Circuit Substrate Layout for Liquid Ejecting Apparatus Heat Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid ejecting apparatuses face challenges in reducing the size of circuit substrates while minimizing heat-related failures and performance deterioration due to concentrated heat generation in drive circuits.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves mounting drive circuits on both surfaces of the circuit substrate, with transistors and coils positioned to avoid overlap and alternating patterns to disperse heat, and using class D amplification to reduce power consumption and heat dissipation requirements, thereby minimizing substrate size and weight.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of moving object
If the size of the circuit substrate is reduced to minimize device dimensions, then the area occupied by drive circuits is reduced, but heat generated in the drive circuits concentrates at the circuit substrate causing failure or performance deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by mounting drive circuits on both the front surface and back surface of the circuit substrate, effectively utilizing the third dimension (depth/layering) to distribute heat-generating components across multiple surfaces. This spatial redistribution prevents heat concentration on a single surface while maintaining compact overall device dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements local quality by creating non-overlapping patterns for heat-generating components (transistors and coils) on opposite surfaces of the substrate. Specifically, transistors on one surface are positioned in areas that do not overlap with coils on the other surface, ensuring localized heat dissipation zones and preventing thermal accumulation at specific points.
2Device complexity
If multiple drive circuits are mounted on a single substrate to reduce the number of substrates, then device complexity is reduced, but heat concentration and mutual interference occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the contradiction between consolidating multiple drive circuits on one substrate and preventing heat concentration by utilizing the front-back surface dimensionality. Drive circuits are distributed across both surfaces of the same substrate with spatial separation of heat-generating components, achieving both consolidation and thermal management.
3Temperature
If transistors and coils are positioned to avoid overlap on opposite surfaces to disperse heat, then heat concentration is reduced, but the area required on each surface increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves the area increase issue by utilizing the third dimension (front-back surfaces) for component placement. Instead of spreading components across a larger single surface area, the invention distributes transistors and coils to non-overlapping regions on opposite surfaces, effectively using vertical stacking to maintain compact footprint while achieving heat dispersion.
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 approach effectively reduces the size of the circuit substrate, disperses heat to prevent failures, and maintains good ejecting characteristics by minimizing mutual interference and heat concentration, while also reducing the number and area of heat sinks.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric element which is displaced by receiving the drive signal
Implementation Method 2
a transistor which generates an amplified modulation signal by amplifying the modulation signal
Implementation Method 3
a low pass filter which generates a drive signal by smoothening the amplified modulation signal
Data Source
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AI summary
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a first ejecting section that includes a first drive element and ejects liquid by driving the first drive element, a first drive circuit that includes a first transistor and outputs a first drive signal to the first drive element, a second drive circuit that includes a second transistor and outputs a second drive signal to the first drive element, a circuit substrate on which the first drive circuit and the second drive circuit are mounted. The first drive circuit is mounted on a first surface of the circuit substrate, and the second drive circuit is mounted on a second surface of the circuit substrate, and the first transistor and the second transistor are disposed at position that do not overlap one another in plan view of the circuit substrate.