A new ink jet printhead of the push mode type has been developed for use with solid ink and applied to a direct plate-making printer, Model SJ02A, for the offset press. Stack piezoelectric transducers (PZT), that displace in the direction of polarization, permit jetting of solid ink at frequencies in excess of 20 kHz. Standard dot density is 600 dpi. Drop size is modulated, by driving the transducers in a multi-pulse mode. A press plate is constructed by jetting hydrophobic solid ink from the printhead onto the hydrophilic plate. The plate is used directly on the offset press. Advantages of this printing system are the elimination of the developing process, and allowing use of various plate materials, such as, paper based plate, film plate, and aluminum based plate. The printhead can also be used to successfully jet liquid ink of viscosity in the range 5 - 20 cP, and thus can be applied to industrial printers in general.
Nobuhiro Noto, Takuji Torii, Shigenori Suematsu, Kenichi Kugai, "A New Compact High Resolution Solid Ink Print Head and its Application to a Plate Making Printer" in Proc. IS&T Int'l Conf. on Digital Printing Technologies (NIP14), 1998, pp 50 - 53, https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2169-4451.1998.14.1.art00012_1