Ink-jet Recording Device Pressure and Temperature Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink jet recording apparatuses face issues with ink leakage and air entry due to inappropriate pressure control, leading to waste and increased maintenance labor, especially when the ink transitions from solid to liquid and vice versa during power shutdown.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes a reservoir unit pressure adjustment and temperature control system that manages the ink's state by adjusting pressure and temperature to prevent leakage and air entry, ensuring the ink remains in a stable liquid state within the head and flow passages, and solidifies properly during power shutdown.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the ink in the flow passage portion is melted before the ink in the head, then the ink can be supplied to the head, but the negative pressure cannot be appropriately applied to the head meniscus portion, causing ink leakage and air entry
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by adjusting the pressure in the reservoir unit before melting the ink in the flow passage portion. This ensures that the negative pressure is established in advance, preventing ink leakage and air entry when the ink transitions to liquid state and flows toward the head.
2Loss of energy
If the heating of upstream ink is stopped first during power shutdown, then energy is saved, but the ink in the head remains liquid while upstream ink solidifies, causing pressure loss and ink leakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining pressure adjustment in the reservoir unit even after heating is stopped during power shutdown. This ensures that the negative pressure is preserved in the head before the ink solidifies, preventing ink leakage and maintaining system reliability during the transition to solid state.
3Speed
If back pressure control is stopped before ink viscosity increases, then the system responds quickly to shutdown, but the back pressure becomes higher than atmospheric pressure, causing ink to flow out from nozzles
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by maintaining pressure adjustment in the reservoir unit after heating is stopped during shutdown. This ensures that the negative pressure is preserved even as the ink begins to solidify and viscosity increases, preventing ink from flowing out of the nozzles and 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 effectively reduces ink waste and maintenance labor by maintaining appropriate pressure and temperature control, preventing ink leakage and air entry, and optimizing energy consumption by keeping the ink in a stable liquid state within the specified temperature range.
Implementation Method 1
heating a tank reserving the ink, a head and flow passages thereof so that the ink cannot solidify
Implementation Method 2
a pressure (back pressure) to be applied to the ink in the head is controlled while heating the ink
Implementation Method 3
such ink is sometimes used, which is in a solid state at ordinary temperatures, and is molten by being heated
Data Source
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AI summary
A ink-jet recording device is provided with a head for discharging droplets of ink, a flow path for supplying the ink to the head, said flow path including, in a portion thereof, a storage unit for storing the ink, a storage unit pressure adjustment unit for adjusting the pressure applied to the ink in the storage unit, and a temperature adjustment unit capable of adjusting the temperatures of the flow path and the head independently of each other. The temperature adjustment unit controls the temperatures of the flow path and the head so as to change the ink in the head from a solid to a liquid after the pressure is adjusted by the storage unit pressure adjustment unit so as to change the ink in the flow path from a solid to a liquid.