Inkjet Head Humidification Segmentation for Uniform Drying Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing liquid ejection apparatuses, such as ink-jet recording devices, face challenges in maintaining uniform humidity distribution during humidification, leading to varying drying degrees across ejection openings, which affects the efficiency of preventing ink drying and requires excessive ink consumption during before-use flushing.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejection apparatus with a conveyor mechanism, a head having ejection openings, a capping unit, an air supply and discharge system, and a control unit that adjusts the position of the ejection openings relative to the air supply and discharge openings to ensure uniform humidification and reduce ink consumption by optimizing the flushing process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If humid air is supplied to the ejection openings to prevent drying, then the drying prevention is improved, but the humidity distribution becomes non-uniform causing varying drying degrees across different positions
Solution Approach 1:
The ejection opening region is divided into multiple sections along the conveyance perpendicular direction, with different flushing control strategies applied to each section based on its position relative to the air supply and discharge openings. This segmentation allows differential control to achieve uniform humidity distribution across non-uniform positions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different flushing control parameters to different sections of the ejection opening region. Specifically, the flushing amount or flushing timing is adjusted according to the local humidity conditions at each position, creating local quality variations to compensate for the non-uniform humidity distribution caused by the air supply/discharge configuration.
2Reliability
If before-use flushing is performed to recover ejection characteristics, then the ejection performance is improved, but liquid consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of performing uniform flushing across all ejection openings, the patent applies partial flushing only to specific sections that require it based on their humidity conditions. This partial action approach recovers ejection characteristics where needed while minimizing unnecessary liquid consumption in areas where humidity is already sufficient.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically adjusts flushing parameters (such as flushing amount, flushing timing, or selection of which ejection openings to flush) based on the humidity distribution state. By changing these parameters according to actual conditions, the system achieves effective ejection characteristic recovery while optimizing liquid consumption.
3Area of stationary object
If the ejection opening region is made longer than the recording medium to ensure full coverage, then the coverage is improved, but the humidity non-uniformity across the region increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extended ejection opening region is segmented into multiple zones along the conveyance perpendicular direction, with each zone controlled independently based on its distance from the air supply and discharge openings. This segmentation enables the system to maintain full coverage while applying differentiated humidity control to compensate for the increased non-uniformity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the extended ejection opening region receive different flushing treatments tailored to their local humidity conditions. Sections farther from the air supply opening receive different flushing amounts or timing compared to sections closer to it, creating local quality adjustments that maintain uniformity across the entire extended region.
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
The apparatus effectively reduces ink consumption during before-use flushing by ensuring uniform humidity distribution and minimizing the increase in viscosity across all ejection openings, thereby enhancing the maintenance and operational efficiency of the ejection system.
Implementation Method 1
a humidification unit configured to perform a humidifying maintenance in the sealing state by supplying humid air into the ejection space via the air supply opening and by discharging air from the ejection space via the air discharge opening
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejection apparatus includes: a conveyor mechanism for conveying a recording medium in a conveying direction; a head including an ejection face including an ejection opening region having ejection openings, the region being longer than the recording medium in a conveyance perpendicular direction perpendicular to the conveying direction; a capping unit for selectively establishing a sealing state or an open state; an air supply opening and an air discharge opening; a humidification unit for performing a humidifying maintenance; a recording control unit for performing image recording; and a flushing control unit. The conveyor mechanism conveys the recording medium in the image recording such that one of opposite end portions of the ejection opening region and one of opposite edge portions of the recording medium are opposed to each other in the conveyance perpendicular direction when seen in a direction perpendicular to the ejection face.