Ink Jet Printer Viscosity-Based Maintenance Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink jet printers with ink circulation mechanisms face challenges in determining when to perform maintenance due to the non-proportional relationship between elapsed time and ink viscosity, leading to unnecessary ink consumption or inadequate maintenance, and the increased production cost of detecting residual vibration for selecting maintenance operations.
Innovation Solution
An ink jet printer with an ink circulation route, including an ink jet head, a first tank for supplying ink, a second tank for collecting ink, a maintenance unit, a measuring unit to assess flow resistance, and a control unit that selects maintenance operations based on flow resistance values, allowing for maintenance to be performed only when necessary to avoid excessive ink consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If maintenance is performed based on elapsed time, then maintenance schedule is simple, but ink is consumed unnecessarily or maintenance is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parameter for maintenance decision from elapsed time to ink viscosity measurement. By measuring actual ink viscosity and comparing it against threshold values, the system determines whether maintenance is needed, thereby avoiding unnecessary ink consumption while ensuring adequate maintenance when required.
2Measurement precision
If residual vibration detection is used to select maintenance operations, then maintenance accuracy is improved, but production cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the maintenance decision-making function from complex residual vibration detection and simplifies it to ink viscosity measurement. By using a viscosity sensor to directly measure ink properties, the system achieves accurate maintenance selection without the complex circuitry and structural additions required for residual vibration detection.
3Reliability
If conventional maintenance is performed frequently, then ink jet head performance is maintained, but ink is consumed in vain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where ink viscosity is continuously measured and fed back to the control unit. Based on this feedback, the system automatically determines whether maintenance is necessary, allowing frequent monitoring without unnecessary maintenance operations, thus maintaining reliability while reducing ink waste.
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 solution enables maintenance to be performed in accordance with ink viscosity using a simple structure, reducing unnecessary ink consumption and maintaining printer performance by evaluating flow resistance to determine the appropriate maintenance operations.
Implementation Method 1
a measuring unit operable to obtain a value indicative of the flow resistance measured when ink flows the first tank to the second tank through the ink jet head
Data Source
AI summary
An ink jet printer is provided with an ink circulation route which includes an ink jet head, an ink supply tank and an ink collection tank. A measuring unit obtains a value indicative of the flow resistance measured when ink flows from the ink supply tank to the ink collection tank through the ink jet head. A control unit is operable to select one of maintenance operations on the basis of the value indicative of measured flow resistance. When the flow resistance value is lower than a predetermined value, the control unit selects the operation of circulating ink around the ink circulation route as a maintenance operation, and the maintenance unit does not perform the maintenance operation which consumes some amount of ink. This configuration makes it possible to perform maintenance in accordance with the ink viscosity by use of a simple structure.