Xaar expands Versatex range with new Printbar technology

Xaar has launched its Versatex Printbar, enabling the digital printing of high opacity whites and colors on existing flexo presses.

Building on the Versatex print engine and evaluation kit launched last year, the Versatex Printbar provides an opacity of 82 percent at speeds of 50m/min. Textured and high-build print effects, varnishes, foils, and mass personalization all become available with the Versatex Printbar which can both be integrated with new machine configurations or retrofitted onto existing presses. 

Powered by Nitrox printheads with Xaar’s TF technology, High Laydown and Ultra High Viscosity technologies, the Versatex Printbar can handle a wide range of inks and fluids, printing at widths of 410mm and at up to 720dpi with eight grey levels at speeds of up to 75 m/min.

Xaar says its High Laydown technology delivers very high volumes of fluid in a single pass with exact temperature control, enabling the creation of high-build inks and varnishes to deliver an extensive array of tactile effects more efficiently. By complying with European standards for tactile warning triangles on labels, their application onto packaging is now much easier without the added complexity of screen printing.

The Versatex Printbar’s ‘TIFF catching’ workflow enables operators to simply drop a printable job into the software and make amendments ‘on the fly’. It can also be fully integrated with industry standard workflows, such as Esko, to send the output directly to print for maximum efficiency.

Dynamic synchronization technology allows quick registration with pre-printed substrates. The integrated sync-to-mark reader can be moved into any position across the web, and once running, can be in full registration within three or four image repeats.

The Versatex Printbar includes a fully integrated and flexible control cabinet that houses all the necessary electronics and controls, and can be easily located up to five meters away for ease of operation and access.

Compared to screen printing, the innovative Versatex Printbar offers shorter setup times and a higher utilization rate, resulting in small run jobs being completed faster. In addition, says Xaar, the ability to jet higher volumes and viscosities of fluids improves the efficiency of print processes, reducing the need for multiple passes, delivering faster print speeds and cutting energy use and costs. 

Xaar CEO Graham Tweedale commented, ‘We are delighted to add the Printbar to the Xaar Versatex range as it enables OEMs and integrators to take advantage of our proven ready-to-market inkjet technology without further development overheads.

‘The highest opacity digital whites and colors, alongside the latest high-build print and visual embellishments, can now be easily added to existing presses, saving time, energy and money across a range of self-adhesive label and flexible packaging applications.’