Inkjet Printing Preliminary Ejection Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing inkjet printing methods experience throughput degradation due to unnecessary preliminary ejections, as the determination of ejection positions is based solely on print medium size and position, potentially leading to ejections outside the actual print range.
Innovation Solution
An inkjet printing apparatus and method that includes a printing unit, first and second preliminary ejection receiving units, and an acquisition unit to determine the optimal preliminary ejection receiving unit based on the size of the printing medium and the image data range, allowing for targeted preliminary ejections within the scanning range to minimize throughput degradations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If preliminary ejection is performed at both cap and preliminary ejection port based solely on print medium size, then ink ejection performance is restored, but throughput deteriorates due to unnecessary ejections outside actual print range
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by determining preliminary ejection positions based on the actual image data range rather than solely on print medium size. The decision unit analyzes the scan range of image data and selectively activates preliminary ejection receiving units (cap or preliminary ejection port) corresponding to the actual printing area, ensuring ejections occur only where needed to maintain both ink performance and throughput efficiency
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamics by making the preliminary ejection configuration adaptive to the actual image printing requirements. The decision unit dynamically determines which receiving units should receive preliminary ejections based on the scan range of image data, allowing the system to adjust ejection positions flexibly rather than using a fixed configuration based only on medium size
2Reliability
If preliminary ejection is performed separately from normal printing operation, then ink viscosity and nozzle sticking are addressed, but additional time is added to printing process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges preliminary ejection with normal printing operation by integrating the preliminary ejection receiving units into the existing printing system architecture. The preliminary ejections are handled through the same carriage scanning mechanism and receiving unit infrastructure, allowing preliminary ejection and normal printing to share system resources and reduce overall time consumption
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 enables preliminary ejections that minimize throughput degradations by optimizing the position of preliminary ejections within the actual print range, reducing unnecessary carriage scans and improving image quality.
Implementation Method 1
a printing unit to print an image on a print medium by ejecting an ink based on image data while scanning a print head for ejecting the ink in a scanning direction
Implementation Method 2
a first preliminary ejection receiving unit and a second preliminary ejection receiving unit provided on both sides of a scanning range of the printing unit scanning, and receiving the ink preliminarily ejected by the printing head
Data Source
AI summary
An inkjet printing apparatus and an inkjet printing method are realized which can improve a print quality while minimizing the volume of waste ink, running cost and throughput degradations. For this purpose, the scan width is set according to the size and position of the print medium and then, based on that scan width, a location where the preliminary ejections are to be executed and the number of times that the preliminary ejection is to be executed in a single preliminary ejection session are determined.