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After decades of research into different fields of printing technology, 2008 marked a next turning point in Océ’s history. Océ decided to focus on inkjet technology as much as possible for future developments.Océ’s Marcel Slot and Herman Wijshoff explain the rationale behind that choice and where they expect inkjet technology will take us.
“Our first steps in developing our own inkjet technology at Océ stem from the early nineties”, Herman Wijshoff, Researcher at Océ and Professor of Fluid Dynamics of Inkjet Printing at Eindhoven University, remembers. “Although we were working on several techniques at the time, we already saw huge potential in inkjet. And to translate that potential into our own, unique technology, we knew we had to invest in a better understanding of the fluid dynamics behind it. Early on we searched for the opportunities to set up cooperation with universities and other academic and non-academic partners. That has led to several long-running research programs and partnerships. For instance, we have been cooperating for over 15 years now with the group of Detlef Lohse, Professor of Fluid Dynamics at Twente University.”
Originally, products and research programs at Océ transcended the different areas of technology. Until 2008. “We saw that markets were consolidating and major players emerged who dominated the world of printing”, Marcel Slot, Senior Print System Architect and Lead Technologist Inkjet at Océ, explains. “And at the time we were not one of them. Our current CEO, Anton Schaaf, then our Chief Technology Officer, realized the need to focus. Our portfolio at the time was too extensive and, to really make a difference in the market, Océ was too small. Focus on inkjet as a key technology platform would be our path towards becoming a major global player.”
Herman Wijshoff, Researcher at Océ and Professor of Fluid Dynamics of Inkjet Printing at Eindhoven University: “Fundamental knowledge gives us a much better understanding of how droplets react.“
Not an overnight decision
To focus on inkjet as a main technology was not an easy decision. However it was a good choice, with hindsight, thanks to thorough investigation, Slot emphasizes. “This was not an overnight decision. We researched and discussed this thoroughly and there were several good reasons to go with inkjet: scalability, price, development speed and opportunities.”
Scalability
An important first argument in favor of inkjet is its scalability. Slot: “Print size is highly scalable using inkjet. It can be used to print anything from a regular A4 format up to several meters wide. The same holds for print speed. But scalability also applies in a more figurative way, in the flexibility of the substrates on which to print. Inkjet is a flexible technology with many possible applications.” And next to scanning print technology, there’s single pass using page wide arrays. “This allows the printer to work much faster“, Wijshoff adds. All this is why Slot and Wijshoff prefer to speak of inkjet as a technology platform. Slot: “The scalability of inkjet allows us to reuse our investments in different applications.”
Price
Scalability and flexibility go hand in hand with price advantages. “Our ultimate goal is to be able to compete with traditional printing press methods. That requires speed, reliability and low costs. Another interesting price aspect is the cost of material that is jetted onto the paper. “Costs of maintenance and servicing of print presses are constantly decreasing. Because of that, the price of the “ink” (or rather, the amount of material that remains on the paper once dry) becomes more and more significant. That means printing thin layers is a way to reduce costs even more. In this area inkjet has great potential.”
Development speed and opportunities
Over the past 30 years, inkjet technology has made considerable progress, not only in Océ’s research labs, but throughout the global market. “We are building on a well-established technology, well known and trusted in the outside world”, Slot says. “We stepped into a global race, at just the right time.” And second to that, the race between inkjet and traditional printing is about to be won. “Inkjet can compete with offset printing. Moreover, it offers faster turnaround times for flexible production and, being a digital technology, is able to provide personalization and customization. That’s where scalability, price and speed will be the decisive factors.”
Inkjet has several advantages to offer. Fewer rotating parts than in conventional printing presses for instance. That reduces the initial cost price, but also lowers maintenance costs.” Wijshoff: “Simply put, there are fewer pieces that can get damaged, which reduces downtime and increases reliability.”
Cooperation
Focusing on inkjet technology allows Wijshof and his colleagues to truly focus research and development, in close cooperation with academic scientists. “To really explore all the possibilities, we need to get an even better grasp of the behavior of droplets and fluids and the mechanics.
For instance, how do substances flow on different surfaces and substrates, or what is the impact of material characteristics? To further develop that knowledge, we needed to build bridges between our applied knowledge and the academic world of fundamental research. Their specialist insights, models and tools can help our efforts and vice versa.”
Model-based design
In a way, Wijshoff himself is an example of that bridge between applied and fundamental knowledge. He recently became Professor of Fluid Dynamics of Inkjet Printing at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology. “In the past, a lot of research was based on trial and error. Fundamental knowledge gives us a much better understanding of things like how physical characteristics change when droplets get smaller. Not just the characteristics of those droplets, but also of the surrounding environment. It allows us to create accurate simulations and reduce the number of prototypes needed. Such model-based design, as we like to call it, is essential to achieve success.”
The interaction with the world of fundamental research takes place on a number of levels. Through the Max Planck Institute – University of Twente Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics, for example. The first Max Planck Center in The Netherlands, which was established in March 2017. The Physics of Fluids (PoF) group of Detlef Lohse and the BIOS Lab-on-a-chip group of Albert van den Berg cooperate with two Max Planck Institutes, in Göttingen (Dynamics and Self-organization) and Mainz (Polymer research). Océ is in a very close collaboration with Professor Lohse’s group.
Together Océ and the PoF-group revealed the disturbing role of bubbles entrained into piezoacoustic ink channels and developed solutions for this problem. Océ also directly contributes, as a sponsor and research partner, to the Fundamental Fluid Dynamics Challenges in Inkjet Printing (FIP) program.
“Together with the universities of Twente and Eindhoven, we study fundamental questions like drop formation, as well as the interaction between ink or more complex fluids with different types of substrate. This research will help us to make inkjet printing even faster and more accurate and to develop new applications for inkjet technology.”
Complementary to Canon
Canon acquired Océ in 2009. In a way, this confirms that the choice to focus on inkjet technology was the right one. “Canon is one of the inventors of inkjet technology, back in the seventies and eighties”, Slot explains. “Océ and Canon complement each other. Our technology platforms differ. Canon focuses on bubblejet, a technology which is based on thermal energy boiling the ink for jetting. Our technology is based on the piezoelectric effect to deform the ink channels for jetting. These combined technology platforms make Canon unique.
Worldwide, Canon is the only company that offers both technologies on a serious scale!” Wijshoff: “The strengths of bubblejet are well known and relate to low cost printheads and the ability to jet very small droplets. Océ will keep focusing on piezoelectric jetting, which allows for more freedom in designing inks for the new types of printers we have in mind. With piezoelectric jetting we are not limited to water based inks as is the case with bubblejet. At the same time, we work closely with Canon in areas of common interest, such as new printheads and ink.”
Marcel Slot, Senior Print System Architect and Lead Technologist Inkjet at Océ: “We stepped into a global race, at just the right time.”
The future of inkjet printing is bright, and offers many possible directions. Wijshoff: “Our R&D is exploring several pathways to the future of inkjet printing. And definitely not limited to printing ink on paper. Inkjet is already moving beyond that point. The technology is already being used to print onto tiles, wallpaper, panels, wood and glass. And packaging in particular is an exciting market for inkjet printing. Elevated printing – creating layers and printing structures in 3 dimensions – is already possible.
Taking it one step further, in the future we expect to be able to print functional fluids, allowing us to not just print on materials, but printing materials themselves. Conducting materials on microchips or touch screen coatings, for instance. Where that may lead, who knows – perhaps in a few years’ time we will be able to print prostheses, like heart valves or cartilage structures, perhaps even organ tissue. It’s an exciting time to be working in inkjet technology!”
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