UV Inkjet Curing Head Timing to Lower Peak Power Load
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing printing devices face high peak current or voltage demands during light irradiation for photocurable ink curing, which can strain the device and affect ink curing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A printing device with an irradiation unit that includes multiple light irradiation elements arranged in a direction intersecting with the ink ejection path, controlled to turn on and off in a predetermined order during movement, reducing peak current or voltage requirements while maintaining effective ink curing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the irradiation unit emits ultraviolet rays for sufficiently curing the ink, then the ink curing effect is improved, but the peak value of current or voltage required for light irradiation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The irradiation unit is divided into multiple independent light irradiation elements (first, second, and third elements) arranged in the sub-scanning direction. These elements are controlled to operate sequentially rather than simultaneously, segmenting the total irradiation load into smaller temporal portions that reduce peak power requirements while maintaining effective ink curing through cumulative exposure.
2Power
If the irradiation unit reduces peak current or voltage, then the load on the printing device is reduced, but the curing of ink landed on the recording medium may be affected
Solution Approach 1:
The light irradiation elements are controlled to operate in periodic cycles with specific timing relationships. The first element operates during a first cycle, the second element during a second cycle that overlaps partially with the first, and the third element during a third cycle. This periodic operation ensures that each element provides sufficient irradiation during its active period while the cumulative effect across all elements maintains complete ink curing.
Solution Approach 2:
The overlapping operation cycles of multiple light irradiation elements ensure continuous irradiation coverage across the scanning direction. While individual elements turn on and off to reduce peak power, the overlapping timing arrangements ensure that irradiation is continuously applied to different portions of the ink, maintaining effective curing without interruption.
3Power
If multiple light irradiation elements are arranged in the sub-scanning direction, then the peak power requirement is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple light irradiation elements are merged into a single integrated irradiation unit that moves together with the ink ejection head in the main scanning direction. This combining approach allows the system to benefit from reduced peak power requirements through sequential operation while avoiding the complexity of multiple independent moving units, as all elements are transported simultaneously by the same carriage mechanism.
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 reduces peak current or voltage demands while ensuring consistent ink curing, minimizing device strain and maintaining curing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a printing device that ejects a photocurable ink onto a recording medium and irradiates the ink landed on the recording medium with ultraviolet rays or the like to cure the ink
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a printing device and a printing method. A printing device 10 includes an ink ejection head 40 that ejects a photocurable ink onto a medium 22 while relatively moving with respect to the medium 22 in a main scanning direction Y, and an irradiation unit 32 that irradiates the medium 22 with light while relatively moving together with the ink ejection head 40. The irradiation unit 32 includes a plurality of LEDs 34 arranged in a sub-scanning direction X intersecting with the main scanning direction Y. The printing device 10 further includes an irradiation control unit 60 that controls the irradiation unit 32 such that turning-on and turning-off of irradiation with the plurality of LEDs 34 are repeatedly performed in a predetermined order during one cycle in which the ink ejection head 40 and the irradiation unit 32 relatively move in the main scanning direction Y.