Liquid Ejecting Head Droplet Imaging for Ejection Stability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for evaluating ejection characteristics in liquid ejecting devices, such as inkjet printers, are inefficient and labor-intensive, particularly in assessing ejection velocity and stability across multiple nozzles, leading to defects like uneven images due to variations in ejection angle and velocity.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that capture and analyze multi-valued images of droplets ejected from nozzles to determine ejection state by obtaining and processing multi-valued data, including pixel count, volume, aspect ratio, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis, to assess ejection stability and velocity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If multiple measurement methods are used to evaluate ejection characteristics (ejection angle, ejection velocity, non-ejection), then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time and loss of substance increase due to multiple separate measurement processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple measurement functions (ejection angle measurement, ejection velocity measurement, and non-ejection detection) into a single image capture process. By capturing images at one timing that include both the droplet position information and the nozzle state information, the system eliminates the need for separate measurement processes, thereby reducing measurement time while maintaining comprehensive evaluation accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The imaging device is designed to perform multiple measurement functions simultaneously. A single image capture operation provides data for evaluating ejection angle, ejection velocity, and detecting non-ejection events, making the measurement system universal and eliminating the need for multiple specialized measurement devices or processes
2Measurement precision
If multiple measurement methods are used to evaluate ejection characteristics, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of substance increases due to additional ink consumption
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple measurement functions into a single image capture operation. By obtaining ejection angle, ejection velocity, and non-ejection detection data from one image capture event, the system minimizes the number of droplets that need to be ejected for measurement purposes, thereby reducing ink consumption while maintaining comprehensive evaluation capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system captures images at one timing that provides sufficient information for comprehensive evaluation without requiring excessive measurement actions. By selecting optimal capture timing that simultaneously provides droplet position and nozzle state information, the system achieves complete evaluation with minimal ink consumption
Data Source
AI summary
An ejection state determination method for determining an ejection state of a liquid ejecting head in which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting a liquid in a first direction are arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The ejection state determination method includes a first obtaining step of obtaining a plurality of pieces of multi-valued data of an image including a plurality of pixels by capturing, at one timing, an image of a droplet ejected from one nozzle selected from the plurality of nozzles, and a second obtaining step of obtaining determination information from the plurality of pieces of multi-valued data.