The Russian-based Sun Company has produced its first series of wide-format hybrid printers-the Neo UV, Neo UV LED with Xaar heads, and the Neo UV LED with Konica Minolta heads. These made-in-Russia printers had their European debut at the FESPA show and their US introduction at SGIA. All of the printers in the Neo UV line utilize UV-curable inks and come standard with the SAi PhotoPrint DX 5.0 RIP.
The 65-in. Neo UV employs 12 Xaar 128-360 printheads, which produce 40-pl drops and support CMYKcm and a UV clearcoat. The machine’s top speed is 96 sq ft/hr at 600 x 300 dpi, a mid-range 600 x 600-dpi speed of 49 sq ft/hr, and a high-quality 600 x 1200-dpi speed of 25 sq ft/hr. It is compatible with a variety of rigid and flexible media up to 1-in. thick, including vinyl, window films, polyester, Coroplast, paper, KT board, PVC, and more. Other features include 1000-ml ink tanks, an automatic low-ink detection system, auto feeding and take-up systems, auto cleaning systems, and a heating and drying system.
The Neo UV LED line of printers offers LED curing of the UV inks. The LED lamps not only cure using a lower amount of energy and at a lower temperature, but the lamps themselves offer a 100,000-hr lifespan.
Sun’s LED system comprises two LED lamps and a cooling system that uses water. The other key component of this system is the ink. LED lamps produce a curing wavelength of 365 nm; according to Sun, unlike other ink OEMs, it has been able to develop a UV-cure ink that cures at 365 nm, making for a perfectly matched system.
The 6- or 8-color Neo UV LED is equipped with 12 or 16 Xaar XJ-128/40 W printheads, which offer 720-dpi resolutions. The 98-in. printer can accommodate media as thick as 4.3-in. and includes two tables. Users can choose from a variety of ink color combinations: CMYKcm plus orange, green, white, and varnish. The machine comes with two asynchronous servo motors and a ventilation outlet.
For the model equipped with CMYK-cmOG with two heads/color, speeds range from a high of 116 sq ft/hr in 3-pass mode to 75 sq ft/hr in 6-pass mode.
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Price: 6-color (CMYKcm or CMYKOG), $46,150; 8-color (CMYKcmWV or CMYKOGWV), $49,700.
The Neo UV LED with Konica Minolta 512M is 98-in. wide, can accommodate media up to 3.1-in. thick, and is armed with 6 or 8 heads, which produce a 14-pl drop and a top resolution of 720 x 720 dpi. It offers the standard 6-color (CMYKcm) UV LED inkset; the 8-color (CMYKcmWV) set is optional.
This printer features 180-dpi speeds of 258 sq ft/hr in 2-pass mode, 172 sq ft/hr in 3-pass mode, and 86 sq ft/hr in 4-pass mode. Besides the regular flexible and rigid media, this printer can also image onto glass, wood, metal, and ceramics. Besides the SAi RIP, an auto-cleaning system is also standard.
Price: 6-color (CMYKcm or CMYKOG), $104,000; 8-color (CMYKcmWV or CMYKOGWV), $113,000.
Sun’s dedicated flatbed, the Neo UV LED Konica Minolta 512M flatbed, shares the same specs and speeds as the hybrid model above, but includes a 3-zone 51 x 98 in. vacuum table.
Sun also offers Sunflower Inks for its solvent and UV-curable printers. Designed for use with Xaar printheads, Sunflower Silver is its latest solvent ink. Produced with a dye colorant instead of pigment, the CMYK inks offer 3-mo lightfastness and are available in 5-l bottles. Other Sun solvent inks include Sunflower Gold, Gold Ultra, Platinum, and Platinum Ultra.
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Its UV inks are specific to each of its Neo printers: Sunflower UV for the Neo UV, Sunflower UV-LED for the Neo UV LED with Xaar heads, and Sunflower UV-LED Ultra for the Neo UV LED Konica Minolta 512M. All UV inks are available in 1-l bottles.
In addition, the company also offers several printable substrates, including a variety of aluminum composite panels and sheeted products such as foam PVC, solid PVC, 2-layer plastic, and foam plastic.
SUN
www.sun-nsk.com