Actuator drive circuit with trim control of pulse shape
US10513111B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 29, 2016 |
| Grant date | Dec 24, 2019 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 29, 2036 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J2/0459
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
A drive circuit (100) for driving actuators of a printhead (97) from a common drive waveform has a switching circuit (32) for coupling the common drive waveform to an actuator (1,2), and a timing circuit (10) to control the switching circuit to form a drive pulse from the common drive waveform. The drive pulse is trimmed by controlling a duration (TTRIM) of a step at an intermediate level (VHOLD) in the drive pulse. This can improve the trade-off between available range of trimming and thermal efficiency because the voltage drop across the switching circuit can be reduced, compared to trimming only the height. Decoupling during a flat portion of the common drive waveform can enable the timing of the decoupling to be more relaxed compared to decoupling during a slope. Such relaxing can enable costs, complexity and thermal loading to be reduced.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.