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| Talk
the Talk the Language of Ink Jet
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| Like
any technology, ink jet printing has its own language.
The following terms are words that are used in the industry
and throughout this website. |
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Capillary
Path
a very small passageway which a liquid will rise up on
its own accord. The higher the surface tension, the higher
the liquid will rise. A capillary path will be in the
neighborhood of 0.5 mm.
Continuous Ink Jet (CIJ) printing technology
that uses a deflection plate and an electrical field to
control if and where the droplets of ink reach the substrate.
This is the technology of choice for small character high-speed
printing.
De-ionized Water (or zero ohm water) - de-ionized,
de-mineralized, completely pure water. Zero ohm water
is the foundation of Leader's DOD inks. Molecules in zero
ohm water, because they have been stripped of minerals,
electrons and other elements, are actually hungry and
looking to bond with other molecules. Water soluble dies
and resins are blended with this water and permanent molecular
bonds are formed. The resulting liquid is not merely a
mixture of ingredients but a new homogeneous, chemically
bonded and stable solution.
Drop-On-Demand (DOD) printing technology that
uses high-speed electrical valves or plungers which deliver
ink through a nozzle plate and onto the substrate.
Filtration the passing of a liquid through a
media to remove any small particles in the ink that could
cause blockage at the printhead orifice. The amount of
filtration is indicated by the micron size of the filtering
media.
Flash Point minimum temperature at which a liquid
gives off vapors in sufficient concentration to ignite.
Flash point is recorded in degrees F or degrees C. The
higher the temperature, the LESS flammable the product.
Lightfast a special ink that contains chemicals
to enhance its durability and resistance to fading.
Make-up fluids fluids which are added to ink
in a CIJ printing system. Once make-up has been added,
the ink is recycled back into the system.
MEK Methyl Ethyl Ketone. An extremely fast evaporating
solvent used in many DOD and CIJ formulations.
Micro-channeling a valveless technology proprietary
to Leader DOD printing systems. Instead of using costly
valves that have a tendency to malfunction, ink is distributed
through a series of tiny channels to the nozzle plate.
This innovative technology is much more durable and much
less expensive than a valve system.
Micron a unit of measure equivalent to millimeters.
In the ink industry, it is used to measure the size of
the passage in a filtering media. One micron = 0.00004
inches. To put this into perspective, the smallest particle
the human eye can distinguish is 25 microns. Leader filters
its DOD ink products down to 3 microns absolute, its
CIJ ink products to 0.4 microns, and its hi-res inks
to 0.2 microns.
Orifice The small holes in the printers face
plate where the droplet of ink is emitted from the printhead.
Piezo-electric printing technology that generates
extremely small ink droplets by variably expanding, or
pulsing, a piezo-electric crystal within a jet. The Trident
and Xaar print engines are a recent manifestation from
this technology and provide extremely high resolution
print capabilities.
Solvent-based ink ink manufactured with special
chemicals that help produce a durable image on non-porous
surfaces.
Substrate the product that ink is being printed
on.
Ultraviolet ink manufactured with special chemicals
that, when printed, is invisible under normal light. The
image, however, is visible under ultraviolet light. These
types of inks are often used for security purposes.
Viscosity a determination as to how thick or
how thin the ink might be. Viscosity is recorded in centipoises
indicated by cP. LD-60 has a viscosity of approximately
1.5 cP at room temperature. LD-HR70 has a viscosity of
approximately 80 cP at room temperature and 15 cP at 140
degrees F (printing temperature).
VOC volatile organic compounds. VOC are the amount
of certain organic compounds in a formulation. VOC is
usually reported as pounds per gallon.
Water-based ink ink manufactured with de-ionized
water to print on porous surfaces.
Waterfast a special ink that contains chemicals
to enhance its durability and resistance to moisture.
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