Printer head relies on welding rather than adhesives

May 19, 2005
Many printheads are built up of layers with adhesives holding the entire assembly together.

But adhesives can interact with and ruin inks. To get around this limitation and build a sturdier, more rugged printhead, engineers at PicoJet Inc., Portland, Oreg. (picojet.com), ultrasonically weld several stainless-steel plates together to form the PJ-N256 dropon-demand printhead. This design prevents ceramic piezoelectric material from entering the fluid channels and blocking nozzles.

Each nozzle has a piezoceramic actuator. Applying a voltage expands the actuator and it pushes down on a diaphragm plate forcing out ink droplets. Each independently addressable nozzle assembly can spit out 10,000 drops/sec at 6 to 8 m/sec. A complete printhead consists of 256 nozzles in a 16 16 array. It delivers 300-dpi resolutions and can be used for four-color printing on foam board, canvas, textiles, glass, metal, plastic and, of course, paper. The all-metal ink channel handles aggressive ink chemistries, including UV-curable, oil, water, solvent, hot wax, and conductive inks.

Sponsored Recommendations

April 16, 2025
Clean. Compact. Less heat.
April 16, 2025
SEW-EURODRIVE Introduces DR2C motor, IE5 Ultra-Premium Efficiency Motor
March 31, 2025
Unlike passive products - made of simple carbon springs - the bionic prostheses developed by Revival Bionics are propulsive, equipped with a motor and an artificial Achilles tendon...
March 31, 2025
Electric drives are a key technology for the performance of machines, robots, and power tools. Download this guide for an introduction to high-quality mechatronic drive systems...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Machine Design, create an account today!