Printer Wiper Wear Reduction via Dynamic Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printer wiper blades experience excessive wear in overlapping regions, leading to inadequate ink removal from discharge units due to increased contact frequency and corner contact, potentially resulting in incomplete wiping.
Innovation Solution
A printer design with a carriage system featuring separate first and second heads, each with a dedicated wipe mechanism and movement mechanism, allowing for controlled positioning of wipers to avoid overlap and reduce wear by moving wipers between contact and non-contact positions, ensuring effective ink removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If blade wipers are positioned to contact the recording head for wiping operation, then ink removal capability is improved, but wiper wear increases due to repeated contact and corner contact in overlap regions
Solution Approach 1:
The blade wiper unit is designed to be movable in the sub-scanning direction, allowing dynamic adjustment of the wiping position. The control unit selectively moves the blade wiper unit to different positions along the main scanning direction based on the carriage position, enabling the wiping operation to be performed at optimal locations that avoid excessive wear regions while maintaining effective ink removal capability
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses the existing carriage movement mechanism to automatically position the blade wiper unit according to the recording head position. The control unit determines the appropriate wiping position based on carriage position information, allowing the system to self-adjust without additional complex positioning mechanisms, thereby reducing wear while maintaining wiping effectiveness
2Area of stationary object
If blade wipers are positioned to contact the discharge units in overlap regions, then comprehensive coverage is improved, but wear increases due to greater number of contact times and corner contact
Solution Approach 1:
The blade wiper unit can be dynamically repositioned along the main scanning direction based on the carriage position. The control unit selectively activates wiping operations at different positions, avoiding repeated contact at the same overlap regions while ensuring comprehensive coverage of all discharge units throughout the printing process
Solution Approach 2:
The wiping operation is performed periodically at different positions along the main scanning direction rather than continuously at the same location. The control unit determines appropriate wiping intervals and positions based on carriage movement, distributing the wear across multiple locations while maintaining overall wiping coverage
Data Source
AI summary
A printer includes a carriage including a first head and a second head at least partially overlapping in a sub-scanning direction, a first wiper for wiping the first head, and a second wiper for wiping the second head. The printer moves the first wiper to a first contact position where the first wiper is configured to contact the first head, and moves the second wiper to a second non-contact position where the second wiper is not configured to contact the second head. After moving the first wiper and the second wiper, the printer relatively moves the carriage to cause the first head to pass the first wiper at the first contact position.