swissQprint, which introduced the 3.2m Nyala inkjet printer at Drupa 2012, has developed a tandem print function.
The principle is straightforward: the print table is loaded as usual from the front and the print job is started. Whilst the machine processes the first job, the operator starts to load the rear half of the table. The printing beam moves to the rear and continues the printing process as soon as the front job is finished and the operator confirms that the rear job is ready to start. The operator meanwhile removes the finished prints from the front area and prepares the next substrates for printing. And so production continues until the series is finished.
With the tandem function the printer can be used as before for large-format panels of up to 3.2 x 4m. A practical test carried out by a user delivered the following results: the production of 1,000 panels (format: 400 x 400 mm) had previously taken seven hours and 40 minutes. With the machine working in tandem mode, the operator was able to start processing a new job after four hours and 50 minutes.
The Tandem operation comes as standard with the Nyala model from swissQprint. It will be available as an option for the Oryx and Impala models as of January 2013.
www.swissqprint.com