Yields higher print speeds on coated litho stocks, expands lightweight paper capabilities, fine-tunes drying performance across all substrates

Rolling Meadows, Ill. – SCREEN’s flagship, high-speed production, inkjet web press has made yet another leap toward becoming the preferred technology for printers looking to either augment or replace aging offset equipment.

“When we introduced the 520HD press a little over two years ago, the market was surprised by its offset-like image quality,” Ken Ingram, president of SCREEN Americas, said. “It was the first time high speed inkjet demonstrated the capability for effectively printing jobs that previously were the domain of only toner or offset. With that benchmark reached, SCREEN recognized the 520HD’s potential would be realized with dedicated, ongoing product development.”

“We knew our customers would push the limits of what inkjet could do with the HD and we knew how important it was that we continue to provide value for their initial investment. An example of that continuing development was our launch last year of proprietary SCREEN SC Inks that enable the 520HD to print to standard commodity grade, coated litho stocks. This has been a game changer for our customers and their customers, who now have access to the papers they want without the cost premium of treating for inkjet,” Ingram said.
“And today, SCREEN continues building on those successes. I am pleased to announce the immediate availability of the new Near Infrared (NIR) Dryer for the 520HD. This new technology dramatically advances productivity for work demanding high image quality and expands print applications for high speed inkjet across a broad landscape of products,” Ingram added.

The new SCREEN NIR Dryer technology, built into the existing press frame and structure of the 520 HD, extends drying performance for both lightweight uncoated stocks and heavier weight, coated litho substrates. The result is an expanded range of applications and even higher productivity on difficult to dry substrates.

The NIR Dryer is part of SCREEN’s advanced 3-tiered drying system for the 520HD that optimizes and balances the drying process through heat dissipation, hot air assist, and now, infrared. This integrated solution achieves a drying balance along the entire paper path tuned specifically to the characteristics of the paper, reducing or eliminating the cockling often associated with traditional inkjet ink drying methods. “Our experience with high speed printing led us to engineer a design that incorporates IR drying immediately adjacent to existing drying technologies rather than extending drying to an exterior component after the paper has exited the press,” said Hiromi Sakurai, Vice President for Business Development and Customer Solutions. The design minimizes the machine footprint and power requirements and results in improved image quality, improved finishing performance and significantly higher printing speeds, even on standard coated litho substrates.

Operators create substrate profiles with embedded drying protocols at different print resolutions and ink limits. These profiles are managed seamlessly by SCREEN’s proprietary Equios front end software, providing intelligent drying balance for each specific stock helping achieve the highest quality, best speeds and desired ink coverages.

“We are excited to bring this advanced technology to the printing industry today,” Mr. Ingram said. “Available immediately, all new SCREEN Truepress Jet 520HD machines may be optionally equipped at the factory with the Near Infrared dryer. Plus, any Screen branded 520HD units currently in the field may be upgraded with the new dryer at the machine site,” Ingram said. “We also welcome existing customers and prospects to see the 520HD with the new NIR dryer in action at our Demonstration Center in Rolling Meadows, near Chicago.” The NIR dryer is available exclusively on SCREEN Truepress Jet 520 HD presses sold by SCREEN in North and South America.”

“Since the launch of the first SCREEN Truepress Jet 520HD, we’ve partnered with our customers and committed to protecting their investment through continuing development of new and improved solutions… for what was then an emerging technology. Today, I am proud to say that the availability of the NIR dryer technology for the 520HD is another example of SCREEN’s fulfillment on our promise. SCREEN will continue to offer the best equipment investment, the best quality, the biggest substrate range and the best support,” Ingram said.