Abstract: An inkjet printer in which an ink cartridge is allowed to communicate with a recording head through a hollow needle member when the ink cartridge is thrust and attached into a body casing. In a support member of the body casing which supports the ink cartridge, an ink outlet having a concave shape open at the top is provided in a position vertically under the needle member. An ink absorber is provided on at least the bottom surface of the ink outlet.

Abstract: An inkjet printer in which an ink cartridge is allowed to communicate with a recording head through a hollow needle member when the ink cartridge is thrust and attached into a body casing. In a support member of the body casing which supports the ink cartridge, an ink outlet having a concave shape open at the top is provided in a position vertically under the needle member. An ink absorber is provided on at least the bottom surface of the ink outlet.

Abstract: A facsimile machine includes a detachable ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon and having an EEPROM that stores the amount of the ink ribbon consumed. In the facsimile machine, printing is performed while the ink ribbon is taken up by a take-up motor and the memory contents in the EEPROM are renewed according to the progress of printing. The facsimile machine further includes a ribbon-empty detector that detects that the facsimile machine runs out of the ink ribbon, and a CPU that resets the memory contents in the EEPROM of the ribbon cassette.

Abstract: An inkjet printer in a multi-function device includes a scanner that reads an image of a document, a sheet transport path along which a recording sheet is transported, a print unit having a printhead that ejects ink onto the recording sheet, a discharge portion from which the recording sheet is discharged, and ink cartridges that store ink to be supplied to the printhead. The sheet transport path and the discharge portion are disposed under the scanner, and the ink cartridges are disposed under the discharge portion. Main components of the inkjet printer, such as the ink cartridges, a main board for controlling operation of the printer, and a waste ink absorber, are arranged so that they do not overlap one another in the plan view of the ink-jet printer. With this structure, the ink-jet printer as well as the multi-function device are made thin and compact.

Abstract: A facsimile machine includes a detachable ribbon cassette accommodating an ink ribbon and having an EEPROM that stores the amount of the ink ribbon consumed. In the facsimile machine, printing is performed while the ink ribbon is taken up by a take-up motor and the memory contents in the EEPROM are renewed according to the progress of printing. The facsimile machine further includes a ribbon-empty detector that detects that the facsimile machine runs out of the ink ribbon, and a CPU that resets the memory contents in the EEPROM of the ribbon cassette.

Abstract: The invention provides a lamination apparatus including using a sheet roll with an encoder plate secured to the end face of an adhesive sheet roll, and a slit pattern on the encoder plate being detected by a photointerruptor. In addition, a duty ratio is calculated on the basis of rectangular pulse signals output from the photointerruptor, thereby identifying the type of the adhesive sheet roll. Further, the period of the rectangular pulse signals output from the photointerruptor is compared with a predetermined value, such that the trailing edge of the adhesive sheet of the adhesive sheet roll is detected at the time point when the period is smaller than the predetermined value.

Abstract: An ink jet printer having an ink jet head, a cap covering the ink jet head, and a suction pump for recovering the ink jetting condition of the ink jet head by adding negative pressure to the cap and sucking the inferior ink from the ink jet head. A coil spring forces the cap to contact the ink jet head while rail members having a cam groove control the contact force between the cap and the ink jet head. The contact force is controlled in at least two continuous stages. In the first stage, a first suction operation is conducted while the cap and ink jet head are contacting each other under a contact force having a first strength where a space formed between the cap and ink jet head does not communicate with the atmosphere. The second suction operation is performed after the first suction operation while the cap and ink jet head are partially contacting each other under a contact force having a second strength different from the first strength where the space is partially communicating with the atmosphere.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes an ink jet head, a wiper blade for wiping a nozzle plane of the ink jet head and an ink absorbing member in coupled movement with the wiper blade for absorbing and removing the ink adhered to the wiper blade. The wiper blade wipes the ink jet head over a first overlap width. A second overlap width over which the wiper blade and the ink absorbing member contact is made larger than the first overlap width over which the wiper blade and the ink jet head contact. Therefore, the ink absorbing member comes into full contact with the wiper blade such that the ink is completely absorbed and removed by the ink absorbing member.

Abstract: A print head maintenance mechanism used for an inkjet printer including a print head having a nozzle plateformed with nozzles and a head transport mechanism capable oftransporting the print head along a transport pathway from aprint region to a non-print region, the print head ejecting ink contained in an ink cartridge from the nozzles onto a print sheet while in the print region, the print head maintenance mechanism including: a purge unit disposed in confrontation with the non-print region of the transport pathway and for sucking ink from the nozzles of the head when needed; and a wiper unit disposed in confrontation with the non-print region of the transport pathway and wiping the nozzle plate only after the purge unit has sucked ink from the nozzles.

Abstract: A printer is provided with a platen having a sloping plane platen surface, a medium guide path for smoothly guiding paper along the plane including the platen surface, a transparent open/close paper guide positioned above the medium guide path, and two pairs of drive rollers and driven rollers arranged along the platen, with one pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in an upstream direction and the other pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in a downstream direction with respect to the platen and the paper print movement. The printer is further provided with a ribbon cassette which makes it possible to position a linear portion of an ink ribbon in parallel to the platen surface, a mechanism for switching the linear portion of the ink ribbon between a printable position and a nonprintable position, and a mechanism for attaching a ribbon cassette to a carriage while moving it in a downwardly forward direction.

Abstract: A printer is provided with a platen having a sloping plane platen surface, a medium guide path for smoothly guiding paper along the plane including the platen surface, a transparent open/close paper guide positioned above the medium guide path, and two pairs of drive rollers and driven rollers arranged along the platen, with one pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in an upstream direction and the other pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in a downstream direction with respect to the platen and the paper print movement. The printer is further provided with a ribbon cassette which makes it possible to position a linear portion of an ink ribbon in parallel to the platen surface, a mechanism for switching the linear portion of the ink ribbon between a printable position and a nonprintable position, and a mechanism for attaching a ribbon cassette to a carriage while moving it in a downwardly forward direction.

Abstract: A printer is provided with a platen having a sloping plane platen surface, a medium guide path for smoothly guiding paper along the plane including the platen surface, a transparent open/close paper guide positioned above the medium guide path, and two pairs of drive rollers and driven rollers arranged along the platen, with one pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in an upstream direction and the other pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in a downstream direction with respect to the platen and the paper print movement. The printer is further provided with a ribbon cassette which makes it possible to position a linear portion of an ink ribbon in parallel to the platen surface, a mechanism for switching the linear portion of the ink ribbon between a printable position and a nonprintable position, and a mechanism for attaching a ribbon cassette to a carriage while moving it in a downwardly forward direction.

Abstract: A printer is provided with a platen having a sloping plane platen surface, a medium guide path for smoothly guiding paper along the plane including the platen surface, a transparent open/close paper guide positioned above the medium guide path, and two pairs of drive rollers and driven rollers arranged along the platen, with one pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in an upstream direction and the other pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in a downstream direction with respect to the platen and the paper print movement. The printer is further provided with a ribbon cassette which makes it possible to position a linear portion of an ink ribbon in parallel to the platen surface, a mechanism for switching the linear portion of the ink ribbon between a printable position and a nonprintable position, and a mechanism for attaching a ribbon cassette to a carriage while moving it in a downwardly forward direction.

Abstract: A printer is provided with a platen having a sloping plane platen surface, a medium guide path for smoothly guiding paper along the plane including the platen surface, a transparent open/close paper guide positioned above the medium guide path, and two pairs of drive rollers and driven rollers arranged along the platen, with one pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in an upstream direction and the other pair of drive roller and driven roller being disposed in a downstream direction with respect to the platen and the paper print movement. The printer is further provided with a ribbon cassette which makes it possible to position a linear portion of an ink ribbon in parallel to the platen surface, a mechanism for switching the linear portion of the ink ribbon between a printable position and a nonprintable position, and a mechanism for attaching a ribbon cassette to a carriage while moving it in a downwardly forward direction.

Abstract: A daisy-wheel type printer having a position shifting mechanism for selectively positioning a ribbon cassette and an erase ribbon at a given place in front of a platen, a print hammer driving mechanism, a print ribbon takeup mechanism and an erase ribbon takeup mechanism. These mechanisms are driven by a single drive motor through a plurality of cams mounted on a drive shaft of the drive motor. The drive motor is carried on a carriage body laterally movable along the platen. The carriage body also carries a holder member on which the ribbon cassette and the erase ribbon are mounted. The holder member is pivotally supported to a support shaft and has a printing pivot position and an erase pivot position. The plurality of cams includes a lifter cam, a print cam and a ribbon supply cam. The lifter cam includes a plurality of cam portions.

Abstract: In a printing device capable of executing printing operation in a bold face print mode, provided are means for controlling a carriage so as to be stopped in a predetermined period of time before the first printing operation is executed so that an inconvenient vibration of the carriage is attenuated, and means for executing a plurality of printing operations included in a bold-face print after the vibration is sufficiently attenuated.Thus, qualities of the printed characters in the bold-face print mode are extremely uniform with each other.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically loading a printer with a recording medium, having a medium feeding motor, a carriage with a print head, a medium guide pivotable between a first position for urging the medium against a medium support, and a second position away from the support, a release member actuated by the motor, for pivoting the guide to the second position, a clutch operable between an operated position for transmitting a motion of the motor to the release member, a non-operated position in which the motion is not transmitted to the release member, and an intermediate position, a switching device operable by a movement of the carriage to a loading standby position, for operating the clutch from the non-operated position to the intermediate position in which a movement of the carriage away from the loading standby position toward the printing area permits the clutch to return to the non-operated position unless the motor is activated, and a controller for controlling the medium loading operation, by movin