Liquid-Ejecting Printer Nozzle Monitoring with Adaptive Timing
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printers with large numbers of nozzles require significant time to transmit nozzle state information to a host computer, leading to potential delays in recording operations when status information is transmitted concurrently.
Innovation Solution
A program that controls an external apparatus to acquire nozzle information from a liquid ejecting apparatus at optimized timings based on specific conditions, reducing the frequency of information acquisition when certain conditions are met, thereby minimizing interference with recording operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If status information is transmitted frequently to monitor nozzle states, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to transmission delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adjustment of status information transmission frequency based on recording operation states. The external apparatus acquires nozzle status information at different frequencies depending on whether recording is actively performed, adapting the monitoring intensity to current operational needs and avoiding fixed-frequency transmission delays
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic acquisition of status information with variable periods. During recording operations, status information is acquired at longer intervals to minimize interference, while between recording operations, acquisition frequency increases to maintain nozzle state awareness without conflicting with recording throughput
2Reliability
If nozzle information is acquired at high frequency to ensure accurate monitoring, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to overlapping operations
Solution Approach 1:
The external apparatus dynamically adjusts the acquisition frequency of nozzle information based on recording operation states. During active recording, acquisition frequency is reduced to prevent overlap and maintain productivity, while reliability is preserved through targeted acquisitions at operation boundaries
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary acquisition of status information before recording operations begin and follows up with acquisition after recording completes. This timing strategy ensures nozzle state is known before recording starts without interfering with the recording process itself, maintaining both reliability and productivity
3Measurement precision
If status request commands are sent continuously to monitor nozzle states, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases due to data transmission overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The external apparatus sends status request commands periodically rather than continuously, with the period adjusted based on recording operation states. This reduces data transmission overhead and time loss while maintaining adequate monitoring precision through strategically timed requests
Data Source
AI summary
A non-transitory computer readable medium recorded with a program for controlling an external apparatus which has a memory and which is configured to communicate with a liquid ejecting apparatus is provided. The program allows a computer to acquire nozzle information from the liquid ejecting apparatus so that the nozzle information is stored in the memory. The program allows the computer to execute the nozzle information acquiring process at a first timing if the nozzle information, which is stored in the memory, fulfills a first condition, or the program allows the computer to execute the nozzle information acquiring process at a second timing having a frequency lower than that of the first timing if the nozzle information, which is stored in the memory, fulfills a second condition.