25 June / July 2023 - Issue 247 email: news@signlink.co.uk Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu securely and yet again swissQprint has a number of clever features to hold the substrate rock solid to the table. The table has 256 vacuum areas which can apply a powerful draw down onto the table, but that is only half the story. There are a series of flip switches cleverly designed into the front of the table so you can place the substrate on the table and then flip over the switches to a closed position in the areas not covered and all the vacuum is then focused on the area needed. Regardless of you using the standard flatbed option for rigid substrate or the roll-to-roll option, this clever table will hold almost anything firmly. This patented technology is known as Tip Switch. Moving Material As stated earlier, the Kudu can come in both flatbed or a reel-to-reel versions which means it can cope with any sort of substrate. The flatbed machine can hold any specified material up to 50mm in thickness and the roll can be up to 180kg in weight. Both can be up to 3.2m wide. Added to this is the option of having a dual-roll function on the machine. These rolls can weigh up to 100kg each meaning you can move significant amounts of material through the printer. Regardless of the roll option used, the machine when set can run unsupervised with flawless print quality by the use of an integrated spreader roll ensuring a crease-free sheet across the table. Another clever feature of the machine is when you are using the Kudu in flatbed mode, for further continuous production, swissQprint has what it calls Tandem printing. The principle is very simple in as much ▼swissQprint launched the Kudu at FESPA Global Print Expo 2022 in Berlin as the table has a front and rear section meaning once the operator has loaded the front section with new substrate, the printer sets off printing on those sheets but the operator can then turn their attention to the rear section, loading new substrate there. As the printhead passes over the rear of the front sheet it starts to print the sheet placed on the rear of the machine. Due to the Tip Switch function and a split vacuum table, the printed sheet can be replaced by a new substrate and the process continues. Flatbed size 3,240 x 2,030mm Flatbed substrate thickness 50mm Roll width 3,200mm Resolution Up to 1,350 dpi Colours C,M,Y,K,Lk, Lm, Lc, or, neon Yellow, Red, W Printhead channels 10 Printheads 30 Statistics Options as Standard swissQprint packs a lot into the Kudu as with all the other machines it produces. The manufacturer prides itself on making optional features standard and this fourth-generation model is no different. Lory, the output software, is able to deliver a number of functions, but one standard feature is the ability to repeat an image across a number of sheets with no additional RIP software process. Worried about restarting after a long run on a reel-to-reel job, thinking the reel is wasted? The Kudu has software which can restart the job in exactly the correct place and produce a seamless product where you will not see the join. As to be expected with any machine produced by swissQprint, the Kudu offers high levels of quality and speed with some clever engineered designs that are true to the ergonomic nature of a Swiss company. ◄ There are a number of extended functions on the Kudu which come as standard UNDER THE HOOD / SWISSQPRINT KUDU
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