Abstract: A waste liquid collection unit is located over a print medium in a discharge direction of a liquid discharge head. The collection unit includes an absorber; a tray housing the absorber exposed to a nozzle surface of the head; and a pressing member to press the absorber toward a bottom surface of the tray. The pressing member includes a base material extending in an alignment direction of nozzles and end members connected to ends of the base material and displaceable to be biased to an inner wall surface of the tray in an axial direction when the pressing member is placed in the tray. The end members include a first fitting portion in a surface facing the inner wall surface. The tray includes a second fitting portion in the inner wall surface. The first and second fitting portions are fitted when the pressing member is placed in the tray.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes: a piston guided by a cylinder to reciprocate along a cylinder axis and forming a combustion chamber with a crown surface facing a cylinder head; and a fuel injection valve having an injection port facing the combustion chamber and injecting fuel to a forward tumble flow in the combustion chamber. A ridge formed on the crown surface rises toward a ceiling surface side relative to a reference plane, orthogonal to the cylinder axis and including an outer peripheral edge of the crown surface, and has a ridge line formed by a curved surface to surround a recessed part. The recessed part is recessed toward a center of the crown surface in a direction orthogonal to a virtual plane including the cylinder axis and parallel to a rotation axis of a crankshaft, and is recessed toward the center in an axial direction of the crankshaft.

Abstract: An internal combustion engine includes: a piston guided by a cylinder to reciprocate along a cylinder axis and forming a combustion chamber with a crown surface facing a cylinder head; and a fuel injection valve having an injection port facing the combustion chamber and injecting fuel to a forward tumble flow in the combustion chamber. A ridge formed on the crown surface rises toward a ceiling surface side relative to a reference plane, orthogonal to the cylinder axis and including an outer peripheral edge of the crown surface, and has a ridge line formed by a curved surface to surround a recessed part. The recessed part is recessed toward a center of the crown surface in a direction orthogonal to a virtual plane including the cylinder axis and parallel to a rotation axis of a crankshaft, and is recessed toward the center in an axial direction of the crankshaft.

Abstract: A liquid discharger includes a head including nozzles to discharge liquid from the nozzles, a detachable first container attached to the liquid discharger to accommodate the liquid, a second container connected to the head to accommodate the liquid to be supplied to the head, a supply channel to connect the first container and the second container, an irreversible pump connected to the second container, and a controller to control the irreversible pump to pressurize and decompress the second container to reciprocally move the liquid between the first detachable container and the second container via the supply channel.

Abstract: A liquid stirrer includes a removable first liquid container to contain a liquid; a second liquid container having a capacity less than that of the first liquid container; a fluid path between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; a reversible pump disposed on the fluid path; a sensor to detect an amount of the liquid inside the second liquid container, in which the liquid reciprocally moves between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; and a controller to control the reversible pump, based on readings from the sensor, such that a moving amount of the liquid does not exceed the capacity of the second liquid container and that the second container does not go empty.

Abstract: A liquid discharger includes a head to discharge liquid droplets, a cap to cover a nozzle face of the head; a cap mover to move the cap to a capping position at which the cap faces the nozzle face of the head or to move the cap to an evacuation position at which the cap does not face the nozzle face of the head. Further, there is a belt arranged to face and clean the cap at the evacuation position, the belt having a width and length enough to cover whole area of a rim of the cap; a conveyer to drive the belt, and a belt cleaner which faces the belt to clean the belt.

Abstract: A liquid discharger includes a head including nozzles to discharge liquid from the nozzles, a detachable first container attached to the liquid discharger to accommodate the liquid, a second container connected to the head to accommodate the liquid to be supplied to the head, a supply channel to connect the first container and the second container, an irreversible pump connected to the second container, and a controller to control the irreversible pump to pressurize and decompress the second container to reciprocally move the liquid between the first detachable container and the second container via the supply channel.

Abstract: A liquid discharger includes a head to discharge liquid droplets, a cap to cover a nozzle face of the head; a cap mover to move the cap to a capping position at which the cap faces the nozzle face of the head or to move the cap to an evacuation position at which the cap does not face the nozzle face of the head. Further, there is a belt arranged to face and clean the cap at the evacuation position, the belt having a width and length enough to cover whole area of a rim of the cap; a conveyer to drive the belt, and a belt cleaner which faces the belt to clean the belt.

Abstract: A liquid stirrer includes a removable first liquid container to contain a liquid; a second liquid container having a capacity less than that of the first liquid container; a fluid path between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; a reversible pump disposed on the fluid path; a sensor to detect an amount of the liquid inside the second liquid container, in which the liquid reciprocally moves between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; and a controller to control the reversible pump, based on readings from the sensor, such that a moving amount of the liquid does not exceed the capacity of the second liquid container and that the second container does not go empty.

Abstract: A machined shape of a bore is based on the deformation amount of a data-acquisition bore after fastening of cylinder head. A cross section of an approximate shape is set to be an approximately-true circle shape, and a diameter of the approximately-true circle shape is changed along a central axial direction in accordance with the deformation amount of the data-acquisition bore, to determine the approximate shape. The approximate shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis. Since the machined shape of the bore is the shape obtained by reversing a phase of a recess and a projection of the approximate shape about a predetermined cylindrical shape, the machined shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis.

Abstract: In a balancer device (10) including a pair of balancer shafts (11, 21), the radial bearings (41-44) for the balancer shafts are formed solely in the balancer housing (30) and/or an integral extension (52) thereof. Because a pump cover (56) provided separately from the balancer housing does not include a radial bearing for either balancer shaft, the pump cover is not required to be attached to the balancer housing when machining the radial bearing bores in the balancer housing so that the manufacturing process is simplified, and the coaxiality of the bearing halves for each balancer shaft can be ensured without difficulty as opposed to the case where the pump cover is provided with a bearing bore which is required to be aligned with the corresponding bearing bore of the balancer housing.

Abstract: A relief device includes a relief housing constituted by a relief inflow portion, a valve passage portion, a recess, and an oil discharge portion having a relief hole; a relief valve having a small-diameter portion between a first large-diameter portion and a second large-diameter portion; and a spring elastically biasing the relief valve toward the relief inflow portion. The recess is formed at a position that is closer to the relief inflow portion side than to the oil discharge portion, the axial length of the recess is larger than the axial length of the first large-diameter portion of the relief valve, and the shortest axial distance between the recess and the relief hole is less than the axial length of the small-diameter portion.

Abstract: A balancer housing (30) consists of an upper housing (32) and a lower housing (31), and receives a pair of rotatably supported balancer shafts (11, 21) therein. An oil strainer mounting portion (37) is formed as a cylindrical wall extending downward from a bottom wall of the lower housing, and an inlet passage (67) leading to an inlet end of an oil pump (60) extends along a length of the balancer shafts adjacent to the oil strainer mounting portion. A communication passage consisting of a pair of circular holes (66) arranged along an axial line of the inlet passage is passed through a wall separating an interior of the oil strainer mounting portion with the inlet passage. The two holes provides an adequate cross sectional area without increasing the height of the balancer housing.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes the pressure adjusting valve including a movable member movably disposed in the pressure adjusting valve, a first throttling part; and a second throttling part, wherein the second throttling part is formed as a gap between an internal wall of the frame of the pressure adjusting valve and the movable member, an internal fluid resistance of the pressure adjusting valve varies in response to the flow rate of the liquid, and when the liquid is discharged from the nozzle, the liquid is fed from the liquid tank to the recording head by the liquid feeding unit in a state where the recording head is in fluid communication with the liquid tank via the pressure adjusting valve.

Abstract: A machined shape of a bore is based on the deformation amount of a data-acquisition bore after fastening of cylinder head. A cross section of an approximate shape is set to be an approximately-true circle shape, and a diameter of the approximately-true circle shape is changed along a central axial direction in accordance with the deformation amount of the data-acquisition bore, to determine the approximate shape. The approximate shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis. Since the machined shape of the bore is the shape obtained by reversing a phase of a recess and a projection of the approximate shape about a predetermined cylindrical shape, the machined shape has a cross section having the approximately-true circle shape and has a simple shape which is symmetrical about the central axis.

Abstract: A relief device includes a relief housing constituted by a relief inflow portion, a valve passage portion, a recess, and an oil discharge portion having a relief hole; a relief valve having a small-diameter portion between a first large-diameter portion and a second large-diameter portion; and a spring elastically biasing the relief valve toward the relief inflow portion. The recess is formed at a position that is closer to the relief inflow portion side than to the oil discharge portion, the axial length of the recess is larger than the axial length of the first large-diameter portion of the relief valve, and the shortest axial distance between the recess and the relief hole is less than the axial length of the small-diameter portion.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes the pressure adjusting valve including a movable member movably disposed in the pressure adjusting valve, a first throttling part; and a second throttling part, wherein the second throttling part is formed as a gap between an internal wall of the frame of the pressure adjusting valve and the movable member, an internal fluid resistance of the pressure adjusting valve varies in response to the flow rate of the liquid, and when the liquid is discharged from the nozzle, the liquid is fed from the liquid tank to the recording head by the liquid feeding unit in a state where the recording head is in fluid communication with the liquid tank via the pressure adjusting valve.

Abstract: A head capping member for capping an ejection face of a liquid ejecting head which face is provided with a nozzle for ejecting a liquid drop is provided, which includes a contact part which contacts the ejection face of the head and is made of an elastic member and a recess which forms a closed space together with the ejection head when the contact part contacts the ejection head, wherein a flat part is formed around the recess and an absorbing member is provided on the flat part so as to cover the recess.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus is disclosed. The image forming apparatus executes operations of idle ink ejection in which ink droplets not contributing to forming an image on a recording medium are ejected. When the operations of the idle ink ejection are executed before staring to print an image on a recording medium, the ink droplets are ejected into a cap member; in a case where the operations of the idle ink ejection are executed when a first predetermined period has passed after the last ejection of the ink droplets from the recording head, the ink droplets are ejected into an idle ink droplet receiving section; and in a case where the operations of the idle ink ejection are executed when a second predetermined period longer than the first predetermined period has passed as one of cleaning operations of the recording head, the ink droplets are ejected into the cap member.

Abstract: A head capping member for capping an ejection face of a liquid ejecting head which face is provided with a nozzle for ejecting a liquid drop is provided, which includes a contact part which contacts the ejection face of the head and is made of an elastic member and a recess which forms a closed space together with the ejection head when the contact part contacts the ejection head, wherein a flat part is formed around the recess and an absorbing member is provided on the flat part so as to cover the recess.