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| Xerox Announces First Full-Color Continuous Feed Printer Xerox has entered the full-color, continuous feed printing market. The company announces a high-speed printer that allows service bureaus and data centers to more easily and affordably produce high-quality, full-color transactional statements and invoices with promotional marketing messages such as discount offers and advertisements. In addition, print providers can produce direct-mail pieces that contain personalized coupons, loyalty campaigns that incorporate membership cards, and newsletters and newspapers with customized content by region. The Xerox's 490/980 Color Continuous Feed Printing System uses dry toner, xerographic imaging and flash-fusing technology – a process that does not use heat or pressure or make contact with the paper, allowing the device to print on a wider array of substrates than competitive systems. The Xerox 490/980 prints at 600 dpi resolution and maintains top speed when printing full color or black and white, regardless of the number of colors used or the weight of the paper. It prints 226 feet per minute (69 meters) or 493 images per minute two-up, simplex on 8.5" x 11" paper, and 986 images per minute when in the duplex configuration. The system has been launched in Japan and is immediately available in Japan, China and the Pacific Rim. The new continuous feed device is available for order taking in a phased approach beginning in Europe during the first half of 2008, followed by North America and developing markets, based on customer demand. The Xerox 490/980 Color Continuous Feed Printing System uses "non-contact flash fusing" technology, a key differentiator from competitive products. This technology fuses the image using high-intensity xenon lamps instead of the conventional method that uses heat and pressure rollers to adhere an image to the paper. Flash fusing only heats the toner; there is no direct heat or pressure contact with the substrate. This process maintains more moisture in the paper and minimizes or eliminates paper shrinkage, paper curl and static electricity. The result is excellent registration, productivity and reliability in both the printer and the finishing devices. Another benefit of flash fusing is the ability to feed unique stocks that use adhesives or are pressure sensitive such as cards, labels, self-sealing materials, foil coatings and even RFID inlays. Another key innovation is the use of a new color toner unique to the flash-fusing environment, which delivers consistent, precise image quality for continuous feed applications that require highly-detailed graphics, high-density bar codes, photos and halftones. Xerox's continuous feed product line boasts a dozen products that range in speed from 250 simplex to more than 1,064 duplex images per minute – in black and white and now in full color. Earlier this year, the company introduced the Xerox 495 Continuous Feed System, which prints 500 black-and-white duplex images per minute with roughly half the footprint of traditional twin-duplex systems, saving significant space in a print operation. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Computing News :: home page |