Staggered Liquid Ejection Openings for Pressure Loss Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Inkjet printing apparatuses face issues with uneven printing due to increased flow resistance and pressure loss in densely arranged liquid ejection passages, leading to variations in negative pressure across ejection openings, which affect printing density and quality.
Innovation Solution
A liquid ejection module with ejection openings arranged in a direction intersecting the print medium movement direction, where the center position of at least one opening is deviated from the same line as other openings, to stabilize negative pressure and improve printing uniformity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If passages are densely arranged to increase liquid ejection elements, then productivity is improved, but flow resistance increases and pressure loss increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the arrangement dimension of supply openings from the same line (one-dimensional alignment) to staggered positions across different lines (two-dimensional arrangement). This dimensional change allows openings to be distributed more effectively in space, reducing overlapping pressure zones and minimizing the cumulative pressure loss effect while maintaining high density of ejection elements.
2Productivity
If passages are decreased in size to accommodate more ejection elements, then productivity is improved, but flow resistance increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies different spatial arrangements to different supply openings based on their local positions. Openings are staggered in a stepwise manner across multiple lines, with each opening positioned to optimize its local flow characteristics. This local optimization reduces flow resistance at each ejection point while maintaining the overall high-density configuration.
3Device complexity
If supply openings are positioned at the same line, then device complexity is reduced, but unevenness in printing increases due to shade
Solution Approach 1:
The invention introduces asymmetric positioning of supply openings by staggering them across different lines rather than aligning them symmetrically on the same line. This asymmetric arrangement prevents the formation of regular pressure patterns that cause shade, thereby improving printing uniformity while adding only minimal complexity to the opening configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejection module and a liquid ejection head capable of suppressing unevenness in printing are provided. Accordingly, openings are disposed so that a center position of at least one of openings in a plurality of ejection opening rows is not disposed on the same line extending in a print medium movement direction in a relative movement with respect to center positions of the other openings.