2.4 Ink System Management....................................................................................2-21
2.4.1 Ink System Operations.........................................................................................................2-21
2.4.2 Timers and Counters............................................................................................................2-22
2.4.3 Ink System Sequence...........................................................................................................2-23
Operating Principles
2.1 Overview
This chapter provides information on the printer mechanism, electrical circuit, and ink system. The
operating principles for each mechanism in the printer mechanism is described individually. The
description for the electrical circuit is divided into 2 parts; C202 PSB/PSE board and C202 MAIN board.
2.2 Printer Mechanism Operating Principles
2.2.1 General Description
This printer is m ainly composed of the printing m echanism , paper feed m echanism , car riage m echanism ,
pump mechanism, and ASF mechanism. There are 3 motors, carriage motor (CR motor), paper feed
motor, (PF motor) and pump motor. Table 2-1 shows each motor and corresponding units and assem blies
driven.
Table 2-1. Motor and Unit/Assembly Driven
MotorUnit/Assembly driven
PF motorPF roller assembly, CR lock lever
CR motorCR unit, Capping unit
Pump motorPump unit, Capping unit, Wiper, ASF unit
When the PF Motor rotates clockwise, the torque is us ed to drive PF Roller assembly and release CR
Lock Lever, while the torque is used to set the CR Lock Lever when the PF Motor rotates
counterclockwise.
The CR motor transmit the torque via Timing Belt to shift the CR unit in the both right and lef t direc tions in
parallel with the Platen. The torque from the Pump Motor, switched by the disengage mechanism, is
transmitted to the ASF and the Pump m otor. The figure below shows the structure bloc k of the printer
mechanism .
CR Motor
Pump Motor
PF Motor
Carriage Mechanism
Slider Mechanism
Disengage Mechanism
Figure 2-1. Printer Mechanism Block Diagram
Print Mechanism
Black
Pump Mechanism
ASF Mechanism
Paper Feed Mechanism
CR Lock Mechanism
Color
Rev. A
2-1
EPSON Stylus
2
&2/25
800
2.2.2 Printing Mechanism
The printing method used for this printer is O n-demand ink jet s ystem, same as for other EPSON ink jet
printers. This printer, however, uses newly designed MACH Head, which ensures a high level of printing
quality at a higher speed. This printer is equipped with separate printheads of the same type; one for black
and one for each of the three colors (magenta, cyan, and yellow). Quick penetration, the type of black and
color ink, is also im proved for this pr inter, which enables the users to have the printing im age in the high
quality on the normal paper.
Printhead
The black and color printheads for this printer use the newly designed MACH Head (E-CHIPS Head).
The structure of the printhead is the same as for previous CHIPS Head except for the nozzle
configuration. The Black Head for this printer has 128 nozzles (32 nozzles for each of 4 rows ) which
is as twice as many as previous EPSON ink jet printers , and the Color Head has 192 nozzles (32
nozzles for each of 6 rows) which is 3 times as many as previous EPSON ink jet printer s. Theref ore
printing quality as well as the speed for this printer is higher than ever. The nozzle structure for this
printhead is shown in the figure below.
Printhead Driver Board
Ink Cartridge Sensor Lever
Cartridge Needle
(Ink Cartridge)
PZT
Cavity
Nozzle Plate
Filter
Ink Tube
Figure 2-2. Printhead Structure
PZT
PZT is an abbreviation of the Piezo Electric Element. Print signal from C202 MAIN board is sent
through the driver board on the Printhead unit and to the PZT. Then, the PZT pushes the top cavity
which has ink stored, and makes the ink discharge from each nozzle located on the nozzle plate.
Cavity Set
Ink which is absorbed from ink cartridge goes through the filter and will be stored temporarily in
this tank, which is called “cavity” unit driven by PZT.
Nozzle Plate
The board with nozzle holes on the Printhead surface is called Nozzle Plate.
Filter
When the ink cartridge is installed, if any dirt or dust around the cartridge needles are absorbed
into the head inside, there is a great possibility of causing nozzle clog and disturbance of ink flow
and finally causing alignment failure and dot-missing. In order to prevent this, filter is set at
cartridge needle below and ink is once filtered here.
2-
Rev. A
Operating Principles
3
2.2.2.1 Printing Process
Steps bellow describes how the on-demand ink jet system ejects the ink from each nozzle in the
printhead.
<
Step 1>Normal state
When the print signal is not output, PZT also dose not move in the waiting state (normal state).
<
Step 2>Ejecting state
When the print signal is output from the C202 MAIN board, Nozzle selector IC mounted on the head driver
board latches the data once by 1-byte unit. Appropriate PZT latched by nozzle selector is pushed in to the
cavity by applying common voltage from the C202 MAIN board. By this operation, ink that is stored in the
cavity pops out from nozzles.
Nozzle
Normal State
Piezo
Cavity
Ejected ink
Ejecting State
Figure 2-3. Print Process
During the ink charging or cleaning operation, the ink left in the cavity is vacuumed out by the Pump
mechanism via Capping unit, then is ejected to the waste ink tank . The cavity is refilled with ink from the
Ink Cartridge during the printing or other operations. The viscosity of the ink tends to change according to
the temperatures around the heads, and the change in vis cosity results in the low printing quality. This is,
however, avoided by attaching the thermistor directly to the driver circuit board. It is used to determ ine the
proper drive pulse automatically according to the detected temperature.
2.2.2.2 Printing Methods
This printer has 3 kinds of diff erent dot to com pos e the print im age; Norm al dot, Double f iring Norm al dot,
and Micro dot. Each dot is selected to control printing depending on the conditions s uch as the paper type
and the print resolution set through the printer driver.
Normal dot / Double Firing Normal dot printing mode
Normal dot/Double firing Normal dot printing modes are available for the both black and color
printings. Normal dot printing mode is designed to form single dot with 2 head drive pulses. With this
mode, the dot diameter is expanded to solve the white banding problem which occurs during solid
printing at 360 dpi. This printer is, however, designed to use less ink than other printers do to perform
printing at 1440 dpi, the maximum solution on the horizontal line. Therefore the Double firing Normal
dot and Normal dot used for this printer is considered equivalent to the Normal dot mode and Micro
dot mode used for previous ink jet printers respectively. Double firing Normal dot mode is normally
selected for printing at 360 dpi, and the Normal dot mode is used for printing in 720 X 360 dpi or 720
dpi X 720 dpi, depending on the paper type.
EPSON Micro dot printing
Both black and color printings can be performed in the Micro dot printing mode. In the Normal dot
printing, one dot is formed with 2 pulses. On the other hand, EPSON micro dot printing mode forms
one dot with single pulse using less ink. As mentioned above, the Micro dot printing for this printer is
controlled to use less ink to create images at 1440 dpi, the maximum solution on the horizontal line.
This mode is used for printing at 720 dpi or 1440 dpi by controlling the firing duty of the ink.
Micro Weave Printing
This function is developed to enhance quality in graphic image by eliminating white banding which
occurs on each line. This printer is equipped with a new micro weave printing mode and is controlled
to form a horizontal line using 2 different types of nozzle. With this mode, the printer can prevents
color inks from mixing with each other before drying and can provide clearer colors in the output. The
Micro Weave printing can be selected through the printer driver.
Rev. A
2-
EPSON Stylus
4
&2/25
800
2.2.3 Carriage (CR) Mechanism
The CR mechanism is composed of the CR motor, Timing Belt, CR Guide Shaft, Top Frame, and Home
Position (HP) sensor. The torque from the CR motor is transmitted to the CR unit via the Timing Belt to
move the CR unit along the CR Guide Shaft both right and left, depending on the direction in which the CR
motor rotates. W hen the CR unit returns to the HP position, it is detected by the HP sensor mounted on
the right end of the Top Frame, and the information is fed back to the IC2 gate array (E05B33CB). Figure
2-4 illustrates the CR mechanism conception.
The CR motor, which drives the CR mechanism, is a 4-phases/200-pole/HB type stepping motor and is
CR Motor
HP Sensor
CR Unit
CR Motor Pinion Gear
Sub Pulley
Timing Belt
CR Guide Shaft
Figure 2-4. Carriage Mechanism
controlled by the constant current bipolar control system. The current control signal for eac h phase and
phase control signal output from the IC2 gate array E05B33CB are converted into the CR m otor control
signal by the IC13 bipolar driver UDN2917EB to control the CR motor. Refer to Table 2-2 and Table 2-3
which show the CR specification and the drive frequency.
Table 2-2. CR Motor Specification
ItemDescription
Motor type4-phases / 200-pole / HB type stepping motor
Drive voltage
Coil resistance
Inductance
This printer is equipped with the PF motor which is used to feed paper only to improve f eeding s peed. The
drive from the Pump motor is used to load paper at the ASF and the drive from the PF roller is
independently used to feed paper only. The paper f eed mec hanism is classif ied to 2 parts; the paper f eed
part having the PF roller for the main assembly, and the paper eject part having the Paper eject roller for
the main assembly. The PF roller is coated with the powdery material, which is used to improve the paper
feed accuracy. The PF motor located at the rear left part of the printer mechanism tr ansmits the torque via
the Combination gear (14, 31.5) and Gear (70) to the PF roller assembly to feed paper loaded.
The torque is then transm itted from the Gear (17) on the Paper feed roller assem bly to the Paper eject
roller via the Gear (19) to eject paper. The torque is transmitted in the following order:
This printer uses a 4-phases/96-pole/HB type pulse motor which is controlled by the bipolar constant
voltage system for the PF motor. The current control signal for each phase and phase control signal
output from the IC2 gate array E05B33CB are converted into the PF motor control signal by the IC16
bipolar driver UDN2917EB to control the PF motor. Since the power switch of this printer is wired to the
secondary circuitry, the voltage remains the constant level until the loaded paper is ejected after the printer
power is turned off. Table 2-4 and Table 2-5 show the PF motor specification and PF motor drive
frequency, respectively.
Table 2-4. PF Motor Specification
ItemDescription
Motor type4-phases / 96-pole / HB type pulse motor
Drive voltage
Coil resistance
Inductance
Note) Drive frequency and pulse interval are reduced to 2-2 phase.
Rev. A
2-
EPSON Stylus
6
&2/25
800
2.2.5 Platen Gap (PG) Adjust Mechanism
The PG adjust mec hanism, located at the lef t of the printer m echanism , consists of the PG lever, PF sub
lever, right/left parallelism adjust bushings, and CR guide shaft. PG adjust mechanism is equipped to keep
the proper platen gap according to the paper thickness to prevent ink from having friction. The PG lever
joins to the CR guide shaft which has an eccentr icity via PG sub lever, and switching the lever from “0” to
“+” rotates the CR shaft and the platen gap changes from narrow to wide. Figure 2-6 show the PG adjus t
mechanism .
PG Lever Position +
PG Lever Position 0
PG Lever
PG Sub Lever
CR Guide Shaft
Figure 2-6. PG Adjust Mechanism
2.2.6 CR Lock Mechanism
The CR lock lever, locate at the right side of the printer mechanis m, is composed of the PF motor, PF
roller assembly, Stopper lever (CR lock lever) and so on. When there is no paper loaded and no data
stored, CR lock m echanism fixes the CR unit to the c apping position. This operation is accom plished by
rotating the PF motor clock wise with the specified steps to set the stopper lever at the r ight end of the PF
roller to the left of the CR unit. The stopper lever is then r elease fr om the set position when the PF m otor
rotates counterclockwise with the specified steps. The drive from the PF motor is transmitted in the
following order;
ASF mechanism, which consists of the Pum p motor, slider mechanism , disengage mechanism , and ASF
unit, loads paper into the paper feed mechanism. When the CR unit returns to the home position, it
pushes the slider in the slider m echanism to the right and the Gear (16) in the slider m echanism then
comes to engage with the Change cam in the dis engage mechanism. W ith this m otion, the Pump m otor
rotates with the specified steps in the counter c lock wise, which switches the Change c am to the ASF unit
side, then the torque from the Pum p motor is transmitted to the ASF unit. The pr ocess in which the drive
from the pump unit is switched to the ASF unit side is described below. Figure 2-8 illustrates the process
for the switching operation.
Disengage mechanism switch process
1) CR shifts to the home position.
2) Slider shifts to the right end. (Slider mechanism)
3) The Gear (16) is engaged to the Change cam in the disengage mechanism. (Slider mechanism)
4) The Change Cam is switched to the ASF side. (Disengage mechanism)
5) The Combination Gear (14.4, 21.6) shifts to the left.
The figure below shows movement of above mentioned process 3) to 5).
Note) This order has no relevance to the order in the figure above.
The ASF home position is sensed by the detection wheel attached to the right end of the LD roller shaft
and ASF HP sensor, and the detected condition is fed back to the IC2 E05B33CB. The ASF motor is
controlled based on the home position which is detected by the ASF HP sensor. A 4-phase/48 -pole PM
type pulse motor is used for the pump motor which is controlled by the constant current bipolar drive. T he
current control signal for each phase and phase control signal output from the IC2 gate array E05B33CB
are converted into the pump motor control s ignal by the IC6 bipolar driver UDN2917EB to control the PF
motor. Table 2-6 and Table 2-7 show the pump motor specification and pump motor drive frequency,
respectively.
Table 2-6. Pump Motor Specification
ItemDescription
Motor type4-phases / 48-pole / PM type pulse motor
Drive voltage
Coil resistance
42 VDC ± 5% (The voltage applied to the driver)
9.3 Ω± 10% (at 25° C per 1 phase)
Drive frequency272 ~ 654 Hz
Excitation modeBipolar drive
Minimum step1/218 inch / pulse (2-2 phase drive)
Rev. A
2-
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