喷墨3 d打印机erXaarhas claimed that itsUltra High Viscosity（UHV）技术在跨多个领域的产品包装设施中“开放新的可能性”。
Specifically, the firm believes the “unbeatable capability” of its UHV-drivenImagineX在单个通行证中具有多达100 centipoise（CPS）的粘度的喷气流体，允许包装行业中的用户“释放其创造力”。根据Xaar的说法，其机器的大型粒子处理能力使其非常适合生产高宽敞的宽木制零件，因此现在它使设计师能够给他们的标签更加更高。
“Whereas previously, inkjet printheads have typically only been able to jet fluids of around 8 to 12 cP, our technologies enable printers to jet much higher viscosities,” explains Graham Tweedale, GM of Xaar’s printhead business unit, “thus achieving a wider colour gamut and unparalleled opacity, [that] can be used to print an extensive range of special effects.”
Xaar’s printhead portfolio
Xaar在英国剑桥成立，以成为世界领先的基于压电的滴定喷墨技术的独立独立制造商而自豪。该公司通过开发工业打印头来将其喷墨专业知识付诸实践，并能够为工业包装，陶瓷或玻璃装饰和外壳扇区中的客户始终如一地存入精确的量。
过去，Xaar还将其脚趾浸入了高速烧结（HSS）市场，建立了一个dedicated 3D printing hub在2016年之前going on to found Xaar 3DalongsideStratasys公司。Until recently, Stratasys only held a 45% share in the venture, but ittook full control of Xaar3Din October as part of its plans to integrate HSS into its new H Series 3D printers, having launched theH350earlier this year.
在出售XAAR3D之后，Xaar的产品在很大程度上依靠打印机附加组件，打印头，材料和相关服务的投资组合，其最新产品是'Irix’. Launched in September 2021, the firm’s latest printhead is capable of 3D printing and fluid dispensing inks ranging from solvent-based materials, to those needed for industrial manufacturing.
为了将其技术推向市场，该公司经常将它们与第三方3D打印机（例如一个Mpolar i1, which comesfitted with Xaar 1003 printheads。该公司还引入了5步材料评估服务这旨在帮助那些寻求喷气高粘度流体的客户，并且鉴于Xaar最近在用例中的激增，该计划似乎正在支付股息。
Ultra High Viscosity in-action
Launched in 2019, Xaar’s latest bulk printhead platform, ImagineX, is capable of printing all ink types at temperatures of up to 200oC, thus it’s designed to serve as a basis for the firm’s entry into new verticals for years to come. The system is powered by UHV, a technology in which inks can be jetted at an unprecedented level of viscosity to rapidly and efficiently create parts, often for promotional applications.
In effect, the ImagineX is able to achieve this by processing larger particles than ordinary inkjet systems, which contain higher amounts of pigment, and yield more vibrant colors as well as clearer blacks and whites. The machine is also capable of printing onto curved surfaces, making it perfect for direct-to-shape packaging production, while it can be used to add high-build varnish embellishments too.
Utilizing this feature, adopters are able to add textures to labels, whether that be for visual impact or functionality. For instance, UHV allows users to deploy inks that resist cracking to create flexible labels, while the technology enables braille and tactile warnings to be added to packaging as well, in effects that can only usually be achieved via screen printing.
兼容的Nitrox,2002and 50x series printheads, Xaar says that since launch, the technology has already “demonstrated the significant difference” inkjet-based production can have when used to create high-impact digital labelling and packaging at scale.
“We are already seeing how Ultra High Viscosity technology is opening up new possibilities for Xaar in a number of applications,” added Tweedale. “After many years of requests from clients to be able to print higher molecular weight photopolymers to increase resistance and flexibility for printed materials, our Ultra High Viscosity technology has realized this capability, truly unleashing the power of inkjet.”
Is inkjet 3D printing hotting up?
一个lthough the multi-material inkjet space continues to be dominated by Stratasys’ PolyJet and3D系统’MultiJet technologies, these are largely based on 2D inkjet printheads. As a result, machines powered by these technologies rely on relatively low viscosity resins, thus there remains a gap in the market for a system able to deposit high viscosity materials at an industrial throughput.
One such company seeking to break the inkjet 3D printing mold isQuantica, which launched itsindustrial-grade material jetting T1 Promachine atFormnext 2021。Based around the firm’s Extreme Viscosity Jetting technology, the system is said to be capable of depositing liquids up to 15 times more viscous than existing multi-material jetting systems, enabling the fabrication of much higher-strength parts.
In more research-oriented applications,Zdalny Serwisis also looking to shake things up in the world of inkjet 3D printing, with itsDuroplast Reactive Inkjet Printing或“滴”方法。从本质上讲，该技术涉及在空气中间的墨水液滴碰撞以形成零件，并且该公司现在已经开始致力于将FDM可打印支撑物集成到功能齐全的原型滴灌3D打印机中的方法。
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Featured image shows a translucent print produced using Xaar’s Ultra High Viscosity technology. Photo via Xaar.
