DIGITAL TEXTILE PRINTERS BY STRUCTURE
There are five kinds of inks for textile printing for different kinds of fabrics, there is a separate page covering them.
And there are also different kinds of textile printers according to their structure; here we list the most common ones to give you a general idea.
These diagrams intend to illustrate the basic media path for wide-format textile printers for each type of structure, though not all brands use the same media path. Some printers may have additional or fewer tension, dancer or roller bars, or may have them in different positions; which makes the media path slightly different. Also, when a printer has an in-line calender or a jumbo roll option, this alters the media path before printing and wind-up.
• Flatbed Printer: it has a flat surface with a vacuum mechanism providing suction to hold fabrics in place. This type of printer is mostly used to print individually cut-pieces of fabric.
• Roll-to-roll: entry-level printer that uses a series of pinch rollers, grit rollers and a small motor to move the media (fabric or transfer paper). The media is loaded at he back and can either be wound-up at the front (left) or the back of the printer (right).
• Roll-to-roll with frontal heater: an entry-level printer with the same roller mechanism of a roll-to-roll printer with a frontal heater at the front, below the printed media and before wind-up to help dry the ink. This frontal heater can be drum-shaped (left) or tilted and flat (right). This type of printer is usually used to print onto transfer paper.
• Roll-to-roll with heating unit: this is a roll-to-roll printer atop a heating unit filled with hot air to sublimate the ink and fix the colors. This type of entry-level printer is mostly used to print polyester fabrics with disperse dye inks.
• Dedicated roll-to-roll: a more sophisticated version of the roll-to-roll printer, the media is moved by rollers, controlled with motors. Some of the rolls might be dancing bars to control the tension and others might be covered with cork or rubber to hold the fabric in place while printing.
• Dedicated roll-to-roll with calender: a dedicated roll-to-roll printer with an incorporated calendar cylinder for sublimation and fixing colors. A calendar is a heated drum filled with thermal oil to guarantee even temperature allover the cylinder, it moves at a fast speed while in contact with the fabric to avoid burns.
The calender might be inside the structure of the printer (left) of in front of the printer (right). This type of printer is used both for transfer paper or direct-to-fabric printing.
• Sticky or Conveyor Belt: This is a more complex structure of textile printer; it uses rollers and motors to move the fabric (loaded at the back) into a conveyor belt to ensure the fabric does not move while printing.
There are two types of conveyor belts: one with glue to hold the fabric into place and the other with a suction mechanism. This system is ideal for elastic and stretchable fabrics.
• Single pass: an industrial type of printer that prints in a single pass at a high speed, unlike the rest on the list. The basic principle is that the printheads are fixed; it is the media that moves for printing while placed on a conveyor belt moved by motors. There are individual printing stations with several printheads, one station per ink color. The media moves under the printing stations; which print one at a time at a high speed.
Many textile printers have similar structures with a small variation that makes them fall into a different category; and some of them such as the sticky or conveyor belt, the flatbed, and the single pass printers are so completely different you can't mistake them.
As the digital textile printing industry continues to evolve, we will be adding and improving textile printer categories to this list to keep up to date with the trends in the market.
And there are also different kinds of textile printers according to their structure; here we list the most common ones to give you a general idea.
These diagrams intend to illustrate the basic media path for wide-format textile printers for each type of structure, though not all brands use the same media path. Some printers may have additional or fewer tension, dancer or roller bars, or may have them in different positions; which makes the media path slightly different. Also, when a printer has an in-line calender or a jumbo roll option, this alters the media path before printing and wind-up.
• Flatbed Printer: it has a flat surface with a vacuum mechanism providing suction to hold fabrics in place. This type of printer is mostly used to print individually cut-pieces of fabric.
• Roll-to-roll: entry-level printer that uses a series of pinch rollers, grit rollers and a small motor to move the media (fabric or transfer paper). The media is loaded at he back and can either be wound-up at the front (left) or the back of the printer (right).
• Roll-to-roll with frontal heater: an entry-level printer with the same roller mechanism of a roll-to-roll printer with a frontal heater at the front, below the printed media and before wind-up to help dry the ink. This frontal heater can be drum-shaped (left) or tilted and flat (right). This type of printer is usually used to print onto transfer paper.
• Roll-to-roll with heating unit: this is a roll-to-roll printer atop a heating unit filled with hot air to sublimate the ink and fix the colors. This type of entry-level printer is mostly used to print polyester fabrics with disperse dye inks.
• Dedicated roll-to-roll: a more sophisticated version of the roll-to-roll printer, the media is moved by rollers, controlled with motors. Some of the rolls might be dancing bars to control the tension and others might be covered with cork or rubber to hold the fabric in place while printing.
• Dedicated roll-to-roll with calender: a dedicated roll-to-roll printer with an incorporated calendar cylinder for sublimation and fixing colors. A calendar is a heated drum filled with thermal oil to guarantee even temperature allover the cylinder, it moves at a fast speed while in contact with the fabric to avoid burns.
The calender might be inside the structure of the printer (left) of in front of the printer (right). This type of printer is used both for transfer paper or direct-to-fabric printing.
• Sticky or Conveyor Belt: This is a more complex structure of textile printer; it uses rollers and motors to move the fabric (loaded at the back) into a conveyor belt to ensure the fabric does not move while printing.
There are two types of conveyor belts: one with glue to hold the fabric into place and the other with a suction mechanism. This system is ideal for elastic and stretchable fabrics.
• Single pass: an industrial type of printer that prints in a single pass at a high speed, unlike the rest on the list. The basic principle is that the printheads are fixed; it is the media that moves for printing while placed on a conveyor belt moved by motors. There are individual printing stations with several printheads, one station per ink color. The media moves under the printing stations; which print one at a time at a high speed.
Many textile printers have similar structures with a small variation that makes them fall into a different category; and some of them such as the sticky or conveyor belt, the flatbed, and the single pass printers are so completely different you can't mistake them.
As the digital textile printing industry continues to evolve, we will be adding and improving textile printer categories to this list to keep up to date with the trends in the market.
More info:
Website: www.skyimagepaper.com
Company Name: Fei Yue Digital Technology Co.,LTD
E-mail: sales@feiyuepaper.com
Tel: 86-025-86628894
Whatsapp: +86 18252072197
Address: Central Road 323, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
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