Water-based version of Seiko’s RC1536 printhead brings robustness and reliability

Seiko’s Printek Division offers printheads for printing water-based inks. But, the product development was not easy.

The problem…

Initially the architecture was said to be compatible but soon engineers realized that water – the elixir of life for humans – is actually attacking some parts of the printhead and an update is necessary to make the printhead compatible for the new environment-friendly challenges.Actually water has proved its corrosive behaviour time and again in different fields and in the caseof the printhead too it could eat away through some of the critical parts of the printhead.

The problem was not only that. The engineers in Seiko realized that this corrosion is not happening during the Compatibility Testing but actually taking place during a Long Term JettingTest which is done while testing the product. In such a test we are continuously moving the Piezo in the print head to simulate the life cycle of the printhead. These tests which actually had to be done after every iteration kept the engineers very busy to finally come up with the perfect parts which did not limit the functionality of the printhead and also remain stable for a time longer than the stipulated lifetime of the printhead.

The solution…

It can be seen that there are existing products in the market which can print Water-based inks.However it is important to note that Seiko is not only bringing a water-based printhead into the market, but actually bringing the reliability and robustness of its RC1536 series of printhead into the new generation market fitting perfectly to the environmental concerns of the new age.

The applications…

Starting from the ceramics market, where more and more environmental norms are disrupting the production; Seiko’s RC1536 print head can be replaced one to one with its existing oil-based versions. This makes it easy for the machine manufacturers to adapt the change and address the market demands at the earliest.

Apart from the ceramic’s market where the product was successfully beta tested ,the product isnow being tested in other fields such as corrugated cardboard, 3D printing and even Textile.Seiko can see that there is a strong requirement in the market for a product that can cater to thehigh reliability, high drop volume and wide range of operations.

What next?

The next step for Seiko is to closely work with ink manufacturers to find out where are the limitsand possibilities to develop a complete solution for the different market segments. Additionally it must be noted that Inkjet by itself is a Symphony and not a one man show. So to bring the much needed change into the market, the entire process has to be worked out with the experts of the industry from the different parts of the process to make an Inkjet System work.

Get in touch with us and share the knowledge of the different products you have to offer or would like to make. Let’s think and see where we can make the difference and strive for a much more environment-friendly approach to our daily lives.