User Manual

6. Keeping Thousands and Thousands of Nozzles Reliable and

Ready

Let’s talk for a moment about reliability. Periodic printhead maintenance is an essen-

tial part of reliable print quality. PrecisionCore printhead technology is being devel-

oped to take full advantage of the characteristics of the piezo at the core to keep

working reliably page after page, month after month, year after year. This technology

has the potential to be used in a wide variety of Epson printers.

Inkjet systems in general use a range of approaches to ensure the nozzles are able

to eject ink without problems. In Epson printers, when the printhead is not in use, it

is capped to prevent ink from drying and clogging the nozzles. Capping provides a

humid storage environment that keeps the inks liquid in the nozzles at a viscosity that

allows them to function immediately when needed. There are also systems to remove

the air that has found its way into the ink to prevent air bubbles from forming. And

now PrecisionCore introduces a new system that uses the power of the piezo crystal

itself to raise reliability, one that is only possible in a piezo printhead.

When voltage is applied to the piezo element, it exes, acting as an actuator (the

pump that ejects the ink). Conversely, when a piezo element is exed, it actually

generates a voltage. Because of this characteristic, the PrecisionCore piezo element

can be an extremely powerful ink pump one instant, and a highly-sensitive sensor the

next, as shown in the illustration. By using this sensor capability, the piezo element

can detect in milliseconds whether it is ring normally, if an air bubble has interrupted

ring, or if rising ink viscosity may cause issues, all without having to eject any ink. In

other words, it has the ability to self-diagnose its health almost instantly.

Armed with this information, the rest of the system in the future will be able to com

pensate on the y for nozzles requiring maintenance at the next

convenient stopping point. With PrecisionCore printhead technol

ogy, printers will only have to stop when absolutely necessary or

convenient.

Nozzle State Analysis

PrecisionCore white paper