Scaled-up capacitive models for ink-jet printers

Abstract Scaled-up capacitive models provide a convenient means to measure certain important parameters of ink-jet printer components. Scale factors of about 500 yield model sizes of the order of centimetres and capacitances of the order of picofarads. Self and mutual capacitance measurements provide information about transient and steady-state ink droplet charging behavior. The measurements reported are found to be consistent internally and with respect to published theoretical results. For the model used, the droplet charging parameters are estimated using measured self and mutual capacitances. These estimates exhibit good agreement with values directly measured using a charge amplifier. The scaled-up capacitive modeling technique shows promise as an aid in the design and evaluation of a variety of ink-jet printer systems.