Durst unveils a new ceramic plotter

The Durst family is expanding with Durst Pictocer, a flatbed inkjet printing system deriving from an in-depth study conducted by the R&D department. It is a dedicated solution for autonomous test printing in parallel with the normal ceramic production process, a small-size industrial printer that uses the same ceramic pigmented inks as Durst’s Gamma technology and reproduces its performance, assuring the highest levels of customisation of ceramic materials such as porcelain tile, monoporosa and double fired tile, even in small batches. Its main application however is the development of new decorations and designs. And thanks to exclusive Pictocer technology and specially developed software, it is able to simulate the results in terms of resolution that can be achieved using all the Durst Gamma 60/70 and HD – High Definition machines, thereby significantly shortening the timeframes for industrial launch of the product.
Durst Pictocer is a highly versatile ceramic plotter that offers further scope for application, from printing of tiles for individual decorations to mosaics, from decoration of classic ceramic tiles to the production of trim pieces. The high-density inks used in the new system are insensitive to environmental conditions, which assures total stability in all production stages. Pictocer is able to decorate any kind of ceramic material with a maximum thickness of 50 mm. Speed is up to 7 sq.m/hour at maximum quality. The system prints using a four-colour process but is able to load supplementary colours including lemon yellow, brown, blue and white. The patented Ringaround® function allows up to 10 colour combinations to be created per piece, making it possible to control and manage the production process variables and significantly reduce test times. Complete with entrance and exit support tables, Pictocer is able to continuously print on substrates without limits of length and with maximum width of 155 cm by means of pre-loaded frames. The production process can be performed uninterruptedly thanks to the special system for continuous ink recirculation which complements the automatic head cleaning device. An array of specially developed nozzles with hydraulic system and integrated buffers prevents ink sedimentation.
A further demonstration of the completeness of the exclusive Durst software provided is the possibility of scientific calculation of ink cost, making it possible to determine in advance the cost of new designs, including the cost of each individual colour channel.