Inkjet Head Flushing Dot Control for Print Quality
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printers face issues with ink viscosity increase over time, leading to ejection failures and reduced print quality, with existing techniques attempting to mitigate this by producing flushing dots that can enhance their visibility and waste recording medium.
Innovation Solution
A recording apparatus with a liquid ejection head that controls the formation of image and flushing dots to prevent adjacent formation, ensuring that flushing dots are not adjacent to each other and are limited to specific patterns across multiple directions, thereby reducing visibility and preventing wasteful consumption of the recording medium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flushing dots are produced to prevent ink viscosity increase, then ink ejection reliability is improved, but recording medium is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by strategically positioning flushing dots only in specific regions where they are most effective at preventing ink viscosity increase, rather than uniformly across the entire recording medium. This allows targeted flushing action that maintains reliability while minimizing overall medium consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by producing flushing dots before the actual image recording process. This preliminary flushing prevents ink viscosity increase from occurring in the first place, ensuring reliable ejection during the subsequent recording phase without needing excessive flushing during or after recording.
2Manufacturing precision
If flushing dots are arranged to minimize visibility, then print quality is improved, but flushing effectiveness may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses local quality by creating different dot patterns in different regions: sparse, low-visibility patterns in areas where flushing is less critical, and more prominent patterns where flushing effectiveness is most needed. This balances aesthetic quality with functional effectiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies dimensionality change by arranging flushing dots in specific geometric patterns (such as grids or matrices) rather than random distributions. This structured arrangement optimizes both visibility control and flushing effectiveness by leveraging spatial dimensionality to achieve multiple objectives simultaneously.
3Reliability
If multiple flushing dots are arranged along lines in different directions, then flushing coverage is improved, but visibility of flushing dots increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dimensionality change by organizing flushing dots in multi-dimensional grid patterns rather than simple linear arrangements. This allows flushing coverage to extend across the recording medium in multiple directions simultaneously while maintaining controlled visibility through the geometric dispersion of dots across the two-dimensional plane.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses segmentation by dividing the recording medium into multiple zones or regions, each with its own optimized flushing dot pattern. This allows different areas to be flushed independently with appropriate dot densities and arrangements, ensuring comprehensive coverage while minimizing overall visibility through localized optimization.
Data Source
AI summary
Flushing data include pixels that are flushing dot candidates in a virtual area where a plurality of pixels are arranged in a matrix. One or less pixel is arranged in a plurality of rows of pixels arranged in lines extending in the main scan direction and the direction of conveyance of a sheet and third and fourth directions that are orthogonal to each other and that cross each other at an angle of 45°. A head control section controls an inkjet head such that image dots and flushing dots corresponding to flushing dot candidates that pertain to flushing data and that are situated at locations where no image dots are generated, are produced on a sheet.