Contrary to the conventional range of cylinder machines, the 4-post ASTRON QX series is fully servo driven. One main servo motor is directly connected to the cylinder drive shaft in combination with two electro magnetic linear motors for the screen movement. Unlocking the mechanical connection between cylinder and screen carrier opens new advantages. Now it is possible to manipulate the print length of the image “non-linear”, it can be stretched or shortened random over the complete image size. Also, in order to increase productivity, the flooding speed can be faster than the print speed! The ASTRON QX comes with the shortest change-over time in the industry. After entering a numeric sheet size, all size related machine settings will automatically move into the correct position, this even includes the sheet edge rollers. The screen set-up is fully automized / motorized. After sliding in a new screen from the machine operator side, it takes less than 2 minutes to be set in registration! Removing dust particles from the screen underside or using solvents to clean the screen can be done outside of the machine chassis. The retractable screen holder slides the screen out and back in without losing registration. This way the operator can do the “cleaning job” standing next to the machine in a convenient and physically relaxed ergonomic position.

The ASTRON series comes with a unique CCD camera image registration system. 2 cameras are connected to the sheet side-lay registration marks. For each individual sheet the screen will be registered to achieve a perfect fit with the former printed image. The achieved accuracy is ≤ 30 µm! This industrial machine is especially suitable for high-end screen applications like printed flexible electronics, credit cards, textile transfers, bio medical strips, FIM and other functional printing.