Ink-jet: A Disruptive Technology

The Clogging Conundrum

Idle piezo heads are problematic and can lead to blockages caused by changing properties of the ink in the nozzle area. Steve Hoover, vice president of the Xerox Research Center in Webster, N.Y., described what he refers to as the “ink-jet paradox”: in order to successfully jet current inks, manufacturers need to use print heads with very fine nozzles, which are subject to clogging by the thicker inks used by flexo or offset technologies. However, watery inks have their own problems, often related to drying of ink on untreated substrates.