Patent ID: 8186784

Claim:
A continuous inkjet method in which liquid passes through a nozzle, the liquid being jetted comprising one or more dispersed or particulate components and where the particle Peclet number, Pe, defined by Pe = 1.25 ⁢ ϕ T · d eff 3 ⁢ μ S k ⁢ ⁢ T ⁢ ρ ⁢ ⁢ U 3 x is less than 500 and where the effective particle diameter, d eff , is calculated as d eff = ( ∫ 0 ∞ ⁢ d 3 ⁢ ϕ ⁡ ( d ) ⁢ ⅆ d ∫ 0 ∞ ⁢ ϕ ⁡ ( d ) ⁢ ⅆ d ) 1 / 3 where φ(d) is the volume fraction of the particles or components of diameter d (m) and where φ T is the total volume fraction of dispersed or particulate components, μ s is the viscosity of the liquid without particles (Pa·s), ρ is the liquid density (kg/m 3 ), U is the jet velocity (m/s), x is the length of the nozzle in the direction of flow (m), k is Boltzmann's constant (J/K) and T is temperature (K).