A piezo inkjet printer is a type of inkjet printer that uses printer heads containing special crystals to which an electric current is applied. This causes the crystals to expand, forcing ink onto a substrate. When the current is removed, the crystal shrinks again, drawing up ink into the printer head.
Piezo technology is often found in large character inkjet printers.
Piezo inkjet printers use the Drop-On-Demand (DOD) printing technique, which means the printer carries the ink in a chamber located in the printhead. This printing technique is also used by thermal inkjet printers.
In order to apply ink on a surface, piezo inkjet printers use the so-called piezoelectric effect. This effect consists in creating a voltage on the surface of a piezoelectric material (e.g. piezoelectric crystals) by deforming it. As a result, the printing nozzle is momentarily deformed, exerting a high pressure on the ink and making the printhead eject an ink droplet. The polarity of the voltage is then reversed so that the ink stops flowing from the nozzle.
There are two modes in which the piezo inkjet printers apply ink: the bend and the shear mode. In the first case, the ink is drawn and forced out of the chamber via the nozzle by a two-way expansion. The second mode achieves the same result, only that pressure waves are used instead, consuming less energy.
Piezo inkjet printers offer several advantages, especially if we compare them with thermal inkjet printers. These advantages include the following:
Despite these advantages, piezo inkjet printers are usually more expensive than thermal inkjet printers. Also, and unlike continuous inkjet printers, they tend to be used with water-based inks instead of fast-drying solvent inks, slowing down the printing process.
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