Falcon Invoice Discounting: Empowering Your Business Growth
Inkjet test equipment
1. Innovative Ink Jet Analysis
Systems for R&D and
Production
Presented by: Yair Kipman, President
ImageXpert, Inc.
Nashua, New Hampshire
www.jetxpert.com
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
2. Company Description
• ImageXpert Inc. is a world leader in vision-based inspection
systems and solutions for digital printer manufacturers, ink
formulators and jetted deposition system developers.
• From generalized inspection systems to more specialized
systems such as JetXpert for analysis of drops-in-flight or
line-scan camera systems for high speed nozzle plate
inspection, companies rely on ImageXpert systems in R&D
and production.
• Innovative new development for ink jet markets
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
3. Presentation Outline
• Interactive inspection and measurement systems for
use in R&D
– Drop watching and analysis of drops-in-flight
(JetXpert)
– Image quality of printed materials
• Automated systems for use in Production
– JetXpertOEM: integrated analysis of drops-in-flight
– Automated ImageXpert machine vision systems for
product and part inspection
• Application highlights:
– Printed electronics, textiles and ceramics
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
4. Machine Vision Systems
• Camera-based full motion system
– Non-contact
– Automated 2-D and 3-D analysis
– Supporting multiple cameras
– Additional instrumentation (laser for 3-D)
• Scanner
– Works with a variety of materials
– Expanded dynamic range for challenging
samples
– Transparency hood
• ImageXpert solar for analysis of solar cells
• JetXpert for analysis of drops in flight
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
5. Measurement and visualization of drops-in-flight
for inkjet and other frequency-actuated dispensing systems
www.jetxpert.com
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
6. JetXpert System Overview
• Measures drop volume, velocity, trajectory
• Very small footprint (~24” max. dimension)
• Single strobe event for imaging of single droplets
• 125ns minimum pulse width
• Second camera available for visualization of face
plate wetting during firing
• Motion option for automated analysis of all jets
across a print head
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
7. JetXpert System Overview
• Fully integrated system includes:
– LED strobe, control box, and control software (GUI)
– Calibrated digital camera for image capture
– ImageXpert software for drop analysis
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
8. Drop Analysis Example (Single event)
Analysis of drops-in-flight:
• Radius (mm)
• Drop-based volume (pl)
• Velocity (m/s)
• Trajectory (degrees)
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
9. Ligament-based volume
Ligament-based volume (nl):
• Calculated based on the edge points of the ligament
or drop stream
• The volume of the ligament or droplet stream is
measured based on the rotated 2-D projection
(presumption of rotational symmetry down the
vertical axis)
• Volume is reported in nanoliters (nl).
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
10. JetXpert options
• Automation (motion)
– Enables sequential step and repeat measurement
along an entire print head
• Face-plate wetting visualization
– Second camera for visualization of face plate wetting
during firing
• Frequency sweep
– Automatically step through a series of user-defined
frequencies and assess print head performance
• Ink supply system
– Active gravity meniscus control: meniscus level
remains constant while printing
• Ink collection system
• TCP communication
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
11. Motion for Print Head Tuning/Optimization
• For applications that require individual nozzle accuracy
such as OLED manufacturing
• One axis of automated motion is used for sequential
analysis of each jet on a print head
• Velocity and volume are measured for each jet across a
print head
• Jet-drop-outs or misdirected jets can be detected
• Data can be used to drive individual nozzle adjustment to
achieve uniform, predictable jetting behavior across head
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
12. Face Plate Wetting Visualization
• 2-camera system configuration includes
– One camera for drop-in-flight analysis
– Second camera for visualization of face
plate wetting during firing
– Easy switching between modes via user
interface
Image series captured with
JetXpert of 5 nozzles visualized
www.jetxpert.com during firing, HP-45 print head
Tuesday, April 17, 12
13. Frequency Sweep Capability
• Fluids and print heads operate differently at different firing
frequencies
• Fluid manufacturers need to verify that their fluids behave
across the range of frequencies specified by the print head
manufacturer
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
14. Universal Ink Supply System
• For use in R&D
• Single color delivery module
• Active gravity meniscus control: meniscus level
remains constant while printing
• Suitable for all liquid inks
• Fully integrated and available as a stand-alone
system or as an add-on to JetXpert systems
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
15. Ink Collection System
• Designed specifically for JetXpert
• Collects ink via gravity feed
• Acts as virtual substrate
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
16. Ink Collection System
• Designed specifically for JetXpert
• Collects ink via gravity feed
• Acts as virtual substrate
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
17. TCP Communication
• Use JetXpert as a server and run it remotely from a Client PC via
TCP/IP
• The JetXpert Server listens for and responds to specific pre-
defined commands from the Client PC
Requires:
• TCP port on Client PC
• Ethernet cable to JetXpert Server
• JetXpert TCP Command list
Client PC T
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electronics, strobe
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
19. Text Quality
Common features for assessing
text quality include:
• Character area
• Perimeter length
• Edge raggedness
• Detection of breaks
• Detection of fill-ins
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
20. Line Quality
Common line quality features
include:
• Average line width
• Edge raggedness
• Edge sharpness
• Line area
• Line darkness
Since line quality is dependent
on orientation, both vertical and
horizontal lines are usually
measured
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
21. Inter-Color Bleed
Inter-color bleed is the
unintentional intermixing of
adjacent colorants.
Different color combinations
often have different quality
levels.
Common measurements
include comparisons of:
• line width
• edge raggedness
• edge sharpness
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
22. Automated Systems for Use in
Production
• JetXpert OEM
• Automated ImageXpert
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
23. JetXpert OEM: Integrated process control
• A self-contained drop-in-flight analysis system
specifically designed for integration into ink,
printing, and deposition systems
• Very small optical system
• Customizable hardware and software
– Hardware options from fully integrated stand-
alone units to component kits
– Software options from drop visualization through
full droplet analysis
• Available for high volume projects only
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
24. Automated Print Quality Analysis
• Dot quality
• Line quality
• Text quality
• Solid area
• Jet health
• Color bleed
• Satellites
• Graininess
•…
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
26. Printed Electronics
• 2-D systems can measure
lead width, raggedness,
spacing, and 3-D systems can
measure height profile…
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
27. Ceramics and Textiles
• Print process control (JetXpert)
• Materials interaction
• Print quality verification
– Line width, edge raggedness
– Inter color bleed
– Dot quality
– Solid area quality
– Color registration
– Skew/image registration
• Color color color color color
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
28. Summary
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
29. Use in R&D and Production
ImageXpert systems offer:
• Objective, quantitative analysis necessary for
competitive analysis
• Flexibility, interactive tools and powerful
algorithms necessary for R&D
• Automation, reliability and repeatability
necessary for production
Research & Production
Development (QA/QC)
X
i
Benchmarking/
www.jetxpert.com Competitive analysis
Tuesday, April 17, 12
30. Support and Service
• At ImageXpert, we are committed to excellent customer
service and support.
• We offer:
– Personalized attention
– Customization and applications engineering
– Production line and R&D service contracts
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
31. Summary
• ImageXpert’s systems can be used for a variety of ink jet and
related applications and offer solutions to a variety of
industries
• Powerful ImageXpert image analysis software is at the core of
all of our systems
• Flexible hardware and software can be configured to best suit
a wide range of applications
• All of our systems are expandable and can be upgraded as
customer needs change
• ImageXpert is dedicated to providing excellent customer
service
www.jetxpert.com
Tuesday, April 17, 12
