Method of detecting drops

摘要

A liquid dispensing device (10), including a drop ejection device (12) including an orifice (18) adapted for ejecting drops therefrom, a single detection device (28) positioned to receive drop information from the ejected drops of the drop ejection device, and a controller (40) that receives the drop information and uses the drop information to determine a number of drops ejected from the drop ejection device.

主权项

1. A method of dispensing liquid, comprising:
attempting to eject drops from multiple orifices; counting a number of said drops using a single detection device by:
illuminating said drops with a light source from a first direction;detecting light refracted by said drops with a single detector placed at an angle with respect to said first direction; calculating a dispensed volume of said drops from said counted number of drops; determining that a first orifice which should have ejected one of said drops did not, wherein said first orifice is consequently designated as occluded; and compensating for occlusion of said first orifice by ejecting more drops from a second orifice.