dropIn valve jet printing, a series of inline jets are controlled by valves.  These open and shut independently to produce streams of intermittent ink droplets.  As the product passes the printhead, these droplets create characters and/or graphics based on grid information.  

After each printing run, the printheads are washed by strong solvents or special chemicals to remove all inkjet materials from the printhead.  With such aggressive media in the process, Kalrez® is an obvious material choice.

Keep reading to learn more about Kalrez sealing valves.

As the company says on its website, Kalrez sealing valves have a better solvent resistance, which could extend the lifetime and reduce downtime on DOD (drop-on-demand) valve jet printers.

Applications

  • Plunger rod-sealing valve tips for DOD valve jet printers. Valves use a stainless steel plunger, the tip of which has an elastomer seal that vibrates against a plastic valve seat to disperse ink.
  • Incumbents are FKM, EPDM, silicon and some Si-modified PFPE.

Unsolved Industry Problems

Sinotech President Michael Bloom tells Kalrez:

“If the valve swells even a small amount, it is destroyed. We’ve found that materials like EPDM and even FKM don’t perform well in exotic solvents."

Degradation and swelling of sealing valve tips by solvents in ink (including MEK, N-propanol, iso-propanol, ethyl acetate, acetone, ethanol) can cause premature failure

Key Product Requirements

  • Kalrez sealing valves are highly resistant to degradation when exposed to aggressive solvents. They show no swelling in the presence of solvent-based inks.
  • Kalrez sealing valves survive up to 500 million cycles, with an operation pressure of 20 to 30 PSI, and a maximum operating temperature that is typically 66 degrees Celsius. Higher temperature stability extends valve lifetime.

 

For more information on Kalrez sealing valve tips and other Kalrez products,  please contact Gallagher Fluid Seals.

And be sure to read our blog to learn about how other Kalrez products can help you with your next application.