Inkjet Print Head Nozzle Segmentation for Ejection Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing devices with a large number of nozzles face increased costs and ink consumption due to the need for complex hardware to monitor nozzle ejection, and existing ejection recovery methods result in paper waste and printing quality issues from nozzle clogging and ink evaporation.
Innovation Solution
An inkjet printing device with a print head featuring overlapping nozzle rows, where specific nozzles in the link region perform in-image preliminary ejection and those in the non-link region perform between-image preliminary ejection, allowing for controlled ejection recovery with minimal ink consumption and paper waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If monitoring is performed at all times on all nozzles to determine necessity of preliminary ejection, then printing quality is maintained, but hardware size and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The print head is divided into multiple nozzle rows (first nozzle row and second nozzle row) with different functions. The first nozzle row performs in-image preliminary ejection while the second nozzle row performs between-image preliminary ejection, allowing selective monitoring and operation to reduce hardware complexity while maintaining printing quality
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the print head are assigned different functions and monitoring requirements. The link region nozzles have different operational characteristics compared to non-link region nozzles, enabling localized optimization of monitoring and ejection strategies to reduce overall hardware requirements
2Reliability
If both between-image and in-image preliminary ejection are performed using all nozzles, then ejection recovery is achieved, but ink consumption and paper waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The nozzle system is segmented into first and second nozzle rows with specialized functions. The first nozzle row dedicated to in-image preliminary ejection and the second nozzle row dedicated to between-image preliminary ejection prevents redundant ink ejection and optimizes resource utilization, reducing overall ink consumption while maintaining effective ejection recovery
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using all nozzles for both types of preliminary ejection, the invention employs partial action by assigning specific nozzles to specific functions. This selective approach performs sufficient ejection recovery without the excessive ink consumption that would result from using all nozzles for both operations
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 effective ejection recovery with reduced ink usage and paper waste, maintaining printing quality without the need for costly hardware, addressing issues of nozzle clogging and ink evaporation.
Implementation Method 1
a piezoelectric element that changes its shape in response to an applied voltage to eject ink from the nozzle
Data Source
AI summary
In-image preliminary ejection is performed by use of nozzles used to print an image out of the nozzles included in an overlapping link region, and between-image preliminary ejection is performed by use of nozzles which are not used to print the image. Thus, a reduction in image quality is inhibited, while the amount of print media used in the between-image preliminary ejection is reduced.