Electrostatic screen-through ink jet printing technique

ABSTRACT We designed an electrostatic ink jet printing technique that prints using a voltage lower than conventional techniques. The assembly consists of a closely aligned ink roller, maskscreen, paper, and an electrode. A voltage pulse is applied between the ink amd electrode,then electrostatic force overcomes the surface tension of the ink, and the ink goes through holes in the screen and sticks to the paper. Major factors affecting the success of thistechnique are the material composing the screen, ink attributes, and electrostatic force. 1. INTRODUCTION Ink jet printing provides quiet, high-speed, quality printing, and, for these reasons, is being used increasing widely. A wide (A4) line-printinghead with high-density nozzles isrequired to improve printing speed and resolution. Slit jet printing absorbing ink usingelectrostatic force has been proposed to provide this,1 but the slit jet requires a voltage ashigh as 1.5 kV because the slit is about 1 mm from the electrode. We developed electrostaticscreen-through ink jet printing technique to overcome this disadvantage.