by Melissa Donovan
Compared to traditional manufacturing of wood flooring, digital printing presents a number of advantages in terms of flexibility, short changeover, and individualization. The October issue of Industrial Print magazine looks at this in more detail.
Here, we include information from digital printer manufacturers whose devices either print directly to wood or other substrates to recreate a high-end wood-like visual.
Agfa
The InterioJet 3300 is a multi-pass, water-based inkjet system for printing on décor paper used for interior decoration, such as laminate floors and furniture. It is the ideal cost-efficient solution for medium and short production runs. Its limited start-up time and high flexibility enables suppliers of laminated surfaces to gain new business by responding to evolving market demands, including printing on demand and just-in-time delivery. According to Marc Graindourze, business manager industrial inks, Agfa, the system allows interior decoration designers to let their creativity run free and create customized designs for every order.
The water-based pigment inks used in the system are designed for high print resolutions. They are lightfast and use the same pigments as analog décor printing to deliver minimal metamerism. Because of their high color constancy, there are limited color differences observable when viewed under different light sources.
“The inks have been specifically designed to match the requirements of the standard melamine impregnation and lamination processes used in flooring and furniture production. The patented method, which replaces the magenta pigment with a red pigment, ensures that they match the wood décors made with gravure printing,” shares Graindourze.
The InterioJet is driven by Agfa’s Asanti workflow software. The InterioJet Enhancer is an Asanti module that was specifically designed for décor printing and features special imaging algorithms to optimize décor images and to ensure cross-technology color management. Additional renders enable the simultaneous processing of multiple large files. In addition, Asanti handshakes with non-Agfa software modules used in the décor printing industry to match gravure prints as closely as possible.
Hymmen GmbH Maschinen- und Anlagenbau
Since 2009, Hymmen has sold JUPITER Digital Printing technology to the wood-based industry for decorative printing. The JUPITER series JPT-C with direct print-to-board is a technology of choice. It is designed for 24/7 industrial production, features a high-precision continuous substrate conveyor for maximum registration accuracy, offers printing speeds of 25 to 50 meters per minute, and features an optical resolution of over 1,000 dpi.
The recent JUPITER lines feature additionally patented DLEplus (Digital Lacquer Embossing) technology, creating structures that are embossed-in-register to the décor of the surface.
“This technology grants all commercial and technical benefits of digital single-pass printing like flexibility, fast setup times, and individualization. The digital structuring supports the surface performance. All features like hardness, bonding, scratch resistance, and chemical reliability of the core lacquer remain,” explains Dr. Anke Pankoke, head of marketing/PR, Hymmen.
There are already more than 55 Hymmen digital printing lines sold worldwide, 15 of those are in operation in the flooring industry. In the U.S., Engineered Floors is the pacemaker with the Hymmen technology and other companies such as CFL are following closely.
Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, a Durst Group Company (VDPS)
VDPS offers three different types of UV printers that can be utilized in flooring production facilities, which are based on different speeds and needs.
VK300D-SS is a 5×10-foot, true flatbed printer that offers an industry first, custom drilled table as well as a variable speed, high-end vacuum system making it considerably easier to draw down warped media printing at speeds of up to 3,412 square feet per hour (sf/h).
VKR3200-HS is a 126-inch roll-to-roll printer, which enables roll goods such as veneer and laminate to be printed at speeds up to 2,900 sf/h per hour.
VKH900-HS is a 98-inch hybrid printer that allows for the best of both worlds allowing manufacturers to print on both rigid flooring as well as up to 98-inch roll goods at speeds of up to 2,975 sf/h per hour.
Future of Flooring
Realistic wood flooring is achievable thanks to both single- and multi-pass digital printers. Manufacturing decorative wood flooring—whether printing directly to a substrate or onto decorative paper that is then laminated—is becoming quick and flexible thanks to digital printing technologies.
Oct2024, Industrial Print Magazine
