International Home Textile Magazine – March’17

ink. With nozzles 5mm from the substrate, a wider range of
substrates can be run, with minimal chance of print head
damage. The JAVELIN printer operates in scanning mode
with an array of 36 Fujifilm Dimatix Samba print heads
jetting ink in variable drop sizes (2pL-10pL) at resolutions
of up to 1200 x 1200dpi. Thanks to its capability of delivering
small drop sizes of highly concentrated inks, Archer
technology combines very smooth gradations with a wider
colour gamut than the HD-gamut of other digital textile
printing solutions using only six colours.
Jos Notermans, commercial manager digital textiles at
SPGPrints, comments: “Heimtextil was the ideal occasion to
introduce our wider version of the JAVELIN inkjet printer.
In home deco markets, we are seeing the same trends towards
customisation, demands for shorter lead-times, and
more frequent design changes – just like in fashion, where
these trends have been a catalyst for printing digitally.
Visitors saw for themselves how the JAVELIN digital textile
printer, with its maximum 600 m2/hour output speed and
fine-tuned inks, provided the perfect platform for addressing
these demands, thanks especially to its repeatable high
quality and flexibility. Live demonstrations showed precision
when printing blotches, geometrics, fine lines and
smooth gradations.”
SPGPrints’ Archer Print Head Program provides a two-and-ahalf-year
guarantee on the print heads in combination with
the use of accredited inks. JAVELIN can use reactive, acid
or disperse inks manufactured by SPGPrints for optimum
performance of the printer on different fabrics.
Other benefits of the new JAVELIN include its stability for
printing large quantities, and efficiency for samples and
test-runs. Manufacturers recognised the printer’s potential
to accelerate time-to-market and bring about end-to-end
supply chain cost-reductions.
Home deco beyond textiles
SPGPrints also unveiled details of the new 700mm-wide
PIKE700 Decor digital inkjet printer for laminates, which
employs the same Archer technology as the PIKE printer
for textiles and the JAVELIN printers. The PIKE700 Decor
printer for laminates uses a central impression cylinder with
up to ten colours to apply graphic images, textures and protective
coatings to laminates. These can be used to create
a wide variety of effects including - among others - stone,
wood, brick and ceramic tiles, to enable maximum creativity,
cost-effectively. A wide range of protective coatings may
be applied for gloss, matt, satin and silk effects, enhancing
the printed images. Textures may also be added to create
additional verisimilitude to furniture and other surfaces.
The PIKE printer delivers the digital advantages of cost-effective
short runs, fast changeovers, minimal waste, fast
time-to-market, streamlined logistics, reduced stock-holding
and warehousing.
Rotary screen printing remains an essential process for producing
relief effects, especially for wallcovering. For this
market, SPGPrints presented its SpecialScreen range of
nickel rotary screens that combine high mesh-count with a
large hole size, enabling fine and detailed printing with large
paste particles, without risk of blockage. Samples showed
how the SpecialScreen excelled at reproducing smooth tonal
gradations, fine outline printing, as well as puff, tactile,
glitter and reflective effects that offer enhanced aesthetic
and sensual appeal.
The SpecialScreen programme, like all SPGPrints’ screens,
offers high strength, durability, stability at high print speeds
and the potential for high mesh-counts, thanks to their electroformed-nickel
composition.
SPGPrints also unveiled its new inline embossing calender
unit, for applying three-dimentional effects to PVC-coated
substrates with mimal waste of material and time. Perfect
embossing register with the printed design is achieved
within 30 metres of the start of production and maintained
throughout the run. In addition, the calender is designed for
fast setup times. Embossing rollers can be exchanged within
four minutes, and synchronised for production without
technical expertise, thanks to a fully automatic positioning
system.
Bas Hoijtink, commercial manager industrial applications,
SPGPrints comments: “We received much interest from
wallcovering manufacturers from all over the world, especially
South and East Asia, Turkey and Iran. They were captivated
by the creative possibilities and quality assurance
offered by the SpecialScreen range in combination with the
bestLEN laser engraver. And, with the addition of the embossing
calender to the machine programme, they saw in
SPGPrints a partner capable of providing a lean, productive
manufacturing solution at every step in the workflow.”
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