Inkdrop-volume test using heat-flow effects, for thermal-inkjet printers.

摘要

The invention provides methods of determining ink volume ejected from a printhead, controlling ejected volume, and warning of low ink supply. A printhead is fired to eject ink: this operating step includes heating the ink and head; carrying away heat, in the ejected volume, from the head; and conveying a volume of cooler ink to the head, from a supply, to replace the ejected ink. The method finds the head cooling caused by the carrying-away and conveying; and to this applies a known calibration to find the volume ejected. The heating is roughly equal to that which occurs in printing. Besides the operating step, the method preferably includes finding (a) printhead cooling due to static mechanical thermal drain alone, and (b) printhead thermal response to warming by the same amount of heat as used to fire the pen in the operating step -- but without ink ejection. These baseline values are used with the cooling observed in the operating step to isolate the effect of ink ejection and so find the cooling more accurately. The warming can be done by applying electrical energy to printhead-firing resistors, at pulse widths narrower than used for firing -- but greater frequency -- to inject power equal to that in normal operation. The temperature measurements are made by monitoring a conventional sensing resistor in the pen, and can include fitting a linear slope to the observed temperature-vs.-time relation. (All these same steps are also done in advance, for calibration, before the machine manufacture is completed -- with concurrent, in situ measurement, as by before-and-after pen weighings, of actual ink weight ejected.) Ascertained volume can be applied to control the printer -- particularly ejected ink volume -- and to warn that the ink supply needs replenishment.