Liquid Ejecting Head Asymmetric Chamber Design for Uniform Flow

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Solution Overview

Problem

In liquid ejecting heads, uneven fluid resistance between the supply port and aperture parts in common liquid chambers leads to variations in liquid supply and ejection, causing deviations in nozzle sequence density and image irregularities, especially in high-density or high-speed image formation.

Innovation Solution

The liquid ejecting head is designed with two nozzle sequences, where one common liquid chamber has a supply port at one end and an aperture at the other, and the other common liquid chamber has a supply port at the other end and an aperture at the first end, balancing fluid resistance and reducing image quality degradation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Object-generated harmful factors

If a supply port part is provided at a side of one end of a common liquid chamber and an aperture part is provided at a side of the other end, then air bubble retention is reduced, but fluid resistance becomes greatly different between upstream and downstream sides causing deviation in ejection amount

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveair bubble retentionVSAvoidejection amount uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
Object-generated harmful factorsVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The liquid ejecting head is divided into multiple independent common liquid chambers, each serving a specific nozzle sequence. This segmentation allows each chamber to be optimized independently, with supply ports and aperture parts positioned to balance fluid resistance within each chamber while maintaining overall system performance.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent employs asymmetric positioning of supply ports and aperture parts within each common liquid chamber. By strategically placing these components at different positions (e.g., supply port at one end, aperture at the other end or at specific distances from ends), the design creates controlled fluid resistance gradients that prevent air bubble accumulation while ensuring uniform liquid distribution to nozzles.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #4Asymmetry

2Productivity

If supply port and aperture positions are optimized for flow rate, then air bubble retention is reduced, but fluid resistance variation causes variable density in formed images

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveliquid flow rateVSAvoidimage density uniformity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

Each common liquid chamber is designed with locally optimized supply port and aperture part positions tailored to its specific nozzle sequence requirements. This allows different chambers to have different configurations (e.g., some with supply ports at ends, others with apertures at specific positions) to achieve uniform liquid distribution and consistent ejection characteristics across all nozzles.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent systematically varies the positions of supply ports and aperture parts across different common liquid chambers. By changing parameters such as the distance of aperture parts from chamber ends and the relative positions of supply ports, the design achieves optimal balance between liquid flow rate and fluid resistance uniformity, preventing both air bubble retention and ejection amount deviation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #35Parameter changes

Data Source

PatentUS8628172B2Liquid ejecting head and image forming apparatus
Publication Date: 2014.01.14 RICOH CO LTD
  • US8628172B2 patent drawing
  • US8628172B2 patent drawing
  • US8628172B2 patent drawing

AI summary

Disclosed is a liquid ejecting head, including two nozzle sequences, each nozzle sequence including nozzles for ejecting a liquid drop, separate liquid chambers communicating with the nozzles, and two common liquid chambers for supplying a liquid to the separate liquid chambers and correspond to the two nozzle sequences, each common liquid chamber including a supply port for supplying a liquid thereto, an aperture, a cross-section thereof in a second direction orthogonal to a first direction of arrangement of the plural nozzles decreasing toward an end portion thereof in the first direction, wherein the supply port and aperture of one of the two common liquid chambers are provided at one end portion and the other end portion in the first direction, respectively, and the supply port and aperture of another one are provided at the other end portion and the one end portion in the first direction, respectively.