Glossary continuous ink jet

Definition of continuous ink jet

continuous ink jet

1.  The continuous ink jet method is used commercially for marking and coding of products and packages. In continuous ink jet technology, a high-pressure pump directs liquid ink from a reservoir through a gunbody and a microscopic nozzle, creating a continuous stream of ink droplets via the Plateau-Rayleigh instability. A piezoelectric crystal creates an acoustic wave as it vibrates within the gunbody and causes the stream of liquid to break into droplets at regular intervals so that 64,000 to 165,000 drops per second may be achieved.

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