Page 15 - Prnt21 magazine Jan-Feb 2023

supplier to have the experience, the proven technical knowledge, and the market understanding to provide the optimum level of support. That is Ricoh’s position. Ricoh Australia is the direct channel between the print business that installs the inkjet press, and the R&D in Japan that develops it.”
CONTINUOUS FEED
Ricoh was early into continuous feed inkjet print systems, through its original joint venture with IBM, which developed the InfoPrint solutions
that typically went into financial
print applications. Ricoh then bought out IBM from the JV, and has now developed the Pro VC60000 and
Pro VC70000 webfed presses. The VC60000 is the original, with the VC70000 an evolution of the platform — it uses a different inkset, and has an extended drying unit to optimise that, and is also available as the updated Pro VC70000e.
designed to produce between one million and 40 million pages a month The Pro VC70000 has essentially
the same chassis as the Pro VC60000, but a new dryer technology and a new ink means it will adhere to offset papers without the need for a primer, undercoat, or post-print coating to be applied. The new ink set is now available for the Pro VC60000. The Pro VC70000e has reintroduced a pre-treatment unit, in order to deliver an even higher gamut for prints.
The new pigment inks have higher viscosity with less water
Above
Coming later this year: Ricoh Pro Z75 B2 inkjet printer
Left
High speed inkjet for multiple applications: Ricoh Pro VC70000e
B2 SHEETFED INKJET: RICOH PRO Z75
ANZ Print business will be more than interested in the new Ricoh Pro Z75, the B2 CMYK sheetfed inkjet press, which has been under development and is now in beta testing at Heeter in the US. Ricoh has a provisional market launch date for the Pro Z75 pencilled in for the middle of the year.
The Pro Z75 is designed to run at 4500sph. It will print on 60-400gsm uncoated paper, and 73-400gsm coated, using 1200dpi piezo printheads.
It is an aqueous inkjet press, and unusually is a duplex B2 inkjet,
so it prints both sides at once, no need to work and turn. The drying section is part of the process, to ensure the water-based inks are fully dried before the reverse
side of the sheet is printed. The dryer also ensures no cockling on lightweight papers.
Ricoh’s Henryk Kraszewski says, “A B2 sheet size signals that the Pro Z75 is targeted squarely at commercial print businesses. They will have the finishing for that size already in their bindery.
”Duplexing will clearly be a significant advantage, one-pass printing wins on every level; time, cost, ease-of-operation,
it is a major benefit. With high speed, no makeready, the ability to print on regular offset stocks, with variable data if required, and to produce a sheet that will go straight into existing finishing solutions, and with the engine, printheads, inks and chassis manufactured by Ricoh, the Pro Z75 will find a warm reception amongst ANZ print businesses keen to take their operation to the next level, to meet the needs of today’s market.”
Cover Story | Ricoh |
“Image quality, productivity and ability to print on standard offset stocks – the Pro VC70000 has them all.”
Henryk Kraszewski, Ricoh
All continuous-feed platforms
are field upgradeable; the Pro VC60000 for instance was launched as a 120 metres a minute printer, but is now, like the Pro VC70000, able to run at 150 metres a minute, with print business able to have their original machines upgraded. Kraszewski says, “Ricoh recognises that businesses make a considerable investment when they specify inkjet, we want them to be able
to maximise their investment
with system longevity, that is why Ricoh designs the printers to be able to accommodate the latest developments – in the field.”
Both the Pro VC60000 and the Pro VC70000 are aqueous water-based printers, in keeping with Ricoh’s commitment to the environment. Both will print on regular coated and uncoated offset stocks, a real boon to commercial printers. The high-speed printers are capable of printing close to 130,000 A4 pages an hour, and
than previous inks, giving a higher concentration of pigment, which reduces bleeding into the substrate. Using standard offset papers reduces the cost over optimised inkjet papers by between 20-40 per cent.
Kraszewski says, “When you look at the three factors of commercial print – image quality, productivity and ability to print on standard offset stocks – the Pro VC70000 has them all.
“Its multi-drop 1200x1200dpi resolution is high; the new water- based pigment inks have a higher density and broader gamut than anything that has gone before. It will print on offset stocks both coated and uncoated, and inkjet-specific stocks.”
The Pro VC70000 uses piezo printhead technology, able to generate a range of droplets from 2pl to 23pl
at four grey levels. Maximum speed
is 150 metres a minute, varying according to the paper used. Paper range is 40gsm to 250gsm.
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