Print head configurations
Inkjet technology is used in many different architectures and with different operating principles, depending on the configuration of its print heads. With thermal inkjet technology, for example, the print head can be a roof shooter, with an orifice located on top of the heater, or a side-shooter, where the orifice is located on the side nearby the heater.
For piezo, there are four main types of print head configuration - squeeze, bend, push, and shear – dependent on what is called, the piezoceramic deformation mode.
A squeeze-mode design usually has either a thin tube of piezoceramic surrounding a glass nozzle,
or a piezoceramic tube cast in plastic that encloses the ink channel.
In a typical bend-mode design, the piezoceramic plates are bonded to the diaphragm forming an array of bilaminar electromechanical transducers used to eject the ink droplets.
For a push-mode design, as the piezoceramic rods expand, they push against ink to eject the droplets.
And in a shear-mode print head, the shear action deforms the piezoplates against ink to eject the droplets. Interaction between ink and piezomaterial is one of the key parameters of this design, as currently pioneered by Xaar.
