Epson Unveils PrecisionCore Technology

Epson has revealed a new core high-density print chip produced using MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) manufacturing, containing 1-micron thin piezo actuator elements capable of firing up to 50,000 drops of ink per second in volumes from 1.5 to 32.5 picoliters. The technology is scalable; as an example the Epson SurePress L-6034VW industrial label press contains 52,800 nozzles and can produce 15 meters of output per minute.

Epson press release:

- TOKYO, Japan, and BRUSSELS, Belgium, September 25, 2013 -

Epson global president, Minoru Usui, today announced PrecisonCore, a next-generation inkjet printing technology poised to transform the printing business, providing the company with an unparalleled level of manufacturing efficiency to expand into high-potential new global markets. PrecisionCore builds on Epson's longstanding reputation for output quality, at the speeds required for industrial and commercial printing. The technology will also be extended into the company's office printing range.

At a press conference at LabelExpo, a premier label industry exhibition, Usui explained how Epson combined years of technical expertise with recent breakthroughs in piezo material and high-precision MEMS (micro-electromechanical systems) manufacturing to create an innovative new print chip. The new PrecisionCore chip delivers commercial-grade performance in a compact, modular form, and enables Epson to scale the technology from single-pass industrial presses to workgroup and desktop printers.

PrecisionCore is the only volume-produced printing technology that spans such a wide range of inks and marking materials. PrecisionCore technology extends Epson's high-performance thin-film piezo (TFP) print technology, currently used in its market-leading commercial large-format printers, to deliver customers flexible industrial and business printing solutions with superior color, print quality, and output durability on the widest range of media for everything from business documents, photography and signage, to commercial labels, packaging, and textiles.

"PrecisionCore represents a leap forward in printing performance," said Usui. "We continue to deliver outstanding quality thanks to superior dot control, and have introduced an original new system to ensure reliability. At the same time, scalability allows us to fully leverage our historical strengths of ink flexibility and printhead durability."

Epson's unique integrated production cycle - from the piezo printhead to the finished printing device - provides a highly efficient manufacturing process to address a full range of digital printing opportunities with the scale, quality and cost effectiveness only possible through MEMS chip production.

In conjunction with the PrecisionCore announcement today, Epson is demonstrating several new products incorporating the technology at LabelExpo in Hall 9, Stand 9H50, from September 24 - 27. The products tap into PrecisionCore's ability to power innovations and include a number of firsts: the SurePress L-6034V and L-6034VW are Epson's first digital label presses that use UV-cure ink and that have a linehead print array; and the SureColor F2000 is Epson's first direct-to-garment printer.