Clevedon, UK – Roland DG Corporation, a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and printer/cutters worldwide, today announced the expansion of its already extensive UV-LED print portfolio with a new large-format UV-LED flatbed printer, the IU-1000F. Capable of printing on an impressively wide range of substrates and objects at up to 116 sqm per hour1, the IU-1000F is designed to meet the diverse needs of busy print service providers and commercial printers, with unsurpassed performance.

As life cycles and requirements for communication tools such as outdoor and indoor advertising, event decoration, and store displays become shorter and more diverse, the sign and display industry is increasingly becoming one-stop shops offering quick response. Under such challenging circumstances, high performance large-format UV flatbed printers that enable a more efficient production process and that are capable of printing on various materials for a wide range of applications are attracting greater attention than ever before.

According to Kohei Tanabe, the President of the DP Business Division, the IU-1000F boasts breakthrough speed and quality while also eliminating the need for mounting and drying processes. “It is a powerful solution for the sign and display or print production business that seeks more efficient and faster-turnaround production capability. By offering increased productivity, material compatibility, image quality, ease of use, and all the other aspects of this product, I am confident that the IU-1000F will achieve increased profitability for printing businesses," he said.

In addition to high-adhesion, high-density CMYK UV inks, this highly versatile large format device supports White, Gloss and Primer inks to create a wide variety of stunning applications, from impressive and highly-profitable signs, displays, backlits and exhibition graphics to custom-designed interior décor applications such as canvas wall panels and furniture.

Equipped with 12 high-performance printheads in a staggered 3-row arrangement, the IU-1000F can print up to 635 x 1800 dpi with variable droplet technology which can simultaneously fire 3 sizes of droplets at high speed. Printing time for a typical 1220 x 2440mm rigid board averages about 15 boards per hour (48.5 sqm/hr) in the everyday “Standard” print mode for typical point of purchase display applications. About 10 sheets can be printed even in the “Quality” print mode (32 sqm/hr).

The IU-1000F employs UV-LED flatbed printing technology to print directly on a huge variety of materials and objects, including rigid boards up to 2510mm x 1310mm, 110mm in height and 45 kg/sqm in weight. The exclusively-developed, high-performance UV inks cure immediately, enabling the IU-1000F to print on substrates such as acrylic, PETG, PVC board, foam board, PC, wood, corrugated polypropylene board, aluminum composite plate, and even on metal and glass that are generally difficult to adhere to by using the Primer ink2.

The IU-1000F features a number of new functions to optimise efficient performance, including an ionizer that removes static electricity, a versatile print bed that can handle materials of various sizes, from one large board to multiple small panels, and media alignment pins for easily aligning materials to be printed.

The IU-1000F will be unveiled at major exhibitions of large format printing solutions such as Viscom, Italy (October 10th to 12th) and Printing United in North America (October 23rd to 25th). Sales will start in Europe, North America and Japan from the first quarter of 2020.

1 Print speed listed in CMYK. Print quality will vary depending on media and application.

2 Primer ink adhesion may vary depending on substrate and conditions. Testing ink adhesion prior to production is recommended.