A method for operating a printer can include draining a print material from a printer, placing a sacrificial metal into the printer, ejecting the sacrificial metal from a nozzle of the printer, and cooling to printer to a temperature that is below a melting point of the print material and the sacrificial metal. The print material can be or include aluminum and the sacrificial metal can be or include tin. The print material can be drained from the printer when the print material is in molten form, for example, from about 600° C. to about 2000° C. The sacrificial metal can be ejected from the nozzle at a temperature above the melting point of the sacrificial metal but below the melting point of the print material, for example, below about 300° C. The method can reduce or eliminate cracking of various printer structures such as the nozzle during a shutdown or cooling of the printer.

Provided is an inkjet printing apparatus including: a print head configured to eject a metallic ink containing silver particles; a carriage configured to scan the print head; and a control unit configured to control the print operation so as to print an image on a print medium by causing the print head to eject the metallic ink onto the print medium and thereby form dots on the print medium while causing the carriage to scan the print head a plurality of times over a predetermined region on the print medium, wherein the control unit controls the print operation so as to print the image by causing the print head to eject the metallic ink at the same pixel position on the print medium in two or more printing scans and thereby generate a superimposed dot.

In a method and system for laser induced forward transfer (LIFT), energy (E1,E2) is deposited according to a non-Gaussian intensity profile (Ixy) which is spatially tuned across an interface (11xy) of the donor material (11m) to cause the donor material (11m) to be ejected from the donor substrate as an extended jet (Je) momentarily bridging the transfer distance (Zt) between the donor substrate (11) and the acceptor substrate (12) during a transfer period (Tt). A locally increased intensity spike (Is) at a center of the intensity profile (Ixy) causes a relatively thick jet (J1) of donor material to branch into a relatively thin jet (J2) at a branching position (J12) between the donor substrate (11) and acceptor substrate (12). The thick jet (J1) allows a relatively large transfer (Zt) distance while the thin jet (J2) deposits a relatively small droplet (Jd) of donor material (11m).

A jetting assembly that can be used to print a high-temperature print material such as a metal or metal alloy, an aqueous ink, or another material, includes an actuator for heating a gas such as a non-volatile gas within a gas cavity. The actuator rapidly heats the gas within the gas cavity, which rapidly increases a volume of the gas, thereby applying a pressure to the print material within an expansion channel that is in fluid communication with the gas cavity. In turn, the print material within the expansion channel applies a pressure to the print material within a nozzle bore, which forces a drop of the print material from a nozzle. The jetting assembly further includes a supply inlet that supplies the print material to the expansion chamber and the nozzle bore, for example, from a reservoir.

The present disclosure relates to an induced electrohydrodynamic jet printing apparatus including an induced auxiliary electrode, and the induced electrohydrodynamic jet printing apparatus including an induced auxiliary electrode according to the present disclosure includes a nozzle for discharging supplied solution towards an opposite substrate through a nozzle hole formed at one end; a main electrode coated with an insulator and interpolated inside the nozzle, thus not contacting the solution inside the nozzle but separated from the solution; the induced auxiliary electrode made of a conductive material and formed at an outer surface of the nozzle; and a voltage supply for applying voltage to the main electrode.

The invention relates to a piston (5) for a printhead (1) of a 3D printer, particularly a metal printer, comprising a piston rod (17) and a ram (18), the ram (18) having a discharge side (19) that has a convex or tapering surface (39). The invention also relates to a printhead (1) for a 3D printer, particularly a metal printer, comprising a housing (3), a device (28) for supplying a metal (14), a reservoir (7, 27) for a liquid phase (8) of the metal (14), a nozzle device (2) comprising a guide sleeve (11) and a nozzle plate (9), and a piston (5) according to one of the preceding claims, the ram (18), the guide sleeve (11) and the nozzle plate (9) forming a displacement chamber (21), and the ram (18) and the guide sleeve (11) forming at least one area (40) for conducting the liquid phase (8) between the reservoir (27) and the displacement chamber (21).

There is provided a liquid jet head and a liquid jet recording device capable of increasing available ink types. The liquid jet head according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided with an actuator plate having a plurality of ejection grooves, a nozzle plate having nozzle holes communicated with the ejection grooves, and a nozzle guard having a rib adapted to support the nozzle plate, and a communication hole adapted to communicate each of the first nozzle holes and an outside with each other. The rib has contact with the nozzle plate at a position which fails to be opposed to an opening on the nozzle plate side of each of the ejection grooves.

Devices, systems, and methods are directed to applying magnetohydrodynamic forces to liquid metal to eject liquid metal along a controlled pattern, such as a controlled three-dimensional pattern as part of additive manufacturing of an object. Nozzles associated with these devices, systems, and methods include one or more non-wetting surfaces in the vicinity of a discharge orifice of the nozzle. Such non-wetting surfaces can reduce the likelihood that wetting of the liquid metal in the vicinity of a discharge orifice of a nozzle will interfere with ejection of liquid metal droplets from the discharge orifice and, thus, can facilitate delivering droplets with accuracy suitable for commercially viable manufacturing using liquid metal to fabricate objects.

A printer is configured to provide a jet of extraction gas that extracts a printing fluid from a printing nozzle in the presence of an electrostatic field that accelerates the extracted printing fluid toward a printing substrate. The printer is also configured to selectively turn the electrostatic field and the jet of extraction gas off and on to enable printing in an aerosol mode, an e-assisted aerosol mode, or an e-jet mode. The jet of gas can be provided by a second nozzle concentric with the printing nozzle. A third nozzle can discharge a focusing gas around the aerosol.

Systems and methods for additive manufacturing, and, in particular, such methods and apparatus as employ pulsed lasers or other heating arrangements to create metal droplets from donor metal micro wires, which droplets, when solidified in the aggregate, form 3D structures. A supply of metal micro wire is arranged so as to be fed towards a nozzle area by a piezo translator. Near the nozzle, an end portion of the metal micro wire is heated (e.g., by a laser pulse or an electric heater element), thereby causing the end portion of the metal micro wire near the nozzle area to form a droplet of metal. A receiving substrate is positioned to receive the droplet of metal jetted from the nozzle area.