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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.