Ink Jet Printing

Ink jet printing is a method of creating prints and images via non-contact printing onto a printing substrate (the material in which the prints and images are printed on, i.e. paper and vinyl). The system works by producing a fine jet of ink , called ink-jet, through a printing nozzle of up to 50 microns in diameter (as a reference, the average diameter of the human hair is about 90 microns). There are a few methods of producing a “fine jet of ink” or “ink-jet." The most predominant is the “piezoelectric method” and its hybrids. It is a printing technology driven by a phenomenon known to scientists for over 100 years – the characteristic of certain materials that cause them to be deformed when subjected to an electrical field. In the piezoelectric method, a ceramic material made with Lead Zirconate Titanate, or PZT, is used to create a series of ink channels that make up a “printer head.” In a typical “printer head” there can be as many as 512 ink channels. When an electrical field is applied to the PZT ink channels, its walls becomes deformed and ejects the ink through the nozzle at the end of each channel. The ejection of the ink through the nozzles gives rise to tiny droplets of ink traveling towards a printing substrate to create images.

Ink-jet printing has many advantages over the traditional printing methods such as screen printing, offset lithography, embossing, engraving, flexography, gravure, letterpress, and thermography. Since only the ink is in contact with the substrate, it is possible to print an image on many different types of substrates, such as vinyl or textiles, and even onto substrates with irregular shapes or surfaces. Designs are generated quickly and can be changed over in a matter of seconds, since the whole system is driven primarily by a computer-based color RIP software. The result is increased productivity and profitability through increased printing speeds and minimal ink and substrate waste.

There are other methods of ink-jet printing. In “continuous ink jet” printing, the ink is continuously pushed out of the ink channel by a pump, through a nozzle that is coupled with a PZT material, creating an “ink-jet”. Applying an electrical potential on the PZT material causes the nozzle to vibrate, breaking up the ink jet into droplets of ink. There is also the “bubble jet” or “thermal jet” printing, where the ink in the channel is heated until a bubble of ink under high pressure is created then ejected out of the nozzle and onto the printing substrate.

The “piezoelectric method” is usually the preferred method in industrial scale applications of large format digital printing such as banners, signs and various specialty applications. The “bubble or thermal method” is the preferred method for smaller scale applications such as desktop printers and desktop publishing applications for home and office use. Because of its collaboration with numerous print head developers and manufacturers, Hilord has been in the forefront in producing quality inks for industrial printers utilizing the “piezoelectric method."