Printer Cleaning Liquid Switching for Cap and Cleaning Roller Purity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for supplying cleaning liquid to cap and cleaning members in printers result in contamination due to ink leakage, necessitating a cleaner supply method.
Innovation Solution
A printer configuration with a cleaning liquid ejection unit that switches between ejecting cleaning liquid directly to either the cap member or the cleaning member, ensuring a clean supply without intermediate contamination.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If cleaning liquid is supplied to the cleaning member through the cap sheet, then the cleaning liquid reaches the cleaning member, but the cleaning liquid becomes contaminated with ink leaking from the cap sheet
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning liquid supply path is segmented into separate routes: one path supplies cleaning liquid directly to the cap member, and another path supplies cleaning liquid directly to the cleaning member. This segmentation eliminates the contamination issue by removing the intermediate cap sheet from the supply path to the cleaning member.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a cleaning liquid supply mechanism that acts as an intermediary, providing clean cleaning liquid directly to both the cap member and cleaning member without allowing ink-contaminated liquid from the cap sheet to mix with the supply.
2Reliability
If cleaning liquid is supplied directly to the cap member and cleaning member separately, then cleaning liquid cleanliness is maintained, but the supply system becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning liquid supply mechanism is designed with multi-functionality, enabling it to supply cleaning liquid to both the cap member and cleaning member through a unified control system. This reduces overall system complexity despite the separate supply paths.
Data Source
AI summary
The cleaning liquid supply mechanism ejects the cleaning liquid to an ejection target that is one of the cleaning roller and the cap. In particular, the cleaning liquid supply mechanism switches the ejection target between the cap and the cleaning roller and ejects the cleaning liquid to the ejection target. Specifically, if the cap is set as the ejection target, the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning liquid supply mechanism directly to the cap as the ejection target. If the cleaning roller is set as the ejection target, the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning liquid supply mechanism directly to the cleaning roller as the ejection target.