At the Printing United Show in Las Vegas, SwissQprint launched the second generation of its roll-to-roll printer, the Karibu 2.
"We kept the proven and appreciated features of the first generation (launched in 2019, Editor's note) and completed them with the latest print head technology." said Carmen Eicher, sales and marketing director of the Swiss manufacturer.
With these new printheads, the 3.4 meter wide UV printer offers a higher resolution of 1350 DPI compared to 1080 DPI with the first generation.
Like the previous model, its printing speed is 212 m 2 /h, which represents the surface of a tennis court in 55 minutes.
The printer uses inks specially developed for roll-to-roll printing. Flexible, they are compatible with a wide range of media including backlit media, textiles, film, vinyl, tarps, mesh, wallpaper and more. And being Greenguard Gold certified, they comply with government contracting standards for schools and healthcare facilities.
Up to five additional channels can be added to the classic CMYK (among cyan light, magenta light, black light, orange, fluorescent yellow, fluorescent pink, white and varnish).
The Karibu 2, like the first generation, is equipped with a cassette loading system, so the rolls are installed and ready to print in a few minutes.
And thanks to the 136 segments of the vacuum plate, the vacuum can be set precisely in four seconds, regardless of the width of the material being printed.
It is also possible to print two rolls at a time, each 1.6 meters wide.
The Karibu is also equipped with a light box located next to the printing area: quality control of backlit prints is thus facilitated.
SwissQprint has equipped its roll-to-roll printer with the Mesh Kit which allows for printing with bleed-through edges and on open media. Composed of two paper rolls placed on each side of the support, this kit absorbs the excess of ink. The cleaning of the printing area is thus replaced by the change of these rolls from time to time.
The printer also allows automatic double-sided printing. With the help of an integrated camera and QR codes printed next to the image, the Karibu controls the tracking.
