Imprinting Systems

What sets Fujifilm apart are the industry leading printheads and ink at the heart of the company’s imprinting solutions. Samba printheads are found in many of the industry’s leading digital printing systems, as they combine the very highest quality, productivity and reliability, with the flexibility to be used with a variety of different inks and fluids. Fujifilm has now built these printheads into a number of scalable printbar configurations which, when combined with Fujifilm’s own UV or aqueous ink technologies, result in best-in-class imprinting solutions.

Fujifilm can therefore provide all components necessary to successfully integrate a digital solution into an existing production line:

• Printhead & printbar design
• Inks & substrates
• Electronics & software
• Print systems
• Transport systems

Fujifilm’s approach is critical to ensure that any imprinting system can be configured to meet specific application requirements. This is achieved by a dedicated team of multi-discipline engineers working together to understand the print performance demands and production process. This then results in a specification for a system configuration that delivers exactly what is needed, including attributes like print width, print quality, colour channels, pre- and post-treatment, printed product performance and regulation compliance.

Fujifilm’s engineers consider all aspects of imprinting performance:

• Ink and printhead selection
• Ink performance optimisation
• Ink in head on paper testing (developing robust image modes)
• System design & integration
• Highly skilled trouble shooting & integration expertise with direct access to the people who designed the relevant component
• Accessory technology selections (pre-treat, post-treat, curing, drying etc.)
• Full technical ownership of the solution – as Fujifilm supplies all component parts
• Engineering capability

The jetting of ink onto paper is a well established process in consumer printers, but scaling up the technology to meet the quality and productivity needs of industrial printing is not easy. Fujifilm’s answer is Samba – a ‘printhead on a chip’. This printhead is fabricated on silicon wafers, in much the same way large scale integrated circuits found in computers are made. Due to its scalable design, Samba enables individual printheads to be placed close to each other to form single, tightly integrated printbars.

Samba is a quantum leap forward and is redefining how inkjet technology is designed, manufactured and applied. It is the first piezo drop-on-demand inkjet platform that truly delivers wide-width, high resolution, single pass inkjet printing without the typical trade offs in quality, redundancy or print width.

High uptime and reliability for excellent total cost of ownership
The silicon MEMS design of a Samba printhead is rated for trillions of actuations to ensure reliable and profitable operation. This is coupled with a patented REDIJET® ink recirculation system. This system ensures that ink is constantly recirculating in a closed loop that will not disrupt printing, resulting in uninterrupted production. When coupled with a Fujifilm ink in an imprinting system designed to leverage this capability, it results in fast startup times, simplified printhead cleaning procedures, and consistent print quality.

Samba printhead life is measured in years, not hours, and in Fujifilm printbar systems, is not considered a consumables part. Ultimately, the design of Samba printbars means there is less production waste, lower ink consumption, and lower operating costs.

Benefits of Samba

• Ultra-high resolution ink deposition
• Rated for trillions of actuations for ultra-high reliability
• Closed loop ink recirculation for uninterrupted production
• Fast start-up times and minimal printhead cleaning and refurbishment
• Suitable for multiple fluid types

Fujifilm’s Samba technology platform is based on a scalable architecture design, so the print width can be configured to meet the needs of a particular application. And due to the trapezoidal design of Samba printheads, scaling the printbar width is achieved with no compromise to quality, which results in an efficient system design. In addition, the scalable system architecture means integrated components, electronic systems and software can all be scaled to create a system for the print width and colour channels required.

From single printhead to complex multichannel configuration
Printbar configurations can be scaled from a single printhead, single colour system for coding, language changes or simple promotional versioning, to a printbar system with multiple printheads for the printing of full colour images over wider print areas.

Wide ranging Samba printbar portfolio for any print width in 40mm increments

• Monochrome, spot colour, process colours
• Imprinting lanes or full digital print
• Digitise existing analogue assets

The Mini 4300 has speed, performance and consistency in a compact form. This enables the incorporation of digital printing into an ever-expanding number of new applications and challenging conditions for equipment integration.

Key features

• Single pass inkjet imprinting system
• Each printbar contains a single 1.6” width printhead (40 mm)
• Up to 4 printbars per system
• 1200 dpi native resolution
• Speeds up to 1000 feet per minute
• Monochrome, Spot colour or 4-Colour
• Aqueous & UV

Flexibility for a broad range of markets
The Mini 4300 is configurable with up to four individually controlled printbars. The system provides single pass printing in monochrome or process colour for a wide variety of production applications, including:

• Addressing
• Coding & marking
• Serialisation & package tracking
• Narrow width direct mail imprinting
• Consumer facing coding
• Variable data images
• Demonstrations
• Tickets and cards
• Short notice changes in art/imagery
• Printed electronics
• Deposition of high-value fluids
• Labels

The X-BAR system’s drop on demand inkjet printing is reliable, cost effective, and provides excellent image quality in font sizes as small as 2 point and 1D barcodes as small as 6.7 mils. It is compatible with legacy systems and is backed by Fujifilm’s world-class technical support, to provide a smooth transition to modern inkjet technology for direct mail, transactional print, promotional materials and more.

Key features

• Lane printing with 4.5” and 9” print width offerings
• Controller capable of running X-BAR and some existing legacy printers
• Workflow based on IJPDS page description language
• No refurbishment needed
• Familiar user interface to support transition from legacy technology
• Modular fluid management for future expansion

The 12K Printbar System puts 4 colour inkjet printing technology into an all-new
condensed form. It supports use where space is limited, such as integrating into
existing production equipment.

The 12K Printbar System is a turnkey digital inkjet printing system for installation onto your analogue printing press or other production line equipment. It is most commonly used for adding variable data to analogue pre-printed shells (imprinting) or can be
used to add a digital print capability when changing printing plates is not practical for short runs. It has a print width of 127 mm, and provides 1200 dpi, 4-colour inkjet print. The printbars occupy only 53.3 cm in the print process direction, with their small size meaning digital inkjet printing can be added to many types of production lines where it was previously impractical.

Key applications
The 12K Printbar System can be used in a wide variety of applications, including:
• Commercial printing
• Direct Mail
• Transactional
• Folding Cartons
• Corrugated

The 42K Printbar System is designed to add variable data printing to your conventional press in any print width needed, and is able to span the media from edge to edge. It uses Fujifilm’s renowned Samba printhead in a highly configurable form. With 1200 dpi ink deposition, the 42K Printbar system is designed to meet print requirements from single page to multiple pages in any print width needed, and with print speeds over 300 metres per minute.

Flexibility
Since the 42K System can be integrated in line with your system, you can maximise your productivity and return on investment while supporting existing, legacy or proprietary workflows. These will be integrated into our print controller and fluid management technologies to deliver a compact and capable system designed to meet your needs for monochrome, colour, or speciality printing.

Key features

• Modular design to meet typical press widths
• Pre aligned to eliminate stitching
• Options for monochrome, spot and process colour printing
• Configurable software with Fujifilm supplied workflow or connect to an existing customer workflow
• No refurbishment needed
• Imprint or full digital print capability