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Raster Printers Presents the Daytona

Grass doesn

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Last year, we introduced you to a new player in the wide-format, digital-printing arena. Raster Printers blazed out of the gates with a 72-in., UV printer that shattered a seriously stratospheric price barrier. The genius behind Raster Printers is a genuine pioneer of the digital-printing industry, Rak Kumar. We’ve known Rak for many years and worked with him when he founded Raster Graphics, a company that broke price barriers in the color electrostatic market.

Rak’s latest product, the Daytona, is named after a racetrack. Being curious, we asked him why. His reply was very simple: speed.

Specifications

At first glance, the Daytona mirrors the RP-720UVZ printer. Both printers can handle 72-in. media and utilize UV-printing technology.

Both printers use the popular Spectra printheads. Their stainless-steel construction insures extreme durability. However, closer inspection reveals differences. The six-headed RP-720UVZ is a six-color machine. The Daytona, on the other hand, uses eight heads. You might think the Daytona is an eight-color printer that uses light and medium colors, but it’s a four-color printer. Remember, this printer is built for speed. To attain high speed, there are actually two heads per color.

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The printers’ resolutions also differ. The Daytona produces up to 600 3 600-dpi prints, whereas the RP-720UVZ produces 720 3 800-dpi. The Daytona offers two printhead options. The SM-class head produces a 50-picoliter drop. The other option, the SE head, produces a smaller, 30-pl drop. The SM head will produce 600 3 600 dpi, but the detail lacks the crispness produced by the SE heads. On the other hand, the SM heads print faster. We’ll delve into speed later.

Beyond the two printers’ major differences are physical and environmental specifications. The substantial Daytona measures 53 in. tall 3 117 in. wide 3 36 in. deep (excluding the rigid-media table). The printer weighs in at a trim 1,200 lbs.

A UV printer, the Daytona sprays UV-curable ink from the printhead, and then a UV lamp flashes the image (Fig. 1) and instantly cures it. UV’s major advantage — the ink doesn’t dry unless exposed to UV light – prevents clogging. In addition, these inks adhere to practically any media.

But these advantages also increase the power requirements. You’ll need two, 200- to 240VAC lines, at 15A each, to power the print mechanism; the dual, UV-light sources; and the media take-up system.

The operating temperature range is 65 to 85° F. The operating environment should maintain a 40 to 70% relative humidity.

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To round out the specifications, the printer uses a USB interface, which implies the printer will be directly connected to the RIP PC. Although the printer doesn’t come with RIP software, Raster Printers offers Onyx PosterShop or ProductionHouse to round out the system. This printer is menu-driven from an easy-to-use control panel (Fig. 2). Many changes can also be accessed by software.

Media and media handling

The Daytona will handle both rigid and roll media up to 72 in. You can use either 2- or 3-in. media cores. The media-feed system uses an encoder on the drive roller to maintain smoothness and accuracy.

The printer also comes with a rigid-media table (Fig. 3) that uses roller bearings to insure smooth media feed. The adjustable printer platen handles up to a 1-in. media thickness. The printer can even print full-bleed images.

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Ink will stick to virtually anything on this UV printer. Uncoated papers, banner material and mesh are just a few roll-media choices You can print on such rigid material as foamboard (Fig. 4), wood, Plexiglas® acrylic, aluminum and even styrene. We observed excellent image quality and nicely saturated colors (Fig. 5).

We printed on brushed-steel material with this machine at a Sacramento, CA, print shop. The image quality was excellent from print to print. We were very impressed, and the customer was happy, too.

On your marks

Here’s why the printer is named after a racetrack. The original RP-720UVZ produced high-quality output at 70 sq. ft./hr. Crank it up to draft mode, and you can hit a maximum speed of 270 sq. ft./hr. That’s respectable, but it certainly won’t set any records.

With dual heads per color, Raster Printer’s supercharged the Daytona. In its highest quality mode, 600 3 600 dpi, the printer hits 100 sq. ft./hr. The standard mode, which reaches 180 sq. ft./hr., is most often used for production; it also offers a handsome 300 3 600-dpi image at 360 sq. ft./hr. To produce graphics to view from a distance, crank it up to billboard mode. Stand back, because it produces 300 3 300 prints at 700 sq. ft./hr., speeds normally seen in the upper-end, solvent printers.

Built for production

Raster Printers has built the printer for a production environment. Its 1-liter ink bottles minimize ink changes.

Even UV printers need printhead maintenance. To ease operator intervention, the printer performs an automatic head purge when a print job starts. A two-way-valve flushing system quickly cleans and purges the heads if the printer has been extensively idle. With the rugged construction and stainless-steel Spectra printheads, the Daytona is a formidable printer.

Conclusion

Raster Printers has added a valuable property to its young line of printers. The company now offers the choice of high-quality images or blazing production speeds. The UV-marking technology enables end users to offer flexibility to their customers.

We forgot to answer the automatic question. The Daytona is a real bargain at $62,900. For the RP-720UVZ, you’ll pay $58,000. The Daytona offers great features at a great price. n

Raster Printers Inc.

2192 Bering Dr.

San Jose, CA 95131

(408) 545-0540

Fax: (408) 545-0547

www.rasterprinters.com

Company Background: Raster Printers Inc., a California company founded in 2004, offers wide-format printing systems that include printers, inks, software, service and customer training. The company’s printers utilize environmentally friendly, UV-curable inks.

Contact: Rak Kumar, president

At a Glance: The Daytona, 72-in. UV flatbed printer features three print modes: billboard, high-speed and production. The economical, CMYK printer features Spectra piezo-electric inkjet printheads. The 53 x 117 x 36-in. (excluding rigid-media tables) printer offers true, 600-dpi resolution and printing speeds up to 700 sq. ft./hr. An encoder on the drive roller controls accurate media feed.

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