Epson recently upgraded its Epson UV printhead product line, adding three new variants, including the S3200 and D3000. This upgrade enhances the printhead’s liquid compatibility, allowing it to support a broader range of inks and special fluids. It meets diverse industrial printing needs and offers users more flexible and efficient printing solutions.
Epson UV Printhead D3000-U1R
The newly launched D3000-U1R printhead is developed from the D3000 A1R, which was first introduced in 2022 for single-pass inkjet printers. While the A1R printhead is designed for water-based inks, the D3000-U1R is compatible with UV inks. This makes it a strong fit for the digital label printing market, where UV inks remain dominant. Although water-based inks lead in commercial printing and packaging, the D3000-U1R still shows great potential in these areas. Its excellent adaptability allows it to meet the demands of multiple printing applications.
In terms of core technology and performance, the D3000-U1R printhead continues the excellent genes of the A1R version. The iconic liquid circulation system can reach directly near the nozzle to ensure a smooth ink supply. The D3000-U1R printhead features 2,950 nozzles and supports up to 1200 dpi resolution in monochrome mode. In a dual-channel configuration, each channel still delivers a clear 600 dpi output. Notably, it shares the same electronic and fluid interface design as the A1R model. This allows users of the A1R printhead to upgrade easily without complex reconfiguration. Epson is expected to release more detailed specifications for the D3000-U1R later this summer, which has generated great anticipation.
Epson has updated the performance indicators of its print heads, increasing the target printing speed of the A1R and U1R series from 75 m/min (1200 dpi) to 80 m/min. However, the actual speed may vary depending on the ink and system integration solution.
Paddy O'Hara, Epson's head of printhead sales in Europe, said:
"The exact speed depends on the ink characteristics and device integration details. Different OEMs may exceed or fall below this target."
Epson S3200 U1-2, S3200 U3-2 Printhead
The other two printheads are second-generation products of the S3200. These printheads are based on four Epson PrecisionCore micro-thin film piezoelectric chips. Each chip has two rows of 400 nozzles, for a total of 800 nozzles. This gives a total of 3,200 nozzles, and the four chips are arranged in an S shape, hence the name S3200. They usually offer a resolution of 600 npi but can be configured with two 300 npi ink channels.
Since 2019, Epson has been supplying S3200 printheads to other OEMs. As a result, multiple versions have emerged, each designed to handle different fluids and drop sizes for various printing applications.
The latest versions are the U1-2 and U3-2, which are direct replacements for the current U1 and U2, respectively. They are designed for use with UV-curable inks, while the older versions were widely used mainly in label printing and some packaging printing. “We listened to OEM feedback and real-world application experience and made improvements and enhancements where the products needed it,” O’Hara noted.
Therefore, the second-generation Epson UV printhead series mainly benefit from the improvement of their internal structure, which enables them to handle a wider range of UV inks. This, in turn, makes the printheads suitable for a wider range of applications.
All inks are made up of different chemical components, each offering properties like better jetting performance, longer shelf life, or resistance to environmental factors. However, some of these substances can be highly corrosive. This poses a serious challenge to the internal structure of the printhead. To address this, printhead manufacturers continuously test new ink formulations. As a result, it's common to see multiple versions of the same printhead, each tailored to handle specific ink types—just like in this case.
O'Hara concluded, "The new versions will have the same form, fit, and function as the originals, and we will continue to produce and sell both versions to our original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) at least in the near and medium term."
Epson announced that the new S3200 and D3000 printhead series will be available later this year. Among them, the two S3200 models are expected to be officially released in August, and the D3000-U1R model is scheduled to be launched in the fall.
For more product details, please visit Epson's official website: epson.jp.
