Printing on the High Flow Vacuum Table

Print Margins on Porous Media (Corrugated Cardboard)

High air flow is required to pull down and hold porous media (e.g., corrugated cardboard) to the vacuum table. Due to the porous nature of corrugated cardboard, air can penetrate through its skin and flow down its internal flutes. This will have a negative effect on print performance at the edges of the media where the air exits. To reduce this effect, panel vents located at the end of the vacuum table can be opened to re-direct flow during printing, thus minimizing flow thru the flutes.

Minimum supported print margin for media edge with open flute ends: 10mm

Minimum supported print margin for media edge with closed flute sides: 5mm

Custom Gantry Park Position

This feature allows the operator to specify a custom gantry park position relative to the default park coordinate. The valid range is from 0 to 3080mm (10.1 feet). The distance is set in the Settings tab, Printer Settings area. If you set a new position the gantry always stops at that set position after each print, until you set it back to zero (or a new position). One exception is when printing in dual-origin mode as then it stops at the true home position.

The Move Gantry icon on the Command bar in the Print Job module starts the gantry movement. Pressing this icon moves the gantry from its default parked position to the new location. Pressing the icon again moves the gantry back to its home position.

Print Direction

The print direction is user selectable at the printer. The following print directions are available:

• Bi-directional

• Uni-directional

Uni-directional printing improves overall print sharpness. Typically, uni-directional printing will lower printer speed by 50%.

Printing on Porous Media

During printing, ink will penetrate deeper into porous media compared to non-porous media. The deeper the ink penetrates in to the media, the more difficult it is to fully cure the ink. Un-coated corrugated cardboard is considered to be porous media.

Safety Guidelines

For printing images on porous media with high ink loads, the following safety guidelines are recommended:

• Use Canon recommended profiles. This will help limit the ink load to a safe level. Canon recommended profiles can be found at www.onyxgfx.com or https://dgs.cpp.canon

• Use “Production” or slower print modes if possible

• Set UV lamp power levels to high

• Handle printed media with nitrile gloves

• Avoid un-coated cardboard media with a high content of recycled materials. Media with a high content of recycled materials will allow ink to penetrate deeper in to the media

NOTE

For printing in “Express” mode the UV lamp power level is fixed at the highest possible level by the printer .

Sound Output

Sound output for the high flow vacuum system is dependent on the following operating parameters:

• Media type (porous, nonporous)

• Number of vacuum pumps operating

• Level of venting

The following table indicates typical sound outputs from the printer under different operating conditions:

Open (non-masked) vacuum holes will greatly increase sound output. All exposed vacuum holes should be masked when vacuum is applied to the table.