Melamine Foam Absorber Humectant Deposition Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid discharging apparatuses face issues with deposition over absorbing members due to the drying and solidification of liquids with high resin content during dummy discharge, leading to maintenance challenges.
Innovation Solution
A liquid discharging apparatus with a dummy discharge receptacle featuring a melamine foam absorbing member divided into blocks, which are impregnated with a humectant liquid to prevent deposition, allowing for efficient maintenance and extended replacement intervals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a liquid with high resin content is used for printing, then printing quality is improved, but deposition occurs over the absorbing member in the dummy discharge receptacle due to drying and solidification
Solution Approach 1:
A humectant liquid is introduced as an intermediary substance to interact with the discharged liquid on the absorbing member. The humectant prevents drying and solidification of the resin-containing liquid, thereby suppressing deposition without affecting printing quality. This mediator substance bridges the conflict between using high-resin liquid for quality printing and preventing harmful deposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical and chemical parameters of the absorbing member environment are changed by applying humectant liquid. This changes the moisture content and prevents the liquid from reaching a state where drying and solidification occur, thus preventing deposition while maintaining the ability to use high-resin-content liquids for printing.
2Productivity
If the absorbing member is not maintained, then operational continuity is improved, but deposition accumulates leading to performance degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-maintenance by automatically discharging humectant liquid onto the absorbing member during normal operation. This self-service mechanism continuously prevents deposition accumulation, allowing the absorbing member to maintain its performance without external intervention or frequent manual maintenance, thus ensuring both operational continuity and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The humectant discharge operates continuously or periodically during dummy discharge operations, ensuring that the absorbing member is constantly protected from deposition. This continuous protective action maintains the absorbing member's reliability over extended periods, enabling uninterrupted productivity.
3Object-generated harmful factors
If the absorbing member is replaced frequently, then deposition is prevented, but maintenance cost and downtime increase
Solution Approach 1:
The humectant liquid is applied in advance to the absorbing member before deposition can occur. This preliminary protective action prevents the formation of deposits that would otherwise require frequent replacement, thereby extending the service life of the absorbing member and reducing maintenance downtime and costs.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a liquid discharging apparatus including a liquid discharging unit configured to discharge a liquid, and a dummy discharge receptacle including an absorbing member configured to absorb a liquid dummy-discharged by the liquid discharging unit, wherein the liquid discharging unit discharges a liquid having a resin content of 5% by mass or greater, and wherein the absorbing member of the dummy discharge receptacle is formed of melamine foam.