Ink drop motion in wide-format printers. II. Airflow investigation

Quality ink jet printing is being used increasingly for many types of applications. This paper investigated the relative motion of the printing head, which induces airflow between the head and the printing media. This airflow may interfere with the ejected ink drops as they fly towards the media, resulting in printing inaccuracy. The airflow was investigated experimentally (particle image velocimetry, PIV). Since the crucial areas in the flow field were difficult to measure experimentally, a CFD simulation program was used to complete the understanding of the flow in order to determine the limitations for quality printing. Results show only a small deviation from a linear shear flow, which can be attributed to experimental error. Furthermore, the results show that it is possible to increase the head-media relative motion considerably without causing significant turbulence followed by flow interference that may deteriorate quality prints.