Making its FESPA début in Cologne is world-leading manufacturer AEG which is majoring on its wide-format portfolio of printers designed to offer easily upgradable, robust and reliable superior quality solutions at a realistic investment point. The AEG Voyager Pro UV-curable series of true combination roll-fed and flat-bed printers is available in three print widths, with a choice of belt options, and were demonstrated throughout the event.

The AEG Voyager Pro LED was shown in a 3.2m configuration, printing onto flexible materials, while the 2.05m AEG Voyager Pro will be outputting direct to rigid substrates. A 1.6m wide version which carries the same modular choices represents the third member of the series.

The AEG Voyager Pro series includes true modularity and unrivalled versatility that enables users to choose, or to upgrade later in the field, metallic ink and special colours, a sophisticated precision belt drive, and the option of LED or mercury arc curing. The printers all feature a quick-change from roll-fed to flat-bed and back again, making them a flexible solution for expanding sign-makers, display producers and print service providers who want to ensure their systems are both multi-purpose and future-proof.

Available through a growing network of reseller channels, with announcements of new territory coverage took place during FESPA, UK-based Image Technology is the company responsible for all AEG professional printing equipment and supplies. This first innovative series of wide-format printers has been designed and constructed to provide users with a cost-effective and ergonomic powerhouse that has strong emphasis on versatility and innovation.

Ink combinations include metallic and special colors, and a variety of user options enhances its CMYK based configuration to meet specific gamut requirements and material handling demands. With a choice of LED or mercury arc curing capabilities, the AEG Voyager Pro’s Xaar 1002 industrial print-heads provide robust consistency to satisfy the most demanding of production needs.

In common with all of its professional print products, the AEG Voyager Pro series is manufactured in Europe and has been created to deliver ergonomic reliability and fast throughput, with true modularity that enables the printers to be upgraded in the field as and when businesses need to boost productivity and performance. This strategy provides a future-proof investment for users by enabling the addition of special or spot colors on-site with minimal disruption so that uptime can be maintained.

With throughput speeds of up to 100 square m/hour, the AEG Voyager Pro’s versatile media transport and rugged mechanism simplify the printing of a vast range of applications. Change-over from rigid to roll-bed materials takes less than one minute, thanks to its quick-connecting detachable flat-bed tables which minimise down-time and add to the machine’s overall versatility as a true dual-purpose printer.

Available with a choice of ink-sets, the configuration of CMYK in the base model can be augmented with light cyan and light magenta, plus white, clear varnish and metallic ink options. For users with specific gamut needs, orange and green or violet and red are available to meet work-flow requirements that require specific colour criteria. Additionally the printers can be configured as double CMYK for print shops that require maximum productivity and the finest quality in bi-directional mode.

The decision to incorporate Xaar’s 1002 robust print-heads in the AEG Voyager Pro printers was derived from the need for greyscale quality so that users can generate the finest gradients and solid colours. Xaar’s proprietary Through-Flow Technology is complemented by its Hybrid Side-Shooter architecture with the benefits of true ink recirculation that removes the presence of trapped air or impurities, prevents blocked nozzles, and minimises waste because ink continues to flow around the circuit when the printer is on stand-by.

AEG’s wide-format portfolio of products currently majors on the Voyager Pro family of printers and its Symphony UV-curable inks that are formulated to generate vibrant and consistently accurate colours with a three-year outdoor durability and excellent adhesion onto rigid and flexible materials. The company is also introducing a range of competitively priced dedicated print media which is available in a choice of widths and, finally, information will be available about future planned launches into the ink-jet segment that concentrate on high speed cost-effective devices.

Founded more than 125 years ago in Germany, AEG is synonymous with high quality products and world-class engineering. The brand has long generated support globally and possesses a superlative background in concept, manufacture and service. Customers can therefore be confident that the Voyager Pro wide-format UV-curable printers and related products within the digital print segment have all been developed to be ‘perfekt in form und funktion’ – in keeping with the time-honoured philosophy of the AEG brand.