New Trends in Inkjet Printing (1)

The so-called general inkjet, this refers to a 72-inch wide format printer. There are two kinds of droplet spraying methods on this type of printer, namely thermal and piezoelectric. Both are for on-demand printing, and droplets are ejected only when the graphics are printed. Heat-sensitive method, also known as bubble jet method, is a weak current sent to the heater, so that heat occurs, prompting the bubble in the ink to expand, so that the pressure ejected droplets. Such products are relatively famous Canon Bubble-jet, Huret-Puckered (HP) Design-jet, Macdamid Color Span and the like.

In the piezoelectric ink jet method, when an image is printed, an electrical signal is sent to the piezoelectric element, the element is deformed, and the droplet is ejected using the deformed pressure. Famous products of this type include StylusPro from Epson, various brands from Sanmu, and Hi-fi jet from Roland.

The cartridge is mounted on a thermal inkjet print head. Even if there is a device, the print head is generally replaced once the ink is consumed to 1000 ml to 1300 ml, and the replacement of the ink cartridge undoubtedly increases the thermal printing cost. The cartridges are produced by the respective printer manufacturers and their OEMs. In addition, piezoelectric print heads are semi-permanent, because piezoelectric elements do not use heat like heat, but rely on the weak current to force the element to deform.

Industrial inkjet includes the following models:

1. Large and large format printing machine

2. Various series sold by Arizona company

3. Platform printers provided by most manufacturers

The inks used in these printers must have good homogeneity compared to inkjets in general. Piezoelectric methods are used in addition to the platen printers.

The classification of inkjet inks relates to the classification of inkjet inks. Major classifications are based on the drying method, ie volatilization or polymerization. The classification is based on the solvent of the ink for classification. That is, it is classified by solvent, water, oil, resin and monomer, as well as a small classification according to the type of colorant, which is divided into pigments and dyes.

Volatilization refers to the method by which the solvent in the ink is used to leave a dry film on the substrate. The polymeric type refers to a method of irradiating UV rays after printing to cause the molecules to initiate a cross-linking reaction to form a film. Solvents are used to transport the components (colorants, additives) of ink binders to printing materials. There are petroleum solvents, water, and oils. There are fewer inks used in oils. Most of them use solvents or water. . Solvent Joan's ink has the advantages of adapting to a variety of substrates, but it has environmental issues. Water-based inks can neither accelerate drying nor require special treatment on the surface of the substrate.

The solvent of the polymeric ink is a mixture of a resin and a monomer. The colorant includes a pigment and a dye. The dye is composed of one molecule and has good transparency, so that the underlying color cannot be masked. And it is not resistant to ultraviolet rays and has the property of fading. Dyes are also the source of public hazards. On the other hand, pigment particles are larger and consist of about 10,000 molecules, allowing light to diffuse. Therefore, the color is not as bright as the dye but fades slowly.

Early ink-jet inks were water-based inks in which the dyes were dissolved in water. After a few years, the pigments were finely pulverized (in order to improve the transmission of the thermal print heads) for use as a colorant. Early pigment prints were turbid and improved in the future. The ink used today has been greatly improved, and the pigment ink has a very wide range of color development. Dye inks are superior in lightfastness.

The type of colorant is not constrained by the ink vehicle. Water-based inks use both dyes and pigments. In the case of solvents, although dyes can also be used, today's solvent inks use pigments. Polymeric inks that are also resin-plus-monomers also use pigments.

Let us introduce the practical machine used by each category project. The solvent-pigment type is a model from Arizona. It is an extremely wide press. This is an ink-jet printing ink for industrial use. Its printing materials are various, and solvent-based inks have the advantages of adapting to various printing materials. In addition, Sol-jet is a solvent-pigment type. Water-based pigments and dyes are mostly used for general ink-jet printing. Oil-pigment types include Xpress, Arizona 30, resin-pigment type for most of the platform ink jet printers.

The current situation and future of inkjet

Then talk about the current situation and future of inkjet. It is alleged that the world's printing services have a production value of about 10 billion U.S. dollars. This amount is equivalent to 3% of world GDP. These values ​​are quoted in the IT strategy paper "The role of inkjet in the world's printing environment." There are other interesting values, such as the consumption of digital printing reaching 30% of the global printing market, and 90% of it is consumed by the office sector. Moreover, the growth rate of the department is 6% year-on-year, compared with 3% for the printing market. The recent market share of inkjet in the digital printing market is only 5%, and its growth rate varies from 10 to 30% depending on different sectors. According to IT strategy data, it is interesting that this information holds that there are great developments in the future with industrial inkjet. In this case, the market is divided into three parts, one for office and household use, the other for printing (brochure, book records), and the third for industrial use. The industrial use mentioned here is the product itself as the main body, printing is the secondary one, and the printing project is included in the production process of the product.

Inkjet home PCs sold more than $27 billion in sales. With the decrease in sales of personal computers, inkjet shipments have also decreased. In addition, the research investment in improved color images of electrophotography has also had an adverse effect on the inkjet printing market.