The Sign-Tronic stand at the Sign Africa and FESPA Africa expo (12-14 September) featured the new generation of swissQprint printers as well as foam plotters, textile printing solutions and more.
Generation 3 swissQprint machines
swissQprint has introduced an extended roll to roll option as part of printer generation 3. A new spreading roller smooths material before it reaches the print bed in order to prevent wrinkles and resulting crashes. Meanwhile, carbon brushes on the spreading roller dissipate static charge from the material, aiding precise droplet placement.
In combination with LED curing, the new roll to roll option increases the variety of materials by making it easy to process delicate and heat-sensitive media. This solution includes another variant: the dual roll option for printing two widths of material in parallel, doubling productivity at a stroke. With the new generation, swissQprint is offering even more finely granular solutions than before: the individualised systems can just as effectively meet the needs of a lettering operation as they can in the case of a large print shop or an industrial enterprise.
Océ Colorado 1640
The roll-to-roll printer is excellent for both indoor and outdoor display graphics applications. It delivers a large colour gamut, similar to solvent inks, but combines this with the environmental benefits and safety profile of latex and UV-cured printing systems. The top speed of the 1640 Colorado is 159 square metres an hour in Billboard Quality. It impressed the high production customers by printing UV ink with a perfect gloss finish.
Obelisk Foam Plotter
A professional, easy to operate machine with a footprint of less than a square metre when in operation, the Obelisk is capable of a maximum foam sheet size of 1250 x 600mm and thicknesses up to 100mm. Because cutting with the Obelisk is so effective, the cutting surfaces are smooth and free of any jagged edges. Ultra-light and cost effective, XPS or EPS Polystyrene foam does not absorb water and is easy to finish using print, water-based or acrylic paint.
Garment printing was demonstrated on the Océ Arizona UV flatbed printer. Years of meticulous research and development have resulted in Sign-Tronic developing a range of original UV ink solutions for high-resolution digital printing. The UV textile ink has been formulated to print on untreated natural fabrics as well as standard fabrics with no post-treatment required.
Also showcased was the Welte 3.3 coding machine, which offers automatic printing and coating on 3.3m materials – a South African first.
SIGN-TRONIC (+27 21) 510 8332 www.sign-tronic.co.za
