Durst is set to launch a revolutionary Printhead for dimensional Ceramic Printing
25 September 2020: Durst is set to launch a revolutionary Printhead for dimensional Ceramic Printing. It is a single pass digital glaze printing system with patented Durst RockJET printheads. This is currently in the final stage of field test at two well-known Italian tile manufacturers, as revealed by the company.
The ceramic tile production process has still remained traditional due to the non-availability of a print head technology designed for jetting fluids with large particle sizes (> 45 microns) and high viscosities. In order to digitize this large portion of the ceramic tile business, several years ago, after revolutionizing the ceramic tile decoration by introducing the first single pass digital printer, Gamma 60, Durst started a development project to develop and manufacture such a revolutionary print head for dimensional printing (digital structures) for water-based ceramic glazes with large particle sizes (> 45 microns) and high viscosities not available before.
With this new print head, tile suppliers can create completely new and innovative tile collections not possible with current traditional equipment. With this new technology, ceramic, resp. porcelain cannot only be digitally printed with high-resolution patterns to mimic texture, but true 3D options are now possible to mimic stone to look like marble, granite, limestone and others.
Durst Gamma XD Single Pass Digital Decor Printer with standard piezo printheads for printing the graphics with pigmented ceramic inks in perfect match and synchronized to the variable structures printed with Gamma DG. This allows manufacturers to create new innovative products with a naturalness not possible up to now with traditional production technologies. This can be especially important with wood or stone decors.
Durst has tied up with ColorGATE for color management system (CMS), designed and optimized for the special conditions and requirements of the tile industry. This offering facilitates high flexibility, long-term repeatability, and a strong reduction of downtimes during product changes and the ongoing reprinting of the product collections over time.
Digital structure printing with Durst Gamma DG also brings important advantages in the development and industrialization phase of new products. It is now possible to test several different structures on a single tile without both additional costs (production of different mechanical molds) and also retooling.
