Xerox digital-printer ink works on almost anything

Xerox gave a sneak peek Thursday at its cured gel ink for digital printers that works on a large variety of materials from foil to super-slick plastic to cardboard.

Xerox's cured gel ink

(Credit: Xerox)

Xerox's ink, previewed at the print industry trade show Drupa in Germany, is aimed at taking a bite out of the estimated $400 billion offset printing market.

The cured gel ink, with its peanut butter-like consistency, is heated up and becomes a thick liquid, similar to motor oil. The liquid squeezes through the print heads and onto a printing surface, such as a piece of paper, foil or plastic. As the liquid cools, it reverts back to a peanut butter-like consistency and is then shot with a pulse of ultraviolet light to harden the ink.

"Today digital systems shine in many applications, while offset presses are selected for others. The ability to print on nearly any surface will bring a world of new applications within the reach of digital printers," Steve Hoover, director of the Xerox Research Center, said in a statement.

The ink is currently in the research mode and no timetable is available for when it may hit the market, said Bill McKee, a Xerox spokesman. But he noted: "When we introduce something at a commercial trade show, we're committed to offering it to the market."

Currently, the challenges in getting the cured gel ink to market comes down to having the ink react accordingly, no matter what type of surface it's printed on, whether it's a cardboard box or a glossy magazine, said Jim Larson, Xerox Inkjet program manager.

[sanenazok]

Sounds like the Phaser Solid Ink Technology that Xerox bought from another vendor. The solid ink is a complete nightmare, hopefully this is a little better developed.

[paradiseshore]

Thanks for saying it three times, but where's the nightmare? We've used the Phasers for nearly 5 years now with tremendous results, have even turned on two smaller print shops to using them for short-run jobs and now have plenty of variety in aftermarket supplies and parts to chose from. We did the math, the solid-ink is about dead-even with color laser setups? So there's no nightmares anywhere we can find!

[Printer-Ink-Toner]

We've been testing a system very similar to this Xerox printer ink approach. So far the printer ink results have been promising. I'll post here again and on our printer site at http://www.concordsupplies.com/xerox.html as we get closer to publishing our printer results.

[benjaminstraight]

Cool tech. I didn't know this existed.