Liquid Discharge Head Drive Waveform Phase Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
High-resolution image forming apparatuses using liquid discharge heads face issues with droplet landing position shifts due to adjacent nozzle interactions, leading to decreased print speed and increased dot pitches, which existing methods attempt to address by differentiating drive cycles but result in reduced frequency and quality.
Innovation Solution
An image forming apparatus with a liquid discharge head that generates droplets of different sizes by applying selected discharge pulses to pressure generators, ensuring meniscus oscillations in adjacent liquid chambers have reverse phases, utilizing a common drive waveform with specific pulse intervals to minimize crosstalk and maintain high print quality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If the nozzle density of the liquid discharge head is increased to form high-resolution images, then the image resolution is improved, but the partition width between liquid chambers becomes thin, causing adjacent crosstalk and droplet landing position shifts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by generating a meniscus oscillation in advance in the non-discharge liquid chamber adjacent to the discharge nozzle, with a phase opposite to the meniscus oscillation in the discharge liquid chamber. This pre-generated opposite-phase oscillation counteracts the harmful crosstalk from adjacent nozzles, preventing droplet landing position shifts before they occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the timing parameter of the drive waveform to create a specific pulse interval between discharge pulses. This pulse interval is designed to generate an opposite-phase meniscus oscillation in adjacent liquid chambers, transforming the crosstalk from harmful to beneficial by altering the temporal parameters of the drive signal.
2Manufacturing precision
If drive cycles are differentiated between adjacent nozzles to reduce crosstalk, then adjacent crosstalk is reduced, but drive frequency and print speed decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the drive cycles of adjacent nozzles by using a common drive waveform for all nozzles. This allows synchronized operation of all nozzles at the same high drive frequency, eliminating the need for differentiated drive cycles while still achieving crosstalk reduction through the opposite-phase meniscus oscillation mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs periodic action by using a common drive waveform with regular pulse intervals for all nozzles. The periodic discharge pulses maintain high drive frequency and print speed, while the carefully designed pulse interval creates the necessary opposite-phase meniscus oscillation to reduce crosstalk.
3Manufacturing precision
If drive cycles are differentiated between adjacent nozzles to reduce crosstalk, then adjacent crosstalk is reduced, but pitch between dots increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses preliminary anti-action to counteract the crosstalk that would otherwise cause pitch expansion. By pre-generating the opposite-phase meniscus oscillation in adjacent liquid chambers, the harmful effects of crosstalk are neutralized, preventing dot pitch increase while maintaining high nozzle density.
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 solution effectively reduces droplet landing position shifts, maintaining high image quality and print speed by optimizing droplet discharge timing and size variability, thereby improving the overall performance of the image forming apparatus.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure generator to generate a pressure pressurizing a liquid in each one of the individual liquid chambers
Implementation Method 2
a meniscus oscillation generated in the individual liquid chamber applied with the pressure by the pressure generator has a phase reverse to a phase of a meniscus oscillation generated in the adjacent individual liquid chamber
Data Source
AI summary
An image forming apparatus includes a liquid discharge head including plural nozzles to discharge droplets; a plurality of individual liquid chambers; a pressure generator, and a head drive controller. A meniscus oscillation generated in the individual liquid chamber applied with the pressure by the pressure generator has a phase reverse to a phase of a meniscus oscillation generated in the adjacent individual liquid chamber not applied with the pressure by the pressure generator, the common drive waveform generated by the head drive controller includes a common discharge pulse used for forming droplets having at least two sizes and an noncommon discharge pulse used for forming one of the droplets having two sizes, and a pulse interval between the common discharge pulse and the noncommon discharge pulse located right before the common discharge pulse is a time area having a phase reverse to resonance.