Abstract: The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition for local administration in the form of an emulsion that contains active vitamin D3 and is suitable for application to areas with (the) hair, while also having satisfactory pharmacological activity, primary drug stability and physical stability. This lotion contains (a) a therapeutically effective amount of active vitamin D3, (b) an oil phase component containing a solid oil component comprising white Petrolatum and a higher alcohol and a liquid oil component comprising squalane, (c) an aqueous phase component containing ionic polysaccharide, and (d) nonionic surfactant; wherein, (1) the content of said ionic polysaccharide is 0.3-1.0 parts by weight of the entire preparation, (2) the content of said higher alcohol is 0.2-1.0 parts by weight of the entire preparation, and (3) the HLB of said nonionic surfactant is 10 or more.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes an ink consumption operating unit that adds a quantity of ink to be discharged by suction processing as a quantity of ink consumed before performing the suction processing. The ink jet recording apparatus includes also a suction control unit that performs the suction processing after such addition. A remaining ink level is calculated by estimating a quantity of ink to be used in a large volume for sucking as a quantity of ink consumed, and, even if a power supply switch is turned off before the sucking operation is terminated, the calculated remaining ink level as a quantity of ink consumed is added to a consumption storage unit 33. As a result, a possible erroneous overestimation of the remaining ink level in an ink cartridge can be avoided.

Abstract: A tube pump for an ink jet printer includes a driving wheel that is selectively driven in a forward or reverse direction in accordance with the rotation of a drive source. The driving wheel contains two slots that extend symmetrically and radially from the center of the driving wheel. The pump also includes two rollers that are coupled to the drive wheel via roller shafts respectively extending from a radial center of the rollers into the slots. A pressing piece is also provided that forces the shafts into the radially outermost end of the slots to press a tube of the tube pump when said drive wheel rotates in reverse and forces the shafts into the radially innermost end of the slots to not press the tube when said drive wheel rotates in the forward direction. In an alternative arrangement, the tube pump contains a pump chamber, and a tube having an .alpha.-like-shaped loop portion is inserted into and disposed along the inner wall of the pump chamber.

Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for an ink-jet type recording apparatus is provided. The ink tank cartridge comprises a plural number of first chambers and a plural number of second chambers adjacent to and associated with a first chamber, each pair of first and second chambers being formed as an integral unit. The ink tank cartridge also has a partition wall disposed in the cartridge which separates each second chamber from an associated first chamber, the two chambers communicating through a communicating hole positioned near the bottom of the partition wall disposed between the associated chambers. The communicating hole extends only a portion of the width that the partition wall. Finally, a plural number of ink supply ports, each extending through a wall of a respective one of the plural number of first chambers, supply ink to the exterior of the ink cartridge from each respective porous member of the plural number of porous members.

Abstract: First and second cap members seal nozzle openings of first and second ink jet recording heads and are disposed on a side of a slider facing the nozzle openings. The slider is rotatably supported at the center portion in the longitudinal direction by a supporting member which is rotatable about a rotation shaft elongated in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the carriage, and which is vertically movable in accordance with the movement of the carriage. When the carriage is moved, the slider swings about the shaft in a manner similar to a seesaw, whereby the two cap members are sequentially fitted into the recording heads.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink jet recording head having a discharging orifice, for discharging ink droplets through the discharging orifice; a carriage for moving the recording head to a recording section and a capping position; a capping member for sealingly capping the recording head; a suction pump for applying a negative pressure to the capping member; a power switch; power source control means for controlling the supply of electric power from a power source circuit in response to the power switch; power-off time detecting means for detecting a time elapsing after an instruction to stop the supply of electric power is issued by the power switch; and control means for operating such that the control means compares a power-off time with a first reference time, and if the power-off time is shorter than the first reference time, the control means performs a flushing operation, and if the power-off time is longer than the first reference time, the control means moves the recording head to a

Abstract: An ink container contains main tanks into which ink can be poured from the outside and the ink in the main tanks is supplied to recording heads via deaerators incorporating hollow fibers to which negative pressure is applied from the outside. The ink in the ink tanks is deaerated by the deaerators before an ink-end condition is brought on and then supplied to the recording heads.

Abstract: An ink tank cartridge is provided removably mountable onto an ink supply needle of the ink-jet type recording apparatus body. The cartridge has a housing provided with an ink supply port extending through and projecting from a wall of the housing and into the chamber of the housing. A porous member having ink impregnated thereon is positioned inside the chamber of the housing abutting against the ink supply port. A filter is mounted on the inner end opening of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge is further provided with a packing member for resiliently abutting against the outer periphery of the ink supply needle and is positioned adjacent one end of the ink supply port. The outer opening of the ink supply port is sealed with a sealing member through which the ink supply needle penetrates.

Abstract: Ink is sucked in a first amount from recording heads by applying negative pressure of suction pumps to the recording heads in a state in which communication between the recording heads and the atmosphere is cut off by sealing the recording heads by means of caps. The ink in the caps is then discharged by causing negative pressure of the suction pumps to act in a state in which the caps are made to communicate with the atmosphere, and then wiping is effected by a wiping blade.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus which includes a recording head communicated via an ink supply needle with an ink tank and including electrodes for detecting a remaining amount of ink and being responsive to a print signal for spouting ink drops to recording paper, a capping unit abutting against the front of said recording head for holding the nozzle openings in an airtight state, a suction pump for supplying negative pressure to the capping unit, a resistance value detection circuit for detecting electric resistance across the electrodes for detecting a remaining amount of ink, a reference value storage unit for storing a resistance value across the electrodes relative to the remaining amount of ink in the ink tank, a resistance value comparison unit for comparing the resistance across the electrodes with the reference value, and a pump control unit responsive to the resistance value comparison result for controlling a pulse motor driving the suction pump.

Abstract: A pump unit and corresponding method for applying negative pressure to a capping device to prevent clogging of a nozzle opening in an ink jet printer includes a frame having a supporting surface on which a pump tube is disposed. A plurality of gears which are driven by a motor of the ink jet printer are disposed in the frame. A plurality of pulleys are rotatably mounted to one of the gears for applying a pressure to the pump tube to thereby generate a negative pressure in the pump tube. The maximum contact region between the pulleys and the tube in the pump frame is selected to be smaller than 180.degree. to allow for the load applied to the tube by the pulleys to be essentially constant. Damper sheets are economically disposed in the frame to position the pulleys to contact the tube when the gear on which the pulleys is driven in a certain direction.

Abstract: An ink jet type recording apparatus in which two recording heads are mounted on one and the same carriage in such a manner that their spatial relationship is fixed, and the heads are positively sealed simultaneously by a capping means. A first cap member 13 adapted to seal the first recording head is provided near an end, proximate to the printing region, of a slider 20, which lifts a base stand according to the movement of a carriage. The first cap member has an air communication hole, and an ink suction hole therein. In addition, a second cap member 14 adapted to seal the second recording head is mounted through elastic members 74 and 75 on the slider 20. The second cap member 14 has an air communication hole, and an ink suction hole therein. The end of the slider 20, proximate to the non-printing region, is supported with an arm 30 which is elastically pressed vertically upwardly of the printing region. The two cap members are fixedly spaced from each other.

Abstract: An ink tank cartridge is provided removably mountable onto an ink supply needle of the ink-jet type recording apparatus body. The cartridge has a housing provided with an ink supply port extending through and projecting from a wall of the housing and into the chamber of the housing. A porous member having ink impregnated thereon is positioned inside the chamber of the housing abutting against the ink supply port. A filter is mounted on the inner end opening of the ink supply port. The ink tank cartridge is further provided with a packing member for resiliently abutting against the outer periphery of the ink supply needle and is positioned adjacent one end of the ink supply port. The outer opening of the ink supply port is sealed with a sealing member through which the ink supply needle penetrates.

Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus has a plurality of ink jet recording heads, a cartridge mounting mechanism having cartridge detectors 124 and 125 and levers for the insertion/removal of ink cartridges, cap members covering each recording head but disposed outside the printing area, and a pump effecting a negative pressure within the caps. An ink cartridge replacement status determiner 130 detects the mounting condition of ink cartridges according to a signal from ink cartridge detectors 124 and 125. A pump controller 135 controls the pump which supplies a negative pressure for a prescribed period to a cap member of a recording head which has had an ink cartridge replaced (in the case where the mounting of an ink cartridge is detected by determiner 130). Ink is supplied only to a recording head which has had a cartridge replaced.

Abstract: An ink jet print unit storing case having a case main body 30 with a cap 40 and a cover member 32 with a plate spring 46. The case main body 30 has the cap 40 at a position confronting a recording head 12 when a print unit 6 is accommodated in the case main body 30. The cap 40 not only is such that a peripheral edge thereof 40a comes in resilient contact with the recording head 12 so as to form a space with respect to the nozzle openings of the recording head, but also communicates with the atmosphere through a fluid resisting passage so as to prevent the evaporation of ink from the nozzle openings which maintains the meniscus of the recording head in a printing ready state, even in the presence of temperature and pressure fluctuations. The cover member 32 is arranged on the case main body 30 so as to be opened and closed, and has the plate spring 46 that resiliently urges the print unit 6 toward the cap 40.

Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus includes: an ink-jet recording head; a carriage on which the ink-jet recording head is mounted, the carriage being capable of traveling between a printing and a non-printing area, the carriage having an operating lever on non-printing area thereof; and a wiper for wiping the ink-jet recording head in the non-printing area, the wiper having a projected piece including two tilted sides, the tilted sides being projecting toward the passage in which the carriage moves when the wiper is set in position where the wiper is capable of wiping, wherein, while the carriage is moved in the directions of printing and non-printing area of the carriage, the operating lever comes in contact with the projected piece of the wiping lever so as to move the wiping means out of the traveling passage of the carriage.

Abstract: An ink tank cartridge for an ink-jet type recording apparatus being removably mounted onto an ink supply needle of a recording body is provided. The ink tank cartridge is provided with a first chamber for storing ink and a second chamber for storing a porous member having ink impregnated therein. The second chamber communicates with the first chamber through a passageway formed within the cartridge between the first and second chambers. An ink supply port extends through and projects from a wall of the second chamber. The ink supply port supplies inks to the ink-jet recording apparatus through said porous member. A funnel-shaped packing member is provided within the ink supply port. The packing member is formed with a hole therethrough having a wide end and a narrow end and is dimensioned to receive the ink supply needle and to resiliently abutt against an outer periphery of the ink supply needle.

Abstract: A recording head has a plurality of nozzle opening trains for respectively ejecting different inks having different drying indices, and corresponding cap members disposed outside a printing region. Clogging of ink is efficiently prevented by disposing the nozzle opening train having ink with a higher drying index closer to the cap members than the nozzle opening train with a lower drying index. Timers detect times for idle ejection. When only the nozzle opening train with the higher drying index must perform an idle ejection, a controller positions it opposite the cap member nearest the printing area; the other nozzle opening train is thus not, at that time, positioned opposite a cap member.