Mass market inkjet control was always a goal of these two groups.
I've developed all the high speed timing/drivers/power to use several of the
HP 45 cartridges.
Watch the following initial test video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d13WRJaKWF8The HP 45 has 300 nozzles at 600x600dpi that are all fired in 3 stripe
patterns as a demonstration.
HP 45 cartridges are very interesting for a number of reason:
-low cost, disposable and super cheap (as low as $5) so burning it out just
means you throw it out
-UV curable ink available to print PCBs (I have test results from an UV ink
manufacturer -> this blows away all other pcb methods. Full cure in 6
seconds).
-bulk ink supply using HP C6119A bulk ink cartridge (same interface):
http://www.addrex.com/hp-c6119a-bulk-black-ink-supply-system.aspx-high resolution 3d printing
I have an intellectual property license from HP so can fire HP inkjet heads
directly. More importantly I can buy unlimited numbers of cables, printer
stalls and connectors from HP. Sorry can't share the docs due to NDA but I
will offer a kit soon to integrate these designs into your own printer
design. You still need FPGA type timing to get it work but I've wrapped it
into a simple C++ DLL over USB. Right now the interface is simple:
firenozzles(NozzleArray) where NozzleArray has the 300 nozzles (bit packed
into 10x 32bit integers). 1=fire nozzle, 0 = off.
I'm open to suggestions to a MCU interface. I was thinking high speed 25mhz
SPI mode or can do 3Mbps RS232 or strobed 8bit transfer modes. 300
nozzles∗4 colors at 600x600dpi is a LOT of data.
Still lots of work to do but I do have a cost XY gantry already in
production and will show a complete XY printer shortly.
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