Oce Introduces Arizona 250 GT Flatbed

The last machines from Oce to carry the “Arizona”? nameplate were the Arizona T220UV and the Arizona 600, both now retired (the company also had plans for an Arizona 60UV but never brought that machine to market).

Now, the company has returned the well-known Arizona name with the intro”?duction of its new Oce Arizona 250 GT, slated to debut at the SGIA show in Las Vegas in September (as this issue is mailed to readers).

A 4-color UV flatbed machine offering modular roll-to-roll capability, the Ari”?zona 250 GT can print onto rigid material up to 49-in. wide x 98-in. long, and take on materials up to 1.89-in. thick”?the typical thickness of a standard entry door (“our experience with the Arizona T220 series showed that a door was the thickest item usually printed,”? the company reports). The optional roll-to-roll module can print onto flexible material up to 87-in. wide.

The Arizona 250 GT uses Oce”?s Varia-Dot (variable-droplet size as well as density) imaging technology (aka grayscale printing technology) to deliver what Oce is calling “near-photographic image quality.”? In fact, Oce says that its piezo inkjet technology will “render 6-color printing obsolete.”? The machine can put down dots of variable size”?seven different sizes, ranging from 6 to 42 pico”?liters; this range of droplet sizes, says Oce, results in “near-photographic image quality with sharpness only before seen at resolutions of 1440 dpi or higher. Text as small as 6 pt is legible.”?

If you”?re looking for a resolution spec, though, you won”?t find it”?Oce is not issuing such a spec for the Arizona 250 GT. The company, however, does say that “due to Oce VariaDot technology, prints from the Arizona 250 GT are visu”?ally superior to 1200-dpi prints from 6-color [CMYKcm] fixed-droplet-sized printers.”? The machine can hit a speed of 172 sq ft/hr.

Beyond its variable-dot print technol”?ogy, machine highlights include:

“? Y-axis printing: One of the first things you”?re likely to notice about the machine itself is that it prints along its Y (or long) axis rather than the more standard X-axis configuration, a feature designed to boost productivity. “The fewer the number of printing passes over the media, the higher the average productivity,”? says Oce. The system allows for full-bleed printing.

“? No down-time in changing from rigid to flexible: Once a rigid print is completed, the printhead assembly is positioned over the roll-to-roll module and begins printing on flexible media, while the rigid material is swapped out and the new board is placed on the vacuum table. When the flexible media printing is completed, the printhead assembly moves back to the table to resume printing on the rigid media. The roll media can be unloaded at any time without disturbing the rigid-printing function, and there is no down-time to reconfigure the system to change from one print format to the other.

“? Custom vacuum system: The table top features a vacuum overlay made from several thin sheets of anodized aluminum”?a lightweight and durable assembly that can easily be removed from the table. The overlay includes the holes and channels for the vacuum system; on the underside are gaskets that seal select areas of the overlay that can be removed. New overlays can be applied in any configuration, enabling the user to tailor the vacuum for a specific job (such as a custom or irregular project). Users can purchase, configure, and store various vacuum overlays that can easily be swapped out as needed.

“? Ink system and savings: The UV-cur”?able ink is packaged in bulk 2-liter bags, minimizing changeout. Intelligent ink-bag sensing alerts the operator of the need to add ink before running out. Since the printer utilizes variable-dot technol”?ogy with 4-color inks, Oce reports, it uses significantly less ink compared to 6-color printers with fixed-droplet technology.

“? Nozzle-out mapping and white-space skipping: Two printheads per color enable malfunctioning nozzles to be bypassed. The white-space skipping feature increases throughput.

“? RIP options: Onyx ProductionHouse and Onyx PosterShop versions 7.0 (Oce Edition) will be available.

MSRP: Final pricing has not yet been announced, but is expected to be approximately $110,000; add about $20,000 for the roll-to-roll option (plus installation fee if added in the field).

OC?? NORTH AMERICA
www.oceusa.com