Receiving its European show debut at Fespa will be the ValueJet 626UF, an A2-size six-colour (CMYK plus white and varnish) direct-to-object LED-UV printer. The company already offers an A3 flatbed LED-UV printer, the ValueJet 426UF, which was launched in 2014.

The 626UF is targeted at short-run personalisation of gifts and gadgets, packaging prototypes, awards, speciality or industrial items, labels, decals and signs.

A wide variety of solid materials and objects up to a thickness of 150mm can be printed onto with the device, which has a bed size of 594x483mm and offers print resolutions up to 1,440x1,440dpi.

“Due to the larger size we also decided to integrate more user friendliness, including an automatic table lifting system as well as an LED pointer to facilitate accurate media placement and origin point detection,” said Mutoh marketing assistant Dirk Devroye.

An integrated vacuum bed is also included and the device automatically measures the thickness of the loaded object.

Pricing has not yet been revealed for the machine, which is expected to be commercially available from Mutoh’s resellers – including UK agent Colourgen – in the weeks after the show.

Mutoh will also debut a new flex LED-UV inkset – CMYK, white and varnish – which it has specifically developed for its ValueJet hybrid roll and rigid LED-UV printer models.

The manufacturer said these inks, which will be commercially available shortly after Fespa, do not contain any VOCs, require no air filtering equipment and generate no ozone into the environment.

These inks will extend the capabilities of Mutoh’s ValueJet hybrid printers to enable them to produce a wider array of signage, including high quality backlit applications and prints on clear and non-white substrates.

“Applications for signage on these machines were previously limited. The stretching of the previous inks was not optimised for a wide range of signage applications but now we have some outstanding results on different kinds of media. It’s a really steady ink to go on flexible substrates,” said Devroye.

Other recently launched products on Mutoh’s Fespa stand will include the four-colour ValueJet 1604WX, a single-head 1,620mm-wide dye-sublimation printer, and the ValueJet 1948WX dye-sublimation transfer printer, which was premiered in January at Heimtextil in Frankfurt.

Fespa will take place at the Hamburg Messe in Germany from 8 to 12 May.