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5000 6 x 10 sheets an hour, anyone?

Typestries

Typestries

New Member
Anyone remember the thread about a new flatbed capable of printing 500 FEET per minute - roughly 1 sheet per second (not a typo) via array printheads?

I can't find the thread but a bunch of folks called bs on it calling it impossible.

Well, today I had some printed samples from the machine in my shop. It's not us that's getting one, rather a fellow Jeti owner who came in to run some ink tests here.

Everyone said impossible. Well, the image quality is absolutely stunning, and the fact that it prints a sheet in about a SECOND is crazy. The drop size is so small, it's banding free and the quality compares to a valuejet as far as drop size goes.

This thing is going to revolutionize flatbed printing and the direction the printer manufacturers go in a huge way. There are just so many product applications. Right now in the POP and corrugated markets especially.

I'll let the guy that bought this thing chime in, as it's being installed early next year (it's running at the factory) but I will say this it's the real deal!
 
bigben

bigben

Not a newbie
wow, could you tell me what is the band and model? I would like to make some research on this on the web...
 
R

RycckG

New Member
Thanks for validating the thread for me Rick.. I know it is pretty hard to believe. The printer is manufactured by Sun Automation in Baltimore using Kodak Versamark print heads. The actual conversion to sheets p/ hour depends on the sheet size. The printer actually only runs at 1 speed, 500 ft per hour which converts to about 110,000 sqft p/ hr. The printer uses dye based aqueous inks and post coats in line.
 
National Sign Co. - Print

National Sign Co. - Print

Merchant Member
BS!!!

no way it is a digital print... Analog offset or litho perhaps?

Sorry, physics do not work via digital.. Digital Heads cannot jet that fast nor even cure waterbased, UV or whatever....

If it was a digital technology companies like HP or Durst would have been ahead of the curve long ago.

I will argue this all day long.

Who cares anyways maybe 5% of printers worldwide may even have a capacity to even support or feed such a "dream" machine.
 
Malkin

Malkin

New Member
RycckG said:
Thanks for validating the thread for me Rick.. I know it is pretty hard to believe. The printer is manufactured by Sun Automation in Baltimore using Kodak Versamark print heads. The actual conversion to sheets p/ hour depends on the sheet size. The printer actually only runs at 1 speed, 500 ft per hour which converts to about 110,000 sqft p/ hr. The printer uses dye based aqueous inks and post coats in line.
Click to expand...

So 110,000 sq ft / 500 (linear feet) = 220 feet wide.

That is a big machine.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Hey Mike..............

I think what they are saying is that if you own this unit... you can produce all of the WalMarts, Home Depots, Lowes, McDonald's and Burger Kings in less than a day. The next day you'll do all the stores for another continent and each day do a different continent. In just a little over a week, you'll have done all the signs for the entire world and now be looking for work.

Last time I looked, this machine was for newspapers and boxing type applications.... not normal flat stock. That would be like inventing a cure for cancer or diabetes. Or how about finding a tire that got 1,000,000 miles before showing any wear and tear.

I call BS, too, but that doesn’t mean a machine isn’t out there that can do this stuff…. it’s just how practical will it be for business in general ??
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
Gino said:
Hey Mike..............

I think what they are saying is that if you own this unit... you can produce all of the WalMarts, Home Depots, Lowes, McDonald's and Burger Kings in less than a day. The next day you'll do all the stores for another continent and each day do a different continent. In just a little over a week, you'll have done all the signs for the entire world and now be looking for work.

Last time I looked, this machine was for newspapers and boxing type applications.... not normal flat stock. That would be like inventing a cure for cancer or diabetes. Or how about finding a tire that got 1,000,000 miles before showing any wear and tear.

I call BS, too, but that doesn’t mean a machine isn’t out there that can do this stuff…. it’s just how practical will it be for business in general ??
Click to expand...

this
 
ProWraps

ProWraps

New Member
so what does the machine that feeds it look like? and how much does that cost?

i think someone might have got their ' and " confused.

how do you feed and print in one second? thats .5 seconds per sheet between the two. and wtf is catching that sheet as it comes out? until there is video i too call bs.

no way this will happen with digital. you would have to have a 6'x10' printhead array that did this in one shot. in .5 seconds of course.
 
Vinylman

Vinylman

New Member
From the LIMITED information available from a web search, This is a digital print system that is currently being utilized in the newspaper industry to print in a "WEB" configuration.
A roll to roll set up. NOT flat substrate feed system.
The logistics of feeding and unloading a printer of this {preported} capability would require a huge facility. And as a side thought, in no way would this be either financially, or production wise feasible for anyone in the usual sign industry.

It might be something that "could" serve a niche market, but from a practical and current market perspective, is well beyond the reach or scope of the majority of the readers on this board.

[RycckG]
Let us know, when and if this printer is up and running in "YOUR" real world environment!
 
R

RycckG

New Member
I love it when the "vocal" uninformed portray to to know all....

This is not a web printer. It prints on rigid material ONLY. It is a sheet fed machine handing sheets up to 60" x 110". It is specifically designed for the corrugated packaging industry, is 120 foot long with feeders, post coater and stacker all in line. As an aside to those that believe there is not enough work to fill this machine: The current manufacturing for corrugated packaging in the US is 1 billion sqft per day, about 55% of that is printed. In the packaging industry, we currently feed and stack corrugated sheets at speeds up to 12,000 sheets per hour. Material handling is not an issue. This printer is not confinded to corrugated, it will print on any rigid material, Currently we only have pre-coats designed for paper based substrates, but fully expect we will be able to print on plastics also. Certainly, aqueous based inks are not for outdoor use, but post coats should help to boost that.

The printer is built by a company by Sun Automation in Baltimore along with Kodak Versamark print heads.. Here is a link to Kodak web site with their announcement of the printer, unless someone thinks I hacked onto Kodak's web site just to place a bogus press release.

http://graphics.kodak.com/US/en/About_GCG/News/2010/100525b.htm

The printer is currently running in Baltimore until it ships to York in March.

RycckG
 
R

RycckG

New Member
The HP Scitex FB7500 can print up to 5000 square feet per hour. The Onset is the fastest at about 12000 sqft. This Sun/Kodak printer will handle 5000 sheets p/hr.
 
J

jwright350

New Member
Correct me if I'm wrong...but isn't that all the rage in high speed digital now? 5' wide print head with like 80,000 nozzles. The HP TurboJets and INCA presses use that type of technology. Right?

Now they are adjusting the tech to replace web fed presses. Thats right, everyone is going injket...even small format.
 
M

mark galoob

New Member
so just to be clear, are we talking about the badass printer that has printhead failure rate of 100% every 4 months?

just sayin

mark galoob
 
M

mark galoob

New Member
also as a small format printer ie..paper..i can say with much certainty, that untill the ink jet process can successfully print to paper w/ gloss coatings, that web press users will not be switching anytime soon...

mark galoob
 
R

RycckG

New Member
The HP Turbo and INCA you mention are both using Drop-on-Demand print heads in a full array but are not 1 pass print heads. The Versamark print head is CIJ or Continuous-Ink-Jet technology, which is much faster than DOD. The substrate passes under the head 1 time.

The actual nozzle count on the Sun CorrStream is 2700 per head x 20 heads or 54,000 nozzle, but they fire much, much faster. The actual speed at 500 ft p/minute x 45" wide is over 110,000 sqft p/hr.
 
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