Liquid Ejecting Apparatus Air Bubble Removal Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ink jet printers face issues with air bubbles remaining in the ink flow path after maintenance, leading to discharge failures despite completed cleaning operations, as existing techniques struggle to efficiently remove air bubbles from the upstream portion of the flow path.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejecting apparatus equipped with a pressurizing mechanism and a pressure reducing mechanism, where the pressurizing mechanism is used to discharge liquid without generating air bubbles at the end of the maintenance operation, effectively sweeping away air bubbles from the supply flow path, and the pressure reducing mechanism is used to expand air bubbles for efficient discharge during the first discharging operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the pressure reducing mechanism is used to expand air bubbles in the supply flow path, then air bubbles in the downstream portion are efficiently discharged, but gas dissolved in the liquid forms air bubbles in the upstream portion that remain in the flow path
Solution Approach 1:
The maintenance operation is divided into multiple discrete steps with different pressure control strategies. The first step uses negative pressure to discharge downstream air bubbles, while the second step uses positive pressure to discharge upstream air bubbles and prevent gas dissolution. This segmentation allows each step to address specific air bubble problems without causing new issues.
Solution Approach 2:
The maintenance operation employs periodic pressure changes - first applying negative pressure, then switching to positive pressure. This periodic action between different pressure states enables comprehensive air bubble removal from both downstream and upstream portions of the flow path, ensuring complete liquid discharge capability.
2Reliability
If the pressure reducing mechanism maintains negative pressure for an extended period to discharge air bubbles, then more air bubbles are removed, but the maintenance operation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The maintenance operation uses periodic pressure changes - first applying negative pressure, then switching to positive pressure. This periodic action between different pressure states enables comprehensive air bubble removal from both downstream and upstream portions of the flow path, ensuring complete liquid discharge capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The first pressure reducing step performs preliminary air bubble discharge from the downstream portion before the second pressurizing step addresses upstream air bubbles. This preliminary action prepares the flow path for more efficient subsequent processing, reducing the total time required for complete air bubble removal.
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 reduces air bubbles remaining in the supply flow path, ensuring effective liquid discharge and preventing print quality issues by efficiently removing air bubbles from both downstream and upstream portions during maintenance, thereby enhancing the reliability of the printing process.
Implementation Method 1
a pressure reducing mechanism that discharges the liquid from the nozzle by reducing a pressure of a space communicating with a side opposite to a side of the supply flow path of the nozzle
Implementation Method 2
a pressurizing mechanism that discharges the liquid from the nozzle by pressurizing the liquid inside the supply flow path
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a liquid ejecting section in which a nozzle capable of ejecting liquid is provided; a supply flow path that supplies the liquid to the nozzle; a pressurizing mechanism that discharges the liquid from the nozzle by pressurizing the liquid inside the supply flow path; and a pressure reducing mechanism that discharges the liquid from the nozzle by reducing a pressure of a space communicating with a side opposite to a side of the supply flow path of the nozzle. In a maintenance operation discharging the liquid from the nozzle by driving at least one of the pressurizing mechanism and the pressure reducing mechanism, the last discharging operation of the maintenance operation is performed by driving the pressurizing mechanism from a state where the negative pressure is caused to act on the inside of the nozzle by driving the pressure reducing mechanism.