Stacked Liquid Ejection Device Air Bubble Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
In inkjet printers, the arrangement of liquid chambers and supply ports leads to increased air bubbles in the liquid chambers as ink is consumed, which can cause ejection failures if air is not properly managed.
Innovation Solution
The liquid ejection device features a configuration where liquid chambers are arranged perpendicular to the surface, overlapping each other, and supply ports are aligned along a direction, allowing air to separate and stay in the upper portion of the chambers, with connection passages ensuring efficient ink supply while minimizing air flow to the nozzles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If liquid chambers are arranged along the scanning direction to supply ink to multiple nozzles, then the ink supply coverage is improved, but air bubbles accumulate in the upper portion of the liquid chambers causing ejection failures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from arranging liquid chambers in a single row along the scanning direction to a two-dimensional stacked arrangement. Multiple liquid chambers are positioned at different heights (vertical dimension) above the nozzle array, allowing each chamber to serve specific nozzle groups while air bubbles can rise to the top of each chamber without blocking ink flow to multiple nozzles.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the single large liquid chamber into multiple smaller, independent liquid chambers stacked vertically. Each liquid chamber is dedicated to supplying ink to specific nozzles, segmenting the ink supply paths. This segmentation prevents air bubbles from one nozzle group from affecting other nozzle groups, maintaining ejection reliability while covering the entire scanning direction.
2Reliability
If multiple liquid chambers are arranged along the scanning direction, then air separation is improved, but the device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the vertical dimension (height above the nozzle array) to arrange multiple liquid chambers stacked one above another. This three-dimensional arrangement provides adequate space for air bubbles to separate and rise to the top of each chamber without expanding the horizontal footprint of the device, thus maintaining compactness while ensuring effective air separation.
3Productivity
If liquid chambers are positioned closer to the nozzles, then ink supply efficiency is improved, but air bubbles can more easily enter the nozzles
Solution Approach 1:
By positioning liquid chambers at different vertical heights above the nozzles rather than horizontally adjacent to them, the patent maintains short vertical ink supply paths for efficiency while the horizontal distance and vertical stacking create air traps at the top of each chamber. This dimensional arrangement allows air bubbles to accumulate away from the nozzle interfaces despite the close proximity for efficient ink delivery.
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 configuration effectively manages air separation, reducing the likelihood of air-induced ejection failures and allows for a more compact design by utilizing space efficiently, ensuring consistent ink supply and high-quality printing.
Implementation Method 1
the air mixed with the ink is separated from the ink to stay in an upper portion of the liquid chamber
Data Source
AI summary
An ink ejection device includes a head section having a plurality of nozzles and ejecting a plurality of types of inks through the nozzles, and an ink supply section supplying the plurality of types of inks to the head section. The head section has a plurality of supply ports which are arranged in a scanning direction and to which the plurality of types of inks are supplied. The ink supply section includes a plurality of ink chambers which respectively contain the plurality of types of inks and are disposed to overlap one another in the up-down direction, a plurality of connection passages connecting the plurality of supply ports to the plurality of ink chambers containing the inks to be supplied to the supply ports, and a plurality of air discharge passages respectively connected to the plurality of ink chambers.