Patent Grant
7758171
This invention generally relates to digitally controlled printing devices and more particularly relates to a continuous ink jet printhead that integrates multiple nozzles on a single substrate and in which the breakup of a liquid ink stream into printing drops is caused by an imposed disturbance of the liquid ink stream.
Ink jet printing has become recognized as a prominent contender in the digitally controlled, electronic printing arena because of its non-impact, low-noise characteristics, its use of plain paper and its avoidance of toner transfer and fixing. Ink jet printing mechanisms can be categorized by technology as either drop-on-demand ink jet or continuous ink jet.
The first technology, “drop-on-demand” ink jet printing, provides ink droplets that impact upon a recording surface by using a pressurization actuator (thermal, piezoelectric, etc.). Many commonly practiced drop-on-demand technologies use thermal actuation to eject ink droplets from a nozzle. A heater, located at or near the nozzle, heats the ink sufficiently to boil, forming a vapor bubble that creates enough internal pressure to eject an ink droplet. This form of ink jet is commonly termed “thermal ink jet (TIJ).” Other known drop-on-demand droplet ejection mechanisms include piezoelectric actuators, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,843, issued to van Lintel, on Jul. 6, 1993; thermo-mechanical actuators, such as those disclosed by Jarrold et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,627, issued May 13, 2003; and electrostatic actuators, as described by Fujii et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,784, issued Nov. 5, 2002.
The second technology, commonly referred to as “continuous” ink jet printing, uses a pressurized ink source that produces a continuous stream of ink droplets from a nozzle. The stream is perturbed in some fashion causing it to break up into substantially uniform sized drops at a nominally constant distance, the break-off length, from the nozzle. A charging electrode structure is positioned at the nominally constant break-off point so as to induce a data-dependent amount of electrical charge on the drop at the moment of break-off. The charged droplets are directed through a fixed electrostatic field region causing each droplet to deflect proportionately to its charge. The charge levels established at the break-off point thereby cause drops to travel to a specific location on a recording medium or to a gutter for collection and recirculation.
Continuous ink jet (CIJ) drop generators rely on the physics of an unconstrained fluid jet, first analyzed in two dimensions by F. R. S. (Lord) Rayleigh, “Instability of jets,” Proc. London Math. Soc. 10 (4), published in 1878. Lord Rayleigh's analysis showed that liquid under pressure, Pr, will stream out of a hole, the nozzle, forming a jet of diameter, Dj, moving at a velocity, vd. The jet diameter, Dj, is approximately equal to the effective nozzle diameter, Dn, and the jet velocity is proportional to the square root of the reservoir pressure, Pr. Rayleigh's analysis showed that the jet will naturally break up into drops of varying sizes based on surface waves that have wavelengths, λ, longer than πDj, i.e. λ≦πDj. Rayleigh's analysis also showed that particular surface wavelengths would become dominant if initiated at a large enough magnitude, thereby “synchronizing” the jet to produce mono-sized drops. Continuous ink jet (CIJ) drop generators employ some periodic physical process, a so-called “perturbation” or “stimulation”, which has the effect of establishing a particular, dominant surface wave on the jet. The surface wave grows causing the break-off of the jet into mono-sized drops synchronized to the frequency of the perturbation.
The drop stream that results from applying Rayleigh stimulation will be referred to herein as a stream of drops of predetermined volume as distinguished from the naturally occurring stream of drops of widely varying volume. While in prior art CIJ systems, the drops of interest for printing or patterned layer deposition were invariably of substantially unitary volume, it will be explained that for the present inventions, the stimulation signal may be manipulated to produce drops of predetermined substantial multiples of the unitary volume. Hence the phrase, “streams of drops of predetermined volumes” is inclusive of drop streams that are broken up into drops all having nominally one size or streams broken up into drops of selected (predetermined) different volumes.
In a CIJ system, some drops, usually termed “satellites” much smaller in volume than the predetermined unit volume, may be formed as the stream necks down into a fine ligament of fluid. Such satellites may not be totally predictable or may not always merge with another drop in a predictable fashion, thereby slightly altering the volume of drops intended for printing or patterning. The presence of small, unpredictable satellite drops is, however, inconsequential to the present inventions and is not considered to obviate the fact that the drop sizes have been predetermined by the synchronizing energy signals used in the present inventions. Thus the phrase “predetermined volume” as used to describe the present inventions should be understood to comprehend that some small variation in drop volume about a planned target value may occur due to unpredictable satellite drop formation.
Commercially practiced CIJ printheads use a piezoelectric device, acoustically coupled to the printhead, to initiate a dominant surface wave on the jet. The coupled piezoelectric device superimposes periodic pressure variations on the base reservoir pressure, causing velocity or flow perturbations that in turn launch synchronizing surface waves. A pioneering disclosure of a piezoelectrically-stimulated CIJ apparatus was made by R. Sweet in U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,275, issued Jul. 27, 1971, Sweet '275 hereinafter. The CIJ apparatus disclosed by Sweet '275 consisted of a single jet, i.e. a single drop generation liquid chamber and a single nozzle structure.
Sweet '275 disclosed several approaches to providing the needed periodic perturbation to the jet to synchronize drop break-off to the perturbation frequency. Sweet '275 discloses a magnetostrictive material affixed to a capillary nozzle enclosed by an electrical coil that is electrically driven at the desired drop generation frequency, vibrating the nozzle, thereby introducing a dominant surface wave perturbation to the jet via the jet velocity. Sweet '275 also discloses a thin ring-electrode positioned to surround but not touch the unbroken fluid jet, just downstream of the nozzle. If the jetted fluid is conductive, and a periodic electric field is applied between the fluid filament and the ring-electrode, the fluid jet may be caused to expand periodically, thereby directly introducing a surface wave perturbation that can synchronize the jet break-off. This CIJ technique is commonly called electrohydrodynamic (EHD) stimulation.
Sweet '275 further disclosed several techniques for applying a synchronizing perturbation by superimposing a pressure variation on the base liquid reservoir pressure that forms the jet. Sweet '275 disclosed a pressurized fluid chamber, the drop generator chamber, having a wall that can be vibrated mechanically at the desired stimulation frequency. Mechanical vibration means disclosed included use of magnetostrictive or piezoelectric transducer drivers or an electromagnetic moving coil. Such mechanical vibration methods are often termed “acoustic stimulation” in the CIJ literature.
The several CIJ stimulation approaches disclosed by Sweet '275 may all be practical in the context of a single jet system However, the selection of a practical stimulation mechanism for a CIJ system having many jets is far more complex. A pioneering disclosure of a multi-jet CIJ printhead has been made by Sweet et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,437, issued Mar. 12, 1968, Sweet '437 hereinafter. Sweet '437 discloses a CIJ printhead having a common drop generator chamber that communicates with a row (an array) of drop emitting nozzles. A rear wall of the common drop generator chamber is vibrated by means of a magnetostrictive device, thereby modulating the chamber pressure and causing a jet velocity perturbation on every jet of the array of jets.
Since the pioneering CIJ disclosures of Sweet '275 and Sweet '437, most disclosed multi-jet CIJ printheads have employed some variation of the jet break-off perturbation means described therein. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,560,641 issued Feb. 2, 1971 to Taylor et al. discloses a CIJ printing apparatus having multiple, multi-jet arrays wherein the drop break-off stimulation is introduced by means of a vibration device affixed to a high pressure ink supply line that supplies the multiple CIJ printheads. U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,393 issued Jun. 12, 1973 to Lyon et al. discloses a multi-jet CIJ array wherein the multiple nozzles are formed as orifices in a single thin nozzle plate and the drop break-off perturbation is provided by vibrating the nozzle plate, an approach akin to the single nozzle vibrator disclosed by Sweet '275. U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,036 issued Apr. 8, 1975 to Loeffler et al. discloses a multi-jet CIJ printhead wherein a piezoelectric transducer is bonded to an internal wall of a common drop generator chamber, a combination of the stimulation concepts disclosed by Sweet '437 and '275
Unfortunately, all of the stimulation methods employing a vibration of some component of the printhead structure or a modulation of the common supply pressure result in some amount of non-uniformity of the magnitude of the perturbation applied to each individual jet of a multi-jet CIJ array. Non-uniform stimulation leads to a variability in the break-off length and timing among the jets of the array. This variability in break-off characteristics, in turn, leads to an inability to position a common drop charging assembly or to use a data timing scheme that can serve all of the jets of the array.
In addition to addressing problems of break-off time control among jets of an array, continuous drop emission systems that generate drops of different predetermined volume based on liquid pattern data need a means of stimulating each individual jet in an independent fashion in response to the liquid pattern data. Consequently, in recent years an effort has been made to develop practical “stimulation per jet” apparatus capable of applying individual stimulation signals to individual jets.
The electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet stimulation concept disclosed by Sweet '275 operates on the emitted liquid jet filament directly, causing minimal acoustic excitation of the printhead structure itself, thereby avoiding the above noted confounding contributions of printhead and mounting structure resonances. U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,958 issued Sep. 2, 1980 to Crowley discloses a CIJ printer wherein the perturbation is accomplished by an EHD exciter composed of pump electrodes of a length equal to about one-half the droplet spacing. The multiple pump electrodes are spaced at intervals of multiples of about one-half the droplet spacing or wavelength downstream from the nozzles. This arrangement greatly reduces the voltage needed to achieve drop break-off over the configuration disclosed by Sweet '275.
While EHD stimulation has been pursued as an alternative to acoustic stimulation, it has not been applied commercially because of the difficulty in fabricating printhead structures having the very close jet-to-electrode spacing and alignment required and, then, operating reliably without electrostatic breakdown occurring. Also, due to the relatively long range of electric field effects, EHD is not amenable to providing individual stimulation signals to individual jets in an array of closely spaced jets.
An alternate jet perturbation concept that overcomes all of the drawbacks of acoustic or EHD stimulation was disclosed for a single jet CIJ system in U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,519 issued Apr. 15, 1975 to J. Eaton (Eaton hereinafter). Eaton discloses the thermal stimulation of a jet fluid filament by means of localized light energy or by means of a resistive heater located at the nozzle, the point of formation of the fluid jet. Eaton explains that the fluid properties, especially the surface tension, of a heated portion of a jet may be sufficiently changed with respect to an unheated portion to cause a localized change in the diameter of the jet, thereby launching a dominant surface wave if applied at an appropriate frequency. U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,328 issued Jan. 20, 1987 to Drake, et al. (Drake hereinafter) discloses a thermally-stimulated multi-jet CIJ drop generator fabricated in an analogous fashion to a thermal ink jet device. That is, Drake discloses the operation of a traditional thermal ink jet (TIJ) edgeshooter or roofshooter device in CIJ mode by supplying high pressure ink and applying energy pulses to the heaters sufficient to cause synchronized break-off but not so as to generate vapor bubbles.
Also recently, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), have been disclosed that utilize electromechanical and thermomechanical transducers to generate mechanical energy for performing work. For example, thin film piezoelectric, ferroelectric or electrostrictive materials such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), lead lanthanum zirconate titanate (PLZT), or lead magnesium niobate titanate (PMNT) may be deposited by sputtering or sol gel techniques to serve as a layer that will expand or contract in response to an applied electric field. See, for example Shimada, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,387,225, issued May 14, 2002; Sumi, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,511,161, issued Jan. 28, 2003; and Miyashita, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,107, issued Apr. 8, 2003. Thermomechanical devices utilizing electroresistive materials that have large coefficients of thermal expansion, such as titanium aluminide, have been disclosed as thermal actuators constructed on semiconductor substrates. See, for example, Jarrold et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,627, issued May 13, 2003. Therefore electromechanical devices may also be configured and fabricated using microelectronic processes to provide stimulation energy on a jet-by-jet basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,921 issued to Chwalek, et al. on Jan. 14, 2003, discloses a method and apparatus whereby a plurality of thermally deflected liquid streams is caused to break up into drops of large and small volumes, hence, large and small cross-sectional areas (Chwalek '921 hereinafter). Thermal deflection is used to cause smaller drops to be directed out of the plane of the plurality of streams of drops while large drops are allowed to fly along nominal “straight” pathways. In addition, a uniform gas flow is imposed in a direction having velocity components perpendicular and across the array of streams of drops of cross-sectional areas. The perpendicular gas flow velocity components apply more force per mass to drops having smaller cross-sections than to drops having larger cross-sections, resulting in an amplification of the deflection acceleration of the small drops.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,888 entitled “Continuous ink-jet printing method and apparatus,” issued to Jeanmaire, et al. (Jeanmaire '888, hereinafter) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,566 entitled “Continuous inkjet printhead with selectable printing volumes of ink,” issued to Jeanmaire, et al. (Jeanmaire '566 hereinafter) disclose continuous ink jet printing apparatus including a droplet forming mechanism operable in a first state to form droplets having a first volume traveling along a path and in a second state to form droplets having a plurality of other volumes, larger than the first, traveling along the same path. A droplet deflector system applies force to the droplets traveling along the path. The force is applied in a direction such that the droplets having the first volume diverge from the path while the larger droplets having the plurality of other volumes remain traveling substantially along the path or diverge slightly and begin traveling along a gutter path to be collected before reaching a print medium. The droplets having the first volume, print drops, are allowed to strike a receiving print medium whereas the larger droplets having the plurality of other volumes are “non-print” drops and are recycled or disposed of through an ink removal channel formed in the gutter or drop catcher.
In preferred embodiments, the means for variable drop deflection comprises air or other gas flow. The gas flow affects the trajectories of small drops more than it affects the trajectories of large drops. Generally, such types of printing apparatus that cause drops of different sizes to follow different trajectories, can be operated in at least one of two modes, a small drop print mode, as disclosed in Jeanmaire '888 or Jeanmaire '566, and a large drop print mode, as disclosed also in Jeanmaire '566 or in U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,410 entitled “Printhead having gas flow ink droplet separation and method of diverging ink droplets,” issued to Jeanmaire, et al. (Jeanmaire '410 hereinafter) depending on whether the large or small drops are the printed drops. The present invention described hereinbelow are methods and apparatus for implementing either large drop or small drop printing modes.
The combination of individual jet stimulation and aerodynamic deflection of differently sized drops yields a continuous liquid drop emitter system that eliminates the difficulties of previous CIJ embodiments that rely on some form of drop charging and electrostatic deflection to form the desired liquid pattern. Instead, the liquid pattern is formed by the pattern of drop volumes created through the application of input liquid pattern dependent drop forming pulse sequences to each jet, and by the subsequent deflection and capture of non-print drops. An additional benefit is that the drops generated are nominally uncharged and therefore do not set up electrostatic interaction forces amongst themselves as they traverse to the receiving medium or capture gutter.
However this configuration of liquid pattern deposition has some remaining difficulties when high speed, high pattern quality printing is undertaken. High speed and high quality liquid pattern formation requires that closely spaced drops of relatively small volumes are directed to the receiving medium. As the pattern of drops traverse from the printhead to the receiving medium, through a gas flow deflection zone, the drops alter the gas flow around neighboring drops in a pattern-dependent fashion. The altered gas flow, in turn, causes the printing drops to have altered, pattern-dependent trajectories and arrival positions at the receiving medium. In other words, the close spacing of print drops as they traverse to the receiving medium leads to aerodynamic interactions and subsequent drop placement errors. These errors have the effect of spreading an intended printed liquid pattern in an outward direction and so are termed “splay” errors herein.
Therefore to gain full advantage of the simplification in continuous liquid drop emitter printhead structure offered by individual jet stimulation and aerodynamic drop deflection, practical and efficient methods of reducing aerodynamic interaction error are needed.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide methods of depositing high quality liquid patterns at high speed with reduced errors due to aerodynamic interactions among print drops.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for depositing high quality liquid patterns at high speed with reduced errors due to aerodynamic interactions among print drops.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide methods of continuous drop emission printing using print and non-print drops of different volumes and with reduced aerodynamic interactions among print drops.
The foregoing and numerous other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon a review of the detailed description, claims and drawings set forth herein. These features, objects and advantages are accomplished by a method of forming a liquid pattern of print drops impinging a receiving medium according to liquid pattern data using a liquid drop emitter that emits a plurality of continuous streams of liquid at a stream velocity, vd, from a plurality of nozzles having effective diameters, Dn, arrayed at a nozzle spacing, Sn, along a nozzle array direction that are broken into a plurality of streams of print and non-print drops by a corresponding plurality of drop forming transducers to which a corresponding plurality of drop forming energy pulse sequences are applied. The method is comprised of forming non-print drops by applying non-print drop forming energy pulses during a unit time period, τ0, and forming print drops by applying print drop forming energy pulses during a large drop time period, τm, wherein the large drop time period is a multiple, m, of the unit time period, τm=mτ0, and m≧2; and a corresponding plurality of drop forming energy pulses sequences are formed so as to form non-print drops and print drops according to the liquid pattern data. The corresponding drop forming energy pulse sequences applied to adjacent drop forming transducers are substantially shifted in time so that the print drops formed in adjacent streams of drops are not aligned along the nozzle array direction.
Additional embodiments of the present invention are realized by forming print drops by applying print drop forming energy pulses during a unit time period, τ0, and forming non-print drops by applying non-print drop forming energy pulses during a large drop time period, τm, wherein the large drop time period is a multiple, m, of the unit time period, τm=mτ0, and m≧2; and forming the corresponding plurality of drop forming energy pulses sequences so as to form non-print drops and print drops according to the liquid pattern data. The corresponding drop forming energy pulse sequences applied to adjacent drop forming transducers are substantially shifted in time by a time shift amount, ts, wherein the time shift amount is a portion, q, of the unit drop time period, τ0, such that ts=qτ0, and 0.2≦q≦0.8.
Further embodiments of the present invention are realized by a drop deposition apparatus for laying down a patterned liquid layer on a receiver substrate comprising a liquid drop emitter that emits a plurality of continuous streams of liquid in a stream direction at a stream velocity, vd, from a plurality of nozzles having effective diameters, Dn, arrayed at a nozzle spacing, Sn, along a nozzle array direction and a corresponding plurality of drop forming transducers to which a corresponding plurality of drop forming energy pulse sequences are applied to generate non-print drops and print drops having substantially different volumes. The drop deposition apparatus further comprises a relative motion apparatus adapted to move the liquid drop emitter relative to the receiver substrate in a printing direction at a printing velocity, vPM; a controller adapted to generate drop forming energy pulse sequences comprised of non-print drop forming energy pulses within non-print drop time periods, τnp, and print drop forming energy pulses within print drop time periods, τp, according to the liquid pattern data and wherein the non-print drop time periods are substantially different from the print drop time periods causing non-print drop volumes to be substantially different from print drop volumes; drop deflection apparatus adapted to deflect print and non-print drops to follow different flight paths according to the substantially different volumes of the print and non-print drops; and wherein the controller is further adapted to substantially shift in time the corresponding drop forming energy pulse sequences applied to adjacent drop forming transducers so that the print drops formed in adjacent streams of drops are not aligned along the nozzle array direction.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.
In the detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention presented below, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:
a) and 3(b) show schematic plan views illustrating a single liquid drop emitter nozzle with surrounding thermal stimulation heater and a portion of an array of such nozzles and stimulators according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a) and 4(b) illustrate in side cross-sectional view liquid drop emitters operating with a single drop size and with large and small drop sizes, respectively, according to the present invention;
a), 5(b) and 5(c) show representations of energy pulse sequences for stimulating break-up of a fluid jet by stream stimulation heater resistors resulting in drops of different predetermined volumes according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
a) and 7(b) illustrate input liquid pattern data and the corresponding output liquid pattern, respectively;
a) and 8(b) illustrate input liquid pattern data and the corresponding output liquid pattern, respectively for a grid pattern of every fourth pixel location being printed;
a) and 9(b) illustrate input liquid pattern data and the corresponding output liquid pattern, respectively for a test grid pattern with an isolated test pixel being printed;
a) and 10(b) illustrate input liquid pattern data and the corresponding output liquid pattern, respectively for a test grid pattern with an row of three isolated test pixels being printed;
a) and 14(b) show plots of measured y-direction and x-direction splay errors, respectively, for various isolated lines in printed liquid patterns;
a) and 16(b) illustrate the configuration used to apply a two-dimensional model of the airflow around print drops, viewed as a line of cylinders between and around which the gas must flow;
a), 18(b) and 18(c) illustrate the positions in the xy-plane of drops in a line of drops transiting to the receiving medium before entering the gas flow deflection zone, well within the gas flow deflection zone, and upon impact at the receiving medium, respectively based on computational fluid dynamic modeling;
a) and 20(b) illustrate a pattern of print and non-print drops for twelve jets of an array of jets and the corresponding drop forming pulse sequences applied to the drop stimulators of those jets, respectively;
a) illustrates an enlarged view of portion B of
a) and 22(b) illustrate a pattern of print and non-print drops for twelve jets of an array of jets and the corresponding drop forming pulse sequences applied to the drop stimulators of those jets, respectively;
a) and 22(b) illustrate a pattern of print and non-print drops for twelve jets of an array of jets and the corresponding drop forming pulse sequences applied to the drop stimulators of those jets, respectively;
a) and 24(b) illustrate printed liquid patterns for the letters “A a” wherein adjacent stream drop forming pulse sequences were not time-shifted and were time-shifted by 0.5 τm, respectively;
a) and 27(b) illustrate a pattern of print and non-print drops for twelve jets of an array of jets and the corresponding drop forming pulse sequences applied to the drop stimulators of those jets, respectively, wherein drop forming pulse sequences are shifted for adjacent and next-to-adjacent streams;
a) and 28(b) illustrate a pattern of print and non-print drops for twelve jets of an array of jets and the corresponding drop forming pulse sequences applied to the drop stimulators of those jets, respectively, wherein drop forming pulse sequences are shifted equally for adjacent and next-to-adjacent streams;
a) and 30(b) illustrate in front plan view a portion of liquid drop emitter arrays in which the nozzles are shifted with respect to adjacent nozzles and next to adjacent nozzles as well, respectively.
The present description is directed in particular to elements forming part of, or cooperating more directly with, apparatus in accordance with the invention. Functional elements and features have been given the same numerical labels in the figures if they are the same element or perform the same function for purposes of understanding the present invention. It is to be understood that elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms well known to those skilled in the art.
Referring to
The liquid pattern deposition system 10 further includes a source of the image or liquid pattern data 410 which provides raster image data, outline image data in the form of a page description language, or other forms of digital image data. This image data is converted to bitmap image data by controller 400 and stored for transfer to a multi-jet drop emission printhead 11 via a plurality of printhead transducer driver circuits 412 connected to printhead electrical interface 22. The bit map image data specifies the deposition of individual drops onto the picture elements (pixels) of a two dimensional matrix of positions, equally spaced a pattern raster distance, determined by the desired pattern resolution, i.e. the pattern “dots per inch” or the like. The raster distance or spacing may be equal or may be different in the two dimensions of the pattern.
Controller 400 also creates drop synchronization or formation signals in a printhead controller 426 that are applied to printhead transducer drive circuits 412 that are subsequently applied to printhead 11 to cause the break-up of the plurality of fluid streams emitted into drops of predetermined volume and with a predictable timing. Some portion or all of the printhead control and transducer drive circuitry may be integrated into the printhead 11. Printhead 11 is illustrated in
Recording medium 290 is moved relative to printhead 11 by a recording medium transport system, which is electronically controlled by a media transport controller 414, and which in turn is controlled by controller 400. The recording medium transport system shown in
Pattern liquid is contained in a liquid reservoir 418 under pressure and controlled by a liquid supply controller 424 which is, in turn, controlled by controller 400. The positive pattern liquid pressure suitable for optimal operation will depend on a number of factors, including geometry and thermal properties of the nozzles and several properties of the liquid.
In the non-printing state, continuous drop streams are unable to reach recording medium 18 due to a liquid gutter portion of printhead 11 that captures the stream and which may allow a portion of the liquid to be recycled by a liquid recycling unit 416. The liquid recycling unit 416 receives the un-printed liquid via printhead liquid recovery outlet 48, stores the liquid or reconditions it and feeds it back to reservoir 418. The liquid recycling unit may also be configured to apply a negative pressure to liquid recovery outlet 48 to assist in liquid recovery and to affect the gas flow through printhead 11 for the purpose of drop deflection. Negative pressure source 420 interfaces via the liquid recycling pathway. A negative pressure controller 422, which is in turn controlled by system controller 400, manages the negative pressure. Liquid recycling units are well known in the art.
Some of the elements of printhead 11 are more clearly seen in the side view illustration of
The cross-sectional side view of printhead 11 illustrated in
The multi-jet drop generator device 20 is fabricated with individual drop forming stimulation means which are, in turn, interfaced to the printhead control electronics via a printhead flexible electrical connection member 22. A protective encapsulant 28 covers the interconnection of liquid emitter device 20 to the flexible connector 22. In some preferred embodiments of the present invention the jet stimulation transducers are resistive heaters. In other embodiments, more than one transducer per jet may be provided including some combination of resistive heaters, electric field electrodes and microelectromechanical flow valves. When drop generator device 20 is at least partially fabricated from silicon, it is possible to integrate some portion of the printhead transducer control circuits 412 with the printhead, simplifying printhead electrical connector 22.
A front face view of a single nozzle 26 of a preferred printhead embodiment is illustrated in
a) and 3(b) show nozzles 26 of a drop generator device 20 portion of printhead 11 having a circular shape with a diameter, Dn, equally spaced at a drop nozzle spacing, Sn, along a nozzle array direction or axis, An, and formed in a nozzle front face layer 14. While a circular nozzle is depicted, other shapes for the liquid emission orifice may be used and an effective diameter utilized, i.e. the circular diameter that specifies an equivalent open area. Typically, the nozzle diameter will be formed in the range of 6 microns to 35 microns, depending on the size of drops that are appropriate for the liquid pattern being deposited. Typically, the drop nozzle spacing, Sn, will be in the range 84 to 21 microns corresponding to a pattern raster resolution in the nozzle axis direction of 300 pixels/inch to 1200 pixels/inch.
An encompassing resistive heater 30 is formed in a front face layer surrounding the nozzle bore. Resistive heater 30 is addressed by electrode leads 38 and 36. One of the electrodes, for example electrode 36 may be shared in common with the resistors surrounding other jets. However, at least one resistor electrode lead, for example electrode 38, provides electrical pulses to the jet individually so as to cause the independent stimulation of that jet. Alternatively a matrix addressing arrangement may be employed in which the two address leads 38, 36 are used in conjunction to selectively apply stimulation pulses to a given jet. These resistive heaters may be utilized to launch surface waves of the proper wavelength to synchronize the jet of liquid to break-up into drops of substantially uniform diameter, Dd0, volume, V0, and spacing λ0. Resistive heater pulsing may also be devised to cause the break-up of the stream into larger segments of fluid that coalesce into drops having volumes, Vm, that are multiples of V0, i.e. into drops of volume ˜mV0, where m is a number greater than 1, i.e., m≧2.
For the purposes of understanding the present invention, drops having the smallest predetermined volume, V0, will be called “small” drops or “nominal” or “fundamental” volume drops and coalesced drops having volumes approximately mV0 will be called “large” drops. The desired liquid output pattern or image may be formed on the receiving medium from either small or large drops. The system depicted in
One effect of pulsing jet stimulation heater 30 on a continuous stream of fluid 62 is illustrated in a side view in
In
Thermal pulse synchronization of the break-up of continuous liquid jets is also known to provide the capability of generating streams of drops of predetermined volumes wherein some drops may be formed having multiple volumes, mV0, of a unit volume, V0. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,588,888 to Jeanmaire, et al. and assigned to the assignee of the present inventions.
In
b) illustrates a continuous drop emitter operated to form a stream of drops 100 of both large and small predetermined volumes, such as would be formed by the drop formation pulse sequence illustrated in
The capability of producing both large and small drops by manipulating the drop forming pulse sequence may be used to advantage in differentiating between print and non-printing drops. Drops may be deflected by entraining them in a cross gas flow field. Larger drops have a smaller drag to mass ratio and so are deflected less than smaller volume drops in a gas flow field. Thus a gas deflection zone may be used to disperse drops of different volumes to different flight paths. A liquid pattern deposition system may be configured to print with large volume drops and to gutter small drops, or vice versa. The present invention is applicable to either configuration.
The mass of drops emitted by the array of jets may be viewed as forming a “curtain” of liquid traversing the space between the nozzle face of the liquid drop emitter and the receiving media. The initial liquid curtain is separated into a non-print drop curtain and a print drop curtain by the combined effects of forming print and non-print drops to have substantially different volumes according to the input liquid pattern data, and then subjecting the liquid to a cross gas flow that differentially deflects drops of different diameters (volumes). Aerodynamic interactions among drops within the print drop curtain are a primary focus of the present invention.
The terms “air” flow and “gas” flow will be used interchangeably in the explanations of the present invention herein. The configuration of the deflection system illustrated in
a) through 14 will now be used to explain a primary aerodynamic interaction effect among drops in the print drop curtain, called “splay” hereinafter.
a) and 7(b) illustrate input liquid pattern data and a non-experimental, error-free output liquid pattern, respectively. In
It has been found by the inventor of the present invention that many input liquid patterns are deposited on the output medium with substantial errors in the location of many of the print drops due to aerodynamic interactions among drops as they traverse to the receiver medium. In order to study aerodynamic drop placement effects, it is useful to construct special test patterns that facilitate careful measurements of deviations of deposited drops from the intended xy-locations.
Element number labels in all Figures have the same meaning, as conveyed in the parts and parameters list hereinbelow. It has been found by the inventor of the present invention that a uniform pattern that prints every fourth pixel in two dimensions 330 will be printed substantially free of drop-to-drop aerodynamic interaction errors, as depicted in the undistorted liquid output pattern of the grid 350 in
a) and 9(b) depict input and output patterns wherein a central portion of the 4×4 grid pattern previously illustrated is removed to create a voided test area 340 wherein isolated print pixels and print drops in the print drop curtain may be inserted. The portion of the grid pattern that remains in the input pattern will serve to define the location of intended pixel positions in the evacuated central portion through extrapolation of grid lines shown as phantom lines in
The inventor of the present invention has found that the drop curtain created by the input image depicted in
a) shows input liquid pattern data wherein a row of three print pixels 334 is inserted into the central void area 340. The corresponding printed liquid pattern is depicted in
An enlargement of the region “A” in
a) and 14(b) shows plots of compilations of the maximum measured y- and x-splay errors, respectively, for input line patterns of widths h=1, 4 or 8 pixels and lengths of w=1, 3, 9, 17 and 33 pixels. The maximum y-splay error was always found to be in the placement of the end drops of the various drop line patterns tested. The δy and δx errors for this set (Table 1) of experimental system parameters were zero for all of the lines of single pixel length (w=1). That is, even the line that was 8 pixels high (h=8) and one pixel long (w=1) printed without appreciable x- or y-direction splay error.
Examining
The maximum y-direction splay plotted in
The maximum x-direction splay errors occur for drops in the central region of the printed drop line. It may be appreciated from the data plotted in
The aerodynamic interactions among print drops traversing the space between the nozzle array where they are generated and the receiver medium where their relative trajectories are finally “terminated” is exceedingly complex. The aerodynamic interactions were included and analyzed by the use of standard three-dimensional computation fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling techniques. However, before describing the three-dimensional CFD model results, it is helpful to examine a closed-form analysis of a two-dimensional model of the inter-drop aerodynamic interactions.
As the drops traverse the deflection gas flow field, they will all be accelerated in the x-direction somewhat by the aerodynamic drag effects of the deflection field gas flow. Stepping back to
The curved gas flow arrows in
A two-dimensional approximation of the gas flow around drops in a drop line such as that in
A continuity of mass flow equation and Bernoulli's equation are used to calculate the pressure drop, ΔP, for the gas flow passing between cylinders. Making the simplifying assumptions that the gas flow is steady, inviscid, incompressible, along a streamline, unaffected by gravity and is uniform at the entrance and exit of the gas flow jets, then continuity of mass flow gives the following relationship:
vinSn=voutc, (1)
where vin is the initial net x-direction deflection gas flow velocity and vout is the net x-direction gas flow velocity in the gap between cylinders. And, further, Bernoulli's equation leads to the following relationships for the change in pressure, ΔP, as gas flows between the cylinders:
where c*=c/Ddm=(Sn/Ddm−1) and ρ is the mass density of the deflection gas (air). c* is the normalized value of the open clearance separation, c, i.e. normalized by the drop diameter, Ddm.
The normalized pressure change,
It may be appreciated from studying the c* terms in Equation 5, and curve 620 in
The two-dimensional model calculations discussed above are rough approximations because of the two-dimensional assumption of cylinders instead of spherical drops, and because inviscid flow was assumed. Nonetheless, this straightforward model serves to show how sensitive splay errors are to the normalized inter-drop clearance length, c*. For the experiments reported above using 11 pL print drops spaced 42.3 μm apart along a drop line, adjacent drops in a print drop line have normalized separation clearance lengths, c*=0.53, and a corresponding normalized pressure change from Equation 6 of
This result helps explain why the grid drops 314 bordering the sides of the test pattern void areas 360 in
The inventor of the present invention has also carried out numerous three-dimensional calculations analyzing drop-to-drop aerodynamic interactions utilizing commercially available computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software tools. These calculations consume very significant amounts of computational resources; however, they provide a more realistic simulation and analysis of the effects observed in liquid drop printing experiments than do closed form mathematical techniques. The results described in the following paragraphs were obtained using the Flow-3D CFD modeling software (available from Flow Science Inc, 683 Harkle Road, Santa Fe, N. Mex. 87505), using the generalized moving object model to model the drops as rigid spheres embedded in a surrounding fluid of air. The spheres were modeled to have the same density as the print drops, and were free to move but coupled with the surrounding fluid. That is, the fluid exerted forces on the drops, causing them to accelerate, while the drops exerted a corresponding reaction force on the fluid, altering its momentum and flow pattern. The spheres displaced fluid volume commensurate with the drop size, which also altered the fluid flow patterns.
a), 18(b) and 18(c) illustrates results of CFD calculations for a similar print drop line configuration drawn in
Note that in
b) also illustrates contours of air flow velocity calculated by the CFD model. The initial deflection airflow 160, vx, has a velocity magnitude of 20 m/sec. Contour 510 represents a slightly reduced air flow velocity, ˜19 m/sec., illustrating where the initial velocity magnitude begins to be diminished by the flow obstacle presented by the drop line. Contour 510 is also found at locations between print drops in the drop line. Contours 512, 514 and 516 then represent contours of reduced air velocity, draw at approximately 15 m/sec, 10 m/sec, and 5 m/sec, respectively. The region downstream 166, behind the center of the drop line, has an air velocity value of ˜17 m/sec., somewhat less than the initial velocity 160.
The shape of the airflow velocity contours around end print drop 182 and next-to-end print drop 184 show the asymmetries that lead to splay error, especially in the y-direction. The general curvature of the 510 air velocity contour toward the center of the print drop line shows the aerodynamic effect that leads to x-direction splay, drops in the center of the line are deflected farther in the x-direction than are drops on the ends of the print drop line.
For the purpose of understanding the present invention, the result of a Buckingham-Pi analysis for the y-direction splay force on the end drop of a print drop line, Fyed, was performed. It was found that Fyed is usefully described as a function of two dimensionless parameters, the Reynolds number, Re, and the normalized inter-drop clearance length, c*, previously described. That is, the following relationships were found to nearly capture the results of all of the CFD calculations in a single relationship for Fyed:
where μ is the deflection gas (air) viscosity and the other parameters have been previously defined. Equation 8 is plotted as the straight line 626 in
The CFD modeling results and Buckingham-Pi parameter analysis results captured in
A portion of a drop curtain produced by a multi-jet continuous drop emitter is illustrated in
A representation of the drop forming pulse sequences 600 that were applied to the twelve drop forming transducers associated with the twelve jets to create the
The portion of
Each print drop may be considered to be minimally separated from a nearest neighbor in the yz-plane by drop clearance separation distances: cy, cz and czy. The normalized clearances, cy*, cz* and czy* are calculated by dividing the inter-drop clearances by the print drop diameter, Ddm. For the balance of the discussion of the present inventions herein, the normalized clearance lengths will be used, in concert with the above discussed analytical results.
From
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is therefore illustrated in
a) and 22(b) further illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, adjacent stream drop formation shifting, by showing the drop curtain pattern and the associated drop formation pulse sequences in similar fashion to
It should be noted that the maximum value for the diagonal inter-drop clearance czy will be achieved for q=0.5. The preferred range of q values, 0.2≦q≦0.8, includes values above 0.5 to remove the ambiguity of which drop stream is shifted relative to which. For example, examining the print drop curtain configuration in
The embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
a) and (b) illustrate an embodiment of the present inventions wherein adjacent streams of drops 100 are organized into two interdigitated blocks and then one block of drop forming pulse sequences 600 is time-shifted by approximately q=0.5, i.e., ts=0.5 τm. It may be appreciated by studying
The improvement in drop placement, hence image or pattern quality, which may be achieved by applying the methods of the present invention is demonstrated in
The magnitude of the increase in minimum inter-drop clearance that is accomplished by time-shifting adjacent stream drop formation processes depends importantly on the spacing of print drops along the z-direction since shifting may make a normalized diagonal clearance, czy*, the smallest clearance, hence, the most important determiner of splay errors. Splay errors may be thus be further reduced by lengthening the print drop separation distance, λm, along the z-direction, which is also the direction of initial fluid emission, and of vd. The print drop separation distance, λm=mλ0, may be lengthened in one of two ways: (a) increasing the drop period multiplier, m, and (b) increasing the fundamental drop separation distance, λ0. Either or both mechanisms may be permissible within other system design constraints.
Typically the volume of a print drop, Vm, is determined by print or pattern quality considerations and must be maintained at the chosen value when altering the design to increase normalized drop clearance values according to the present inventions. However, a target value of the print drop volume may be maintained while increasing the m value by reducing the fundamental, small drop volume appropriately. The fundamental drop separation distance, λ0, may be increased while maintaining the same fundamental drop volume by, for example, increasing the stream velocity or fundamental drop forming periods while slightly reducing the nozzle diameter, Dn.
Some useful relationships among some of the large and small drop generation variables are as follows:
where L is the small drop generation ratio, also known in the continuous inkjet field as the Rayleigh excitation wavelength ratio, and the other variables have been previously defined.
Using the above relationships we may express the minimum normalized print drop clearance quantities for adjacent streams with a time shift of their respective drop forming pulse sequences of τs=qτm, wherein q≦0.5 (see
The restriction of q≦0.5 is merely to be assured that the smallest value of czy* is calculated in Equation 15. All of the parameters in Equations 13 through 15 have been previously defined.
Values for cy2* and czy* versus large drop volume, Vm, are plotted in
It may be understood from the cy2* and czy* values plotted in
In order to reduce aerodynamic induced splay factors to a maximum extent, it is beneficial to both time shift the drop formation sequences and to lengthen the “mL” factor, by increasing m, by increasing L, or by increasing both.
If the overall system design is compatible with continued expansion of the drop curtain in the z-direction, i.e. with expanding the “mL” factor, then it may be beneficial to time shift not only adjacent drops stream drop formation pulse sequences but also next-to-adjacent stream drop formation pulse sequences. For example, the nozzles and drop streams may be organized into three interdigitated groups shifted relative to one another by first and second time shift factors q1 and q2. This embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in
b) illustrates the time shifting of the drop formation pulse sequences that generates the drop curtain configuration illustrated in
It is apparent from
The drop formation shifting illustrated in
a) and 28(b) illustrate a print drop curtain design that achieves the further increase in minimum inter-drop clearances sought by shifting three groups of interdigitated drop streams relative to one another. The same grouping of drop streams 100 and drop formation pulse sequences 600 described with respect to
Equation 17 for mL1 is plotted for Sn=42.3 μm versus print drop volume, Vm, in
Choosing a value of mL above the upper curve, and shifting both adjacent and next-to-adjacent drop formation pulse sequences with large enough values for q1 and q2 will result in the zy-direction clearance being the smallest for three interdigitated groups of drop streams, but still larger than the y-direction clearance would be if only two interdigitated groups are shifted. In other words, operating in the mL space above curve 636, mL1, offers additional reduction in aerodynamic interaction effects by utilizing three shifted groups of drop formation instead of two shifted groups.
The explanations of the present invention above have been related to the system choice of using the large drops in the streams of drops of predetermined volumes for forming the liquid pattern on the receiver medium. The small drops of unit volume, V0, were differentially deflected by the deflection gas flow and captured at the drop capture lip 152 illustrated in
Large and small drop printing modes are described in further detail in previous disclosures assigned to the assignee of the present invention. For example, small drop print modes are disclosed in Jeanmaire '888 or Jeanmaire '566 and large drop print modes are disclosed also in Jeanmaire '566 or in Jeanmaire '410. Splay forces and drop placement errors occur in small drop printing for the same reasons that were described and analyzed above for the large drop print configuration. The small drop print mode creates a print drop curtain composed of drops of small drop volume V0 having inter-drop clearance values in the zy-plane that are also described by Equation 9-15 wherein m=1 and the print drop forming time period is τ0. Time-shifting adjacent drop streams by an amount, ts=qτ0, wherein 0.2≦q≦0.8, similarly provides an increase in inter-drop clearance along the y-direction. A value of q=0.5 provides the greatest inter-drop clearance values for a given choice of L.
Small drop printing may also benefit significantly by the combined effect of time-shifting adjacent drop formation sequences and stretching the drop streams in the z-direction by increasing L. In fact, because the print drops are separated in the z-direction by only λ0, rather than by the mλ0 length applicable to the large drop print mode, the normalized z-direction inter-drop clearance, cz*, may be the “tightest” inter-drop clearance in the small print drop curtain. Thus it is beneficial to stretch λ0 until the normalized z-direction inter-drop clearance is at least as large as the nominal normalized y-direction clearance, cy1*. The value of L for which cz*=cy1* will be termed, herein, the second crossover L value, L2. Equation 9, 13 and 14 are used to determine L2:
where Dn is the nozzle diameter and Sn is the nozzle spacing.
There are practical limits to operating continuous drop emitters at large values of L, especially for values of L greater than ˜10. As the L value is increased, the drop forming pulse energy must be increased to cause sufficient stimulation to synchronize drop formation, raising difficulties of stimulation transducer reliability and waste energy dissipation. Future developments in drop formation transducers, however, may extend the practical range of L operation. Nonetheless, when using a small drop print mode, operating a continuous drop emission apparatus at L values above L=L2 as defined by Equation 19 is beneficial in reducing inter-drop aerodynamic interactions, and, hence reducing splay errors in the printed liquid pattern.
Printing with time shifted drop streams will necessarily result in the shifting of the scanlines printed by each stream. Since the printhead and receiver medium are moving with respect to one another at a velocity of vPM, print drops that have been shifted by time of ts relative to adjacent print drops, will impact the receiver medium a shifted print distance, Sps, of Sps=ts vPM. Since, according to the present invention, ts is a fraction, q, of the print drop formation time, τ0 or τm, depending on the print drop mode, the shifted print distance will be a same fraction of the liquid pattern pixel spacing in the x-direction, that is Sps=qPpx. The inventor of the present invention anticipates that this amount of shift in the printing of adjacent scanlines may be acceptable in view of the significant reduction in aerodynamic splay errors that are more than a full liquid pattern pixel spacing.
However, in concert with a particular print drop curtain design according to the present invention, it may be also beneficial to design the multi-jet drop emitter in such a manner as to physically offset some portion, or all, of the x-direction shift caused by drop stream timing shifts.
The amount of nozzle shift, Sns, that is incorporated into a multi-jet liquid drop emitter, according to the present invention, may be chosen to be exactly the amount, qPpx, some substantial portion of this amount, or, perhaps somewhat more than this amount.
The relative velocity between the printhead and the receiver medium, vPM, may be changed according to various system considerations, such as print quality modes, image drying, energy limitations, heat build-up and the like. Consequently, fixed nozzle shift amounts may provide varying amounts of compensation for the time shifting of drop formation pulse sequences according to the present invention. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the nozzle shift amount may be selected to mostly compensate for time shifted drop forming pulse sequences in the highest quality mode of the system, based on the printhead and media relative velocity for that mode, vPMHQ. That is, the nozzle shift, Sns would be selected as Sns=q3tsvPMHQ, 0.8≦q3≦1.2, where q3 is the nozzle shift fraction. For other modes of the same liquid pattern deposition system that operate at different speeds, the nozzle shift compensation will be less than full or may even over compensate.
However, according to the present invention, many other balancing selections for fixed nozzle shift distances, Sns, might be beneficially chosen for a system having multiple print speed modes. For the purposes of the present invention, the nozzle shift fraction, q3, of the x-direction drop stream shift, may be selected over a range 0.2≦q3≦1.2 where Sns=q3tsvPM, and vPM may be any of the relative printhead to receiver medium velocities employed by the system during liquid pattern deposition. Therefore, the same fixed value of nozzle shift, Sns, may represent different values for q3, according to the different values of relative printhead velocity, vPM, supported by the drop deposition apparatus.
The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention.
w length of test line pattern in pixels
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