m print, a specialist manufacturer of pad printing machines and thermal transfer printers, has introduced its first UV digital inkjet printer. The m print SP2 100 is highly flexible and is equipped with the innovative Xaar 1001 greyscale printhead. It is designed to quickly and economically print variable designs onto a wide range of promotional items, as well as industrial parts for automotive, medical and other applications.

The full-colour (CMYK + white or spot colour) SP2 100 system prints excellent quality text and graphics onto both flat and 3-D objects up to 250mm in height. Compared with traditional methods, the productivity of the single-pass m print SP2 100 is high. It can print up to 400mm/second over a scalable width from 70mm to 250mm. Inkjet printing gives a high degree of flexibility enabling ad-hoc print runs and personalisation on-demand, while the non-contact printing process ensures product protection. The additional print unit for pre-printing opaque white enables vivid colour prints on dark or coloured substrates.

The piezo-electric design of the Xaar 1001 is ideal for this application, as the printhead has very high drop placement accuracy and can reliably print onto a wide variety of surfaces and materials. Its unique features, including Xaar’s patented Hybrid Side-Shooter (HSS)™ architecture with TF Technology™, ensures consistent and reliable operation using UV inks.

“Digital printing techniques bring considerable benefits and the flexibility of the Xaar technology means we can easily customise solutions for specific applications,” explains Michael Morlock, Managing Director, m print.

The SP2 100 is manufactured by m print at its advanced new manufacturing facilities in Baiersbronn, Germany, and the machine will be demonstrated at Fespa Digital (stand M88) in Amsterdam between 12th & 14th May 2009.