Embodiments described herein relate generally to an ink jet head used in an ink jet type printer or the like, and a driving method thereof.
A liquid ejecting device used in an ink jet type printer or the like, a so-called ink jet head includes a pressure room which is filled with ink, a nozzle which communicates with the pressure room, and an actuator which is disposed in the pressure room. The actuator increases and decreases the volume of the pressure room. A driving voltage which sequentially includes an increasing pulse for the increase and a decreasing pulse for the decrease is supplied to the actuator.
A plurality of ink droplets is continuously ejected from the nozzle, and the plurality of ink droplets forms one pixel, thereby printing a high-grayscale image. If the frequency of the driving voltage supplied to the actuator increases, the printing speed can be heightened because an ejecting interval of the plurality of ink droplets ejected from the nozzle is shortened.
However, each time one ink droplet is ejected from the nozzle, oscillation remains in the ink in the pressure room. If the next ink droplet is ejected before the oscillation becomes calm, appropriate ejecting of the ink droplets is not easy.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
In general, according to one embodiment, an ink jet head has a pressure room that is filled with liquid; a nozzle which ejects the liquid in the pressure room; an actuator which varies a volume of the pressure room; and a processor which outputs a voltage having a waveform which sequentially includes an increasing pulse for increasing the volume of the pressure room, a first decreasing pulse for decreasing the volume of the pressure room, and a second decreasing pulse for decreasing the volume of the pressure room, to the actuator as a driving voltage, and sets a period from the beginning of the increasing pulse to the end of the first decreasing pulse to a half value or less of a resonant cycle of the liquid and the pressure room.
Hereinafter, an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
An ink jet head 1 includes an ink inlet 2 connected to an ink supply source, a containing room 3 which contains ink flowing thereinto from the ink inlet 2, a plurality of pressure rooms 4 which is filled with ink inside the containing room 3, a partitioning wall 5 which partitions the pressure room 4 and the containing room 3, a plurality of nozzles 6 for ejecting ink, which communicates with the pressure rooms 4, respectively, a plurality of vibrating plates 7 each of which forms one wall surface of each of the pressure rooms 4, a plurality of piezoelectric elements 8 which is disposed on the vibrating plates 7, respectively, a temperature sensor 9 which detects a temperature of ink in the containing room 3, and a driving unit (a processor) 10.
Each vibrating plate 7 and each piezoelectric element 8 form an actuator which varies the volume of each pressure room 4. If the volume of the pressure room 4 increases, ink in the containing room 3 is introduced into the pressure room 4. If the volume of the pressure room 4 decreases, the ink in the pressure room 4 is ejected from the corresponding nozzle 6 as an ink droplet 20.
The driving unit 10 outputs a driving voltage to each actuator, and has a first driving section 11, a second driving section 12, and a correction section 13. When the ink droplet 20 is ejected, the first driving section 11 outputs, to the actuator as a driving voltage as shown in
The time width of the increasing pulse A1 is T1 (μs). The time width of the ground potential A2 is T2 (μs). The time width of the first decreasing pulse A3 is T3 (μs). The time width of the ground potential A4 is T4 (μs). The time width of the second decreasing pulse A5 is T5 (μs).
The potential of the first decreasing pulse A3 and the potential of the second decreasing pulse AS have the same polarity, and, for example, are 28V of the positive polarity. The potential of the increasing pulse A1 is 28V of the negative polarity and has the polarity opposite to the potential of the first decreasing pulse A3 and the second decreasing pulse A5. Alternatively, the potential of the first decreasing pulse A3 and the potential of the second decreasing pulse A5 may have the negative polarity, and the potential of the increasing pulse A1 may have the positive polarity.
During the period of the increasing pulse A1, the volume of the pressure room 4 increases. The increase introduces the ink in the containing room 3 into the pressure room 4. During the period of the ground potential A2, the volume of the pressure room 4 returns to the steady state from the increase due to the increasing pulse A1. During the period of the first decreasing pulse A3, the volume of the pressure room 4 decreases. The ink in the pressure room 4 is ejected from the nozzle 6 by the decrease and the return. During the period of the ground potential A4, the volume of the pressure room 4 returns to the steady state from the decrease due to the first decreasing pulse A3. In addition, during the period of the second decreasing pulse A5, the volume of the pressure room 4 decreases again. Oscillation of the ink in the pressure room 4 is suppressed by the returns and the decreases. The suppression of the oscillation of the ink is referred to as damping.
When the ink is ejected, as shown in
Tx≦AL, Ty=(Tx/2)+T4+(T5/2), and Ty2AL
When the ink is not ejected, as shown in
The time width of the increasing pulse B1 is T11 (μs). The time width of the ground potential B2 is T12 (μs). The time width of the decreasing pulse B3 is T13 (μs).
When the ink is not ejected, as shown in
The potential of the increasing pulse B1 is, for example, 16V of the negative polarity, and is lower than the potential (=28V) of the increasing pulse A1 for ejecting ink. Due to the low voltage, the ink minutely vibrates enough not to eject the ink in the pressure room 4 and meniscus at the nozzle 6. The potential of the decreasing pulse B3 is, for example, 16V of the positive polarity, which has the polarity opposite to the potential of the increasing pulse B1 and is lower than the potentials of the first and second decreasing pulses A3 and A5 (=28V) for ejecting ink. Due to the low voltage, the ink minutely vibrates enough not to eject the ink in the pressure room 4 and meniscus at the nozzle 6. Alternatively, the potential of the increasing pulse B1 may have the positive polarity, and the potential of the decreasing pulse B3 may have the negative polarity.
The correcting section 13 corrects the set first period Tx, second period Ty, and third period Ty according to a temperature detected by the temperature sensor 9.
Next, an operation of the ink jet head 1 will be described.
When the ink is ejected, the driving unit 10 outputs the driving voltage of the waveform sequentially including the increasing pulse A1, the ground potential A2, the first decreasing pulse A3, the ground potential A4, the second decreasing pulse A5, and the ground potential A6. At this time, the oscillation shown in
The ejecting speed of ink reaches the peak if the time width T1 of the increasing pulse A1 is close to 2.4 (μs) which is a half of the Helmholtz resonant cycle. If the time width Ti of the increasing pulse A1 is equal to or less than 1.8 (μs), there is no ejecting ink. An allowable range of the time width Ti of the increasing pulse A1, which enables the ink to be ejected, is 2.4 (μs) to 1.9 (μs), as shown in
The ejecting speed of ink is nearly constant in a range where the time width T1 of the increasing pulse A1 is 2.2 (μs) to 1.2 (μs). If the time width T1 of the increasing pulse A1 is equal to or less than 1.1 (μs), there is no ejecting ink. An allowable range of the time width T1 of the increasing pulse A1, which enables the ink to be ejected, is 2.4 (μs) to 1.2 (μs), as shown in
In summary, if the driving voltage supplied to the actuator has the waveform in
As described above, when the driving voltage having the waveform in
A driving voltage obtained by adding the waveform including the ground potential A4, the second decreasing pulse A5, and the ground potential A6 to the driving voltage having the waveform in
The second decreasing pulse A5 is required to be set to the optimal timing so as to efficiently cancel the oscillation of the ink generated by the increasing pulse A1 and the first decreasing pulse A3. This optimal timing depends on the Helmholtz resonant cycle which is defined by a structure of the pressure room 4 and the characteristics of the ink. Taking this point into consideration, as shown in
By supplying the driving voltage having the waveform in
In addition, if the temperature of the ink varies due to influence of an ambient temperature, the Helmholtz resonant cycle fluctuates accordingly. The driving unit 10 corrects the first period Tx and the second period Ty according to a temperature detected by the temperature sensor 9 so as not to be influenced by the variation in the Helmholtz resonant cycle.
On the other hand, when the ink is not ejected, as shown in
Due to the supply of the driving voltage to the actuator, the ink minutely vibrates enough not to eject the ink in the pressure room 4 and meniscus at the nozzle 6, as shown in
The time width T11 of the increasing pulse B1 is preferably close to the half value of the Helmholtz resonant cycle and does not necessarily correspond with the half value of the Helmholtz resonant cycle. The decreasing pulse B3 is required to be set to the optimal timing so as to efficiently cancel the minute oscillation of the ink generated by the increasing pulse B1. The optimal timing depends on the Helmholtz resonant cycle which is defined by a structure of the pressure room 4 and the characteristics of the ink. Taking this point into consideration, as shown in
Tz=(T11/2)+T12+(T13/2), and Tz≦2AL
If the half value of the Helmholtz resonant cycle is, for example, 2.4 (μs), the time width T11 of the increasing pulse B1 is set to 2.3 (μs), and the time width T13 of the decreasing pulse B3 is set to 1.0 (μs), the time width T12 of the ground potential B2 becomes 3.15 (μs).
The minute oscillation generated by the increasing pulse B1 can reliably converge due to the decreasing pulse B3 before subsequent ejecting of the ink starts. Therefore, an ill effect on the ejecting of the ink does not occur.
In addition, the driving voltage having the waveform in
In addition, if the temperature of the ink varies due to the influence of an ambient temperature, the Helmholtz resonant cycle fluctuates accordingly. The driving unit 10 corrects the third period Tz according to a temperature detected by the temperature sensor 9 so as not to be influenced by the variation in the Helmholtz resonant cycle.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from US Provisional Application No. 61/333,356, filed on May 11, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from US Provisional Application No. 61/333,358, filed on May 11, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61333356 | May 2010 | US | |
61333358 | May 2010 | US |