What does it do
It’s part of the 920/940mm press family in RMGT’s line-up. An RMGT 924 is a single-sided four-unit model with a maximum sheet size slightly under SRA1. There are configurations with perfecting and up to 10 units plus inline coater. The 940 models take true SRA1 sheets.
As an offset litho press, it does the usual sort of thing and does it well. However in this case we’re primarily looking at its optional incorporation of LED-UV technology for instant curing of inks.
When was it launched and what’s the target market?
This is a Ryobi press but the RMGT initials were adopted after the company’s partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industry’s press operation. Ryobi had already developed LED-UV curing and its technology was first shown in Europe at Drupa 2008 on a 520mm press.
Neil Handforth, sales & marketing director at RMGT’s UK distributor Apex Digital Graphics, says: “The market for the press is really any printer that needs to work with UV inks for either faster or safer print production. LED-UV is swiftly taking over from mercury vapour UV curing lamps.”
How does the curing work?
UV curing works with inks that remain liquid until exposed to light in the ultraviolet wavelength range. This triggers a polymerisation reaction that sets the ink by solidification, almost instantly.
UV LEDs are solid state units, with low power requirements, very low heat emissions and very long lifetimes compared with mercury vapour lamps. Ryobi fits the LED arrays above the delivery drum (or above the perfecting drum if present), though other positions are available.
Low heat output means that plastics and other temperature-sensitive materials can be printed with no need for elaborate cooling systems. LEDs don’t generate ozone gas so extractors aren’t needed either.
“Apex believes that a litho press equipped with LED-UV can happily compete with digital printing on a cost-per sheet-basis on run lengths as short as 200 sheets.” says Handforth. “The system is not simply a reduced-power UV option, it is a genuine and fully integrated LED-UV curing system. The growing acceptance of LED as a significant benefit to printers has meant that the vast majority of orders for this press during the last 18 months have included the LED-UV option.,” says Handforth.
What’s the USP?
“The USP of the 920 series is 8-up A4 production,” Handforth says. “The USP of the LED-UV option is the delivery of dry to the touch sheets, suitable for feeding back to print the reverse side, or to deliver straight to the finishing department. This means no stacks of part printed work on the shop floor. One critical element of LED-UV that speeds up payback of the investment is the low power consumption compared with IR or other UV products.”
How fast/productive is it?
A basic RMGT 924 prints up to 16,200sph. The multi-unit convertible perfector configurations can hit 13,000sph.
What training and support is on offer?
Apex Digital has a national service and support team, plus a parts warehouse in Hemel Hempstead.
What does it cost?
“Ball park pricing for a 924 with LED-UV is £695,000, depending on specification,” says Handforth.
How many are installed worldwide and in the UK?
No hard figures, but Handforth says: “Far East markets were swift to adopt the LED-UV technology and consequently that area of the world has a larger installed base. In the UK market we have multiple installations across formats from B3 to SRA1, and from four to eight colours.”
SPECIFICATIONS
Units four (up to 10 available with convertible perfecting)
Max speed 16,200sph (13,000sph for PF perfectors)
Max sheet size 640x920mm (635x920mm for perfectors)
Max print image 615x900mm
Paper thickness 0.04-0.6mm (0.04-0.4mm for perfectors)
Options Perfecting, coating, LED-UV cure, 940 ST series with slightly larger 640x940mm (true SRA1) max sheet size
Price About £695,000 for a 924 with LED-UV, depending on specification
Contact Apex Digital Graphics 01442 235236 www.apexdigital.co.uk
ALTERNATIVES
AMS LED conversions
Air Motion Systems offers LED based curing systems for most popular makes and widths of press in any width up to very large formats. At Drupa it introduced MultiWave LED-UV that can be tuned to different ink or coating sensitivities. This can replace existing AMS arrays.
Price Depends on configuration
Contact Bluprint UK 01375 679700 www.bluprintuk.com
Flint Group Vantage service
This year Flint Ink has introduced Vantage, a package of services and hardware for LED UV press conversions. These include training, conversions, dedicated LED inks and coatings and matching pressroom chemicals and blankets, plus customer support.
Price Depends on configuration
Contact Flint Group 01382 422200 www.flintgrp.com
Heidelberg CS92
Originally introduced for the Chinese market, this SRA1 press has just been announced for sale in Europe. Heidelberg offers both low-energy UV mercury lamps or LED on all its presses.
Units four or five
Max speed 15,000sph
Sheet size 650x920mm
Sheet thickness range 0.03-0.6mm
Price TBA
Contact Heidelberg UK 020 8490 3500 www.uk.heidelberg.com
Komori Lithrone GL-37
Komori offers low-energy, cool-running and no-ozone mercury UV curing lamps, which it calls H-UV. It says it has 700 installations in Europe and 30 in the UK. H-UV works with a much greater range of inks and coatings than LED.
Units two to eight plus coater
Max speed 15,000sph
Max sheet size 640x940mm
Paper thickness 0.04–0.06mm
Price about £900,000 to £950,000 with coater, extended delivery and H-UV
Contact Komori Europe +31 30 248 2828 www.komori.eu
USER REVIEW
“The big benefit of LED-UV is the fact that the drying is instant. We can’t really afford stacks of paper sitting around the floor. We can turn jobs around quicker, be even more responsive, get the paper out of the door faster, and to an even higher quality than before” 4/5
Steve Wenlock Managing director of Flexpress, Leicester
