Have you ever wondered how an inkjet cartridge is produced? CHARLOT ZAHRA was a Maltese journalist who was allowed to visit HP’s inkjet manufacturing operation in Dublin, Ireland

“Welcome to the land of Colour,” Alice was told… No, this is not a line from the last Christmas Panto, but rather the feeling one gets when visiting HP’s Dublin Inkjet Manufacturing Organisation (DIMO) in Dublin.

And it has to be enchanting Dublin that will give you that fairytale environment which takes you to the world of wonder…

The Science of Printing experience made it possible for journalists from all over the globe to witness first-hand the science, research and development behind new HP product innovations and the benefits delivered to customers.

HP, with over 20 years of experience and an ongoing commitment to the science behind each of its technologies, remains a leader in the printing industry.

It is this – the science behind original HP Inkjet and LaserJet Print Cartridges, HP ink and HP print media – that provides customers with unrivalled results, whether at home or in the office, the people at HP insist.

“HP’s complete printing solutions deliver exceptional quality and reliability to customers. Our ongoing commitment to excellence is clearly seen in our passion, dedication and continuous investment in research and development. Our science of printing philosophy, which underpins every product developed in HP labs around the world, provides our customers with superb results,” explained Kim Holm, vice president and general manager, HP IPG Supplies, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Every HP inkjet print cartridge is a sophisticated piece of technology. In order to achieve large volume production of these high value products with consistently high quality and excellent features, HP gives thorough research and product development top priority: HP invests US$4 billion annually in research and development, and US$1 billion in Imaging and Printing. Intensive tests are carried out in the development of every single print cartridge line; the creation of a single ink formula for the HP inkjet print cartridges, for example, takes three to four years.

A look at the processes, material and testing conditions involved in the development and manufacture of HP inkjet print cartridges shows that there is an amazing technology applied to printing. This assures more value for the users, who benefit from the extremely reliable operation and high performance of HP inkjet printing supplies.

The process at DIMO

DIMO is the nucleus of HP’s operation at Liffey Park in Leixlip near Dublin. 2,000 people work at the facility, built in 1995, which manufactures print cartridges for HP inkjet printers.

Being the only HP inkjet print cartridge manufacturing site in Europe, a variety of different types of original HP print cartridges are produced at DIMO.

The DIMO cleanroom area, measuring 30,000 square metres, is one of the largest in Europe and uses state-of the-art manufacturing and information systems.

The latest technologies and a high-tech environment assure the outstanding quality and reliability that users expect from the HP trademark.

HP has a global presence in sales and service in more than 120 countries. HP inkjet cartridges form a core part of HP’s inkjet printing systems and are key to print quality, print speed, extremely durable printouts and the outstanding reliability of HP’s printing systems. The first-class, highly automated manufacturing processes at DIMO are one of the reasons that customers can count on getting best performance from each original HP inkjet print cartridge – every time, all the time.

The manufacture of the technologically sophisticated original HP inkjet print cartridges is done in two major processes.

In the first, Print Head Manufacturing (PHM) ink chambers and nozzles are made and bonded to the flex circuit.

The second section is the final assembly area where the cartridge bodies are accurately attached to the flex circuits and filled with ink.

After intensive testing in each production step, every print cartridge is sent to the product completion centre for final customisation before being distributed to European and worldwide markets.

To assure the availability of new HP inkjet print cartridges, production capacities are assessed in advance and spare parts needed for production are always kept in stock. In addition, brand new printing supplies are stocked when new products are introduced.

Due to the excellent quality processes maintained in the Dublin factory, all potential failure rates are minimised and quantified in parts per million.

To ensure the quality, reliability, availability and value which customers expect from HP products, each print cartridge undergoes rigorous quality testing throughout the manufacturing process.

DIMO tests each print cartridge manufactured by the facility for:

Consistent text and photo print quality

Each of the several hundred nozzles of every inkjet print cartridge’s printhead has to pass digital testing to ensure precise drop size, shape and drop placement after the print cartridge is filled with ink. The tests include printing a test pattern which is examined by a visual inspection system and checked for best print quality.

Perfect electronic recognition

Electrical functionality testing of each print cartridge’s circuitry ensures reliable recognition by the particular printer it is designed for.

HP Inkjet print cartridges

HP invented Thermal Inkjet Technology in 1979 and continues to invest in this technology, delivering cost effective, high-performance solutions that meet customers’ needs. HP is committed to the continual improvement of its inkjet print cartridge range through ongoing science and innovation.

The HP inkjet print cartridge is not just a vessel to house ink; it plays an integral part in creating an outstanding printed product. Every time a page is printed, the inkjet print cartridges rapidly heats the ink, creating an expanding vapour bubble that ejects a tiny ink droplet via more than 500 specially designed nozzles, each of which is finer than a human hair.

HP’s commitment to innovation has also extended to developing inkjet print cartridges that can be fully recycled. Over a decade ago, HP launched its Planet Partners return and recycling programme and in 1997 the scheme was extended to include a HP inkjet recycling service. In 2002, more than 1.3 million HP inkjet print cartridges were recycled globally via this scheme.

Key milestones

• 1977: HP starts to research inkjet printing technology

• 1979: HP invents Thermal Inkjet Technology (TIJ)

• 1984: HP introduces its first inkjet print cartridges to the market

• 1987: HP introduces colour printing on HP Paintjet printers

• 1994: HP introduces black pigmented ink with HP Deskjet 600 series printers

• 1997: HP 6-ink Photosmart printer is launched – the first printer with near-photo image quality

• 1997: HP launches Planet Partners inkjet recycling service

• 2000: HP introduces pigmented colour ink for Large Format Printing applications (UV resistant ink)

• 2002: Unique HP ink and media combination achieves up to 73 years of fade resistance on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper when printed with HP No. 57 and HP No. 58 inkjet print cartridges, according to Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. (WIR)

• 2003: HP introduces 8-ink technology producing up to 72.9 million possible colour combinations

• 2003: HP No. 83 UV inks in combination with select HP large format print media, including the fast drying HP Productivity Photo print media, achieve fade resistance of more than 200 years (according to WIR)

• 2004: HP black and white photos achieve fade resistance of up to 115 years with the HP No. 59 grey photo cartridge on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper (according to WIR)

HP LaserJet Print Cartridges

The HP LaserJet print cartridge is to an HP LaserJet printer what a heart is to the human body, it literally keeps pumping, ensuring that the printer creates clean, crisp images.

The print cartridge is the central piece of HP LaserJet technology and is specially designed and custom engineered to work flawlessly with its HP printer.

The HP LaserJet print cartridge is actually a self-contained imaging system that the user can replace cleanly and easily. When you replace the cartridge, you replace all components subject to wear and tear to obtain a perfect image every time.

Key milestones

• 1984: The first HP LaserJet classic print cartridge is developed. This contains a HP standard toner that is composed of particles with a diameter in the range of 15 to 20 microns, this is approximately four times smaller than a human hair.

• 1991: HP LaserJet microfine print cartridge is launched - the toner has been developed to produce smoother lines, solid blacks and deeper, more saturated coverage for outstanding text and graphics. The smaller particle size of 10 to 12 microns diameter maintains remarkable print quality throughout the life of the print cartridge.

• 1997: HP LaserJet ultraprecise print cartridge is launched - a new lower temperature melt toner has been developed to give superlative results in both text and graphics, particle sizes of four to six microns. HP has developed small toner particle sizes to ensure the highest image quality possible.

• 2001: HP LaserJet SMART print cartridge is launched – to provide an enhanced overall printing experience. This range of toner cartridges provides high volume end-users with an exceptional page yield. This improves office efficiency as well as integrating smart printing technologies that enable supplies status monitoring, proactive email alerts. SMART printing saves time and money by reducing printer downtime and requiring less user interaction. print cartridge features an integrated design using many components such as toner, charge rollers, developer rollers, blades and OPC drum (or organic photo conductor drum, sometimes called an imaging drum) to work together to produce continuous high quality printing.

HP’s electrophotographic technology ensures consistent print quality from the first page to the last.

For HP Color LaserJet printers, HP uses chemically grown toner in order to achieve spherical particle shapes that are uniform in particle size. This new formula for HP’s second generation of spherical toners enables:

• Improved pigments and gloss properties resulting in a wider colour gamut

• Better colour appearance and black text quality is sharper and crisper, rivalling monochrome printers

• Wax core allows for oil-free fusing systems – helping to avoid toner offset and to prevent paper from sticking to the fuser roller

HP LaserJet print cartridges are environmentally friendly: HP runs a LaserJet print cartridge return and recycling programme where cartridges are broken down into their main components and recycled into new products and energy.

HP inks

A good cartridge cannot function unless the ink it contains is just as good. Ink formulations – an HP core competency focus for more than 20 years – is a complex and sophisticated science.

For example, it takes three to four years and 50,000 engineering and scientist hours to develop and manufacture just one new HP ink. Also, since a thin film of ink is heated to more than 300 degrees centigrade during drop ejection, HP’s thermal inkjet inks must be formulated to avoid decomposition of the ink on the resistor surface, while at the same time providing high-quality output on the recommended print media for the specific printing system.

An ink is only as good as its original design and manufacturing, HP technology delivers advantages in both of these areas. For example, HP’s manufacturing technology guarantees that the purity of HP ink meets its high performance and reliability standards.

Inks contaminated with impurities can clog the nozzles, resulting in poor printed output. For this reason, the materials and dimensions inside HP print cartridges are co-designed with HP inks to ensure their compatibility and reliability. In addition to patents, certain ink properties, ingredients, and manufacturing processes make the performance and reliability of HP ink essentially impossible to duplicate.

In-house chemistry expertise, systems reliability and print quality engineering, as well as chemical industry partnerships are all key elements that have helped HP to offer its customers industry leading technologies and print capabilities.

Over the past two decades, HP has introduced more than 50 inks for black and colour printing applications. It continues to refine and innovate in the design of inks and other elements of the printing system to bring customers the outstanding quality, performance and reliability they have come to

expect from HP.

HP Print Media

HP’s commitment to designing and producing industry leading products does not end with its ink, toner and print cartridges. HP also offers an extensive range of print media, from photo papers for home printing to business publishing media, to large format print media, in order to meet all of its customers’ requirements.

HP’s dedication to research and development has resulted in a comprehensive print media portfolio that gives customers outstanding printed results, permanence and reliability. HP’s print media includes more technology than many customers actually realise. Rigorous testing is carried out to ensure outstanding quality and just one type of print media can take up to three years to be developed and tested in HP’s research laboratories. HP also uses its own patented print media coating technology to ensure the highest quality print results.

HP’s comprehensive print media portfolio gives customers flexibility, choice and quality to meet a range of needs. For example, there is an ever-growing trend for inhouse business publishing that requires top quality printed results that reflect the professionalism and quality of a company. HP has a wide range of LaserJet and inkjet print media, including HP Labels, which have been designed for every aspect of inhouse publishing. HP inkjet and LaserJet specialty papers, coated on one or both sides and with different finishes, provide customers with just such a high impact, quality result required in business today.

HP also offers a variety of affordable, specially designed papers for home photo printing. Currently, 70 per cent of inkjet photo print-outs are still printed on plain paper which does not display the true vitality and potential of home photo printing. HP’s specially formulated photo paper ensures that customers really see the exceptional quality that digital imaging can deliver. The range of inkjet photo paper available to customers also means they will get the best results from day-to-day colour and black and white printing.

The science behind HP’s print media offering is more often than not invisible to the naked human eye but it all combines to give customers continuously high quality – this has been proven by independent research. HP’s unique print media technology, in partnership with HP grey and black ink has now produced quality black and white photo prints that resist noticeable light fading for 115 years. HP’s latest colour photo printing systems also offer up to 73 years fade resistance under display conditions.

Key milestones

• 1997: HP launches HP Photosmart Glossy Photographic Paper – the first true photo-like inkjet solution

• 1999: HP achieves fade resistance of four years behind glass with the HP No. 78 tri-colour cartridge on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper, according to Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. (WIR)

• 2001: HP achieves fade resistance of 17 years behind glass with the HP No. 78 tri-colour cartridge on HP Colourfast Photo Paper (according to WIR)

• 2002: Unique HP ink and print media combination achieves up to 73 years of colour photo fade resistance on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper when printed with HP No. 57 and HP No. 58 inkjet print cartridges (according to WIR)

• 2003: HP No. 83 UV inks in combination with select HP large format print media, including the fast drying HP Productivity Photo print media, achieve fade resistance of more than 200 years (according to WIR)

• 2004: HP Designjet 5500 large format printing system and HP print media is used by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena to view high-resolution, colour photos with vivid detail using HP colour printing technology. (February 4, 2004)

• 2004: HP black and white photos achieve fade resistance of up to 115 years with the HP No. 59 grey photo cartridge on HP Premium Plus Photo Paper (according to WIR)

• 2004: HP introduces HP Labels, HP LaserJet Papers and photo papers for inhouse publishing

• 2004: HP launches HP Everyday Photo Paper in 10 x 15 cm

format for affordable home photo printing

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions worldwide. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended 31 July, 2004, HP revenue totalled US$78.4 billion.