Printing apparatus, method, and computer-readable storage medium for maintaining consistent quality of liquid ejection from nozzles

A method implementable on a controller of a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus comprising a print head including a nozzle and an actuator, a multiplexing circuit, and a separation circuit including one or more switches, the method comprising:

• causing the one or more switches to separate a first drive waveform signal from a time division multiplex signal generated by the multiplexing circuit, and drive the actuator to cause the nozzle to eject liquid based on the first drive waveform signal;
• and
• causing the one or more switches to separate a second drive waveform signal from the time division multiplex signal, and drive the actuator without causing the nozzle to eject the liquid based on the second drive waveform signal, thereby increasing a temperature of the separation circuit,
• wherein the multiplexing circuit is configured to generate the time division multiplex signal based on first data and second data, the time division multiplex signal enabling the first data and the second data to be transmitted via a single signal line, the first data representing a first drive waveform, the first drive waveform having a first section and a second section, the second data representing a second drive waveform different from the first drive waveform, the second drive waveform having a third section and a fourth section, the time division multiplex signal being generated with the first to fourth sections arranged in such a manner that the third section is between the first section and the second section, and the second section is between the third section and the fourth section, and
• wherein the separation circuit is configured to receive the time division multiplex signal from the multiplexing circuit, the separation circuit including the one or more switches configured to separate the first drive waveform signal or the second drive waveform signal from the time division multiplex signal based on a synchronization signal, the first drive waveform signal indicating the first drive waveform, the second drive waveform signal indicating the second drive waveform.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer-readable instructions that are executable by a controller of a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus comprising a print head including a nozzle and an actuator, a multiplexing circuit, and a separation circuit including one or more switches, the instructions being configured to, when executed by the controller, cause the printing apparatus to:

• cause the one or more switches to separate a first drive waveform signal from a time division multiplex signal generated by the multiplexing circuit, and drive the actuator to cause the nozzle to eject liquid based on the first drive waveform signal;
• and
• cause the one or more switches to separate a second drive waveform signal from the time division multiplex signal, and drive the actuator without causing the nozzle to eject the liquid based on the second drive waveform signal, thereby increasing a temperature of the separation circuit,
• wherein the multiplexing circuit is configured to generate the time division multiplex signal based on first data and second data, the time division multiplex signal enabling the first data and the second data to be transmitted via a single signal line, the first data representing a first drive waveform, the first drive waveform having a first section and a second section, the second data representing a second drive waveform different from the first drive waveform, the second drive waveform having a third section and a fourth section, the time division multiplex signal being generated with the first to fourth sections arranged in such a manner that the third section is between the first section and the second section, and the second section is between the third section and the fourth section, and
• wherein the separation circuit is configured to receive the time division multiplex signal from the multiplexing circuit, the separation circuit including the one or more switches configured to separate the first drive waveform signal or the second drive waveform signal from the time division multiplex signal based on a synchronization signal, the first drive waveform signal indicating the first drive waveform, the second drive waveform signal indicating the second drive waveform.