Xeikon launches SIRIUS technology

02/04/2020

by Dimitri Van Gaever

Xeikon unveils its ground-breaking new generation dry toner technology for the graphic arts industry. It delivers higher speeds, reduced cost of ownership and further improved quality. The first digital press based on this new technology will be launched and commercially available as of June 2020.

Power of Dry Toner

By introducing the ‘Power Of Dry Toner’ campaign last year, Xeikon made it absolutely clear that it remains convinced of the unique power that dry toner technology brings to the graphic arts market – pushing its boundaries even further. Today, it proves its case by announcing the next generation Xeikon SX30000 press: an entirely new, robust single pass duplex machine, powered by the new SIRIUS technology, able to run at a printing width of 20 inch (or 508 mm) on a broad range of substrates at 98 ft/min (or 30 meters/minute), 404ppm A4) – boasting an average speed increase of more than 50% throughout the range of 40-350 gsm versus the previous platform.

Setting a new standard in dry toner

Xeikon has been allocating major resources since 2017 to set a new standard in dry toner technology and develop a new platform for the graphic arts industry. “The water cooled LDAs, with 1200x3600 dpi technology and the single pass duplex, full rotary concept, have remained unchanged, as well as the 5/5 print station setup. Almost everything else has been re-engineered”, says Dimitri Van Gaever of Xeikon. “One of the things that really sets the SIRIUS technology apart is its ability to print on heavy substrates at high speeds.

Dimitri Van Gaever explains some of the core components that enable SIRIUS to set a new standard. We have been working along 4 major axes: toner development, imaging technology, fusing technology and media conditioning, resulting in more than 400 design changes and developments compared to the previous generation. All these core components have been redesigned and enhanced to deliver superior quality, market leading performance, unequaled sustainability, widest application range and best-in-class TCO.

An important step to bring SIRIUS technology to a new era of productivity is realised thanks to Xeikon’s new EkoFuse technology: a new fuser and a patented new crossflow cooling system add up to achieve superior print quality levels at market leading speeds.”

For our newly developed SIRIUS toner, we have changed the production parameters of the toner and have improved the charging kinetics properties by adapting the outer shell of the toner to cope with the higher engine speed. Our new developer unit ensures superior image quality for high coverage applications.

High value applications

With the SX30000, Xeikon is first and foremost aiming at high value applications, usually featuring high coverage color content on high-quality papers combined with superior quality requirements. “This can be in the book printing segment or high-quality direct mail, but because of the versatility of the technology, it might also be in retail and signage materials, security printing and other general commercial print. Furthermore, we are looking at customers who need higher productivity combined with lower running cost and a compelling overall TCO.”

“We have been the pioneers of dry toner technology, and we continue to see opportunities to further enhance it and improve on it”, says Dimitri Van Gaever. “The technology has been named SIRIUS – after the brightest star in the night sky and in reference to its role in helping people to navigate and set course in various cultures throughout history. We believe this platform will lead the way towards a profitable business for our existing and future customers.”