Widely used in the home, business, commerce and industry, Epson inkjet printers have become synonymous with high quality output, reliability and high cost performance. These printers all contain print heads based on Micro Piezo, which is the name given to Epson's proprietary piezoelectric technology.

Since the introduction of the technology in 1993 until today, Epson inkjet printers have all included a piezoelectric print head - from the smallest personal photo printer, to the largest industrial system. To deliver its many technological benefits, the Micro Piezo print head needs to be manufactured with extreme precision. Epson's advanced processing technology makes this possible.

With Micro Piezo technology, mechanical pressure is generated by piezo elements that change shape as electrical signals are passed through them. This mechanical piezo pressure is used to propel ink onto paper and other media. This process is different from the thermal inkjet technologies used by other companies, in which air bubbles generated by boiling the ink cause it to be fired onto media.

How does an Epson Micro Piezo print head work?

To push ink out from the print nozzles, an Epson Micro Piezo inkjet print head uses what are known as "piezoelectric" materials that contract bend when an electrical charge is passed through them. Elements made of these materials are built behind the print nozzles. When an initial electrical charge is applied to them, these elements bend. This causes precise amounts of ink from the ink chamber to be drawn into the firing chamber before it is propelled out of the nozzles at high speed.

Using piezoelectric technology, the amount of ink pulled into and expelled out of the nozzles can be very accurately controlled by varying the electrical charge applied to the piezoelectric elements. This enables the print head to eject ink droplets in a range of precisely controlled sizes.