses significantly less ink compared to six color printers with fixed-droplet inkjet technology. The resulting lower ink consumption results in ink savings of up to 35 percent over fixed-droplet, six color printers
The Océ Arizona 250 GT is a true flatbed design that uses a vacuum system to hold media stationary on a flat surface, ensuring accurate registration even on multiple imaging passes.
The Océ Arizona 250 GT can print on irregularly shaped or non-square items, heavy substrates such as glass, or materials that have an uneven surface such as wood.
Océ believes this is an advantage over competitive rigid-capable printers that use belt or friction-based media feed systems, as they can only print on square-cornered, lightweight materials of uniform thickness.
There are other features that the market will like too. For instance full bleeds can be printed, saving time and labor costs in finishing. No minimum print size means just the necessary materials are used with no substrate waste, Morris says.
It gives higher productivity too by printing along the long axis of rigid media to optimize throughput the fewer the number of printing passes over the media, the higher the average productivity. No other flatbed or rigid-capable printer does this.
The Océ Arizona 250 GT opens the printing possibilities to more exotic applications that command premium prices.
An optional roll-to-roll module can be added in the field, giving customers the ability to print onto flexible media including, self-adhesive vinyl, scrim banner, photopaper and polyester display films, without compromising the rigid printing workflow.
Once a rigid print is finished, the print head assembly is positioned over the roll-to-roll module and begins printing on flexible media, while the rigid material is swapped out and the new board is placed on the vacuum table and prepared for printing.
When the flexible media printing is completed, the print head assembly moves back to the table to resume printing on the rigid media. The roll media can be dismounted at any time without disturbing the rigid printing
The UV curable ink is packaged in bulk, 2-litre ink bags minimizing change-out and the quick-change ink system reduces waste, mess, and operator intervention.
Intelligent ink bag sensing alerts the operator to an ink change requirement before running out of ink and ensures the correct ink color is installed. The regulated ink system maintains consistent ink temperature for optimal printing, making the ambient environmental control less critical and less expensive for the end user.
Adrian Morris says the Océ Arizona 250 GT meets market demands for image quality but is also designed to also provide media flexibility, enhanced productivity, investment protection and a lower total cost of completing most applications a total package that provides breakthrough performance and efficiency thanks to Océs intelligent design.
Océ Australia
www.oce.com.au
