Absorber-Based Ink Recovery for Droplet Ejection Heads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid droplet ejecting apparatuses face inefficiencies in recovering ejection performance due to high ink consumption during ejection flushing, which is required to discharge thickened ink from the heads.
Innovation Solution
A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus comprising a droplet ejection head, an absorber, and a moving mechanism, where the absorber contacts the ejection openings to absorb and discharge thickened ink without ejecting droplets, reducing the need for ejection flushing and minimizing ink consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If ejection flushing is performed to discharge thickened ink from heads, then ejection performance is recovered, but ink consumption volume increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the function of discharging thickened ink from the ejection flushing process by introducing a separate absorber component. The absorber is positioned to contact the ejection openings and remove thickened ink directly, separating this function from the droplet ejection process and enabling independent optimization of each function.
Solution Approach 2:
The absorber acts as an intermediary component between the ink supply system and the ejection openings. It mediates the removal of thickened ink by contacting the ejection openings and absorbing the accumulated ink, preventing it from affecting ejection performance without requiring large volumes of fresh ink for flushing.
2Stability of the object's composition
If non-ejection flushing is performed to disperse thickened ink, then viscosity is reduced, but thickened ink remains accumulated in the head
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the remaining thickened ink from the ejection openings using the absorber component. After non-ejection flushing disperses the ink and reduces viscosity, the absorber physically removes the accumulated thickened ink from the ejection openings, completing the recovery process without requiring ejection flushing.
3Reliability
If ejection flushing is performed to maintain ejection quality, then ejection defects are prevented, but economic efficiency decreases due to high ink consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the function of maintaining ejection quality from the ink-consuming ejection flushing process. By introducing the absorber that removes thickened ink through contact with ejection openings, the system maintains ejection quality while eliminating the need for large volumes of ink for flushing, thereby improving economic efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of ink consumption by replacing the ejection flushing method with an absorption-based method. This parameter change reduces ink consumption volume while maintaining the ability to prevent ejection defects through regular removal of thickened ink from the ejection openings.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution effectively reduces ink consumption during recovery of ejection performance by absorbing and discharging thickened ink, thereby maintaining ejection quality while minimizing the frequency and ink usage of ejection flushing operations.
Implementation Method 1
The absorber includes a liquid-absorbent facing portion which faces the ejection openings when the absorber faces the ejection face
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a droplet ejection head, an absorber, a moving mechanism, and a controller. The droplet ejection head includes liquid passages having at their leading ends ejection openings which eject droplets, an ejection face which faces a recording medium onto which droplets ejected from the ejection openings are placed, and an actuator which applies energy to liquid inside the liquid passages. The absorber includes a liquid-absorbent facing portion which faces the ejection openings when the absorber faces the ejection face. The moving mechanism moves the droplet ejection head and the absorber relatively to each other such that the droplet ejection head and the absorber are positioned in an absorbing position where the ejection openings and the facing portion face each other. The controller controls the moving mechanism to position the droplet ejection head and the absorber in the absorbing position, and while the droplet ejection head and the absorber are positioned in the absorbing position, controls the actuator to apply to the liquid in the liquid passages energy falling short for droplet ejection from each of the ejection openings thereby having a meniscus formed on each of the ejection openings contact the facing portion.