Originally a standard printer company, Mimaki have moved on to the world of additive manufacturing, quite like HP have done so previously. The company recently unveiled it’s first full-color 3D printer, the 3DUJ-553. The printer is capable of processing objects from acrylic using UV-LED technology in over 10 million colors.
The company has stated that they used their proficiency in 2D inkjet printers as the base for this color technology. Consequently, the printer uses CMYK for coloring (along with white, clear and support materials). These allow the printer to capture its impressive range of shades. Additionally, the support material is water soluble, making it far easier to remove.
The printer operates on UV ink, which it deposits from its 8 cylinders. Then, it passes a UV light over each layer before piling the next one. In terms of performance, it seems to have some very impressive stats as well. The 3DUJ-553 has 3 speed settings: High-speed, Standard and High-definition. At high-speed it can print a 600 x 300 x 600 mm fully colored object in about 14 hours.
On its website, the company proposes two primary markets that they wish to aim this product towards. While it is a versatile printer, they have stated that it is especially suitable for the sign and graphics market and industrial goods production (modelling and final product).
Even though the product is quite new, Mimaki have debuted it at exhibitions. So far, It looks to be a fine addition to the color printing market.
Specs
| Specs | Description |
|---|---|
| Technology | UV curable inkjet |
| Color Range | Full color (over 10 million) |
| Print head | On-demand piezoelectric print head (8 head inline) |
| Print volume | 20 × 20 × 12 in (508 × 508 × 305 mm) |
| Minimum layer height | 22μm |
| Size | 88.6 × 59.1 × 61.0 in (2,250 × 1,500 × 1,550 mm) |
| Weight | 600kg (1322.8 lb) including full weight of ink |
| Color ink types | CMYK, clear and white (MH-100 modelling ink) |
| Support material | SW-100 |
| Ink tank volume | CMYK (1 litre bottle) + white, clear/support (4.8 Litre) |
| Max speed | 14.4 hours 600 x 300 x 600 dpi at 42 μm resolution |
| File formats | STL, OBJ, VRML, PLY, 3MF |
| Software | Layout software [Mimaki 3D Link] |
| Interface | Ethernet 1000BASE-TX |
| Visual monitoring | In-built camera |
| Power Supply | Single phase AC 100-120V/220-240V±10% 50/60Hz±1Hz |
Images videos and data courtesy of Mimaki’s website.
Rajesh says
Great and useful article keep your good work.