Liquid Discharge Head With Variable Nozzle-Array End Spacing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid discharge heads face challenges in maintaining consistent landing positions of liquid droplets due to airflow interference, leading to image quality issues and limited control methods for nozzle arrangements.
Innovation Solution
The nozzle plate design includes two or more nozzle arrays with varying distances between nozzles, where the upstream nozzle array has a shorter distance than the downstream array, allowing airflow to be gently released in one direction without changing nozzle intervals, facilitating control of landing position deviations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If uniform nozzle intervals are used in all nozzle arrays, then manufacturing is simplified, but landing position deviations occur due to airflow interference
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making the nozzle interval a variable parameter rather than a constant. Specifically, the nozzle interval in the upstream nozzle array is set to be larger than that in the downstream nozzle array. This local differentiation allows each nozzle array to compensate for airflow effects specific to its position, with upstream nozzles having larger intervals to counteract the stronger airflow interference, thereby improving droplet landing position accuracy while maintaining manufacturing feasibility.
2Manufacturing precision
If nozzle intervals are adjusted based on printing conditions, then landing position accuracy improves, but device complexity and control difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring different nozzle intervals in different nozzle arrays during the manufacturing stage. Instead of dynamically adjusting nozzle intervals based on printing conditions, the system is designed with upstream nozzle arrays having larger intervals and downstream nozzle arrays having smaller intervals from the outset. This preliminary configuration inherently compensates for airflow interference, eliminating the need for complex real-time control systems and reducing device complexity while maintaining high landing position accuracy.
3Stability of the object's composition
If multiple nozzle arrays have the same distance between end nozzles, then structural symmetry is maintained, but airflow interference causes landing position deviations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by deliberately making the distances between end nozzles different among nozzle arrays. Specifically, upstream nozzle arrays are designed with larger distances between end nozzles compared to downstream nozzle arrays. This asymmetric configuration compensates for the stronger airflow interference experienced by upstream nozzles, allowing each nozzle array to operate with optimal spacing for its specific position in the airflow field, thereby improving droplet landing position consistency while maintaining overall structural stability.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid discharge head includes a nozzle plate. The nozzle plate has multiple nozzle arrays each having multiple nozzles arrayed in an array direction. The multiple nozzles discharge a liquid onto a recording medium being conveyed in a conveyance direction orthogonal to the array direction. The multiple nozzle arrays include a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array. The first nozzle array has a first distance between both end nozzles of the multiple nozzles at both ends of the first nozzle array in the array direction. The second nozzle array is disposed upstream from the first nozzle array in the conveyance direction. The second nozzle array has a second distance between both end nozzles of the multiple nozzles at both ends of the second nozzle array in the array direction, and the second distance is shorter than the first distance.