printhead control
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Posts: 46,084
Does anyone have any idea how I could control a
printhead......thermal......matrix.........bubble or
whatever? I have been given an assignment to build a
machine that can print copyright data on the back of a
document as the documents pass by. They (the
documents) will be in roll form at the time of the
printing and will be later cut into the completed
pieces. I am planning on using a "pak" so that I can
use a PC keyboard to give the device a user input so
that specific copyright data can be entered. I really
do not want to use a PC for this app. and would like
to use a stamp instead.
Thanks,
Scott
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printhead......thermal......matrix.........bubble or
whatever? I have been given an assignment to build a
machine that can print copyright data on the back of a
document as the documents pass by. They (the
documents) will be in roll form at the time of the
printing and will be later cut into the completed
pieces. I am planning on using a "pak" so that I can
use a PC keyboard to give the device a user input so
that specific copyright data can be entered. I really
do not want to use a PC for this app. and would like
to use a stamp instead.
Thanks,
Scott
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now.
http://mailplus.yahoo.com
Comments
The resistor heats up, and causes the ink to bubble...
I'm not too sure on how exactly it all works, but I too am interested in
figuring out a way to control a ink jet, for a project I have in mind.
Anyone got any further info??
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> From: Scott Sutton <scottsutton67@y...>
> Reply-To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Wed, 22 Jan 2003 11:40:49 -0800 (PST)
> To: basicstamps@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [noparse][[/noparse]basicstamps] printhead control
>
> Does anyone have any idea how I could control a
> printhead......thermal......matrix.........bubble or
> whatever? I have been given an assignment to build a
> machine that can print copyright data on the back of a
> document as the documents pass by. They (the
> documents) will be in roll form at the time of the
> printing and will be later cut into the completed
> pieces. I am planning on using a "pak" so that I can
> use a PC keyboard to give the device a user input so
> that specific copyright data can be entered. I really
> do not want to use a PC for this app. and would like
> to use a stamp instead.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott
>
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>
>
> I believe an ink jet is fired by applying voltage to a resistive element?
>
> The resistor heats up, and causes the ink to bubble...
>
> I'm not too sure on how exactly it all works, but I too am interested in
> figuring out a way to control a ink jet, for a project I have in mind.
>
> Anyone got any further info??
>
There was an interesting little piece in the 'Working Knowledge"
section of the Dec '02 Scientific American on this subject.
There are actually two different technologies, one is thermal
(Canon, HP) and the other is piezoelectric (Epson). In the
thermal method as you mentioned, a tantalum-aluminum thin-film
resistor only 100 atoms thick superheats the ink in a narrow
channel to over 300 degs celsius for less than 1 microsecond
resulting in a rapidly expanding bubble the explosively forces a
droplet of ink out the jet nozzle.
The piezo approach uses a crystal transducer for each channel
that bends towards the ink nozzle when a voltage is applied.
This forces a droplet of ink out the nozzle.
--
Michael Burr