Printing Apparatus Ink Drying Flow Path Changer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional printing apparatuses face challenges in drying ink on media without causing cockling, which results from uneven air flow and temperature management issues, leading to blurring, chroma decrease, and printing quality degradation.
Innovation Solution
A printing apparatus with a flow path changer that directs preliminary air as drying air flow between the recording medium and a cover member, using heated air from a cord type heater to maintain even temperature and reduce cockling, while preventing heat transfer to the inkjet head.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If warm air is blown directly to the medium by a fan to dry ink rapidly, then drying efficiency is improved, but cockling occurs due to uneven temperature distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a diffuser as an intermediary component between the fan and the medium. The diffuser disperses the concentrated air flow into multiple smaller streams, creating more uniform air distribution across the medium surface. This intermediary structure enables rapid drying while preventing the localized overheating that causes cockling, thus resolving the contradiction between drying efficiency and printing quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the single concentrated air flow from the fan into multiple distributed air streams through the diffuser structure. By dividing the air flow into numerous smaller channels that contact different regions of the medium, the system achieves uniform temperature distribution across the entire medium surface, preventing cockling while maintaining overall drying efficiency.
2Speed
If the amount of warm air is increased to dry ink faster, then drying speed is improved, but temperature management becomes insufficient leading to cockling
Solution Approach 1:
The diffuser acts as a temperature distribution mediator, taking the concentrated warm air from the fan and redistributing it uniformly across the medium. This intermediary structure allows high-temperature air to be delivered at high speed while preventing localized temperature extremes, thus achieving fast drying with proper temperature management and avoiding cockling.
3Productivity
If warm air flow is directed to dry ink on medium, then ink drying is achieved, but heat may transfer to the inkjet head causing poor ink ejection
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by directing warm air flow specifically to the medium surface where ink drying is needed, while using the diffuser structure to control the spatial distribution of heat. The system creates localized heating zones on the medium without allowing heat to reach the inkjet head, thus achieving effective ink drying while avoiding the harmful effect of heat transfer to the head that would cause poor ink ejection.
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
The solution effectively dries ink on the medium while suppressing cockling, improving drying efficiency and maintaining printing quality by ensuring even air flow and temperature management.
Implementation Method 1
at least one of the preliminary air from the air blower and the cover member is heated by the heater
Implementation Method 2
the preliminary air is sent as the drying air flow toward the gap between the recording medium and the cover member
Data Source
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AI summary
A printing apparatus (1) is provided and includes: a head (4) that ejects ink onto a medium ; a driver (10) that relatively moves the positions of the head and the medium; a cover member (25) that is positioned on the downstream side from the head in the movement direction of the medium relative to the head, so as to cover at least a portion of the medium; an air blowing fan (45) that sends a drying air flow for drying ink ejected on the medium, into a gap between the medium and the cover member; and a cord type heater (28) that heats at least one of the drying air flow and a preliminary air which is the previous stage of the drying air flow. An air-flow-direction changing wall part (60) is provided so as to change the flow direction of the preliminary air which is the previous stage of the drying air flow, at least once.