Flash Fusing Makes Colour Printers Run At 500ppm

Colour xerographic continuous feed printers are now claimed to be able to achieve speeds of almost 500 colour pages per minute with Xerox's new non-contact flash fusing.

Xerox said that by flashing a high-intensity Xenon light 2,000 times per second, the company's printers fuse the colour toner to a variety of paper and substrates without any components touching the paper.

As a result, the fusing technology enables colour continuous feed printing at speeds that rival mono continuous feed printing, whilst creating high quality images, added Xerox.

According to the company, conventional toner-based printers heat the entire paper and pressure-roll the toner to fix the image on to the paper, which has print speeds only up to 110 pages per minute and restricted printing on surfaces that have adhesives.

However, Xerox said that the new flash fusing method depends on newly-developed colour toners, which melt and fuse the image through the energy from the Xenon lamps, producing up to 650 images per minute in monochrome and 493 images per minute in full colour.

In addition, plastic identification cards and peel-off labels on statements, price tags and stickers as well as RFID transponder inlays can now be printed at high speeds.

The company said that flash fusing uses Xenon lamps similar to those used in super bright headlights on luxury cars.

There are eight flash lamps placed in a design inside the continuous feed printer.

Xerox added that for flash fusing to work, its scientists had to change how cyan, yellow and magenta toners absorb energy from light.

So the company created colour toners that contain infrared energy-absorbing material that allow the individual colour toners to absorb enough energy so that each fuses as fast as the black toner, which absorbs all light.

As a result, the toners are laid down in the order of their absorption rate, with black at the bottom.

As each toner is overlaid on the preceding toners, the energy builds with each flash providing the correct amount of light to fuse each colour, it is claimed.

The flash-fusing approach is also said to improvement reliability and quality.

Because only the toner, not the paper, is heated, moisture is maintained in the paper, minimising stock shrinkage, paper curl and static electricity.

That also improves front-to-back registration, which has normally been a challenge when printing on both sides of the paper at high speeds.

Consequently, according to Xerox, it results in higher productivity and reliability because the paper feeds dependably during printing and finishing.

The company also added that flash fusing is the technological cornerstone of its 490/980 colour continuous feed printer, as well as the new 650/1300 monochrome continuous feed printer and the 495 monochrome duplex continuous feed printer.

Daniel McCue, vice president and chief technology officer at Xerox Production Systems Group, explained: "This fusing technology is a great example of how our innovation drives the development of colour products with functions never before seen in the marketplace.

As we expand our portfolio of continuous feed systems, we're giving print providers more options on how to print faster, in full colour, on different materials and papers.

This innovation offers another technology breakthrough to the market, providing high reliability xerographic printing at extraordinary speed and print quality." Peter Crean, a research fellow at Xerox's Research Centre of Webster, added: "Think of the instant pulse of heat you would feel if you were to hold your hand in front of a flash camera.

Now imagine thousands of those firing at high speed.

In fact, the lamps that line up along the paper path inside the machine pulse light sequentially 120,000 times per minute, exposing and fusing the toner to the paper as it passes by at 226 feet per minute.".

Back to top