Ink Jet Direct Printing

[amptramp]

I have been thinking about a bizarre idea lately that hasn't shown up in the search files (as far as I can see).  I would like to modify an ink jet printer to print directly on a circuit board or an enclosure.  I know printer's ink is a resist that has been used in display manufacture and has achieved 8 micron line width reliably, 6 micron with yield issues and 4 micron on occasion using four superimposed impressions from an offset printer.  Based on that, I would imagine an ink jet printer could print directly on a board or box if the paper roller in the printer was used to drive a conveyer with the object to be printed on it.  The height could be set for the object to sit exactly where the paper would.  Laser printing would not work because it depends on the paper being an electrical insulator, but there is no such restriction with ink jet printers.  No need for Gerber files - your .jpg image is your artwork.

Has anyone attempted this?  If so, did it work?

[therecordingart]

I have been thinking about a bizarre idea lately that hasn't shown up in the search files (as far as I can see).  I would like to modify an ink jet printer to print directly on a circuit board or an enclosure.  I know printer's ink is a resist that has been used in display manufacture and has achieved 8 micron line width reliably, 6 micron with yield issues and 4 micron on occasion using four superimposed impressions from an offset printer.  Based on that, I would imagine an ink jet printer could print directly on a board or box if the paper roller in the printer was used to drive a conveyer with the object to be printed on it.  The height could be set for the object to sit exactly where the paper would.  Laser printing would not work because it depends on the paper being an electrical insulator, but there is no such restriction with ink jet printers.  No need for Gerber files - your .jpg image is your artwork.

Has anyone attempted this?  If so, did it work?

Yes. I'm not being a jerk when I say this, but Google it. There are even Youtube videos.

[PRR]

Look at CD printers. Some are plain sheet-paper inkjets plus a tray to hold a disk and work it through the mechanism. It can't know that the disk is a PCB, anything up to 5.25" across. It may or may not allow printing "outside the CD".

I dunno that consumer inkjet heads or inks can get micron resolution nor stand-up to water-based etchant.

[composition4]

There's a yahoo group who have dedicated a whole lot of research on this... search the yahoo groups and see what you come up with

Jonathan

[composition4]

That link is http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/ and http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Inkjet_PCB_Construction/

and further to that, try looking at

http://www.pabr.org/pcbprt/pcbprt.en.html

[therecordingart]

Look at CD printers. Some are plain sheet-paper inkjets plus a tray to hold a disk and work it through the mechanism. It can't know that the disk is a PCB, anything up to 5.25" across. It may or may not allow printing "outside the CD".

I dunno that consumer inkjet heads or inks can get micron resolution nor stand-up to water-based etchant.

There is a company that makes an insert to hold the PCB in those CD trays. I can't find the link though.

[danielzink]

Look at CD printers. Some are plain sheet-paper inkjets plus a tray to hold a disk and work it through the mechanism. It can't know that the disk is a PCB, anything up to 5.25" across. It may or may not allow printing "outside the CD".

I dunno that consumer inkjet heads or inks can get micron resolution nor stand-up to water-based etchant.

There is a company that makes an insert to hold the PCB in those CD trays. I can't find the link though.

http://www.fullspectrumengineering.com/pcbinkjet.html


Dan

[amptramp]

Thanks for all the answers, it looks like there is a thriving community of board builders that I knew nothing about.  I have seen artwork for active matrix displays done with an offset printer, but this appears to be much more affordable.

Now I have no excuses for not building anything yet.

[G. Hoffman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jncYUwvO7g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a14zELKPw8M&feature=related


There are a bunch of other videos on YouTube, if you do a search.  The don't really tell you how to make it work, but it is at least possible.


Gabriel