At Drupa 2012, the talk was all about something very small making a big impression—but before you glaze over, although we are talking nano particles, this discussion is not about Landa. Some companies used Drupa to present the next generation of inkjet print-heads, set to make a big impact on print.

Memjet, Epson, HP and Ricoh are some of those at the forefront of the technology that fires ink onto substrates at an increasingly fast, economic rate to high-quality effect. These com-panies can be broken down into a couple of broad churches: further advances in micro piezo technology adopted by companies like Epson, and the water-fall technology developed by Memjet. 

Technicalities

To categorise each key player, you need to understand the underlying technology and theory. Inkjet printing heads for many printing devices use micro piezo technology at their heart. The key component in each head is a piezoelectric transducer—extremely thin crystals manufactured in a flat wafer format, used to create the electrically-stimulated pressure necessary to generate ink droplets. The inkjet head has a number of nozzles with trans-ducers inside to eject ink from a reservoir.

 

Memjet is making some rather bold statements on where it will impact traditional print”

The skills and experience Epson has accumulated is taking this technology to new levels, following great invest-ment in manufacturing technology. Advantages of this technology include using solvent-based inks, UV inks and colour filters. The newer advanced technology also allows for greater meniscus control, enabling increased print speed, variable dot size and increased dot frequency.

Double trouble

As well as changing technology, manufacturers have also developed equipment so two printheads can work in conjunction with each other—delivering eight channels of CMYK colour at blistering speed.

Meanwhile, Memjet has come with a different approach to getting droplets of ink on the substrate. Known for the ability to pour ink onto A4 paper at miraculous speeds in office equipment, Memjet has highlighted commercial printing as an area it can help.

‘Waterfall’ technology is a combination of software, firmware and a new concept on printhead design. Using a static printhead system, Memjet claims it can deliver 750 million droplets of ink per second via a five-channel printhead. At a printing speed of 150mm per second, the output from the printhead is 1600 x 1600 DPI.

The printheads have an eleven silicon chip system to control how ink is placed on substrates, coupled with Memjet’s patented Drop Triangle technology to ensure each chip edge integrates with the next.

Epson's micro piezo technology has long been a front runner in the fast paced sector

Memjet feels it has an advantage as its head does not scan and is stationary. Ink droplets are ejected from the head at 74,000 points along the standard 215mm wide printhead, producing ink droplets on the page of 14µm in diameter. The amount of ink ‘pouring’ onto the sheet with only the paper moving through the printer is where Memjet feels its advantage is. The stationary ahead allows for greater dot accuracy, less components and less materials, and a cheaper item of equipment. To increase the width of the substrate to be printed on, you can couple heads together to bring it up to 1,070mm, and the software and firm-ware will produce outputs seamlessly in series.

From a technical perspective, the Micro Piezo technology is mature, naturally evolving into more efficient products and diverging areas in their traditional market. Memjet Waterfall technology is not yet established but does have potential”

Memjet is making bold statements on where it will impact traditional print and, reviewing the technology, you can see why. The theory and devices of both technologies available show how, in practice, they could produce valuable products for commercial printers. From a technical perspective, the Micro Piezo technology is mature, naturally evolving into more efficient products and diverging areas in their traditional market. Memjet Waterfall technology is not yet established but does have potential.

Companies constantly claim their newest technology will make current equipment obsolete—which, to an
extent, is defensive or negative marketing. There are possibilities for three or four mainstream technologies to coexist, delivering high-quality, low-cost equipment for customers wanting to pay less for higher quality printed matter. 

We do not know what the end user is going to want from us, but as print becomes more of a value added product rather than consumable, the tools will be in place to deliver.  
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