Fuji Xerox has received the 2015 Technology Prize from the Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology for its technology of transporting lightweight paper through the toner transfer area, which is implemented in its colour on-demand publishing systems Versant 2100 and Versant 80 presses launched in 2014.
The prize was given for enabling the presses to handle paper as thin as 52 gsm while also realizing high print productivity of 100/80 pages per minute using the transfer roll method, which is conventionally known to be difficult in balancing these two aspects.
Fuji Xerox realized a stable paper transport without causing paper jams, even with lightweight papers, from the second transfer area to the next process. During the second transfer process, toner particles are transferred from the intermediate belt to paper by an electric field. This process causes the paper to be charged with static electricity, which often causes papers, especially lightweight papers, to stick to the intermediate belt. To prevent this, the technology reduces the influence of static electricity against paper by optimizing the structure of the toner transfer area and the electrical properties of its components.
In the Color 1000 product, Fuji Xerox employed the transfer belt method to prevent lightweight papers from sticking to the intermediate belt; however, this necessitated an increase in size in the second transfer mechanism as the transfer belt method requires mechanisms to control the transfer belt as well as a complex cleaning system. The awarded technology has contributed to downsizing and reducing the cost of the presses by eliminating the need to adopt the transfer belt method.
The Japanese Society of Printing Science and Technology annually awards new, excellent technologies that have made a significant contribution to the development of printing technology. This was the second time Fuji Xerox has received this prize. In 2011 it was recognised for its belt-roll high-speed fusing technology.