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Printing Ink
Printing
Ink:
Different Inkjet Inks for
Different Technologies
There are two
main technologies currently existing for getting inkjet ink out of
a printing ink cartridge and onto a piece of paper. One involves heat,
and one involves vibration. Thus the properties of the inkjet ink
need to be different depending on which printing ink technology is
being employed.
Canon and HP use
the thermal bubble jet technology, which uses heat to force a tiny
droplet of printing ink out of the print head and onto the paper.
When this bubble "pops", it creates a vacuum which pulls
a drop of inkjet ink into the print head from the inkjet cartridge
to replace the droplet going out. Therefore, both Canon and HP ink
must have an exact pre-determined sensitivity to heat.
Epson uses a
vibration technology to get the printing ink out of the print head.
A piezo crystal located at the back of each of the 300 or so print
nozzles on the print head is given a a tiny bit of current when so
directed. The crystal vibrates, thus sending out a droplet of inkjet
ink. This action also works to pull in a tiny amount of ink to replace
the outgoing droplet. Because Epson ink doesn't have to be as sensitive
to heat, engineers are able to concentrate on other qualities, such
as quick-drying and not spreading. That is one reason why some feel
that Epson has an edge in this field.
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