Canon announces revolutionary New Technology – 12 September 2016

Canon Europe Ltd. announces revolutionary new technology that will transform wide format roll-to-roll printing.

London, 14th September, 2016 - Canon Europe, world-leader in imaging solutions, has today announced its new UVgel printing technology. This unique technology will soon feature in a new line of roll-to-roll printers that will offer large format print providers an unprecedented combination of productivity, image quality, application range, automation and low cost of operation.

“The development of this revolutionary and game-changing new technology evolved through close collaboration and partnership with our customers and expert resellers, and heavy investment in R&D” said Jeppe Frandsen, Executive Vice-President Industrial and Production Solutions, Canon Europe Ltd. “Better productivity and shorter turnaround times are always at the forefront of our customer’s minds. We have been working diligently in response to these demands, to offer PSPs and resellers a real step forward in roll-to-roll production printing. We’re proud to announce that our new technology addresses the limitations of eco-solvent and latex printing by enabling to jet the ink faster onto the media which increases the productivity and speed, while using less ink and still delivering an improved colour gamut. This new technology will power an upcoming generation of roll-to-roll printers that will help our customers increase their print production efficiency while lowering their operating costs, enabling them to profitably grow their business.”

Key elements and benefits of the UVgel technology:

• A radically new UV curable ink from Canon that instantly gels on contact with the media, resulting in precise dot placement and area control for perfectly repeatable images at high speed
• The large colour gamut of solvent inks combined with the environmental benefits and safety profile of latex and UV inks
• Ultra-thin ink dispersion with almost no discernible physical profile and the lowest ink consumption rate for up to 40% reduction in printing costs compared to eco-solvent and latex
• All resulting in cost effective, non-toxic, durable, colour fast, high quality prints for almost any flexible media application.

This amazing new UVgel technology incorporates several new hardware technology developments from Canon:

• Advanced, “next generation” piezoelectric print head technology employing patented acoustic sampling technology that monitors nozzle performance on-the-fly during printing.
• A unique LED UV curing sub-system that operates completely independently from the printing system ensuring identical jetting to curing timing for every droplet for unprecedented uniformity across the printed image.
• An LED-based UV system that cures without adding any heat to the media whatsoever, making it easy to print on the thinnest, most heat-sensitive flexible media.
• Continuous, on-the-fly, nozzle performance compensation facilitates confident unattended printing and reduced print waste.

“Our strategy is to focus on growing markets and offer game-changing products that help both our customers and partners,” continued Jeppe Frandsen. “The graphic arts marketplace, including wide format signage is rapidly expanding, and volumes printed on roll-to-roll printers are growing year on year¹. In addition to this, over 40% of orders usually need to be turned in 24 hours², demonstrating the pace and the expectations that are now commonplace in this industry. Canon is proud to continue honouring its commitment to enable our customers and partners meet the demands of the 21st century print landscape.”

Canon’s new UVgel printing technology will be at the core of a family of new roll-to-roll printing products, the first of which will be a high productivity 64” roll-to-roll printer to be released in the Spring of 2017. The significant investment in this new technology demonstrates Canon’s continued commitment to be a leader in digital graphics markets. Canon has already proven itself to be a leader in the UV flatbed market with its highly awarded, market leading Océ Arizona series of flatbed printers.

Frandsen concluded: “We are looking forward to showcasing this breakthrough achievement at special reseller and customer events across Europe this year.”