Head Unit Heat Sink Layout for High-Frequency Liquid Discharge
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of nozzles in liquid discharge apparatuses for higher definition and speed leads to increased heat generation in the driving signal output circuit, accelerating component aging and affecting the reliability and accuracy of ink discharge, with existing heat dissipation technologies being insufficient for high-frequency operations and miniaturized designs.
Innovation Solution
A head unit with a dual driving element system and a heat sink configuration, utilizing multiple heat conductive elastic bodies to enhance heat dissipation, where the driving circuits include integrated circuits, amplifiers, and smoothing circuits, and the heat sink is fixed to the substrate with specific positioning to maximize thermal contact and overlap areas for efficient heat transfer.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of nozzles is increased to achieve higher definition and discharge speed, then the productivity and measurement precision are improved, but the amount of heat generated in the driving signal output circuit increases, causing reliability to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the heat-generating driving signal output circuit from the head unit and places it on a separate substrate. This separation removes the harmful heat generation from the head unit, allowing the nozzles to be increased for higher productivity without compromising reliability through component aging.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a separate substrate as an intermediary carrier for the driving signal output circuit. This intermediary structure enables the circuit to be positioned away from the heat-sensitive components in the head unit, resolving the contradiction between increased nozzle count and heat-induced reliability issues.
2Manufacturing precision
If the number of nozzles is increased to achieve higher definition, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the amount of current output by the driving signal output circuit increases, causing heat generation to worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The driving signal output circuit is extracted from the head unit and placed on a separate substrate. This allows higher definition imaging with more nozzles without the associated heat generation affecting the precision components in the head unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the driving signal output circuit to a different spatial dimension (separate substrate) rather than increasing its size or complexity within the same space. This dimensional separation allows high-definition imaging capability while isolating the heat generation source.
3Measurement precision
If the operating frequency of the driving signal output circuit is increased to improve waveform accuracy, then the measurement precision is improved, but the amount of heat generated increases, causing reliability to deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The high-frequency driving signal output circuit is extracted and placed on a separate substrate. This enables high waveform accuracy for precise liquid discharge control without the heat generation from high-frequency operation compromising the reliability of components in the head unit.
4Volume of moving object
If the liquid discharge apparatus is miniaturized, then the weight and volume are reduced, but the region available for heat dissipation decreases, causing heat generation problems to worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The driving signal output circuit is extracted from the head unit and placed on a separate substrate with its own heat dissipation region. This allows the head unit to be miniaturized while the circuit substrate provides dedicated space for heat dissipation, resolving the contradiction between small size and heat management.
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 configuration effectively reduces heat generation and improves the reliability and accuracy of the liquid discharge apparatus by enhancing heat dissipation, addressing the challenges of increased heat and miniaturization while maintaining high-frequency operation and high-definition image formation.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of heat conductive elastic bodies are positioned between the substrate and the heat sink
Implementation Method 2
a piezoelectric element provided corresponding to each of a plurality of nozzles for discharging the liquid is provided, a predetermined amount of ink is discharged at a predetermined timing from the corresponding nozzle as the piezoelectric element is driven according to a driving signal
Data Source
AI summary
There are provided a first fixing section to a third fixing section that fix a heat sink to a substrate on which a first driving circuit and a second driving circuit are disposed; the first drive circuit includes first transistor and first integrated circuit, and the second drive circuit includes second transistor and second integrated circuit, lengths of the first transistor and the second transistor in the normal direction of the substrate are longer than lengths of the first integrated circuit and the second integrated circuit, the first fixing section and the second fixing section overlap a first virtual straight line that connects the first transistor and the second transistor, and the third fixing section overlaps a second virtual straight line that connects the first integrated circuit and the second integrated circuit to each other.