Head Unit Liquid Ejection Arrangement for Nozzle Clogging Prevention
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid ejecting heads face issues with clogging and misdirection of ink due to the aggregation of reaction liquids on nozzle surfaces, leading to reduced fixability and printing quality.
Innovation Solution
A head unit configuration that includes a first liquid head, a reaction liquid head, and a treatment liquid head, where the first and reaction liquid heads are adjacent along a second axis, and the treatment liquid head is aligned with the first head along a first axis, with a wiping member to manage the ejection surfaces, preventing aggregation and ensuring consistent ink placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a reaction liquid containing an aggregating agent is ejected to improve liquid fixability to the medium, then the fixability is improved, but fine mist is generated that adheres to the nozzle and causes liquid aggregation leading to clogging or flight direction shift
Solution Approach 1:
A treatment liquid head is introduced as an intermediary component between the reaction liquid head and the nozzle. This treatment liquid head applies a treatment liquid that prevents the aggregating agent from adhering to the nozzle surface, thereby eliminating the harmful effect of mist adhesion and clogging while preserving the fixability improvement from the reaction liquid
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful function of the reaction liquid (mist generation and adhesion) is separated from its useful function (improving fixability). The reaction liquid is ejected for its beneficial aggregating effect on the medium, while the treatment liquid is separately applied to counteract the harmful adhesion to the nozzle, effectively extracting and eliminating the harmful aspect
2Productivity
If multiple liquid ejecting heads are arranged closely to improve productivity, then the ejection width increases, but the complexity of managing multiple ejection surfaces increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple wiping members are combined into a single integrated wiping unit that can simultaneously or sequentially wipe multiple ejection surfaces. This merging approach maintains the high productivity enabled by multiple closely-spaced liquid ejecting heads while reducing the operational complexity of managing individual wiping mechanisms for each head
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 enhances the fixability and printing quality by preventing nozzle clogging and misdirection, allowing for improved ink aggregation and distribution on the medium, thereby reducing printing errors and maintaining consistent color output.
Implementation Method 1
a reaction liquid head that ejects a reaction liquid containing an aggregating agent for aggregating the liquid
Implementation Method 2
a wiping member that wipes an ejection surface of the treatment liquid head and an ejection surface of the first head along the first axis in this order
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a head unit configured to eject a liquid to a medium while reciprocating along a second axis that is perpendicular to a first axis along a transport direction of the medium. The head unit includes a plurality of liquid ejecting heads including first head configured to eject a first liquid, a reaction liquid head configured to eject a reaction liquid that aggregates the first liquid, and treatment liquid head configured to eject a treatment liquid containing a softening agent. The first head and the reaction liquid head are adjacent to each other and are arranged along the second axis. The treatment liquid head is arranged with the first head along the first axis.