New from Océ South Africa is an entry-level inkjet printer that can print directly onto both rigid substrates and roll-based media. The Océ Arizona 60UV hybrid inkjet sign printer uses ultraviolet curable inks to produce large format display graphics on rigid and flexible substrates.

The Océ Arizona 60UV is unique in that it is the first inkjet printer to combine both flatbed and roll-to-roll printing capabilities with UV ink technology at an entry-level price. Other hybrid models in its price range use either aqueous or solvent inks, and other flatbed UV systems are priced several times higher than the Océ Arizona 60UV.

The Océ Arizona 60UV uses piezo printing technology and UV-curable inks to produce outdoor-durable graphics. Using the collapsible, rigid-media tables included with the system, an operator can print directly onto rigid substrates up to 60 inches wide by 96 inches long by 3/8 inches thick. Printing directly onto a variety of uncoated rigid substrates such as foam-core style mounting board, PVC sheets, styrene, aluminium-plastic composites and more is easy and profitable with the Océ Arizona 60UV. Roll-based media, such as banner and PSA vinyl, in widths up to 64 inches can also be used.

"The Océ Arizona 60UV gives lower-volume shops some of the same capabilities as their bigger competitors," says Wojciech Skrzeszewski, display graphics manager for Océ SA's Wide Format Printing Systems. "The ability to print onto both rigid and flexible media gives these shops the ability to compete on price and turnaround time. Being able to produce rigid or flexible prints on one piece of equipment enables them to grow their businesses with an affordable capital investment."

UV curable inks have several advantages over solvent-based inks. Since UV-curable inks 'cure' instead of 'dry', nozzle dropout caused by ink drying in the print heads is avoided. This reduces maintenance and increases printer productivity. UV-curable inks image well on a wide range of media, and - on certain materials - deliver better printing performance than solvent-based systems. In addition, there is no concern regarding fume exhaust. This eliminates the need to install a fume extraction system and enables the Océ Arizona 60UV to be placed in most any working environment.

Ideally suited for sign shops, reprographics houses and franchise operations, the Océ Arizona 60UV offers affordable, quality, outdoor durable graphics for a wide range of applications such as point-of-purchase displays, exhibit graphics, backlit signs, banners, real estate signs and more.

The Océ Arizona 60UV joins the company's popular Arizona family of outdoor-durable printers, which includes the Océ Arizona 90, Océ Arizona 180, Océ Arizona 500, and Océ Arizona 600 roll-based printers and the Océ Arizona T220 and Océ Arizona T220UV flatbed printers.

For more information contact Luis Roldan, Océ SA, 011 661 9555.