Printer Dryer Target Temperature Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Printing systems face challenges in efficiently drying marking materials without overheating or wasting energy, as current dryers often apply inconsistent heat, leading to smearing, brittleness, or energy inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
A method to determine a target temperature for a printing system dryer based on the computed count of pixels receiving print fluid, allowing the dryer to heat up early in the printing process and adjust temperature settings according to the specific print data, ensuring optimal drying without over or under-heating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the dryer applies high heat to ensure thorough drying, then the marking material is adequately dried, but the print media may become brittle or warped and energy is wasted
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-heats the dryer before the print media arrives, so the dryer reaches the required temperature in advance. This eliminates the need to overheat the dryer during actual drying operations, preventing media damage and energy waste while ensuring reliable drying quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The dryer temperature is dynamically adjusted based on real-time detection of marking material drying status. The system transitions from static high-temperature operation to dynamic temperature control, reducing media damage and energy consumption while maintaining adequate drying effectiveness.
2Loss of energy
If the dryer applies low heat to conserve energy, then energy consumption is reduced, but the marking material may not be adequately dried and may smear
Solution Approach 1:
The dryer is pre-heated to the required temperature before processing begins. This allows the system to maintain adequate drying temperature without continuous energy input, reducing energy consumption while ensuring marking material is thoroughly dried and does not smear.
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously detects the drying status of the marking material and provides feedback to adjust dryer temperature. This feedback mechanism ensures adequate drying quality while minimizing energy consumption by applying heat only when and where needed.
3Productivity
If the dryer is pre-heated early in the printing process, then the dryer reaches target temperature quickly and printing performance is improved, but the dryer consumes more energy during pre-heating
Solution Approach 1:
The dryer is pre-heated during idle time or in advance of actual printing operations. This preliminary action allows the dryer to reach optimal temperature before processing, improving printing speed and performance while the energy consumption occurs during non-productive periods, effectively decoupling energy use from active printing time.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements periodic pre-heating cycles based on detected printing workload. Instead of continuous heating, the dryer is heated periodically when needed, balancing printing performance requirements with energy consumption by activating heating only during periods when printing demand exists.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables high printing performance while reducing electricity consumption by setting dryers to the appropriate heat levels required for each print job, ensuring timely output and minimizing energy waste.
Implementation Method 1
The dryer heats the print media and dries the marking material onto the print media
Implementation Method 2
The dryer heats the print media and dries the marking material onto the print media
Data Source
AI summary
According to an example, an apparatus may include a fluid coverage engine to determine which pixels of an image are to receive print fluid. The apparatus may also include a pixel count engine to compute a count of pixels at which print fluid is to be applied onto a media from the determined pixels of the image that are to receive print fluid, a target temperature engine to determine a target temperature for a dryer based upon the computed count of pixels, and a dryer engine to cause the dryer to become heated to the determined target temperature.