Large format piezo inkjet printer manufacturer Mutoh Belgium nv announces release of a new high volume printer, called Viper TX 100. The Viper TX 100 is Mutoh’s first 2.6 meter (102”) wide direct-to-fabric printer. The new Mutoh engine incorporates a built-in switchable and rotatable print bed, enabling both direct-to-fabric printing and transfer paper printing (sublimation) in one machine. The printer is ideally suited for volume producers of soft signage, garment/apparel and industrial applications such as home furnishings. Incorporating Mutoh’s proprietary Intelligent Interweaving print technology, the Viper TX 100 printer allows quality production speeds up to 36 m²/h. Top speeds up to 76 m²/h can be obtained. The machine will be presented to the wide public at Mutoh’s booth at the oncoming Fespa 2010 show, Hall B2 – 160.
“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”, says 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. Our new TX 100 direct textile printer 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”, concludes Vanhoutte.
Setup for direct-to-fabric printing, 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 customized one-off projects to speed-intensive volume printing.
The printer utilizes Mutoh worry-free water-based direct disperse inks (for direct-to-fabric printing) or Mutoh high-speed dye sublimation inks (for transfer paper printing), available in bulk 1 liter bottles. No forced ventilation is required when using these inks, as there are no harmful VOCs that permeate the working environment. The Viper TX 100 printer is ready for connection to Mutoh’s optional continuous ink delivery and refill system, developed for speed-intensive and volume-oriented users.
Prints are instantly acclimatized 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, the latest textile printer from Mutoh incorporates 8 high end 360 nozzle print heads 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 1.2 mm up to 4.0 mm, 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 (e.g. transfer paper) during printing, Mutoh’s patented ETT-system (Extra Tensioning Tool) keeps the media under a constant tension, minimising cockling and enabling high accuracy transfer of images. 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. This system provides accurate unrolling, adequate tensioning and straight winding of finished prints. Special design media flanges on the (un)winder system maximize grip on the inside of the media core. This power grip mechanism provides increased grip on the cores without disturbing the media tracking.
