Liquid Ejection Control for Shifted Nozzles and Buffer Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid ejection apparatuses face challenges in reducing the amount of ejection control data required when nozzle positions are shifted between nozzle arrays, which increases memory usage and processing demands.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejection apparatus with a first and second nozzle array, where nozzles are arranged at a particular pitch and shifted in position, and a controller that generates and stores ejection control data efficiently, allowing the memory to store data for less than two ejection processes, enabling reduced data amounts by alternating acquisition and ejection periods.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple nozzle arrays with shifted positions are used to achieve high-resolution printing, then manufacturing precision is improved, but the amount of ejection control data increases
Solution Approach 1:
The ejection control data is segmented into multiple buffers (first buffer, second buffer, third buffer) that store data for different nozzle arrays separately. This allows the system to process and eject data for one nozzle array at a time, reducing the peak memory requirement at any given moment while supporting multiple shifted nozzle arrays for high-resolution printing
Solution Approach 2:
Ejection control data is acquired and stored in buffers in advance before the actual ejection process. The controller prepares data for multiple nozzle arrays beforehand, organizing it into sequential buffers that can be processed efficiently during the carriage's single pass, reducing real-time processing demands
2Productivity
If ejection control data is stored for multiple ejection processes, then productivity is improved, but memory size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the functionality of multiple separate memory buffers into a unified buffer management structure. The first, second, and third buffers work together in a coordinated sequence, allowing the system to maintain continuous ejection operations across multiple nozzle arrays while using memory efficiently through buffer recycling and sequential access patterns
Data Source
AI summary
A controller acquires ejection control data, the ejection control data being generated based on image data for one line of an image to be formed, the ejection control data including first data and second data, the first data indicating an amount of liquid ejected from a first nozzle in a first nozzle array, the second data indicating an amount of liquid ejected from a second nozzle in a second nozzle array; stores the acquired ejection control data in a memory; and performs an ejection operation of, while moving a carriage once, controlling a head to eject liquid from the first nozzle based on the first data and to eject liquid from the second nozzle based on the second data. The memory stores the ejection control data of an amount that is smaller than or equal to an amount required for performing the ejection operation twice.