Burst Spitting Nozzle Groups Aerosol Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing systems face issues with aerosol contamination and degraded print quality due to continuous nozzle ejection during servicing, leading to customer dissatisfaction and reduced printer reliability.
Innovation Solution
Implementing burst spitting, which divides servicing spits into multiple bursts to control aerosol movement and optimize ink drop counts, post-burst delays, and nozzle group orders to reduce aerosol generation and improve nozzle health.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If continuous nozzle ejection is performed during servicing, then nozzle clearing effectiveness is improved, but aerosol contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous ejection process is segmented into discrete bursts separated by idle periods. Each burst consists of a specific number of droplets ejected from each nozzle group, followed by a pause before the next burst. This segmentation reduces aerosol generation while maintaining nozzle clearing effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The servicing process uses periodic burst ejection rather than continuous ejection. Each nozzle group undergoes periodic bursts of droplet ejection with controlled intervals between bursts and between different nozzle groups, reducing cumulative aerosol contamination while maintaining cleaning effectiveness.
2Productivity
If all nozzles eject simultaneously, then servicing time is reduced, but aerosol generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
Nozzles are divided into multiple groups that eject droplets in sequence rather than simultaneously. Each group ejects a burst of droplets, then pauses while other groups eject, maintaining high servicing throughput while reducing peak aerosol generation at any given moment.
Solution Approach 2:
Different nozzle groups undergo periodic ejection cycles with staggered timing. The controller manages the periodic activation of each group to achieve overall servicing efficiency while controlling aerosol generation through temporal distribution of ejection events.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If burst spitting is implemented, then aerosol contamination is reduced, but servicing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts ejection parameters including burst duration, inter-burst intervals, and nozzle group sequencing based on operational requirements. The controller manages these dynamic parameters to achieve optimal balance between aerosol reduction and servicing effectiveness without requiring complex external intervention.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2~3
Figure 4~5
AI summary
A printer includes a printhead assembly, a service station assembly, and a controller. The printhead assembly includes nozzles to eject fluid drops. The nozzles are divided into a least two groups with each group assigned a burst drop count, a post-burst delay, and a burst order. The service station assembly is to receive fluid ejected from the nozzles during spits. The controller is to control a spit of the printhead assembly by ejecting fluid from the nozzles of each group based on the burst drop count, the post-burst delay, and the burst order of each group until a target drop count for the spit is reached.