Industrial solutions for
product marking & coding
Industrial solutions for
product marking & coding
Development & manufacture
"Made in Germany"
50 years of experience
in business & industry

Piezo inkjet printers

What is a piezo inkjet printer?

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.

How does a piezo inkjet printer work?

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.

What advantages do piezo inkjet printers have?

Piezo inkjet printers offer several advantages, especially if we compare them with thermal inkjet printers. These advantages include the following:

  • They provide high resolution printing results.
  • They offer more control over the shape and size of the ink release.
  • They are great with fine print.
  • They are user-friendly and quite easy to set up.
  • Their cartridges can be separated from the printhead and replaced whenever required.
  • They are faster and last longer than thermal inkjet printers.
  • Compared to thermal inkjet printers, they are compatible with a wider variety of inks.

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.

Applications

Learn more about our marking solutions practically implemented at the customer's site

Kraus Maschinenbau marks folding cartons with Weber

Kraus Maschinenbau GmbH developed the FK Codingline for a Polish maker of vehicle filters. Weber Marking Systems ...

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Bluhm-printers at Süddeutsche Zeitung's printing facility

Bluhm Systeme printers at the heart of logistics at the Süddeutsche Zeitung’s printing facility in Munich-Bogenhausen...

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Weber Marking Systems GmbH

Maarweg 33
53619 Rheinbreitbach
Germany