Inkjet is the art of ejecting a very small amount of liquid onto a desired substrate producing a crisp spherical drop that is precise and reproducible. When you minimize the drop volume and multiply the number of drops, the quality and resolution dramatically improve. Further the number of drops and you improve the quality and resolution of your print, rendering photographic quality. There are several factors that influence the performance and quality of inkjet ink.
Print head designs
The major contributors to which we can accredit our current inkjet technologies include Canon, Epson and Hewlett-Packard. There are two basic print head designs, thermal and piezoelectric. Thermal was developed in the late 1970s with HP introducing the first commercial application in the mid 1980s. The print head heats the ink in direct contact with a plate causing the ink to expand. The expanded fluid forms a bubble forcing a drop of ink that is then propelled through an array of nozzles onto the substrate. The heating plate is cooled and the chamber refills by capillary action, ready to repeat the process. As a consequence, residue can build up on the resistor reducing the long-term use of this type of print head. This type of print head is considered “disposable” and is inexpensive to manufacture relative to the other design.
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This article will be available online on 10/01/2008
