Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a printhead, a printing equipment and a printing method. The printhead includes: a primary liquid discharging assembly, including a plurality of primary liquid discharging nozzles for forming primary droplets; and a plurality of flow branching components below the primary liquid discharging assembly, and the plurality of flow branching components being in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of primary liquid discharging nozzles, wherein each of the plurality of flow branching component is configured to be in contact with the primary droplet formed by the corresponding primary liquid discharging nozzle of the plurality of primary liquid discharging nozzles, and split each of the primary droplets into at least two branched droplets.

An inkjet printhead includes two groups of interleaved nozzles. First and second sets of drop-formation waveforms are associated with the groups of nozzles to selectively cause portions of a liquid jet to break off into drops. A timing delay device time-shifts the second-group waveforms relative to those associated with the first-group waveforms. A charging-electrode waveform having portions with first and second potentials is provided to a charging electrode. The waveform energies of the second-group waveforms is larger than the waveform energies of the corresponding first-group waveforms so that printing drops break off from the liquid jets while the charging-electrode is at the first potential, and non-printing drops break off from the liquid jets while the charging-electrode is at the second potential.

An inkjet printhead includes two groups of interleaved nozzles. First and second sets of drop-formation waveforms are associated with the groups of nozzles to selectively cause portions of a liquid jet to break off into drops. A timing delay device time-shifts the second-group waveforms relative to those associated with the first-group waveforms. A charging-electrode waveform having portions with first and second potentials is provided to a charging electrode. The waveform energies of the second-group waveforms is larger than the waveform energies of the corresponding first-group waveforms so that printing drops break off from the liquid jets while the charging-electrode is at the first potential, and non-printing drops break off from the liquid jets while the charging-electrode is at the second potential.

An ink that is detectable using infrared (IR) light may be used to apply machine readable codes, such as a barcode. The indicia, once applied, may be either invisible or difficult to detect with visible light, such as with the human eye. The ink may include one or more materials such as titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2), particles of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), metals, and so forth. These materials may be used to enhance one or more of the reflectivity to IR light or the fluorescence of the ink under IR light. The fluorescent ink may be deposited in a single pass, or as part of a two-pass process in which a reflective substrate, such as a resin with encapsulated TiO.sub.2, is applied and then the fluorescent ink is deposited atop the substrate. The markings are machine readable even when overprinting markings that are readable under visible light.

An ink that is detectable using infrared (IR) light may be used to apply machine readable codes, such as a barcode. The indicia, once applied, may be either invisible or difficult to detect with visible light, such as with the human eye. The ink may include one or more materials such as titanium dioxide (TiO.sub.2), particles of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), metals, and so forth. These materials may be used to enhance one or more of the reflectivity to IR light or the fluorescence of the ink under IR light. The fluorescent ink may be deposited in a single pass, or as part of a two-pass process in which a reflective substrate, such as a resin with encapsulated TiO.sub.2, is applied and then the fluorescent ink is deposited atop the substrate. The markings are machine readable even when overprinting markings that are readable under visible light.

A fluid ejector for ejecting discrete volumes of ejectant includes a body with opposing first and second surfaces. One or more nozzles are defined as conduits extending through the body between the surfaces to connect first and second orifices at the first and second surfaces respectively. The fluid ejector further includes a gas supply means having a gas outlet and an ejectant supply means. The ejectant supply means supplies the ejectant to the nozzles at a pressure above ambient via their supply orifices. The supply orifice is defined in a conduit's side or is the second orifice. Relative movement of the gas supply means and body exposes first orifices to the gas outlet allowing the gas supply means to supply gas at a pressure above ambient, wherein a pressure difference thereby created between the first and second orifices causes ejection of the ejectant from the nozzles through the second orifices.

A fluid ejector for ejecting discrete volumes of ejectant includes a body with opposing first and second surfaces. One or more nozzles are defined as conduits extending through the body between the surfaces to connect first and second orifices at the first and second surfaces respectively. The fluid ejector further includes a gas supply means having a gas outlet and an ejectant supply means. The ejectant supply means supplies the ejectant to the nozzles at a pressure above ambient via their supply orifices. The supply orifice is defined in a conduit's side or is the second orifice. Relative movement of the gas supply means and body exposes first orifices to the gas outlet allowing the gas supply means to supply gas at a pressure above ambient, wherein a pressure difference thereby created between the first and second orifices causes ejection of the ejectant from the nozzles through the second orifices.

A continuous inkjet printer is provided comprising an ink supply system, a droplet generator configured to receive ink from the ink supply system and to produce a jet of ink for printing, a gutter configured to receive parts of the jet that are not required for printing, a gutter line connected to the gutter and configured to return unprinted ink to the ink supply system, a suction system comprising a Venturi having a suction port configured to apply a suction force to the gutter line, and a gutter flow rate control system configured to control a rate of flow of fluid along the gutter line based on temperature.

A continuous inkjet printer is provided comprising an ink supply system, a droplet generator configured to receive ink from the ink supply system and to produce a jet of ink for printing, a gutter configured to receive parts of the jet that are not required for printing, a gutter line connected to the gutter and configured to return unprinted ink to the ink supply system, a suction system comprising a Venturi having a suction port configured to apply a suction force to the gutter line, and a gutter flow rate control system configured to control a rate of flow of fluid along the gutter line based on temperature.

An inkjet printer includes an m number of data setters ranging from a first data setter to an m-th data setter, and an m number of print controllers ranging from a first print controller to an m-th print controller, where m is a natural number greater than or equal to 2. Upon receiving data for ink dots, an n-th data setter sets an n-th dot group including some or all of the ink dots, where n is a natural number in a range of from 2 to m. An n-th print controller causes the n-th dot group to be formed over an (n1) dot group. The first to the m-th data setters set the first to the m-th dot groups so that at least some of ink dots belonging to the first to the m-th dot groups overlap each other.