IPT Digital sells first three JFlex870 systems

IPT Digital, an offshoot of Innovative Printing Technologies (IPT), has confirmed the installation of three of its new JFlex870 digital print conversion systems.

‘Our first three clients represent three very different types of customer,’ said IPT president Peter Kuschnitzky. ‘Each was drawn to the JFlex870 for a different reason and each will benefit from a unique feature, demonstrating the versatility of this innovative conversion system.’

The JFlex870, along with the JFlex1700, is designed to turn existing press technology into a high-speed digital printing platform. Using Memjet inkjet technology, the drop-on-demand thermal inkjet has four print heads printing CMYK with an optional fifth print head for spot color. Each print head contains 70,400 print nozzles firing three billion dots per second/12.4 kHz. The result is 225ft/min of 8.64in or 17in wide print with a resolution of 1,600 x 1,375dpi.

One of the three clients announced by IPT is a label printer currently using a toner-based digital printing system and then having to move them to a separate unit for laminating and die-cutting.

Mounting a JFlex870 on the older model press will give it the capacity to print, varnish and die-cut in-line at 225ft/min. IPT said that the result will be, instead of taking 83 minutes to run 5,000 four-inch labels on the old die-cutter, the JFlex870 will both print and die-cut in seven minutes.

Another inaugural customer needs a digital printing conversion system able to print variable data, with IPT saying the JFlex870 ‘fits the bill perfectly’ because it can cope with printing consecutive bar codes, variable or sequential serial numbers and personalized individual labels.

In this case the JFlex870 will be mounted on the upper rail system of the company's printing platform, featuring a 13in press. This requires the printheads to sit on a gantry system allowing them to be moved anywhere across the wider web. This new design allows printheads to be doubled up and offer future customers print widths of up to 17in.

The third new customer is a conventional printing company that has signed on for a JFlex870 after being impressed by the quality of print samples. It also liked the idea that it could run the digital printing conversion system side by side with its normal flexo printing so certain jobs could be printed digitally and others conventionally.

The JFlex870 will be affixed above the print stations of a two-decade old printing press with enough height not to impede the operation of the flexo stations when the digital head is not in use. Existing hot air dryers will help dry the fast moving 225ft/min water-based inkjet ink and the existing varnish, laminating and die-cutting station will be used to finish the labels.

Graphic Labels of Orlando, Florida is one of the converters to have installed an IPT Digital JFlex870.

‘Our first three clients represent three very different types of customer,’ said IPT president Peter Kuschnitzky (pictured). ‘Each was drawn to the JFlex870 for a different reason and each will benefit from a unique feature, demonstrating the versatility of this innovative conversion system.’