Xeikon is unleashing its Cheetah digital colour press, 60 per cent faster than any of its label and packaging stablemates. The new digital press is dedicated to self-adhesive and pressure sensitive label production, and can produce high quality labels at 30m per minute. Xeikon says this running speed makes it the “fastest five-colour digital toner label press in the world.”

Xeikon Cheetah on display at Labelexpo Americas 2014

Patrick Van Baelen, worldwide vice president of marketing with Xeikon, says the machine is designed to give label printers and converters greater flexibility to deal with shorter turnaround times. He says, “This increase in speed represents a huge leap forward in digital toner press technology. The Xeikon Cheetah narrows the gap between digital printing and traditional flexo and offset methods for producing labels.” He says the increase in speed also results in a lower total production cost. The Cheetah can handle substrate widths of up to 330mm, with resolution of 1200 x 3600dpi. It uses full rotary printing, where press speeds are independent of the number of colours used and the repeat length of the job. Xeikon says full rotary printing also makes step-and-repeat and finishing operations straightforward. It uses dry toners that meet FDA regulations for food contact and can use conventional substrates with pre-treating. Xeikon’s labels and packaging machines, known as the 3000 Series, can print opaque white toner in one pass. A fifth station on the Cheetah can be used to print gamut expansion colours or security toner, as well as the standard CMYK plus white. The press includes automatic in-line register and density controls, imaging width is up to 322 mm while repeat length is variable from zero to 55 m. Media weights range from 40gsm to 350gsm. The machine will be available commercially in 2015.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter