SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016 - 30

The Xaar 5601 3p0 is a thin film
silicon MEMS fabricated eight gray level
PIJ head that prints a primary drop of
3 pl and a maximum drop volume of
21 pl with a maximum drop generation
frequency of 96 kHz. It offers a print
width of 4.5 inches (116mm) and has a
total of 5680 nozzles arranged in four
rows that can jet up to six liters of ink
per hour. Xaar indicates that the head's
1200 nozzles per inch and eight levels
of gray can yield "apparent resolution
greater than 2440dpi with high levels of
productivity."18 Xaar indicated that this
water tolerant head would be available by
the end of 2016. Xaar is targeting textile,
laminate, commercial print, packaging
and carton applications with this head.
Its Xaar 5601 is the second Xaar head
that can tolerate aqueous-based inks after
the Xaar 001 designed for jetting large
particle aqueous ceramic glazes. The Xaar
5601 opens opportunities for Xaar in the
rapidly growing textile inkjet market,
where aqueous inks, that its shared wall
shear mode heads could not tolerate, are
standard. Xaar claims that its AcuDrp
Technology™ allows complete control
over greyscale drop ejection that adjusts
for inconsistencies among its nozzles
with sub-drop tuning for every nozzle
on every 5601 printhead print bar. The
Xaar 5601 incorporates the company's
TF Technolog y® that continuously
recirculates its print fluids directly past
the back of the nozzles to prevent fluid
particles settling and maintain f luid
temperature. Xaar designed the 5601
with built-in mounting to readily stack
and align in print bar arrays for rapid
maintenance with printhead removal and
replacement. The Company partnered
with its Cambridge UK neighbor, Global
Inkjet Systems*, to develop the driver
electronics board and ink delivery systems
for the 5601.
Xaar developed its 1003 PIJ printhead
as an upgrade for its Xaar 1001 and
1002 heads. Like its predecessor heads it
incorporates Xaar's TF Technology® that
recirculates its print fluids. Xaar offer
three versions of its 1003: Xaar 1003 GS6,
GS12 and GS40. All of these models have
1000 active nozzles arranged in two
rows for 360 nozzles per inch (npi) and
a print width of 70.5 mm (2.775 inches).
The Xaar 1003 GS6 can print eight gray
levels from a primary drop volume of 6pl
up to 42 pl with a 6 kHz drop generation
frequency. The Xaar 1003 GS12 also can
print eight gray levels from a primary
drop volume of 12 pl up to 84 pl with a
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November/December 2016

6 to 12 kHz drop generation frequency.
The Xaar 1003 GS40 can print five gray
levels from a primary drop volume of
40 pl up to 160 pl with a 5 kHz drop
generation frequency. Xaar has employed
its X-ACTTM MEMS manufacturing
process to build parts for its 1003 line
of heads, that improved their accuracy
and scalability over their 1001 and 1002
predecessors.
Ricoh

On May 23, 2016, Ricoh announced its
development of a new inkjet printhead
for industria l applications using a
thin film (PZT) piezo actuator. This
is the same head as the Xaar 1201.
Ricoh indicates that its Sol Gel process
manufactured the head's high stiffness
actuator, which "enables the application
of high quality multi-drop control." Its
MEMS technology also enables the new
head "to realize 600 dpi resolution with
1,280 nozzles configured in 4 x 300 dpi
rows. Additionally, the ink paths are
isolated, enabling a single head to jet up
to four ink colors."19 Ricoh introduced
its MEMS/thin film PZT head both
on its own printers and a number of its
partners' devices.
Kyocera

Kyocera has not disclosed details of its
manufacturing processes. It holds its
manufacturing methods as proprietary,
but it does feature micron-level printhead
alignment and simplified head design that
suggest micro-machining of some type.
In late 2015, Kyocera introduced three
PIJ printheads. On Sept 17, 2015, Kyocera
announced its 360 dpi KJ4C-0360 head
with recirculation primarily for ceramic
tile printing, but is also offering it for
textile, carpet, apparel and pharmaceutical
capsule printing applications. It prints up
to 50 m/min with an effective print width
of 109 mm and offers grayscale with a
maximum drop volume of 84 pl. On
October 6, 2015, Kyocera announced its
four-color 150 dpi per color KJ4B-0150
head. It uses water-based ink and operates
as fast as 76.2 m/min and features a print
width of 112 mm. Kyocera is targeting
the fashion apparel market with this 300
dpi head. On November 5, 2015, Kyocera
launched its two-color 300 dpi KJ4B0300-G06DS head with a maximum
drive frequency of 30 kHz. The company
designed this head primarily for textile
printing. It features 112 mm print width.
It can print grayscale with four drop
volumes: 5, 7, 12, and 18 pl. Both KJ4B
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SGIA Journal Graphic November/December 2016

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