1.0    Introduction
Since their introduction in the latter half of the 1980s, inkjet printers have grown in popularity and performance while dropping significantly in price. Inkjet printers are by far the most commonly used printer technology due to low cost, ease of use and excellent color characteristics of the printer. Major producers of inkjet printers include the well known printer brands Canon, Epson, HP and Lexmark.

Different types of inkjet printers form their droplets of ink in different ways. There are two main inkjet technologies currently used by printer manufacturers:

1.1 Thermal bubble

Used by manufacturers such as Canon and Hewlett Packard, this method is commonly referred to as bubble jet by Canon or Thermal inkjet by Hewlett Packard. In a thermal inkjet printer, tiny resistors create heat (Heating element), and this heat vaporizes ink to create a bubble. The bubbles create pressure forcing the ink to be pushed through the nozzles in the Printhead. When the bubbles cool off, vacuum is created attracting new ink into the nozzle.
This process is repeated with high frequency causing ink droplets to be ejected up to 4000 to 6000 times per second. The technology is “ink efficient” since unused droplets are deflected and returned to the ink tank automatically. The technology was initially developed by HP and Canon, printers using the technology are also often referred to as Bubble Jet printers. Most consumer inkjet printers use the thermal heating technology including HP, Canon and Lexmark. A typical bubble jet print head has 300 or 600 tiny nozzles, and all of them can fire a droplet simultaneously.

Canon Printer nowadays like ip1600,iP1700, iP1880, iP1980, MP145, MP150, MP160, Mx308 and MX318 using Cartridge PG40,CL41,PG830 and CL831. High end model like iP3300, iP3500, iP4200, iP4500, iP3680 iP4680 using cartridge PG8,PG5, CLI8 and CLI820 all using this thermal bubble jet technology.


Figure 1:-Part of the nozzle
Figure 2:-The Heating element heat up and produce bubble, the ink will be force out
Figure 3:-When the bubble enough size, the ink will be push out and form a droplet and hit the paper
Figure 4:-The ink will be pull from the ink reservoir to fill up the empty space in nozzle

1.11 Advantages
     • Low cost on Printhead
     • Not sensitive to air bubbler trap in nozzle
     • Cheap ink cartridge

1.12 Disadvantages
     • boils the ink
     • needs special ink
     • Thermal inkjet Printhead doest last longer

Thermo-resister overheating due to NO ink (i.e., firing blanks), using the wrong ink for the cartridge will cause filter mesh to clog up or ink tar building up internally. The ink requirement is extremely high to make sure the Printhead will be last longer use. Maxprint Special MISS ink is under excellent filterability down to 0.2um filter pores, Prevent Print Head Clog, Extreme freedom from coarse particular matter. Low salt content and acid content protect Printhead and nozzle corrosion, means print more last longer.
The ink must be compatible with the Printhead material; low cost ink will cause the substitute stick on the heating element. This will make the efficiency of Printhead reduce and also make the nozzle clog. Clogged nozzles in the print head leading to wasted ink or frequent running of nozzle cleaning program
All heating element will have a shorter lifespan compare to other product. This because the heating element will expose to air or media like ink, the process heat and cold will cause the heating element corrosion especially using the low quality ink.

1.2 Piezoelectric

Patented by Epson, this technology also use by Brother inkjet printer like DCP130, DCP145, DCP165, MFC 240, MFC260,MFC3360 ETC. This technology uses piezo crystals. A crystal is located at the back of the ink reservoir of each nozzle. The crystal receives a tiny electric charge that causes it to vibrate. When the crystal vibrates inward, it forces a tiny amount of ink out of the nozzle. When it vibrates out, it pulls some more ink into the reservoir to replace the ink sprayed out.

One unique thing with the piezoelectric method is that variable-sized droplets can be created making it possible to print finer details. Compared to the thermal heating technology, more nozzles are mounted in this framework which creates a better image quality. With this set up, ink of finer qualities can be used while minimizing ink usage at the same time.


Figure 1:-Part of the nozzle
Figure 2:-when the current flow to the transducer, it will make the transducer enlarge.
Figure 3:-The ink id force by the transducer and spray out become a droplet
Figure 4:-The ink will be pull from the ink reservoir to fill up the empty space in nozzle

2.11 Advantages
     • More high resolution printout
     • Long lasting Printhead

2.12 Disadvantages
     • Expensive Printhead
     • Many ink require to flushing to purge trapped air

Piezoelectric mechanical stability is extremely sensitive to small air bubbles.

After Study this article, You will know how to choose the right printer for your own use.

 Prepare by Maxprint