Work Experience
Xaar thin-film inkjet print head
Xaar is a market leading inkjet print head manufacturer based in Cambridgeshire.
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They specialise in the industrial printing of ceramics and fabrics. They grew very quickly during the transition to digital printing in these manufacturing sectors.
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The first generation of Xaar printhead actuators are made from 'bulk' piezo electric material which is then laser ablated to make the tiny channel features that fire the ink.
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The next generation of printhead actuators are thin film. They are produced by photo-lithography which is the same method used in the production of semiconductors. Photo-lithography has the potential to have lower cost of production than laser-ablation.
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The challenge that was addressed at Xaar was delivering the ink to the new thin-film actuators. The ink must pass from a single standard tube through many subdividing paths of a manifold body to the actuator itself. Consistent flow rate must be maintained across the whole width of the exit. The manifold must be able to resist the high working temperatures of inkjet printing.
The inkjet manifold was designed with extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to analyse flow path and prototyped using best practice injection moulding, a lasercut ceramic thermal interface, groundbreaking multilayer ultrasonic welding and micron level glue dispensing, among other innovations.
Print results