38 Issue 251 - February / March 2024 www.signlink.co.uk UNDER THE HOOD / SWISSQPRINT IMPALA 4 SwissQprint has carved out a name for itself for supplying high-quality UV LED flatbed printers producing quite stunning deep coloured print at high speed. Speed can usually require you to compromise quality as the printheads cannot deploy the ink needed to provide vibrant colour. All machines in the Flatbed Generation 4 range do not need you to consider this; through both the design of its hardware and operation and the performance of its inks, high print quality is assured. The model we chose to look deeper into was the Impala 4 which whilst it offers the same high level of quality and performance as its counterparts, sits in terms of size between the Nyala and Oryx models. Whilst the Impala offers the smaller of the choices of table size, it offers higher speeds due to there only being one row of printheads with the Oryx. The Impala 4 has up to 18 printheads from which it can deploy your choice of colours. You can take the CMYK process colours as standard but there is the option of adding light colours (black, magenta, and cyan), orange, neon (yellow, pink) and any combination of white, varnish, or primer. All the inks and varnishes are cured by integral LED UV systems and as you would expect from a company such as swissQprint, the eco-credentials are nailed down by them all being Greenguard Gold compliant. This means they are VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) and NVC (N-vinyl caprolactam) free meaning they meet strict safety standards. This combination of colours and varnishes gives a wide range of applications which can be applied to an equally impressive series of substrates such as acrylic, aluminium, composite panels, wood, banners, polyester, polycarbonate, polystyrene, (high-density) PVC, flexible foam panels, glass, and metals. The UV curing lamps are LED in what is becoming quite standard now; the lack of the need to heat up or cool down the system gives the utmost production levels and the ability to print on, what is described by swissQprint as, the lucrative market of heat-sensitive plastic substrates. Regardless of the colours you choose to print, the Impala 4 can provide you with an addressable resolution of 1,350dpi which translates to a maximum visual resolution of 2,540dpi; these numbers are at the heart of the claim by swissQprint of the highest quality on the market. It is also worth noting that you can of course go below this depending on the application being produced. Moving the Material Obviously, the inks are only one half of the process of printing, the substrate being the second. The Impala 4 can handle many substrates such as previously described. Regardless of the media you decide to use, swissQprint has wrapped into the Impala 4 a lot of features quite often considered by other manufacturers as optional. There are a number of options for moving your choice of substrate and swissQprint has a number of clever media handling options in all three of its Generation 4 machines as well as the Kudu model. The roll option for the machine can mean the Impala 4 can take a single roll of up to 2.5 metres and should you want to make use of the dual option provided, the Impala 4 can hold two reels of 1.2 metres in width. Ensuring the substrate is presented to the printhead in optimum condition there is an integrated smoother roller system which means any creases and wrinkles in printed material is a thing of the past. Should you look in the direction of rigid substrates, again swissQprint provides as standard with the Impala 4 several options making the final product on this form of media easy and productive. Should you be producing a large number of sheets, a feature of the Impala 4 to SwissQprint has a series of high-end UV flatbed printers which can provide some of the graphic industry’s highest-quality output. Here, Brian Sims looks under the hood of the Impala 4 Small Footprint, High Quality Flatbed size 2,500 x 2,030mm Flatbed substrate thickness (max) 50mm Roll width (max) 2,500mm Addressable resolution (max) 1,350 dpi Visual resolution (max) 2,540 dpi Maximum Print Speed 180sqm/h Colours C, M, Y, K, Lk, Lm, Lc, Neon Yellow & Pink, White, Vvarnish, Primer, and Orange Printheads Max 18 Statistics
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