Droplet ejection apparatus and a method of detecting and judging head failure in the same
US7387356B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 14, 2004 |
| Grant date | Jun 17, 2008 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 15, 2024 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J2002/14354
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
It is an object of the invention to provide a droplet ejection apparatus and a method of detecting and judging a head failure that can detect an ejection failure and carry out appropriate recovery processing according to a cause thereof. The droplet ejection apparatus of the invention includes a plurality of droplet ejection heads, each of the droplet ejection heads including a diaphragm and an actuator which displaces the diaphragm; a driving circuit which drives the actuator of each droplet ejection head; residual vibration detecting means 16 for detecting a residual vibration of the diaphragm displaced by the actuator after the actuator has been driven by the driving circuit; pulse generating means for generating reference pulses; computation means 17 for carrying out a computation for the number of reference pulses generated by the pulse generating means on the basis of the residual vibration of the diaphragm detected by the residual vibration detecting means; time measuring means for measuring a lapsed time since the actuator has been driven by the driving circuit; and head failure judging means 20 for judging a head failure in the droplet ejection heads on the basis of the co…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.