The 99mm-long GMA 99 head joins the 33mm-long Samba GMA 33 head in Fujifilm’s portfolio. Melbourn, Cambridgeshire-based Meteor was first to announce support for the latter last year, following close collaboration with Fujifilm.
Based on silicon micro-electro-mechanical (Si-MEMS) technology, Samba GMA 99 printheads have a native resolution of 300dpi, 1,152 nozzles and ink drop size of 5pl.
They can jet a wide range of fluids including UV-curable, solvent and aqueous inks, and are ideally suited for scanning applications such as textile, indoor signage, soft signage and high-quality UV printing.
Accessed via Gigabit Ethernet, each Meteor PCC-E Print Controller accommodates up to eight GMA 99 printheads through the HDC-GMA99 head driver. Meteor said Gigabit Ethernet products have been an integral part of its product portfolio since 2013.
Enabling full binary and greyscale capabilities of the GMA 99 printhead, Meteor said its drive electronics and software are capable of producing complex, multi-pulse waveforms to control printhead drop ejection volume, velocity and timing, enabling system builders to get the best from these printheads.
The firm said its ability to support ultra-high data rates, large image buffers and long cable lengths means scanning machines can accommodate any number of printheads.
Meteor Inkjet managing director Clive Ayling said: “Meteor has long enjoyed a close working partnership with Fujifilm Dimatix and this allows us to release our electronics and software at the same time as Dimatix releases sample volumes of the printhead. This ensures customers are ready to go when the head is in full production.
“Doing a 99mm-long silicon MEMS head is pretty impressive. Although the head is not massive in terms of numbers of nozzles, it’s nonetheless a very interesting concept.”
Meteor, which works closely with all of the major industrial inkjet printhead manufacturers, was acquired by print software developer Global Graphics in December 2016.
Global Inkjet Systems (GIS) has also announced support for the the Dimatix Samba GMA printhead product line, with the launch of its new GIS Head Management Board (HMB-FD-GMA).
