Direct to wall inkjet

Hadn't seen it before, but they're for sale on Alibaba.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-det...a2700.7724857.normalList.2.19922797nnu8Hn&s=p

 

Wow. How about reprints. Yikes.

 

I can remember hearing about that tech about 15 years ago (possibly more). Would work great for a flat wall, I guess, but I don't see it being able to handle any sort of curve at all, and I'd think going around corners would be a pain. You also couldn't get all the way to the ceiling with it.

 

This one's been around forever...
Would take a little while for a full mural

 

One Color one Font? That's horrible... Doesn't even make me see a grunge style... But... I know there are kidz out there that would buy that stuff!
That's what I get for being old.

 

Years ago I envisioned a car wrap printer that was like a car wash.....first you apply an ink receptive spray to everything you want printed, then drive through just like a car wash, with large ink nozzles all around. One day maybe??

 

Years ago while still a teenager, I was taping a pattern to a wall just to mark some holes and having a hell of a time. All I could think is why don't we have a CNC for this, just crane mount a gantry and hammer drill. I wonder how far off my idea is.

 

I remember at least 20 years ago there was a system called "Leonardo" which was basically a paint gun hooked to multiple color cups and a computer. It was on an X-Y gantry held vertically and it was supposed to be able to paint cars, trucks and semi's along with wall murals. Interesting tech for back then - pricey, too. Couldn't see a market for it though... and trying to transport the thing!

 

Seems like a dumb idea to me...
What about uneven floors? What about all the stuff on a wall that sticks out?
You save some $$$ on material but you have to carry around a heavy printer that could get
messed up in transit.

 

Yea, I remember that truck painter too...apparently it didn't pan out because we're still putting vinyl on trucks. The same will happen with this thing.

 

I saw a company printing an outdoor wall at the Civic center a few weeks ago in Shenzhen China, the printer they we're using was UV ran up & down on a rail verticaly and had 2 bars horizontal, next time I go there I will try to sneak some pictures of the wall, I already have a warning for taking a picture before, hate to see if I got caught a second time probably take one of my organs, lol

 

The one I saw a video of, maybe 10-15 years ago, I think a Japanese firm developed it, it was printing graphics on the side of a VAN!...yep, just had a wheel that tracked ahead of the printhead, and it would ensure the head ran over and cleared hinges, door handles, etc.
Great, except for durability???? as some have mentioned, do you first spray a primer, then graphic, then a topcoat? sounds like the setup, masking glass etc. could negate a lot of the advantages....but then, we're not competing with a complete wrap; it would be useful for the average box van, semi-trailer etc.....setup, switch on, walk away for a few hours.
no, wait, how about a drone, with spray nozzles and GPS/camera guided positioning.....hmmmm.

 

I have been intermittently following a direct to vehicle printing technology for several years, but it really hasn't gone anywhere. About 5 years ago an offshore company (cant remember if Japanese or Chinese) brought it over to California and tried to launch but never really got anywhere. At SGIA last year I spoke with a gentleman at the Ricoh booth that was directly working with the technology. From what I remember of the conversation Ricoh had purchased the company to acquire the technology and had another small company developing applications and getting it fine-tuned (that's who the gentleman worked for). The claim was that you could print the side of a semi trailer in a few hours and when you want to remove you use a solvent and just wash it off. Obviously the cost-benefit isn't viable yet or we would see them popping up all over. The application he was showing off at the show was the tire printer linked below. Wall murals are an interesting and more plausible application than vehicles in my opinion. I think the largest hurdle is the combination of durability and removability all with balancing cost and environmental factors. Acid washing down a storm drain would likely be frowned upon.
http://www.ricoh-digitalpainting.com/en/products/tire/index.html

 

This is the idea:
http://www.ricoh-digitalpainting.com/en/products/var/