The TASKalfa combines Kyocera's established inkjet technology with a Kyocera chassis
High productivity, high print quality
The production print world is full of big names even those not immersed in the industry could reel off.
When looking for new equipment, businesses can be forgiven for just looking at the big players with the thought process being that the most well-known names mean the best. The same can be said for the early years of a then little-known vacuum cleaner producer such as Dyson. Some years on we may even be considering changing the name of the Hoover in the cupboard for Dyson as the equipment continues to become a staple in many homes.
If Kyocera is not the first name that comes to mind when searching for a production-level document printer, then you could be missing a trick. The company has a heritage in toner-based technology and has been producing inkjet technology over the past 10 to 15 years which other manufacturers have been utilising in their kit.
Three-to-four years ago, Kyocera recognised that the market itself was experiencing a significant increase in the level of transactional mail that is going through these high volume production inkjet presses. The company recognised a move away from email marketing back to a traditional high volume transactional print environment, which is where the TASKalfa Pro 15000c is geared for.
As a result, Kyocera decided to take the technology it has decades of knowledge in using, and put it into its own chassis, and the TASKalfa Pro 15000c was born. Describing the new kit, Rod Tonna-Barthet, chief executive officer of Kyocera Document Solutions UK, explains: “Most customers would think Kyocera is not really in the production print marketplace. The first thing to understand is that we’ve been in the inkjet technology market now for many years.
Most customers would think Kyocera is not really in the production print marketplace. The first thing to understand is that we’ve been in the inkjet technology market now for many years”
“As far as the device itself is concerned, because it’s not using fuser technology it’s using air dried technology, from an energy perspective it’s using up to 70% less energy than it would otherwise be utilising. For customers, particularly those with ISO 14001 accreditation, it helps them to achieve significant reductions in carbon output.”
A range of configurations
The Kyocera TASKalfa Pro 15000c is a high-quality, high-volume water pigmented inkjet printer with a number of specifications which can cope with a number of processes and products in high quality 600 x 600 dpi printed output.
The press comes in four main model specifications starting at a basic model which sits at a price point below what most entry users would select. This format offers the press itself along with an inverter de-curler unit and a 4000-sheet stacker.
Most potential users will move up the range to the ‘Standard Model’ which has again at its heart the print unit but this time top and tailed with the same output stacker but with an optional 5000 sheet stacker and on the input side a larger paper feeder and bridge kit.
Clearly at this point the printer is getting longer, but there is good reason for this. If you want to upscale further with additional equipment, Kyocera can provide the version it calls ‘Printing Service Provider Model 1’ which includes the Kyocera 5000 sheet stacker known as ST-9100. All the equipment from the standard model is still inline.
The next step up in the suggested range is the ‘Printing Service Provider Model 2’ which contains all the equipment included in the previous model, but with both the 4000 and 5000 sheet stacker and bridging units.
The full configuration of the machine will take up 8.1m of floorspace
Finally, if you have the space (8.1 metres to be exact) you can opt for what is known as the ‘Full System Model’ which has additional feeder units and two 5000 sheet stackers along with a 4000 sheet stacking system. This model will be able to give you virtually any combination and variety you could think of.
Three advantages in one
Paper handling is nothing without print quality and Kyocera prides itself on the 600 x 600dpi print head it has produced. The company uses water-based pigmentated inks with each of the four colours being delivered via three print heads staggered across the width of the printer. This means Kyocera can rightfully claim the TASKalfa Pro 15000c as one of the widest document printers on the market.
Inkjet technology could be described as a bread and butter of Kyocera Document Solutions and with that being said, it’s no surprise that the print head condition and associated print quality is maintained by a number of clever functions on the print head not seen in many other printers.
One such feature is the dust recovery system which is located on the inbound side of the printhead. As we all know the issues of print quality are not just down to dot placement, but if there is something sat on top of the substrate prior to ink droplet deployment, the dust particle either absorbs the ink brushing off leaving a white dot, or the dust gets into the print head itself stopping any ink droplet leaving the head.
Next on the head is a head wipe system that not only cleans the underside of each of the three ink heads (per colour), it takes away any ink bubbles that tend to sit on the head. This is accomplished by moving a cleaning head under the printer, a small amount of cleaning fluid is applied, and then a scraper physically slides under the print head cleaning any residue off the head.
Finally, if you can stop the ink drying in the first place, this will solve many issues. The Kyocera inkjet printer comes with a capping system that when the machine is sat waiting for work, a sea of covers on a frame slides under the inkjet heads and seals off the bottom of the heads stopping the drying of the ink causing issues.
Hold it right there
The sheets are delivered into the printer onto a vacuum belt which holds them in the right place to ensure high quality print. Kyocera has understood that not each sheet hits the belt at the right time or speed. To address this issue, the company has designed a system that tracks the speed of the belt and very cleverly can adjust the speed of the belt to cope with any change in paper position and in doing so, can maintain the colour reproduction sheet on sheet.
Sheet transfer in a sheetfed press is reasonably straight forward as it mechanically holds the sheet and passes it unit to unit securely, sheet feed document printers however do not have that luxury. The sheet position compensation system within the TASKalfa 15000c is a very clever way to overcome the problem.
With the sheet cleaned and held securely and the heads maintained, single sided printing is nailed down. The last real issue for print quality is maintaining the front to back registration of the image.
Kyocera has tackled this issue with a number of clever little devices that track the sheet on the return of it over the top of the print head, but when it gets fed back into the unit, the tracking devices send information to each print head and they move the ink droplet position to a position which will allow for accurate front to back registration.
The Kyocera TASKalfa Pro 15000c is a very capable, high-capacity document printer that can produce at high production levels, in equally high print quality. Water-based inkjet technology with clever unique print head functions can deliver variable data documents and products at very cost comparative levels.
If you you have a room long enough for the Full System Model, or if you only have space for the Basic Model, you can be sure of reliable quality print.
Brian Sims Principal Consultant, Metis Print Consultancy, www.metis-uk.eu
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