Regulating Members for Inkjet Recording Head Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet recording devices face issues with image quality degradation due to the swelling of recording media with greater rigidity, such as photograph paper, which leads to contact with the recording head during double-sided printing, causing ink adherence and print quality issues.
Innovation Solution
A recording device configuration that includes a support unit, downstream transport rollers, regulating members, and an inversion path, where the regulating members at the ends apply less load than the central member, and a control unit adjusts their position to prevent medium contact with the recording head, ensuring proper alignment and reducing image quality degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a recording medium with greater rigidity (such as photograph paper) is used, then the medium can maintain its shape and structural integrity, but the medium swells due to moisture in the ink and holds a curved shape that is convex toward the recording head, causing the medium to contact the recording head and degrade image quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different load characteristics to different regions of the regulating members. Specifically, the first regulating members (at the ends) have different load application characteristics compared to the second regulating members (at the center), allowing localized control over the medium's curvature and position to prevent contact with the recording head while maintaining overall structural support
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical parameters of the regulating members by positioning their bottom ends at different heights. The first regulating members have their bottom ends positioned at a first height, while the second regulating members have their bottom ends positioned at a second height lower than the first height, creating differential support that compensates for medium swelling
2Productivity
If the curved recording medium is inverted front-to-back and re-fed to the recording head, then double-sided printing can be achieved, but the recording medium makes contact with the recording head in a state curved in a downwardly convex shape, causing ink adherence and image quality degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses regulating members with different load characteristics at different locations (first regulating members at ends versus second regulating members at center) to provide localized support that prevents the medium from contacting the recording head during inversion and re-feeding operations
Solution Approach 2:
The regulating members are positioned and configured in advance to prevent medium curvature issues before the inversion and re-feeding process occurs. The bottom ends of the regulating members are positioned at predetermined heights to proactively compensate for expected medium swelling and curvature during the double-sided printing process
Data Source
AI summary
A recording device includes a recording unit, a support unit, a roller pair downstream of the recording unit and configured to transport the medium, a plurality of regulating members disposed between the recording unit and the roller pair and configured to touch the medium from above, and an inversion path configured to invert front-to-back the medium on which recording was performed and to merge upstream of the recording unit, where a nip point of the roller pair is positioned higher than the support face, a bottom end of each regulating member is disposed at a position for pushing the medium down lower than the nip point of the roller pair and of the plurality of regulating members, the regulating members disposed at both end portion sides in the width direction apply less load on the medium than the regulating member disposed toward a center in the width direction.