At the Viscom Italy 2010 exhibition, wide format inkjet printer manufacturer Mutoh Belgium has introduced an all new digital direct to fabric production printer with a moving adhesive belt system, called Viper TX Professional. This heavy-duty piezo drop-on-demand inkjet printer has been purpose-built for direct printing onto stretchable, knitted, woven and open structure fabrics, such as PES flag, cotton, nylon, lycra, silk, poplin, etc. The new industrial Viper TX Professional printer from Mutoh is targeted at sample creation and production runs of customised and personalised fabrics, home decoration fabrics, sportswear, swimwear, etc.
Available at 1620 mm / 63.78” & 2210 mm / 87” widths, Mutoh’s Viper TX Professional printer will provide reliable & high quality fabric printing for the traditional textile & apparel markets at costs well below those associated with screen printing.
At the same time it will drastically improve lead times for a flexible & fast design-to-delivery cycle. The new Mutoh printer incorporates all the features required to accurately load, transport, meander control & tension, dry and roll up printed fabrics.
Available immediately, the new Viper TX Professional printer will be marketed by Mutoh all over Europe, the Middle East and Africa through its extensive network of authorised resellers.
Mutoh Viper TX Professional – Key Characteristics
A fully motorised heavy-duty unwinding system for rolls up to 150 kg incorporates a pneumatic shaft in combination with a fabric spreader & curved tension bar. The system delivers straight unwinding of stretch, knitted, woven, open structure fabrics and fabrics, which are challenging to transport.
A precise meander control system with photo cells left and right will accurately guide the fabric onto the integrated adhesive belt. The moving adhesive belt transports the fabric through the print area of the Viper TX Professional, guaranteeing perfect control over the fabric feeding and ensuring a stable and flat fabric surface during printing.
An incorporated washing unit, consisting of a rotating brush & spray bar with a stainless steel water tank, cleans the adhesive belt to prevent ‘back printing’.
A motorised heavy-duty winding system for media rolls up to 150 kg automatically rolls up the printed fabrics, ready for after-treatment. Proper fabric behaviour is monitored by sensors along the fabric path.
The new Viper TX Professional printers incorporate 8 drop-on-demand piezo inkjet heads. Each head has 2 x 180 nozzles. Using Dynamic Variable Dot Imaging Technology, each ink droplet is individually adjustable to provide high speed and high quality printing. The printers incorporate Mutoh’s award-winning and patented Intelligent Interweaving print technology, avoiding trial and error printing and therefore reducing media waste.
Printing at 65” width, 2 pass bi-dir, the Viper TX Professional printers will deliver typical production speeds for close viewing distances between 11 and 32 m²/h. Top engine speed at 65” amounts to 63 m²/h.
The Viper TX Professional offers full freedom of ink set up : 8 colours (possible mix of process and/or spot colours for maximum colour gamut), 6 colours, CMYK + CMYK (mixed ink type) and 2x4 CMYK (speed & ink autonomy set-up).