One type of inkjet-printing device, which is more generally referred to as a fluid-jet device, is a page-wide array inkjet-printing device. In this type of inkjet-printing device, a number of inkjet printheads, which are more generally referred to as fluid-jet printheads, are organized as an array at least substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of media sheets through the device. The array is a page-wide array in that the printheads extend from one side or edge of the media sheets to the other side or edge of the media sheets. As such, the array is typically stationary during printing; as media sheets are moved past the array, the printheads eject ink onto the media sheets.
A page-wide array inkjet-printing device thus contrasts with another type of inkjet-printing device known as a scanning printhead inkjet-printing device. In the latter type of inkjet-printing device, a scanning inkjet printhead moves, or scans, along a section, or swath, of a media sheet from one side to the other side of the sheet, ejecting ink along this media sheet section as it moves over the section. When printing on the current swath has finished, the media sheet is advanced slightly so that a new swath is incident to the printhead, and the printhead scans over the new swath. This process is repeated until ink has been printed on the media sheet as desired.
In general, page-wide array inkjet-printing devices are typically faster than scanning printhead inkjet-printing devices, in that a complete media sheet can have ink printed thereon in a desired manner more quickly using the former type of inkjet-printing device as compared to the latter type of inkjet-printing device. However, all inkjet-printing devices and other types of fluid-ejection devices are usually susceptible to occasional clogging of printhead nozzles through which ink is actually ejected. Therefore, a purging operation may have to be periodically performed to forcibly clear the printhead nozzles so that they can continue to be used for printing purposes.
As has been noted in the background, fluid-jet printhead nozzles are susceptible to clogging. For instance, ink or other fluid may dry on the nozzles, plugging them up. As such, when the fluid-jet printhead of which these nozzles are a part is called upon to eject fluid, the printhead fails, because its nozzles are clogged. To clear the nozzles of such clogs, what is referred to as a purging operation is performed.
Purging can be generally achieved in a number of different ways. First, a wiping operation can be performed, in which a wiper or other type of wiping mechanism physically makes contact with and is moved back and forth over the clogged nozzles, removing the debris that is causing the clog. Second, a vacuuming operation can be performed, in which a vacuum or other type of suctioning mechanism is sealed around the clogged nozzles and turned on to vacuum or suction the debris that is causing the clog. Third, a purging operation can be performed in which fluid is forcibly ejected through the clogged nozzles to clear the debris that is causing the clog. In this type of purging, the fluid is ejected more forcibly than is achieved during normal ejecting operations to eject fluid in a desired manner, such as to print a desired image on a media sheet. This type of purging may be referred to as spitting.
Embodiments of the present disclosure are concerned with the latter type of purging, specifically in relation to page-wide array fluid-jet devices, such as page-wide array inkjet-printing devices. Forcibly ejecting fluid from page-wide array fluid-jet devices is typically difficult if not near impossible to accomplish without wasting significant amounts of fluid. This is because a page-wide array fluid-jet device has a relatively large number of fluid-jet printheads, and thus a relatively large number of fluid-jet nozzles. Purging all the nozzles of all the fluid-jet printheads may clear the nozzles that are clogged, but at the cost of wasting fluid by forcibly ejecting fluid through the nozzles of the typically larger in number printheads that are not clogged.
By comparison, forcibly ejecting fluid from a scanning head fluid-jet device, such as a scanning printhead inkjet-printing device, is relatively easy to achieve without wasting significant amounts of fluid. This is because there are relatively few printheads within such a scanning head fluid-jet device. Indeed, there may just be a single printhead within a scanning head fluid-jet device. Therefore, forcibly ejecting fluid through all the nozzles of all the fluid-jet printheads in this instance does not incur the cost of wasting significant fluid, because there are not that many printheads to begin with in a scanning head fluid-jet device.
Embodiments of the present disclosure overcome the disadvantages associated with forcibly ejecting fluid to purge clogged fluid-jet printheads of a page-wide array fluid-jet device by selectively purging the nozzles of just a given printhead of the device. As such, fluid is not wasted, because just a selected fluid-jet printhead has fluid forcibly ejected through its nozzles, and thus fluid is not forcibly ejected through the nozzles of all the fluid-jet printheads of a page-wide array fluid-jet device to clear the nozzles of just one printhead. As used herein, a clogged fluid-jet printhead refers to such a printhead that has one or more of its nozzles clogged. Furthermore, purging a given fluid-jet printhead refers to purging the nozzles of such a printhead.
A fluid-jet precision-dispensing device is therefore a drop-on-demand device in which printing, or dispensing, of the substantially liquid fluid in question is achieved by precisely printing or dispensing in accurately specified locations, with or without making a particular image on that which is being printed or dispensed on. As such, a fluid-jet precision-dispensing device is in comparison to a continuous precision-dispensing device, in which a substantially liquid fluid is continuously dispensed therefrom. An example of a continuous precision-dispensing device is a continuous inkjet-printing device.
The fluid-jet precision-dispensing device precisely prints or dispenses a substantially liquid fluid in that the latter is not substantially or primarily composed of gases such as air. Examples of such substantially liquid fluids include inks in the case of inkjet-printing devices. Other examples of substantially liquid fluids include drugs, cellular products, organisms, fuel, and so on, which are not substantially or primarily composed of gases such as air and other types of gases, as can be appreciated by those of ordinary skill within the art.
The fluid-jet device 100 includes a frame 102 that nominally extends over the entire width of a media sheet 116. As such, the fluid-jet device 100 is specifically a page-wide array fluid-jet device, as opposed to a scanning head fluid-jet device like a scanning printhead inkjet-printing device as has been described above. The frame 102 has surfaces 104 and 106 opposite to one another. A fluid channel 108 extends within the frame 102 parallel to and between the surfaces 104 and 106.
A number of fluid-jet printheads 110A, 110B, . . . , 110N, collectively referred to as the fluid-jet printheads 110, are disposed on the surface 106 of the frame 102 of the fluid-jet device 100. The fluid-jet printheads 110 are positioned on the surface 106 so that the entire width of the media sheet 116 is covered by the printheads 110. Each of the fluid-jet printheads 110 includes a number of fluid-ejection nozzles. For instance, in
In normal operation of the fluid-jet device 100, fluid such as ink is supplied to the fluid-jet printheads 110 via the fluid channel 108. The nozzles of the fluid-jet printheads 110 selectively eject fluid drops onto the media sheet 116 as the media sheet 116 moves past the frame 102 in a direction perpendicular to the frame 102, as indicated by the arrow 118. In this way, for instance, an image may be printed on the media sheet 116 using ink ejected by the printheads 110. Thus, typically the frame 102 and therefore the fluid-jet printheads 110 remain stationary during fluid ejection by the fluid-jet device 100. In this respect, the page-wide array fluid-jet device 100 is also distinguished from a scanning head fluid-jet device, in which a printhead is moved, or scanned, during fluid ejection by the device.
The selective purging component 202 selectively purges a desired fluid-jet printhead of the fluid-jet printheads 110. As such, the selective purging component 202 is able to forcibly eject fluid through the fluid-ejection nozzles of a selected fluid-jet printhead, instead of through the fluid-ejection nozzles of all the fluid-jet printheads 110 of the fluid-jet device 100. The purging component 202 includes a purging insert 204, a movement mechanism 206, and a pressurizing mechanism 208, and may further include a waste collection mechanism 210. The insert 204 and the mechanisms 206, 208, and 210 are now described in a general manner. Thereafter, in subsequent sections of the detailed description, specific implementations embodying the selective purging component 202 are described.
The purging insert 204 is movably located within the fluid channel 108. The movement mechanism 206 is operatively coupled to the purging insert 204, and moves the purging insert 204 within the fluid channel 108 so that the purging insert 204 becomes incident to a desired fluid-jet printhead of the fluid-jet printheads 110 for purging purposes. The pressurizing mechanism 208 is fluidically coupled to the purging insert 204, and pressurizes fluid that is then delivered by the purging insert 204 to the desired fluid-jet printhead to purge this desired printhead.
In this manner, selective purging of just a desired fluid-jet printhead is achieved. Rather than forcibly ejecting fluid through all the fluid-jet printheads 110 of the fluid-jet device, fluid is forcibly ejected through just a desired fluid-jet printhead. This is accomplished by the movement mechanism 206 moving the purging insert 204 within the fluid channel 108 so that the insert 204 is incident to the desired printhead, and the pressurizing mechanism 208 pressurizing fluid that is then delivered by the insert 204 to the desired printhead for purging purposes. As noted above, specific embodiments of the insert 204 and the mechanisms 206 and 208 are described in subsequent sections of the detailed description.
It is further noted the waste collection mechanism 210 may also be movably disposed over the exterior of the fluid channel 108 (i.e., opposite the printheads 110 and below the surface 106 in
The selective purging component 202 further includes the movement mechanism 206 of
With respect to the movement mechanism 206, the carriage section 304 is movably disposed on the exterior of the fluid channel 108 (i.e., on the frame 102). That is, the carriage 302, including the carriage section 304 of the movement mechanism 206 and the carriage section 306 of the pressurizing mechanism 208, is movable along the frame 102. The ferromagnetic member 322 is attached to the purging insert 204 and is movably disposed within the fluid channel 108 incident to the carriage section 304. The DC coil 308 is wound around the carriage section 304.
Upon powering of the DC coil 308 using a DC power source (not depicted in
With respect to the pressurizing mechanism 208, the inlet valves 316 and 318 fluidically couple the fluid channel 108 to or with the cavity 324 to move fluid from the fluid channel 108 to the cavity 324. The piston 320 pressurizes the fluid within the cavity 324. The outlet valve 314 fluidically couples the cavity 324 to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A to move the fluid as pressurized within the cavity 324 to the printhead 110A. The carriage section 306 of the carriage 302 is movably disposed on the exterior of the fluid channel 108 (i.e., on the frame 102). The AC coil 310 is wound around the carriage section 306, and is electromagnetically coupled to the piston 320. The piston 320 pressurizes the fluid within the cavity 324 generally as follows. Upon powering of the AC coil 310 using an AC power source (not depicted in
More specifically, in particular relation to
With respect to the purging insert 204, the purging insert 204 includes a cavity 330 that is fluidically coupled to the outlet valve 314. The terminology fluidically coupled means the following. When a first element is said to be fluidically coupled to a second element, this means that fluid is permitted to flow from the first element to the second element. When a third element is said to fluidically couple a first element with a second element, this means that the third element permits fluid to flow from the first element to the second element.
It is noted that the fluid channel 108 is separated from the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A by a wall 332 of the frame 102. The wall 332 includes one or more secondary channels 328 that fluidically couple the fluid channel 108 to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A. Thus, the movement mechanism 206 moves the purging insert 204 within the fluid channel 108 so that the insert 204 is incident to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A. As such, the cavity 330 of the purging insert 204 is fluidically coupled to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A via the secondary channels 328.
Therefore, after the movement mechanism 206 has appropriately moved the purging insert 204 and the pressurizing mechanism 208 has pressurized fluid within the cavity 324, opening of the outlet valve 314 causes the pressurized fluid to be released to the cavity 330 through a secondary channel 334, and thus to the fluid-jet printhead 110A through the secondary channels 328. Because the fluid is pressurized, it causes any debris clogging the fluid-jet nozzles of the fluid-jet printhead 110A to be forcibly removed into the waste collection mechanism 210. In this way, the selective purging component 202 of
As has been noted above, the waste collection mechanism 210 collects waste resulting from purging of the fluid-jet printhead 110A. In this respect, the movement mechanism 206 is operatively coupled to the waste collection mechanism 210 to move the mechanism 210 over the exterior of the fluid channel 108 (i.e., over the frame 102) so that the mechanism 210 is incident to desired fluid-jet printhead 110A. The waste collection mechanism 210 is attached to the carriage section 306 of the carriage 302, and therefore is incident to and specifically below the fluid-jet printhead 110A when the purging insert 204 is incident to and specifically above the printhead 110A.
In summary, then, the movement mechanism 206 of
Once the purging insert 204 has been moved incident to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A, the AC coil 310 wound around the carriage section 306 is powered to oscillate the piston 320. Fluid moving from the fluid channel 108 to the cavity 324 via the inlet valves 316 and 318 is pressurized by the piston 320 within the cavity 324. Once the fluid within the cavity 324 has been pressurized, the outlet valve 314 is opened, and the pressurized fluid travels to and is forcibly ejected by the fluid-jet printhead 110A to purge the printhead 110A. Waste, such as the debris that was clogging the fluid-jet printhead 110A and the fluid used to purge the printhead 110A, is collected by the waste collection mechanism 210.
It is noted that in the embodiment of
The selective purging component 202 also includes the pressurizing mechanism 208 of
With respect to the movement mechanism 206, the flexible hollow tubing 404 is disposed around the rotatable pulley wheels 402 and is fixably attached to and fluidically coupled to the purging insert 204 within the fluid channel 108. Rotation of the rotatable pulley wheels 402 causes the flexible hollow tubing 404 disposed around the pulley wheels 402 to move, which results in movement of the purging insert within the fluid channel 108. In this respect, the flexible hollow tubing 404 serves as a pulley belt. The pulley wheels 402 may be manually rotated, or may be rotated using the motor 420. It is noted in
With respect to the movement mechanism 206, the flexible hollow tubing 406 is fluidically couples the pump 422 with the purging insert 204 via the fluidic coupler 408 fluidically coupling the flexible hollowing tube 406 to the flexible hollow tubing 404. When the rotatable pulley wheels 402 are rotated to move the flexible hollow tubing 404, the fluidic coupler 408 correspondingly moves as well. The pump 422 pressurizes the fluid, and the pressurized fluid is delivered from the pump 422 to the purging insert 204 via the flexible hollow tubings 406 and 404.
With respect to the purging insert 204, the purging insert again includes the cavity 330 that has been described, and also includes a cavity 412 and one or more secondary channels 414. The fluid channel 108 is also again separated from the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A by the wall 332 of the frame 102, where the wall includes the secondary channels 328 that fluidically coupled the fluid channel 108 to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A. The secondary channels 414 fluidically coupling the cavity 412 of the purging insert 204 to the cavity 330 of the insert 204. The cavity 412 of the purging insert 204 is itself fluidically coupled to the flexible hollow tubing 404. Thus, the movement mechanism 206 moves the purging insert 204 within the fluid channel 108 so that the insert 204 is incident to the desired fluid-jet printhead 110A. As such, the cavity 330 of the purging insert 204 is resultantly fluidically coupled to the desired printhead 110A via the secondary channels 328.
Therefore, after the movement mechanism 206 has appropriately moved the purging insert 204 and the pressurizing mechanism 208 has pressurized fluid, the pressurized fluid is delivered via the flexible hollow tubings 406 and 404 to the cavity 412 of the purging insert 204. From the cavity 412, the pressurized fluid travels through the secondary channels 414 to the cavity 330 of the purging 204, from which the pressurized fluid travels to the fluid-jet printhead 110A via the secondary channels 328. Because the fluid is pressurized, it causes any debris clogging the fluid-jet nozzles of the fluid-jet printhead 110A to be forcibly removed, and into the waste collection mechanism 210 if present. In this way, the selective purging component 202 of
In summary, then, the movement mechanism 206 of
It is noted that in the embodiment of
In conclusion,
The purging insert 204 is thereafter used to deliver the pressurized fluid to the desired fluid-jet printhead to purge this printhead (506). Again, this may be achieved in relation to