Inkjet printing dynamics - influence on ink distribution in paper and print quality

摘要

Inkjet technology is becoming established as a production method and emerges as a printing technology for printing functionalities on various media. The development has encouraged intensified research in the fields of inkjet technology and paper media. The work presented here is part of a research program that attempts to bridge the gap between the two disciplines. The overall objective is to control and improve the print quality and print functionality by observing and controlling the dynamic processes that occur in paper media in the inkjet printing process. Detailed information about the dynamic processes is however not available with the experimental methods present today, and improvements of experimental techniques is consequently a prerequisite for a better understanding. Therefore, inkjet printing machines were built and tested. The printers allow for inkjet printing with various types of inks and print heads at freely chosen paper feeding speed. Methods to study the inkjet printing process in-situ by use of camera and high-speed video camera were developed. It is shown that the in-situ methods capture spreading and absorption processes of inkjet droplets on still-standing paper and paper fed at high speed. The in-situ measurements and analysis are discussed in terms of relevant print quality parameters.