Direct legend printing (DLP) on printed circuit boards using piezoelectric inkjet technology

Abstract The industry standard for applying the identification nomenclature to Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) is silkscreen legend printing, using white ink. This multi‐step process has minimal flexibility for applying unique legends e.g. serialization numbers to individual boards. This paper describes a new, alternative single step direct legend printing system which uses piezoelectric inkjet technology, the leading digital imaging method for a variety of industrial applications. The advantages that this, inherently clean and efficient, drop‐on‐demand, printing process brings to legend printing include increased flexibility, shorter process times, good legend definition, accurate placement, small footprint equipment and reduced labour and material usage.