Liquid Ejection Head Sealing Member Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid ejection heads face challenges in maintaining sufficient sealing performance when the spacing between ejection element rows is reduced, leading to potential ink and air leakage, and the flexibility in arranging ink inlet ports is limited due to constraints related to sealing performance.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejection head design featuring a flow path-forming part with multiple outlet ports, a liquid ejecting unit with corresponding inlet ports, and a sealing member with multiple sealing openings that communicate the outlet and inlet ports, allowing for shared sealing openings across multiple inlet ports to ensure effective sealing even with reduced spacing between ejection element rows.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the spacing between ejection element rows is reduced to downsize the print element substrate, then the device size is reduced, but the sealing openings of sealing members interfere with one another, making it difficult to secure sufficient sealing openings and desired sealing performance
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member is divided into multiple sealing parts, each corresponding to different ejection element rows. This segmentation allows each sealing part to be independently positioned and sized, preventing interference between sealing openings while maintaining adequate sealing performance for each row of ejection elements.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sealing parts are provided with different local characteristics tailored to their specific positions and functions. Each sealing part can have optimized dimensions and positioning relative to its corresponding ejection element row, ensuring adequate sealing openings are secured even when overall spacing between rows is reduced.
2Reliability
If ink inlet ports are arranged in positions that allow sufficient sealing openings for desired sealing performance, then sealing performance is improved, but the degree of flexibility in arranging ink inlet ports is lowered
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing member is segmented into multiple sealing parts that can be independently configured. This allows ink inlet ports to be arranged with high flexibility to optimize bubble removal and flow characteristics, while each sealing part maintains sufficient sealing openings for desired sealing performance without mutual interference.
3Volume of moving object
If the spacing between ejection element rows is reduced, then the device size is reduced, but air and ink may be leaked from the ink flow paths due to insufficient sealing openings
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the sealing member into multiple sealing parts, each sealing part can maintain adequate sealing openings even when overall spacing between ejection element rows is reduced. This prevents ink and air leakage from ink flow paths while enabling downsizing of the liquid ejection head.
Solution Approach 2:
Each sealing part is configured with local characteristics optimized for its position, ensuring adequate sealing openings are provided at each location to prevent leakage, even when the overall device size is reduced through closer spacing of ejection element rows.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejection head includes a flow path-forming part having a flow path for liquid supplied from a liquid reservoir and a plurality of outlet ports for discharging the liquid, a liquid ejecting unit having a plurality of inlet ports into which the liquid flows and a plurality of ejection element rows corresponding to the inlet ports and each having a plurality of ejection elements to eject the liquid, and a sealing member having a sealing opening which allows communication between the plurality of outlet ports and the plurality of inlet ports. sealing member seals a portion between the flow path-forming part and the liquid ejecting unit so that the plurality of outlet ports and the plurality of inlet ports are in communication. A plurality of the sealing openings are provided for the sealing member, and at least one of the sealing openings has at least two inlet ports.