Japanese digital textile machinery printer Ichinose showcased its screen and digital textile printing machine at ITMA Asia + CITME, the Ichinose iugo (which means fusion in Japanese).
The Ichinose iugo on show at ITMA Asia + CITME
The machine has three technologies in one: an engraver; screen printing technology; and inkjet technology. While the screen-printing process covers the spaces that require block or deep colour, it also allows for special effect-printing such as metallics, which cannot be achieved with inkjet printing currently.
The iugo retains the accuracy of a digital textile printer by having Ichinose built-in sensors.
The printer can have different print heads installed such as Ricoh, Kyocera or Konica Minolta, and can use a variety of different inks, whichever is most preferred and depending on the print heads chosen.
A print from the iguo showing the metallic inks from screen printing, mixed with the fine detail of inkjet
Currently, the company has sold two of the machines into China. One is already installed and the other will be installed at the beginning of next year.
With screen printing popular in China – coupled with a growing demand for digital technology as textile manufacturers aim to produce more complicated designs and search for more environmental solutions – the hybrid technology provides an opportunity for the Chinese market, which has the capacity to invest in innovative technology.
N Kataoka, director sales department, Ichinose, says: “In general, China has lots of printers, but not all of them are high quality. However, the requirement for high quality is increasing in China and this is an opportunity for Ichinose.”
An example of the detail that can be created with the inkjet, with the deep black that can be achieved using screen, printed on the Ichinose iugo
With the two technologies working in tandem, printers have the opportunity to gain the speed and volume of screen with the detailed, intricate designs made available by inkjet.
The machine was launched at ShanghaiTex in 2017. At the show, the first machine had three rows of Ricoh print heads, followed by a flatbed screen. At the show, the iugo was seen printing with reactive inks, with a maximum running speed of 360sqm/h.
