By DPS Magazine Staff
Corrugated package printers and converters turn to digital technologies to increase their printing capabilities. Ahead of trends like customized packaging, limited time runs, and more colorful imagery and text designs, both single- and multi-pass digital printers meet the demand. Common ink sets used for corrugated applications include UV/UV LED and water-based solutions.
Document Data Solutions
Document Data Solutions (DDS) specializes in monochrome and CMYK color inkjet printing solutions for both cutsheet and web applications as well as data management software, document inspection, reporting solutions, and vision systems. DDS products offer advanced features such as an exclusive universal print controller that offers several workflows, user customizable reports, and print verification. DDS creates custom software and hardware solutions to fit customers’ specific needs.
Domino
The Domino X630i digital aqueous inkjet corrugated press is built, serviced, and supported in the U.S. It features a small footprint, 10x49x16 feet, with a climate-controlled environmental enclosure and Sun Automation lead-edge, servo-driven feeder. The Domino X630i utilizes a maximum sheet size of 63×118 inches and prints on coated and uncoated liners without primer. A polymer-based technology, the 600×600 dpi printer utilizes four-color CMYK. AQ95 water-based inks are EUPIA, Nestlé, and Swiss Ordinance compliant.
Durst Image Technology US
Durst offers its water-based ink sets offering flexographic quality up to superb lithographic quality with odorless ink. Durst Water Technology is well suited for a range of corrugated packaging and displays applications and reduces environmental impact. They are completely free of hazardous labeling and comply with the strict health and safety regulations.
EFI
The EFI Nozomi 14000 single-pass printer features a robust design for heavy industrial use with high reliability and productivity. EFI LED inks are designed with the specific properties needed to produce spectacular images on corrugated substrates. They meet OCC certification for recyclability and repulpability and also meet the GREENGUARD Gold standard with no hazardous volatile organic compounds, and no need for vapor recovery.
The EFI Nozomi C18000 Plus enables cost-effective, high-quality, direct to board digital printing and eliminates expenses and a great number of steps associated with printing plates, printing, and lamination in traditional analog production. Four-level grayscale with a native resolution of 360 dpi and an effective resolution of 720 dpi, the EFI Nozomi presses and EFI UV LED inks deliver beautiful solids, rich color, and smooth gradients without pinholes or artifacts. CMYK ink plus orange and violet configurations expand color gamut reaching up to 97 percent of Pantone gamut.
Epson
The ultra-productive Epson SureColor V7000 4×8-foot UV flatbed printer is designed to maximize image quality and production. Touting ten-color UltraChrome UV ink, including red ink, opaque white ink, and eye-catching varnish, coupled with eight micropiezo printheads, it produces bright, colorful, tactile color or three-layer prints with low graininess and smooth gradation. Capable of printing on a variety of media, the SureColor V7000 accommodates a variety of media, up to three inches thick, including rigid substrates, foam board, wood, acrylic, and metal. Designed for ease of use, it offers several usability features including a pin registration system for quick loading and easy media alignment, a multi-zone vacuum system, and automatic thickness adjustment to instantly accommodate media. It includes workflow solutions Epson Edge Print RIP software and Epson Cloud Solution PORT for remote monitoring.
HP Inc.
The HP PageWide C550 Press is a digital post-print printing press designed for corrugated packaging applications. Based on the technology of the C500 press, the C550 offers enhanced productivity and value to the industrial packaging industry. This press delivers high-quality prints and runs at 295 feet per minute (fpm). It uses HP’s Thermal Inkjet technology and true water-based inks to deliver consistent offset print quality at fast production speeds, while also supporting packaging converters’ circular economy goals. The C550 Press offers maximum efficiency and flexibility catering to everything from personalized one-offs to high-volume runs, directly on corrugated sheets.
The HP PageWide T470S Press is a 42-inch digital web-fed press designed for digital single-face lamination and folding carton applications. The T470S Press offers converters new levels of efficiency and consistent, high-quality results at a lower cost. This press delivers exceptional CMYKOV print quality and is capable of running up to 600 fpm, supported by HP’s single-pass Thermal Inkjet technology with true water-based inks. Converters with a T470S Press will experience a boost in operational efficiency through greater order flexibility, more production agility, and faster speed to market, while reducing waste and obsolescence in support of circular economy goals.
The HP PageWide T700i Press is a 67-inch digital web-fed platform that helps converters achieve greater operational efficiency for high-volume production of digital single-face lamination, corrugation, and folding carton applications. The T700i Press is configurable to meet specific customer and market needs and includes a variety of inline options for winding, priming, varnishing, and delivery. Select configurations are capable of up to 1,000 fpm supported by HP’s latest generation single-pass Thermal Inkjet technology with true water-based inks for printing packaging, which can be recycled, further supporting the converter’s circular economy goals.
The HP PageWide T1195i Press is HP’s most productive platform and is designed to transform high-volume production of corrugated preprint. The T1195i Press is a 110-inch web-fed press that enables high-speed production—up to 1,000 fpm—for high-graphics packaging with consistent and repeatable six-color (CMYKOV) print quality, supported by HP’s latest generation single-pass Thermal Inkjet technology with true water-based inks. With the T1195i Press, converters can increase plant capacity and reduce manufacturing costs to migrate large volumes of flexographic preprint jobs to digital efficiently and economically. The T1195i Press also introduces opportunities for batch manufacturing, where converters can take advantage of limited setup times and the high efficiency of long runs on the corrugator, while delivering lower minimum order quantities to meet dynamic shifts in demand.
Kento Digital Printing
The Kento Hybrid uses a UV LED curing system. This system works well with most inks provided by INX, Itaca, and Kao Collins. Since most UV single-pass machines are open sourced ink, the users can choose the provider best suited for their needs and negotiate their best price. They may already use a provider for flexographic inks, which gives a big incentive to the ink provider to offer additional discounts.
Koenig & Bauer Durst
Koenig & Bauer Durst is a global market leader of single-pass digital sheetfed press systems and software services for the folding carton and corrugated industry. It leverages the capabilities and know-how of its parent companies—Koenig & Bauer and Durst—to offer an unrivaled portfolio of digital printing machinery that includes the CorruJET and Delta SPC 130 systems for corrugated markets, as well the jointly developed VariJET 106 press for folding carton markets. All presses use water-based, food-safe inks and coatings that comply with all regulatory requirements.
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.
The AccurioWide 250 2.5-meter hybrid UV LED wide format inkjet printer offers superior image quality and high productivity for outdoor and indoor job applications. The printer is equipped with UV LED lamps that allow printing on a wider range of media—while simultaneously saving energy, time, and costs. The end result is a versatile printer that helps increase job applications—and grow business.
Mimaki USA, Inc.
Mimaki offers a complete range of UV LED flatbed printers capable of printing directly onto a variety of substrates including corrugated cardboard. Print area ranges from 11.8×16.5 to 28×20 inches on UJF models; and from 98.4×51.2 to 98.4×122 inches on JFX models. All Mimaki flatbed printers utilize UV LED technology that offers reduced energy consumption and a longer lamp lifetime. A range of ink options is available to suit nearly any application.
Mutoh America, Inc.
Mutoh’s reliable UV LED printers are designed to provide high quality, vibrant, and precise printing on corrugated materials, catering to the specific needs of the packaging industry. With precision and efficiency at their core, Mutoh’s printers ensure exceptional color reproduction and image clarity, meeting the stringent requirements of brand owners and converters.
Mutoh printers are known for their speed and efficiency, ensuring swift production without compromising print quality. The printers leverage innovative inkjet technology to deliver sharp and detailed images, making them ideal for a range of applications, from product packaging to point-of-sale displays. Additionally, Mutoh prioritizes user-friendly interfaces and intuitive controls, enhancing the overall user experience and making these printers accessible to a diverse range of professionals in the packaging and printing industry.
Roland DGA Corporation
Roland DG VersaOBJECT CO Series flatbed UV printers combine high image quality, productivity, and versatility. These next-generation machines are capable of printing on a vast array of objects and substrates, including corrugated boards. Cutting-edge technologies allow for advanced ink placement and dot gain control, making CO Series printers ideal for printing on porous materials like corrugated. All models feature a maximum media height of 7.87 inches and customers can choose from two available flatbed printer widths and three available bed lengths.
CO Series printers use Roland’s wide gamut, GREENGUARD Gold certified ECO-UV 5 inks available in eight different configurations, including CMYK for increased productivity or CMYK with optional red, orange, white, gloss, and primer. White and gloss inks can be used to create unique textural effects, while the onboard primer improves adhesion and media compatibility.
Xeikon
IDERA was developed as a modular solution platform for flexographic converters. The water-based, single-pass digital printing technology offers printing on both coated and uncoated boards up to 11 millimeters thick. The printer runs using IDERA AT water-based pigment ink, which is food complaint with with EUPIA, Nestlé, and Swiss Ordinance guidelines. Inline water-based priming and varnish station is included.
Corrugated Printing
Whether printing a prototype, run of one, or long runs with multiple versions, digital presses are changing the corrugated landscape.
Mar2024, DPS Magazine
