Mutoh has announced a new Direct-to-Film printer, the 24-inch-wide STS XPD-924D, which will print to the usual range of materials for garments as well as bags, hats, and home décor items.
It boasts two Mutoh AccuFine HD printheads, which are actually Epson PrecisionCore heads. These are arranged in a staggered configuration, with one jetting the white ink and the other used for the CMYK colours. These heads give the printer a maximum resolution of 1200 x 1200 dpi. It has a top speed of 17.5 square meters per hour, though Mutoh is quoting a production speed of up to 12.9 sqm/hr with dual-layer CMYK+White overlay.
This printer appears to be a collaboration with STS Inks, with both vendors listing it for sale through their own channels. Mutoh seems to be responsible for the printer with STS inks, presumably supplying the ink and the optional powder shaker. It’s worth noting that STS Inks offers several DtF solutions of different sizes, all based around Mutoh printers, though this particular model appears to be the first that Mutoh is also selling itself.
The inkset is CMYK plus white, with the inks supplied in 500ml containers. Mutoh says that the prints maintain flexibility, allowing them to stretch and recover with good resistance to cracking, fading, and peeling.
There is a circulation system for the white ink, though this doesn’t go all the way down to the nozzles since those heads do not support recirculation. Nor is this a continuous system, operating instead at intervals. Nonetheless, recirculation through the ink supply system should help to maintain the heavier Titanium dioxide particles used for white ink in suspension and prevent sedimentation.
It includes a front dryer, automatic alignment sensors, internal LED lighting, and an updated media feeding mechanism. There are a number of standard Mutoh features, including Dropmaster 2 for automatic bi-directional alignments, Feedmaster for automatic feed roller adjustments, and iScreen for coping with banding. There’s also a Mutoh Status Monitor that enables users to keep an eye on the print history, as well as providing job cost analysis and remote monitoring capabilities.
Interestingly, this printer comes with a Digital Factory v12 RIP from Fiery, which includes profiles for the supplied inks, which suggests that Mutoh’s own Vertelith RIP may not be suitable for DtF printing.
Mutoh is also offering an optional Powder Shaker, the STS Inks Automatic S-20 TPU Adhesive. This unit can work with an adapted TPU or Thermoplastic PolyUrethane hot-melt adhesive powder that, in turn, can allow these prints to be used on synthetic leather. This is in addition to all the usual range. of fabrics that can accept DtF prints, including cotton, polyester, silk, denim, and fleece.
The S20 is said to handle the entire powder process, including application, distribution, melting, and recycling in a continuous, automated process. It features a vacuum conveyor platform that keeps the film stable throughout production as well as an integrated automatic powder recycling system that recovers excess TPU material and feeds it back into the process.
The STS XPD-924D DTF printer should be available in Europe and Australia now, but is not listed for the US or Japan. You can find further details from mutoh.eu as well as from stsink.com.
