Droplet ejection apparatus and a method of detecting and judging head failure in the same
US7566109B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 30, 2007 |
| Grant date | Jul 28, 2009 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 16, 2028 |
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 detector 16 for detecting a residual vibration of the diaphragm displaced by the actuator after the actuator has been driven by the driving circuit; pulse generator for generating reference pulses; information processor 17 for carrying out a computation for the number of reference pulses generated by the pulse generator on the basis of the residual vibration of the diaphragm detected by the residual vibration detector; time measurer for measuring a lapsed time since the actuator has been driven by the driving circuit; and head failure judge 20 for judging a head failure in the droplet ejection heads on the basis of the computation result of the information pro…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.