EP0870622A1 - Ink jet printer with improved printhead cooling system - Google Patents
Ink jet printer with improved printhead cooling system Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0870622A1 EP0870622A1 EP98300470A EP98300470A EP0870622A1 EP 0870622 A1 EP0870622 A1 EP 0870622A1 EP 98300470 A EP98300470 A EP 98300470A EP 98300470 A EP98300470 A EP 98300470A EP 0870622 A1 EP0870622 A1 EP 0870622A1
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- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- printhead
- support bar
- cooling
- channel
- cooling medium
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
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Classifications
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J29/00—Details of, or accessories for, typewriters or selective printing mechanisms not otherwise provided for
- B41J29/377—Cooling or ventilating arrangements
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
- B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
- B41J2202/08—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads dealing with thermal variations, e.g. cooling
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2202/00—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet or thermal heads
- B41J2202/01—Embodiments of or processes related to ink-jet heads
- B41J2202/21—Line printing
Definitions
- the present invention relates to ink jet printing, and more particularly to a system for cooling ink jet printheads during operation to maintain the printhead at an optimum temperature.
- ink jet printers are of the partial width array scanning type wherein a printhead module, typically one inch in width and containing a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles or jets, is mounted on a carriage which is moved in a scanning direction perpendicular to the path of motion of a recording medium such as paper.
- the printhead is in fluid communication with an ink supply cartridge. After each line scan by the printhead, the recording medium is advanced, and the printhead is scanned again across the medium.
- a black only scanning printer is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent 5,136,305.
- additional printhead modules and associated color ink jet cartridges are added to form a printer configuration of the type, for example, disclosed in 5,099,256.
- Pagewidth ink jet printers are known in the art which utilize one or more full pagewidth array printbars.
- a printbar is fixed in position adjacent to the path of the recording medium. Since there is no scan and re-scan time, a much higher print speed (on the order of 10:1) is enabled.
- One full width print bar may be used for a black only system; additional full width color printbars may be added to enable a highlight or full color printer.
- the darkness of the print varies with printhead temperature because the darkness depends on the size of the ejected drops.
- the contrast of the image also varies with printhead temperature because the contrast depends on the size of the ejected drops.
- the printed color varies with printhead temperature because the printed color depends on the size of all the primary color drops that create the printed color. If the printhead temperature varies from one primary color nozzle to another, the size of drops ejected from one primary color nozzle will differ from the size of the drops ejected from another primary color nozzle. The resulting printed color will differ from the intended color.
- the printhead temperature When all the nozzles of the printhead have the same temperature but the printhead temperature increases or decreases as the page is printed, the colors at the top of the page will differ from the colors at the bottom of the page. To print text, graphics, or images of the highest quality, the printhead temperature must remain constant.
- U.S. Patent 5,220,345 discloses a printhead temperature control system which places a plurality of temperature detectors at different positions and monitors the temperature differences to control ink supplied to the associated ink channels.
- U.S. Patent 5,168,284 discloses a closed loop system which produces non-printing pulses in response to a difference between a reference temperature signal and printhead temperature signals produced by a temperature sensor located on the printhead.
- U.S. Patent 5,223,853 to Wysocki et al. discloses a method of controlling the spot sizes printed by a thermal ink jet printer.
- the temperature of the ink in the printhead is sensed and a combination of power level and time duration of the electrical input signal to the heating elements is selected by entering the sensed temperature of the ink into a predetermined function relating to the energy of the input signal to the corresponding resulting size of the spot on the copy sheet.
- U.S. Patent 5,017,941 discloses a printhead which is cooled by circulating a cooling medium through passageways formed in the printhead.
- an ink jet printer including at least one printhead which is energised to cause expulsion of ink droplets through printhead nozzles onto a recording medium, the at least one printhead having a printhead cooling system comprising:
- partial width printheads form a scanning printhead assembly and are maintained at an optimum operating temperature by circulating cooling fluid from a common reservoir source through channels formed in cooling support members to which the printheads are secured.
- partial width array chips are abutted together to form a full width printhead, and the printhead chips are mounted on a single cooling support member.
- FIG. 1 illustrates a partial perspective view of a printer having a plurality of partial width array printheads movably mounted on a scanning carriage so as to scan across a curved surface of a paper holding drum.
- FIG. 2 shows an end view of the printer of FIG. 1.
- FIG. 3 shows a top view of the printer of FIG. 1, including ink reservoirs and water cooling and temperature control components.
- FIG. 4 shows a top view of a full width printbar mounted on a single cooling support bar.
- FIG. 1 illustrates the cooling of a partial width array printhead assembly in a scanning architecture.
- a printing apparatus 10 includes a motor 11 connected to a suitable power supply (not shown) and arranged with an output shaft 14 parallel to an axis 15 of a cylindrical drum 16, preferably of aluminum construction, which is supported for rotation on bearings (not shown).
- a pulley 17 permits direct engagement of the output shaft 14, to a drive belt 18 for enabling the drum 16 to be continuously rotationally driven by the motor 11 in the direction of an arrow A at a predetermined rotational speed.
- the rotational speed is set to maximum determined by the firing logic (the number of jets and number fired at a time) and the maximum jet firing rate.
- a recording medium 19 such as a sheet of paper or a transparency, is placed over an outer surface 20 of the drum 16, with a leading edge 21 attached to the surface 20 before printing to enable attachment of the sheet thereto either through the application of a vacuum through holes in the drum 16 (not shown) or through other means of holding such as electrostatic.
- the sheet of paper 19 is moved past a printhead carriage 22 supported by a lead screw 24 arranged with the axis thereof parallel to the axis 15 of the drum 16 and supported by fixed bearings (not shown) which enable the carriage 22 to slidably translate axially.
- a carriage rail 23 provides further support for the carriage as the carriage moves in the direction of arrow 25 perpendicular to the moving direction of the sheet 19.
- the printhead carriage supports a color printhead assembly 40, details of which are shown in FIGS. 1 - 3.
- Assembly 40 comprises two end frame members, 42, 44, to which are secured support bars 46, 48, 50.
- Bars 46 to 50 are arranged in an angular alignment with respect to center point C of drum 16 in a manner described below. Bars 46 to 50 are prearranged in an angular alignment and are of graphite in the preferred embodiment.
- a first partial width array printhead cartridge 52 (magenta) is secured to the side of bar 46; a second PWA color printhead cartridge 54 (cyan) is secured to bar 48, and a third color PWA printhead cartridge 56 (yellow) is secured to the side of bar 50.
- a fourth PWA printhead cartridge 58 black is also secured to the side of bar 46. All of the printheads assume the same angular orientation as the bars to which they are secured.
- Printed wiring boards contain circuitry required to interface and cause the individual heating elements (not shown) in the subunits to eject ink droplets from the nozzles. While not shown in FIG. 1, the printed wiring boards are connected to individual contacts contained on the subunits via a commonly known wire bonding technique.
- the bit mapped image data required to drive the individual heating elements of the printhead subunits is supplied from an external system by a standard printer interface, modified and/or buffered by a controller 42 and transferred to the printheads by ribbon cables (not shown) attached thereto.
- Each printhead cartridge comprises a printhead fluidly connected to an ink tank.
- the cartridge 52 comprises a printhead 52A connected to ink tank 52B.
- Cartridge 54 comprises a printhead 54A connected to ink tank 54B.
- Cartridge 56 comprises a printhead 56A connected to ink tank 56B and cartridge 58 comprises a printhead 58A (not visible) connected to cartridge 58B.
- the ink tanks are connected by flexible supply lines 52C, 54C, 56C, 58C to separate sections of an ink supply reservoir 60.
- frame member 42 has a port 42A which connects to an interior chamber 42B.
- exit ports 42C, 42D and 42E connect into the entrance ends of channels 46A, 48A, 50A formed, respectively, through the length of bars 46, 48, 50.
- Frame member 44 has a port 44A connecting to an internal chamber 44B.
- exit ports 44C, 44D and 44E connect with the exit ends of channels 46A, 48A, and 50A.
- a pump 62 is connected to a water reservoir 64.
- Tube 66 connects the water to the pump and tube 68 connects water from the pump into chamber 42B via port 42A.
- Tube 70 is connected between port 44A and a heat exchanger 72 to reservoir 64 via tubing 74.
- Heat exchanger 72 may not be needed if the duty cycle of the printing system is very low.
- an immersible reservoir heater 76 is placed within reservoir 64 to increase and maintain the reservoir temperature at several degrees above ambient to minimize variations in nominal spot size of ejected ink droplets. Maintaining the temperature 5-8°C above ambient also significantly improves the heat transfer rate of the system, therefore, requiring a smaller heat exchanger.
- the carriage under control of the system controller carries the printhead assembly along the scan path forming color images in a known manner on the recording medium 19.
- the sheet 19 is advanced following each print scan.
- the printhead tends to overheat.
- water is continuously circulated through the supply bars, the water absorbing heat from the printheads, providing a cooling effect and maintaining the printhead in optimum temperature.
- FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention wherein a printer 70 includes a full width black printbar 72 positioned to write on a recording medium 74 which is indexed by a motor (not shown) and moves in the direction of arrow 76.
- Printbar 72 has been assembled from a plurality of printhead modules 72A which have been butted together and secured on support bar 73 to form a 12" printbar according to the techniques described, for example, in U.S. 5,221,397, whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference.
- Printbar 72 in this embodiment, provides 7,200 nozzles or jets.
- the printbar modules 72A are formed by butting together a channel array containing arrays of recesses that are used as sets of channels and associated ink reservoirs and a heater wafer containing heater elements and addressing circuitry.
- the bonded wafers are diced to form the printbar resulting in formation of the jets, each nozzle or jet associated with a channel with a heater therein.
- the heaters are selectively energized by input data sent from controller 42 to heat the ink and expel an ink droplet from the associated jet.
- the ink channels are combined into a common ink manifold 78 mounted on the side of printbar 72 and in sealed communication with the ink inlets of the channel arrays through aligned openings.
- the manifold 78 is supplied with the appropriate ink, black for this embodiment, from an ink reservoir 80 via flexible tubing 82.
- Support bar 73 has a channel 84 formed within the bar running along its entire length.
- the channel has an entrance port 73A and an exit port 73B.
- Pump 86 is connected to water reservoir 88.
- Tube 90 connects the water to the pump and tube 92 connects water from the pump into channel 84 via port 73A.
- Tube 94 is connected between port 73B and a heat exchanger 96 to reservoir 88 via tubing 98.
- An immersible reservoir heater 100 is again placed within reservoir 88 to increase and maintain the reservoir temperature at several degrees above ambient.
- water is continuously circulated through channel 84 in support bar 73 absorbing heat from the printhead during its passage. Test results demonstrate control of temperature across the printbar 72 by ⁇ 2°C, and a reduction of the average steady state printhead temperature by as much as 22°C during an extended print run.
- FIG. 4 shows only a single black full width printer, it is understood that additional printbars can be added to produce a full color printer, each additional printbar being cooled by the same type of cooling mechanism.
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- Accessory Devices And Overall Control Thereof (AREA)
- Ink Jet (AREA)
- Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
Abstract
Printhead temperatures are maintained at an optimum temperature
by mounting the printheads (52A,54A,56A,58A)in thermal contact with
a support bar (46,48,50) through which an interior channel
(46A,48A,50A) has been formed. A cooling medium such as water is
circulated through the channel (46A,48A,50A), the circulating medium
absorbing heat generated by the printhead during operation. In one partial
width array embodiment, support bars (46,48,50) are mounted at each end
to hollow frame members (42,44). Channels (46A,48A,50A) are formed
through the length of the bars (46,48,50) which connect into the interior
of the frame members (42,44). Water introduced via a pump/circulation
mechanism (62,64) enters the entrance port of one frame member (42),
circulates through the bar channel (46A,48A,50A), and exits the other
frame member (44) through an exit port. Recirculation is achieved using
a feedback loop between a water reservoir (64) and a pump (62). In
another embodiment, a plurality of printhead modules (72A) are butted
together on a single cooling support bar (73) having a channel
therethrough through which water is circulated.
Description
The present invention relates to ink jet printing, and more
particularly to a system for cooling ink jet printheads during operation to
maintain the printhead at an optimum temperature.
Conventionally, most commercial ink jet printers are of the partial
width array scanning type wherein a printhead module, typically one inch
in width and containing a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles or jets, is
mounted on a carriage which is moved in a scanning direction
perpendicular to the path of motion of a recording medium such as paper.
The printhead is in fluid communication with an ink supply cartridge.
After each line scan by the printhead, the recording medium is advanced,
and the printhead is scanned again across the medium. A black only
scanning printer is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent 5,136,305. For
color printing, additional printhead modules and associated color ink jet
cartridges are added to form a printer configuration of the type, for
example, disclosed in 5,099,256.
Pagewidth ink jet printers are known in the art which utilize one or
more full pagewidth array printbars. In these pagewidth printers, a
printbar is fixed in position adjacent to the path of the recording medium.
Since there is no scan and re-scan time, a much higher print speed (on the
order of 10:1) is enabled. One full width print bar may be used for a black
only system; additional full width color printbars may be added to enable
a highlight or full color printer.
One known problem, with both partial and full width thermal ink
jet printers, is the degradation in the output print quality due to increased
volume of ink ejected at the printhead nozzles resulting from fluctuations
of printhead temperatures. These temperatures produce variations in the
size of the ejected drops which result in the degraded print quality. The
size of ejected drops varies with printhead temperature because two
properties that control the size of the drops vary with printhead
temperature: the viscosity of the ink and the amount of ink vaporized by
a firing resistor when driven with a printing pulse. Printhead temperature
fluctuations commonly occur during printer startup, during changes in
ambient temperature, and when the printer output varies.
When printing text in black and white, the darkness of the print
varies with printhead temperature because the darkness depends on the
size of the ejected drops. When printing gray-scale images, the contrast of
the image also varies with printhead temperature because the contrast
depends on the size of the ejected drops. When printing color images, the
printed color varies with printhead temperature because the printed color
depends on the size of all the primary color drops that create the printed
color. If the printhead temperature varies from one primary color nozzle
to another, the size of drops ejected from one primary color nozzle will
differ from the size of the drops ejected from another primary color nozzle.
The resulting printed color will differ from the intended color. When all
the nozzles of the printhead have the same temperature but the printhead
temperature increases or decreases as the page is printed, the colors at the
top of the page will differ from the colors at the bottom of the page. To
print text, graphics, or images of the highest quality, the printhead
temperature must remain constant.
Various printhead temperature controlling systems and methods are
known in the prior art for sensing printhead temperature and using sensed
temperature signals to compensate for temperature fluctuations or
increases.
U.S. Patent 5,220,345 discloses a printhead temperature control
system which places a plurality of temperature detectors at different
positions and monitors the temperature differences to control ink supplied
to the associated ink channels.
U.S. Patent 5,168,284 discloses a closed loop system which
produces non-printing pulses in response to a difference between a
reference temperature signal and printhead temperature signals produced
by a temperature sensor located on the printhead.
U.S. Patent 5,223,853 to Wysocki et al. discloses a method of
controlling the spot sizes printed by a thermal ink jet printer. The
temperature of the ink in the printhead is sensed and a combination of
power level and time duration of the electrical input signal to the heating
elements is selected by entering the sensed temperature of the ink into a
predetermined function relating to the energy of the input signal to the
corresponding resulting size of the spot on the copy sheet.
U.S. Patent 5,017,941 discloses a printhead which is cooled by
circulating a cooling medium through passageways formed in the
printhead.
Maintaining a printhead temperature at a constant level by use of
a cooling medium such as air or a fluid is an attractive and inexpensive
technique, dispensing with the need for temperature monitoring circuits.
Blowers are, however, an additional expense and modifying a printhead to
circulate a cooling fluid therethrough as described in the '941 patent
presents additional fabrication problems and expense.
It is therefore one object of the invention to provide an inexpensive
thermal cooling of an ink jet printhead during a print operation.
It is a further object to provide a cooling means for circulating
cooling medium which does not require modification of the printhead.
According to the present invention there is provided an ink jet
printer including at least one printhead which is energised to cause
expulsion of ink droplets through printhead nozzles onto a recording
medium, the at least one printhead having a printhead cooling system
comprising:
In one embodiment, partial width printheads form a scanning
printhead assembly and are maintained at an optimum operating
temperature by circulating cooling fluid from a common reservoir source
through channels formed in cooling support members to which the
printheads are secured.
In another embodiment, partial width array chips are abutted
together to form a full width printhead, and the printhead chips are
mounted on a single cooling support member.
FIG. 1 illustrates a partial perspective view of a printer having a
plurality of partial width array printheads movably mounted on a scanning
carriage so as to scan across a curved surface of a paper holding drum.
FIG. 2 shows an end view of the printer of FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 shows a top view of the printer of FIG. 1, including ink
reservoirs and water cooling and temperature control components.
FIG. 4 shows a top view of a full width printbar mounted on a single
cooling support bar.
While the present invention will be described in connection with
preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is not
intended to limit the invention to that embodiment. On the contrary, it
is intended to cover all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may
be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the
appended claims.
FIG. 1 illustrates the cooling of a partial width array printhead
assembly in a scanning architecture. As shown, a printing apparatus 10
includes a motor 11 connected to a suitable power supply (not shown) and
arranged with an output shaft 14 parallel to an axis 15 of a cylindrical
drum 16, preferably of aluminum construction, which is supported for
rotation on bearings (not shown). A pulley 17 permits direct engagement
of the output shaft 14, to a drive belt 18 for enabling the drum 16 to be
continuously rotationally driven by the motor 11 in the direction of an
arrow A at a predetermined rotational speed. The rotational speed is set
to maximum determined by the firing logic (the number of jets and
number fired at a time) and the maximum jet firing rate.
A recording medium 19, such as a sheet of paper or a transparency,
is placed over an outer surface 20 of the drum 16, with a leading edge 21
attached to the surface 20 before printing to enable attachment of the
sheet thereto either through the application of a vacuum through holes in
the drum 16 (not shown) or through other means of holding such as
electrostatic. As the drum 16 rotates, the sheet of paper 19 is moved past
a printhead carriage 22 supported by a lead screw 24 arranged with the axis
thereof parallel to the axis 15 of the drum 16 and supported by fixed
bearings (not shown) which enable the carriage 22 to slidably translate
axially. A carriage rail 23 provides further support for the carriage as the
carriage moves in the direction of arrow 25 perpendicular to the moving
direction of the sheet 19. A second motor 26, such as a stepper motor or
other positioning mechanism, controlled by a controller 28, drives the lead
screw with a second belt 29 connecting a clutch 30 and a clutch 31
attached to the lead screw 24 for movement thereof.
The printhead carriage supports a color printhead assembly 40,
details of which are shown in FIGS. 1 - 3. Assembly 40 comprises two end
frame members, 42, 44, to which are secured support bars 46, 48, 50. Bars
46 to 50 are arranged in an angular alignment with respect to center point
C of drum 16 in a manner described below. Bars 46 to 50 are prearranged
in an angular alignment and are of graphite in the preferred embodiment.
A first partial width array printhead cartridge 52 (magenta) is secured to
the side of bar 46; a second PWA color printhead cartridge 54 (cyan) is
secured to bar 48, and a third color PWA printhead cartridge 56 (yellow)
is secured to the side of bar 50. A fourth PWA printhead cartridge 58
(black) is also secured to the side of bar 46. All of the printheads assume
the same angular orientation as the bars to which they are secured.
Printed wiring boards (not shown) contain circuitry required to
interface and cause the individual heating elements (not shown) in the
subunits to eject ink droplets from the nozzles. While not shown in FIG.
1, the printed wiring boards are connected to individual contacts contained
on the subunits via a commonly known wire bonding technique. The bit
mapped image data required to drive the individual heating elements of the
printhead subunits is supplied from an external system by a standard
printer interface, modified and/or buffered by a controller 42 and
transferred to the printheads by ribbon cables (not shown) attached
thereto.
Each printhead cartridge comprises a printhead fluidly connected to
an ink tank. The cartridge 52 comprises a printhead 52A connected to ink
tank 52B. Cartridge 54 comprises a printhead 54A connected to ink tank
54B. Cartridge 56 comprises a printhead 56A connected to ink tank 56B
and cartridge 58 comprises a printhead 58A (not visible) connected to
cartridge 58B. The ink tanks are connected by flexible supply lines 52C,
54C, 56C, 58C to separate sections of an ink supply reservoir 60.
The cooling system for cooling printheads for 52A to 58A will now
be described, with reference to FIG. 3, As shown in FIG. 3, frame member
42 has a port 42A which connects to an interior chamber 42B. At the
bottom of chamber 42B, exit ports 42C, 42D and 42E connect into the
entrance ends of channels 46A, 48A, 50A formed, respectively, through the
length of bars 46, 48, 50. Frame member 44 has a port 44A connecting to
an internal chamber 44B. At the bottom of chamber 44B, exit ports 44C,
44D and 44E connect with the exit ends of channels 46A, 48A, and 50A.
A pump 62 is connected to a water reservoir 64. Tube 66 connects
the water to the pump and tube 68 connects water from the pump into
chamber 42B via port 42A. Tube 70 is connected between port 44A and
a heat exchanger 72 to reservoir 64 via tubing 74. (Head exchanger 72
may not be needed if the duty cycle of the printing system is very low.)
Optionally, an immersible reservoir heater 76 is placed within reservoir 64
to increase and maintain the reservoir temperature at several degrees above
ambient to minimize variations in nominal spot size of ejected ink
droplets. Maintaining the temperature 5-8°C above ambient also
significantly improves the heat transfer rate of the system, therefore,
requiring a smaller heat exchanger.
In operation, the carriage under control of the system controller
carries the printhead assembly along the scan path forming color images in
a known manner on the recording medium 19. The sheet 19 is advanced
following each print scan. As operation continues, the printhead tends to
overheat. However, because of the cooling system in place, water is
continuously circulated through the supply bars, the water absorbing heat
from the printheads, providing a cooling effect and maintaining the
printhead in optimum temperature.
FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the invention wherein a
printer 70 includes a full width black printbar 72 positioned to write on a
recording medium 74 which is indexed by a motor (not shown) and moves
in the direction of arrow 76. Printbar 72 has been assembled from a
plurality of printhead modules 72A which have been butted together and
secured on support bar 73 to form a 12" printbar according to the
techniques described, for example, in U.S. 5,221,397, whose contents are
hereby incorporated by reference. Printbar 72, in this embodiment,
provides 7,200 nozzles or jets. As described in the '397 patent, the
printbar modules 72A are formed by butting together a channel array
containing arrays of recesses that are used as sets of channels and
associated ink reservoirs and a heater wafer containing heater elements and
addressing circuitry. The bonded wafers are diced to form the printbar
resulting in formation of the jets, each nozzle or jet associated with a
channel with a heater therein. The heaters are selectively energized by
input data sent from controller 42 to heat the ink and expel an ink droplet
from the associated jet. The ink channels are combined into a common ink
manifold 78 mounted on the side of printbar 72 and in sealed
communication with the ink inlets of the channel arrays through aligned
openings. The manifold 78 is supplied with the appropriate ink, black for
this embodiment, from an ink reservoir 80 via flexible tubing 82.
While FIG. 4 shows only a single black full width printer, it is
understood that additional printbars can be added to produce a full color
printer, each additional printbar being cooled by the same type of cooling
mechanism.
While the invention has been disclosed in an embodiment wherein
the images are formed on a curved image surface, the invention may be
practiced in systems where the image is formed on a planar image surface.
Claims (7)
- An ink jet printer including at least one printhead (52A,54A,56A,58A) which is energized to cause expulsion of ink droplets through printhead nozzles onto a recording medium (19), the at least one printhead having a printhead cooling system comprising:a cooling support bar (46,48,50) having a channel (46A,48A,50A)formed therethrough, the printhead being mounted in thermal contact with said support bar andmeans (62,64) for continuously circulating a cooling medium through said support bar channel, wherein heat generated by the printhead during print operation is thermally transferred to the medium circulating through the support bar.
- A printer according to claim 1, wherein the coolant circulating means comprises a cooling medium reservoir (64) and a pump (62).
- A printer according to claim 2 further comprising a heat exchanger (72,96) connected between the cooling support bar and the cooling medium reservoir.
- A printer according to claim 2 or 3, further comprising a heater (76) for increasing the temperature of the cooling medium and the cooling medium reservoir (64).
- A printer according to any preceding claim further including a reciprocating carriage (22) and wherein said cooling system comprises a plurality of support bars (46,48,50) mounted on said carriage, each support bar having a channel therethrough (46A,48A,50A), each support bar having at least one printhead cartridge (52A,54A,56A,58A) mounted in thermal contact thereon, said cooling system further including first and second frame members (42,44) having a port (42A,44A) connecting to a chamber (42B,44B) interior to each frame member, the support bars being mounted to said frame members so that said channels terminate into said chambers, and wherein said means (62,64) for circulating a cooling medium is fluidly connected between said frame member ports so that the cooling medium flows in a closed loop through the entrance port of one frame member into the interior chamber of said frame members through the bar channels, and exiting the second frame member exit port and returning to the circulating means.
- A printer according to claim 5 wherein three color printhead cartridges (52A,54A,56A) and a black cartridge (58A) are mounted on said support bars, and said printer further including means (60) for refilling said cartridges with ink of a selected color.
- A printer according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein a plurality of printhead modules (72A) are butted together and mounted on at least one cooling support bar (73) to form a full width array printhead.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
US83356297A | 1997-04-07 | 1997-04-07 | |
US833562 | 1997-04-07 |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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EP0870622A1 true EP0870622A1 (en) | 1998-10-14 |
Family
ID=25264758
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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EP98300470A Withdrawn EP0870622A1 (en) | 1997-04-07 | 1998-01-23 | Ink jet printer with improved printhead cooling system |
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EP (1) | EP0870622A1 (en) |
JP (1) | JPH10278251A (en) |
Cited By (16)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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WO2006128854A1 (en) * | 2005-05-30 | 2006-12-07 | Agfa Graphics Nv | A print head shuttle with active cooling |
WO2007015230A2 (en) * | 2005-08-04 | 2007-02-08 | Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing Ltd. | A method of cooling and servicing an inkjet print head array |
US7475973B2 (en) * | 2004-10-04 | 2009-01-13 | Oce-Technologies B.V. | Sheet handling device with a temperature controlled sheet support plate |
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US10780697B2 (en) | 2017-03-15 | 2020-09-22 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Fluid ejection dies |
CN110177695A (en) * | 2017-03-15 | 2019-08-27 | 惠普发展公司,有限责任合伙企业 | Fluid injection tube core |
CN110177695B (en) * | 2017-03-15 | 2022-02-15 | 惠普发展公司,有限责任合伙企业 | Fluid ejection die |
US11046073B2 (en) | 2017-04-05 | 2021-06-29 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Fluid ejection die heat exchangers |
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