Introducing material into a printhead enclosure
View Patent ↗A printing apparatus comprises a jetting assembly including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting droplets on a substrate; an enclosure defining a print zone within which the jetting assembly prints on the substrate, the enclosure including an inlet for introducing a material associated with controlling an environment of the enclosure.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a jetting assembly including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting droplets of a droplet material on a substrate;
a print zone including a space between the plurality of nozzles and the substrate;
an inlet adjacent to the print zone, different from the plurality of nozzles, and configured to supply a vaporized material to the print zone while the jetting assembly is printing on the substrate; and
a sensor placed to sense a level of the vaporized material within the print zone and configured to provide a signal that is used to increase the vaporized material in the print zone to a level that prevents the droplet material from drying in the nozzles.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material comprises water.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material comprises alcohol.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material comprises MEK.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material comprises a sanitizing agent.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material is adapted to suppress bacterial growth.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the vaporized material is soluble in the droplet material.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a mechanism for removing the vaporized material from the print zone.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising an enclosure positioned in the print zone.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the inlet is formed in a wall of the enclosure.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the sensor is configured to provide a signal that is used to increase the vaporized material to a level that extends a time for the droplet material to dry on the substrate.
12. A method of printing comprising:
introducing a vaporized material to a print zone through an inlet,
printing a droplet material on a substrate from a nozzle within the print zone while the vaporized material is being introduced to the print zone,
sensing a level of the vaporized material in the print zone, and
increasing the level of vaporized material in the print zone to a level that prevents the droplet material from drying in the nozzles.
13. The method of claim 12 ,wherein the vaporized material is selected from the group consisting of water, alcohol, MEK, and sanitizing agents.
14. The method of claim 12 ,wherein the vaporized material is adapted to suppress bacterial growth.
15. The method of claim 12 ,further comprising selecting the vaporized material to be soluble in the droplet material.
16. The method of claim 12 ,further comprising enclosing the print zone.
17. The method of claim 12 ,further comprising removing the vaporized material from the print zone.
18. The method of claim 12 ,wherein increasing the level of vaporized material comprises increasing the level such that the vaporized material extends a time for the droplet material to dry on the substrate.