IAI’s inkjet printing technology
IAI’s personalisation systems are equipped with a full colour inkjet engine of IAI design. The inkjet engine prints at a resolution of up to 720 dpi and uses UV curable inks in large containers. In the BookMaster One inkjet process, the ink is UV pre-cured immediately after jetting (inline) with a small UV light. This process is called ‘pinning’ and increases the viscosity of the ink. The drop of ink is kept in place. When the complete data page is printed in a single move at high speed, the ink is completely cured with a high power UV light. UV fluorescent UV curable inks are also available to print images or text that are visible under UV light. IAI can print full colour UV fluorescent images or monochrome UV fluorescent images and texts.
Benefits of IAI’s inkjet printing technology
Secure image – The BookMaster One uses UV curable ink. The hardening of the ink by UV light is irreversible and therefore virtually impossible to remove by solvents. The inks are specially selected for printing on security paper used in passports and cannot be washed out by using water or most solvents without damaging the document. This technology is not available for the commercial market.
High quality image – The print quality is not dependent on the surface or material you print on. Specifically passport paper is very absorbent, which causes normal, water based inks to be absorbed quickly and create large, blurred dots of ink. This absorption process can be controlled precisely thanks to the combination of UV curable inks and IAI’s pinning process. This results in crisp and bright images on normal passport paper.
Robust printing process – The inks used in the BookMaster One’s colour printing module are cured using UV light. This means that the ink hardens in seconds under UV light allowing high speed personalisation of the passports. Curling of the data page is prevented. The books are transported in the BookMaster One system without problems which result in high yields. As the ink is dried immediately and the data page remains flat, lamination can be performed properly and without delay.
Long lifetime of components – The inkjet engine uses high quality industrial components. The UV lights are LEDs. Therefore all components have a lifetime expectancy of many years.
Requires little maintenance – Clogging of the nozzles in the printing head is prevented, because the ink dries very slowly in open air. Therefore start-up of the BookMaster One system is swift as no extensive cleaning of the printing heads is required.
Economical use of inks – The large ink containers in the BookMaster One system allow many weeks of printing and are easy to refill. Refill comes in bottles and is very competitively priced compared to cartridge alternatives.
