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Jetting, in-nozzle meniscus motion and nozzle-plate flooding in an industrial drop-on-demand print head


Type

Conference Object

Change log

Authors

Hsiao, WK 
Hoath, SD 
Martin, GD 
Hutchings, IM 

Abstract

The state of the ink film at and near the nozzles of a drop-ondemand(DoD) print head during jetting has a direct impact on printing performance and reliability. We have developed highspeed imaging apparatus and analytical techniques to investigate the ink film dynamics on an industrial print head nozzle-plate in real-time. In addition to a direct correlation between the jet emergence velocity and drive voltage, drive-dependent variations in the oscillation of the ink meniscus in adjacent nozzles were also observed. Using a ray-tracing model to analyze the meniscus shape, the meniscus oscillations for both printing and nonprinting nozzles were found to be complex and involve elements such as pre-oscillation and high-order surface waves. The flooding of non-firing nozzles, deliberately caused by the application of maximum drive voltage to a neighboring nozzle, has been recorded and analyzed dynamically. The build-up of fluid in an annulus around the nozzle (flooding rate) has been characterized and compared with models for the net ink flow through the nozzle.

Description

Keywords

Journal Title

International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies

Conference Name

NIP27: The 27th International Conference on Digital Printing Technologies and Digital Fabrication 2011

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Proc 27th Int. Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies, NIP27

Publisher DOI