Liquid Ejecting Apparatus Flushing Area Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Liquid ejecting apparatuses face contamination issues due to ink or liquid being attached to the recording medium during flushing operations, as the ink ejected from nozzles can adhere to the medium being transported on a belt, leading to potential contamination.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejecting apparatus with a transport belt and a controller that performs a flushing operation by ejecting liquid onto a flushing area adjacent to the medium with an interval, utilizing a maintenance mechanism to manage nozzle distance, ejection amount, and mode selection to minimize liquid attachment to the medium, including features like adjustable intervals and multiple liquid receiving portions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If flushing operation is performed by ejecting liquid onto the transport belt, then nozzle clogging is prevented, but recording medium contamination occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The transport belt surface is divided into two distinct functional zones: a flushing area for nozzle maintenance and a recording medium area for printing. This spatial segmentation allows the flushing operation to occur on a dedicated area that is separated from the medium path, preventing contamination while maintaining nozzle functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The harmful effect (liquid ejection during flushing) is extracted and relocated from the recording medium area to a dedicated flushing area on the transport belt. By taking the flushing operation out of the medium printing zone and placing it in a separate designated area, the contamination problem is eliminated while the nozzle maintenance function is preserved.
2Ease of operation
If liquid is ejected onto the transport belt for flushing, then nozzle maintenance is achieved, but liquid attachment to medium increases
Solution Approach 1:
The transport belt serves as an intermediary surface between the nozzle and the recording medium. By ejecting liquid onto the belt's flushing area rather than directly onto the medium, the belt acts as a mediator that receives and contains the liquid, preventing it from attaching to the recording medium while still enabling effective nozzle maintenance.
Solution Approach 2:
Different areas of the transport belt are assigned different functional qualities: the flushing area is designed to receive and contain liquid for nozzle maintenance, while the medium area maintains properties suitable for printing. This local differentiation ensures that liquid attachment occurs only in the appropriate flushing zone and not on the recording medium.
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 the likelihood of medium contamination by dispersing the liquid across multiple attachment points, increasing evaporation and reducing fluidity, and allows for mode switching to prevent attachment during printing or maintenance.
Implementation Method 1
a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from a plurality of nozzles formed on a nozzle surface with respect to the medium supported on the medium supporting surface of the transport belt
Implementation Method 2
a transport belt that transports a medium in a transport direction in a state in which the medium is supported on a medium supporting surface
Data Source
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AI summary
A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a transport belt that transports a medium in a transport direction in a state in which the medium is supported on a medium supporting surface, a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from a plurality of nozzles formed on a nozzle surface with respect to the medium supported on the medium supporting surface of the transport belt, and a controller that performs a flushing operation of ejecting the liquid from the nozzles as a maintenance operation for the liquid ejecting head, on a flushing area on the medium supporting surface adjacent to the medium with an interval therebetween.