The new “next-generation” single-pass EFI (Electronics For Imaging) Reggiani Bolt Digital Textile Printer made its debut last month during an open house at the EFI Reggiani production facility in Bergamo, Italy. The advanced ultra-high-speed digital single-pass printer “has the potential to revolutionize the textile printing market, providing users with high uptime and reliability, outstanding performance, superior printing uniformity and accuracy, long printhead life and minimal maintenance needs,” said the OEM. Nearly 300 customers, members of the trade press and journalists attended the open house to see the new printer in action.
The Bolt is the latest in a series of recent EFI Reggiani innovations. In the past 15 months, its team has developed “a totally renewed range of digital scanning printers with cutting-edge technologies, launching a new model every quarter to offer customers solutions to whatever their requirements may be for easily scalable textile printing.” The list of EFI Reggiani advancements includes two recent launches – the Colors Digital Printer, which provides up to 12-colour printing, and the Terra Pigment Ink with Binder solution featuring inline polymerization – a process that speeds up customers’ printing with “one of the industry’s greenest production technologies,” said EFI.
“The innovative development of our new single-pass Bolt printer comes from Reggiani’s speed of innovation in digital textile printing, its 70 years of history, and our proprietary knowledge of high-volume analogue rotary printing,” said EFI Reggiani Vice President and General Manager Adele Genoni. “Our EFI colleagues’ proven worldwide expertise in single-pass technology and, most importantly, EFI Reggiani’s serious commitment to listening to and addressing our textile customers’ needs, have allowed us to achieve incredible results with our newest print technology. The EFI Reggiani Bolt re-writes the rules of digital textile single-pass printing, delivering superior throughput and quality with a highly competitive return on investment for customers. We’re excited to bring this technology to our customers and see their businesses succeed and grow.”
The Bolt offers a low-maintenance, fast start-up re-circulation printhead that delivers better, more-uniform printing with superior uptime, said EFI. Because of its cutting-edge printhead concept and high-performance ink delivery system, the Bolt has throughput speeds of up to 295 feet per minute (more than 86,100 square feet per hour) at 600 x 600 dpi resolution. It features high-end grayscale imaging in drop sizes from 5 to 30 picolitres, and also provides 600 x 4,800 maximum-dpi resolution printing, “allowing customers to address the full range of design needs.” The printhead was developed in partnership with a leading printhead manufacturer, and will be available exclusively for EFI Reggiani.
The EFI Reggiani Bolt also meets the growing requirements for high-quality, ecologically-sustainable digital textile imaging in apparel, décor and other markets. Paired with an EFI Fiery Digital Front End (DFE) print server offering high-speed processing capabilities on demand, the Bolt printer is a robust, industrial platform designed for 24/7 operation and continuous productivity “that drives high-volume throughput while reducing the cost per metre.” Additional new features and enhancements include:
- Enhanced maintenance features. The printer’s contactless wiping system prolongs printhead life and quality. Plus, the printer comes with an assisted alignment system for its test calibration scan unit, and features extractable printing beams for easier maintenance.
- Extended colour gamut and superior image quality. Users can easily reproduce a wider variety of work, including designs featuring plain colours, geometric patterns, fine lines, deep blacks and smooth gradients.
- Proprietary IP combining digital and rotary technologies. One or more analogue printing stations, which may be easily connected as an optional feature, can be integrated into the digital printer for special effects.
