Inkjet Cartridge Wick

Porex develops a liquid transfer wick that facilitates borderless photo-printing for an inkjet printer. This and other Porex innovations for the printer industry are resulting in better performance standards, higher print quality and lower finished product costs.

Design Challenge:
Ink jet printers have become commonplace today for business and residential applications. A standard part of the design includes liquid-absorbing materials inside the housing to absorb excess ink dispensed during printing and cartridge cleaning processes. The introduction of borderless photo printing capabilities for inkjet printers required additional absorbent materials to capture excess ink sprayed outside the paper's borders. A printer manufacturer, troubled by the poor fluidic capacity of the ink jet printer's absorbent materials, requested Porex's help in developing a liquid transfer wick or bridge to efficiently transport excess printer ink from one absorbent pad to another.

Solution:
The solution for the ink jet printer relied on Porex's depth of experience in the writing instrument industry, including numerous liquid transfer innovations. Porex engineers and materials scientists began with an analysis of the ink's capillary performance, considering its surface energy, viscosity and wetting properties to find a material offering an optimal balance of liquid absorption and liquid transfer. This analysis was applied to the development of a custom-formulated polyethylene component, providing the desired fluid transfer characteristics from one fiber-based absorbent material to another.

Result:
Porex's delivery of the liquid transfer wick facilitated borderless photo printing capabilities for inkjet printers. Without the fluid transfer wick, the ink jet printer's capacity and operational life would be significantly reduced due to the capacity limitations of the first absorbent fiber pad. Porex's innovative solution provided a viable fluid transport method supporting a second absorbent material with significantly greater capacity. In addition, Porex's continuing innovations for the printer industry are helping to pave the way for higher performance standards, lower finished product costs and higher print quality.

Click here to download a pdf version of this case study