ノズルの健全状態を判断するための熱監視システム

Title:

ノズルの健全状態を判断するための熱監視システム

Document Type and Number:

Japanese Patent JP4093751

Kind Code:

B2

Abstract:

A thermal monitoring system (100) determines whether a fluid ejecting nozzle (90) is healthy and operating in a thermal fluid ejection system (20) to eject precise amounts of fluid (99) in response to a firing signal (110). If not, a nozzle recovery routine (136) is preformed to remove any nozzle blockages, with different routines (144, 150, 154) being preformed to address the type of blockage encountered. If recovery is not possible, or if the nozzle failure is detected "on-the-fly" during a normal fluid application routine, a substitute healthy nozzle is engaged (126, 132) without interrupting the job. Nozzle health is determined by monitoring the temperature change (115) of the nozzle following application of the firing signal (110). In one embodiment, an inkjet printing mechanism (20) uses a thermal inkjet printhead (70, 72, 74, 76) to eject an inkjet ink (99) as the fluid. A method (100) of monitoring the health of a fluid ejection nozzle (90) is also provided.

Inventors:

William S Osborne

Application Number:

JP2001363830A

Publication Date:

June 04, 2008

Filing Date:

November 29, 2001

Export Citation:

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