Gen5

The Ricoh MH5420/5421 (commonly known as the “Gen5”) is a robust, industrial-grade printhead renowned for its ruggedness, high jetting frequency, and ability to handle highly viscous inks, especially UV formulations. It is a workhorse in industrial flatbed and roll-to-roll printers globally.

• Technology Foundation: The Gen5 uses Piezoelectric (PZT) technology, but it is a more traditional, robust design compared to Epson’s MicroTFP MEMS approach.
• Ruggedness and Lifespan: The Gen5 is famous for its durability. Its robust industrial design often translates to a longer lifespan in harsh operational environments compared to more delicate heads.
• Heater and Thermistor: The printhead includes integrated heaters and temperature sensors, allowing precise control over ink viscosity during jetting, which is vital for specialty inks like white and varnish.
• Drop Volume: It typically jets a larger minimum droplet size (around 7 picoliters) compared to the I3200 (3.8 picoliters), which contributes to its robust jetting performance but can slightly limit the absolute finest detail possible.
• Configuration: It is a dual-channel printhead with 1,280 nozzles (4 rows of 320 nozzles each) configured in two separate ink channels.