At the ITMA 2011 show, Durst Phototechnik AG, the specializes in industrial inkjet applications, premiered the Kappa 180, the high-performance inkjet printer with a printing speed of more than 600 m²/hour (over 300 running metres) and outstanding printing quality (1056 x 600 dpi).
For over 70 years, Durst has offered the most innovative system solutions for image reproduction. The Kappa 180 is their first innovation specifically developed for the digital textile printing industry.
From the print-heads to the ink, the Kappa 180 has been developed by Durst itself. Together with RIP (Raster Image Processor) specialist Caldera, Durst has also developed the workflow software for Kappa 180 in order to speed up printing from the design stage to the final print while providing full cost transparency.
“With Kappa 180 we are setting the benchmark in digital textile printing at this year’s ITMA – not only on account of the impressive technical specifications, but also because we are offering a complete system that provides genuine value addition across all production levels. With the Kappa 180 and tailor-made Caldera workflow solution, we are supplying our customers with numerous advantages compared with conventional printing methods, i.e. total flexibility, time and cost savings, less consumption of resources, environmental friendliness, and a high degree of customer satisfaction,” says Christoph Gamper, Executive Vice-President of Durst Phototetechnik AG.
Unlike conventional printing methods, there are no pre-printing processes – printing orders and changeovers are processed directly via the workflow software, setup times and the system is ready for printing within a few hours. Water consumption during the production process is reduced by up to 90% and only a fraction of the chemicals normally used are required. In addition printing orders remain reproducible at all times.
Durst’s proprietary Quadro print-head technology was developed further for the Kappa 180, so that the specific requirements of the textile sector could be fulfilled with “QuadroZ”, with eight colours in CMYK, orange, red, blue and grey with no modulations or density fluctuations. The modified Durst QuadroZ Array system makes it possible to print on textiles with water-based inks by a specially hardened, fray-resistant nozzle plate with a drop size of 7-21 picolitres. 6,144 jets per colour produce a resolution of up to 1,680 dpi, while a single automatic nozzle cleaning system ensures uninterrupted operation. “A key role is played here by the ink delivery system with the osmosis filtering system, which eliminates the air bubbles in the inks and ensures that the printing is steady and failure-free,” adds Sanjay Maheshwari, Director of Kothari Infotech Ltd., the Indian dealer of Durst.
For textile printing applications, Durst has developed its own high-performance inks (Kappa Inks) for the Piezo inkjet multi-pass technology. These are used for printing with absolutely environmental-friendly, water-based dispersion, reactive and acid inks on different textile fibres by way of the QuadroZ Arrays.
The Kappa 180 Cost-view software ensures precise calculation of the production costs and environmental factors for each printing order. All relevant parameters, including ink, material, power and other factors are analysed via a dashboard, while at the same time the CO2 emissions are calculated for each production stage. Cost-view has a web interface, which means that all analyses can be interchanged with other departments at any point in time.
