Mimaki, a leading global manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutting machines for the sign/graphics, textile/apparel and industrial markets, will be exhibiting innovative solutions for digital manufacturing of plastic and rubber products at K 2013, the foremost international trade fair for plastics and rubber. The exhibition is scheduled for 16-23 October in Dusseldorf and Mimaki will be located in Hall 12, Stand 33.
“For anyone involved in the plastics business, K 2013 is the place to be,” says Mike Horsten, General Manager, Marketing EMEA at Mimaki Europe. “We have chosen this venue to unveil new products and application ideas that we think will spark many new business opportunities for attendees. This includes printing and cutting of rubber sheets, printing on plastic cards, and an automated solution for on-demand printing of promotional and other items that can run unattended for up to eight hours. We think attendees will leave our stand as excited as we are about the opportunities.”
PrintROBO – a brand new solution for unattended on-demand printing
Mimaki is proud to present the PrintROBO at K 2013. This brand-new digital on-demand manufacturing machine is being shown for the first time at the exhibition, printing plastic cards. Printing at up to 1,800 dpi in full colour (with a minimum 4 picolitre drop size) and on materials up to 150mm in thickness, this automatic direct UV-curable printing system with low-energy LED curing provides revolutionary quality and productivity. The PrintROBO can be configured with two jig plate magazines each for input and delivery, enabling as many as 50 jig plates to be processed in an unattended environment. Jig plate barcodes eliminate potential manufacturing errors and allow PrintROBO to automatically adjust for the height of the materials. Create customised promotional gifts, display cards, name badges, control panels, pens, stationery, key rings, gift boxes, USB sticks, mobile phone and laptop cases, small format signage and more with no waste and minimal setup. The Mimaki PrintROBO offers three different UV-curable ink options:
? LH-100 Hard UV ink for scratch and chemical resistance and colour fidelity. Available in CMYK, white, clear and with an automatic primer application option
? LF-200 Flexible UV ink enables stretching of ink up to 200% during post-processing and is available in CMYK and white.
? LF-140 ink offers strong gradation in 6-color printing and is more flexible than LH-100. This option is available in CMYK, light cyan, light magenta, white and with an automatic primer application.
Mimaki is exclusively distributed in the UK and Ireland by Hybrid Services Ltd and its industrial products manager, Mike Lewis, sees significant opportunity with the new PrintROBO. “This solution offers volume production to a multitude of print providers,” he comments. “While enabling high throughput, it still delivers a bespoke, short run product, responding to the growing trend for personalised items and customised gifts.”
Other Mimaki products on display at the K 2013 include:
? Mimaki UJF-6042: This A2 format flatbed UV printer incorporates a ball screw type head conveyance mechanism heretofore available only in very high-end flatbed printers. The high precision conveyance mechanism enhances the accuracy of the ink drop onto the substrate. At the show, Mimaki will demonstrate the versatility of this printer by printing on a wide array of materials, from metal plates and plastic cards to promotional items.
? Mimaki CF2 Series Cutting Plotter: This digital cutting table offers two different cutting heads. The tangential cutter steers the blades as it cuts, with the motor controlled blade lifting and turning to start every cut at an exact angle. This cutting head can be used to cut materials ranging from soft to rigid, up to 2.5cm thick. The reciprocal cutter is characterized by up-and-down movements of the cutter blade at the rate of 7,000 times per minute in addition to tangential cutting. It is especially suitable for cutting corrugated board, cardboard and foam materials up to 2cm in thickness. Both offer a very high quality finish. At the show, the CF2 Series cutting plotter will be demonstrating the cutting of rubber sheets.