Inkjet has become a household word through its ubiquitous presence
on the consumer desktop as a low cost, reliable, quick, and convenient
method of printing digital files. Although inkjet technology
has been utilized since the 1950s in products such as medical strip
chart recorders by Siemens,1 and has seen commercial success in high
speed date coding equipment since the 1970s,2 the potential impact
of the technology in industrial applications is only now becoming
widely recognized.
In theory, inkjet is simple.Aprint head ejects tiny drops of ink onto
a substrate. In practice, implementation of the technology is complex
and requires multidisciplinary skills. Reliable operation depends on
careful design, implementation, and operation of a complete system
where no element is trivial.
Given the underlying complexity, what drives the industrial
adoption of inkjet? The characteristics of inkjet technology offer
advantages to a wide range of applications. Inkjet is increasingly
viewed as more than just a printing or marking technique. It can
also be used to apply coatings, to accurately deposit precise amounts
of materials, and even to build micro or macro structures. The list
of industrial uses for inkjet technology seems endless and includes