Ready for Prime Time?: A Primer on Inkjet Presses

Piezoelectric heads have been a mainstay of inkjet printing for a quarter century. Piezo heads can accommodate a wider variety of inks than TIJ or CIJ heads and, although more expensive, are much more durable. They are capable of thousands of hours of use, versus hundreds of hours with thermal heads. The word piezo comes from a Greek term meaning to squeeze. When voltage is applied to piezoelectric material in an ink-filled chamber behind each nozzle the material changes shape, squeezing a droplet through the nozzle.