Wiping Patents (Class 347/33)
  • Patent number: 10889119
    Abstract: A wiping device includes a wiping member configured to wipe a nozzle forming surface of a liquid discharging head that discharges a liquid from a nozzle, the wiping member containing fabric; and a pressing member configured to press the wiping member to the liquid discharging head, wherein the wiping member satisfies the following relationship 1: 0.8<(Sb/Ss)<1.2, relationship 1, where, at 60 seconds after a coloring liquid containing a coloring material and distilled water is dripped onto a surface of the wiping member in contact with the nozzle forming surface and Ss represents a spreading area of the coloring material on the surface of the wiping member in contact with the nozzle forming surface and Sb represents a spreading area of the coloring material on a surface of the wiping member not in contact with the nozzle forming surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yohta Sakon, Hiroko Ohkura, Takumi Atake, Akira Izutani
  • Patent number: 10875308
    Abstract: A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus includes a liquid droplet ejecting portion that includes a plurality of nozzles ejecting liquids as liquid droplets, a cap configured to be in a capping state in which a space in which the plurality of nozzles are open is formed, a detection portion configured to detect an abnormality of an ejecting state of the liquid droplets from the nozzles, and a control portion that estimates that a malfunction of the cap causes the abnormality of the ejecting state when the abnormality of the ejecting state occurs in the capping state, in which the control portion causes a notification portion to perform a display corresponding to the malfunction of the cap when the control portion estimates that the malfunction of the cap causes the abnormality of the ejecting state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Kazunaga Suzuki, Tsuyoshi Hayashi
  • Patent number: 10875311
    Abstract: An ink-jet printer includes; an ink-jet head having a nozzle surface in which a plurality of nozzles for discharging ink; and a wiping device, having a blade for wiping the nozzle surface, which wipes the nozzle surface by use of the blade, by moving the blade in relation to the nozzle surface; wherein, the ink-jet head includes a convex wall part that surrounds the nozzle surface in a state of protruding in a direction in which the ink is discharged by the nozzles; and a direction of wiping by the wiping device is almost the same as a stretching direction of a line connecting the nozzles being closest to the convex wall part, among the plurality of nozzles formed in the nozzle surface, and a part of the convex wall part being closest to the nozzles. Hence, reducing an incidence of defective discharging of ink by the ink-jet head.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 29, 2020
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Shoko Maeno
  • Patent number: 10870280
    Abstract: A supporting section is disposed to confront an ejection surface and supports a recording medium. A first tank is mounted on a first-tank mount section. A liquid conveying section conveys liquid to a liquid ejecting head. A receiving section receives liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting head. A waste-liquid conveying section conveys liquid to the waste-liquid tank. A first casing holds the liquid ejecting head, the first-tank mount section, and the liquid conveying section. A second casing holds the supporting section, the receiving section, the waste-liquid tank, and the waste-liquid conveying section. The first casing is connected with the second casing such that the first casing is movable relative to the second casing. The first casing takes a first position at which the ejection surface confronts the supporting section and a second position at which the ejection surface is farther away from the supporting section than at the first position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 16, 2019
    Date of Patent: December 22, 2020
    Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Shinya Yamamoto
  • Patent number: 10857800
    Abstract: In an example, a wiper system includes a first wiper blade, a second wiper blade, and a liquid dispenser. In that example, the liquid dispenser is oriented to eject liquid towards a cloth area across from the first wiper blade when the first wiper blade is in a rest position and the second wiper blade is in a service position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 13, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 8, 2020
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Francesc Tarrida Tirado, Sara Molins Cabani, Xavier Gasso Puchal
  • Patent number: 10828912
    Abstract: A wider variety of printing is performed more appropriately using ink that generates heat by energy radiation. A printing method of performing a printing on a medium using a color ink includes a water-soluble ink layer forming step of forming a water-soluble ink layer that is a layer of ink that becomes water-soluble after fixing, a color ink layer forming step of ejecting the color ink to the medium to form a color ink layer that is a layer of the color ink, and a water-soluble ink layer removing step of removing the water-soluble ink layer. The color ink includes a colorant and a solvent and generates heat by radiation of an energy ray. In the color ink layer forming step, the energy ray is emitted to the color ink after ink droplets landing to remove by evaporation at least a part of the solvent included in the color ink.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 10, 2020
    Assignee: MIMAKI ENGINEERING CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Masaru Ohnishi
  • Patent number: 10813431
    Abstract: A drawing device, including: a drawing head which performs drawing on a drawing target; a head mover which moves the drawing head in a first direction and in a second direction which intersects with the first direction; a cap which protects the drawing head; and a processor which controls the drawing head and the head mover. Within a range where the drawing head is moved by the head mover, a drawing area where the drawing target is placed and the drawing by the drawing head is performed and a stand-by area where the cap is disposed are provided. The drawing head performs the drawing on the drawing target while the processor controls the head mover to move the drawing head in the first direction. The drawing head is protected with the cap by the processor controlling the head mover to move the drawing head to the stand-by area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2019
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2020
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10766261
    Abstract: A head cleaning device includes a first wiping member, a first drive mechanism, a second wiping member, a second drive mechanism, a common drive source, and control circuitry. The first wiping member wipes a nozzle face of each of a plurality of liquid discharge heads. The first drive mechanism moves the first wiping member to a first wiping position at which the first wiping member wipes the nozzle face and a first retraction position spaced apart from the nozzle face. The second wiping member wipes the nozzle face. The second drive mechanism moves the second wiping member to a second wiping position at which the second wiping member wipes the nozzle face and a second retraction position spaced apart from the nozzle face. The common drive source drives the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism. The control circuitry controls the common drive source.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 18, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Atsushi Kikuchi
  • Patent number: 10759173
    Abstract: A wiping member that wipes a nozzle surface of a liquid discharging head, includes a first region having an average porosity P1, a second region disposed on the first region, having an average porosity P2 greater than P1, and a third region disposed on the second region having an average porosity P3 greater than P2, wherein the wiping member has a thickness t in the direction perpendicular to the surface that contacts the nozzle surface and each of the first region, the second region, and the third region has a thickness of t/3 in the direction, wherein P2/P1 is from 1.1 to 1.4.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 28, 2019
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Hiroko Ohkura, Yohta Sakon, Akira Izutani, Takumi Atake
  • Patent number: 10730304
    Abstract: A method of inhibiting evaporation of water from inkjet nozzles of a printhead. The method includes the steps of: providing a wiping material infused with a liquid composition comprising an evaporation inhibitor; and wiping the wiping material over a nozzle plate of the printhead. The evaporation inhibitor is transferred to the nozzle plate during wiping and thereby inhibits evaporation of water from the inkjet nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2018
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2020
    Assignee: Memjet Technology Limited
    Inventors: Simon Fielder, David Tyvoll, Jingyi Zhou
  • Patent number: 10723131
    Abstract: A liquid discharging device includes a liquid discharging head including a nozzle surface and multiple nozzles, the liquid discharging head to discharge liquid through the nozzles, a wiping member to wipe the nozzle surface of the liquid discharging head, and a pressing member to press the wiping member against the nozzle surface when the wiping member wipes the nozzle surface, wherein the wiping member satisfies the following conditions 1 and 2 when the wiping member is pressed against the nozzle surface by the pressing member during wiping: the contact ratio of the wiping member with the nozzle surface is from 60 to 95 percent Condition 1, the porous volume per unit area represented by V×T/100 is from 0.1 to 0.7 (mm3/mm2), where V (percent) represents a porosity and T (mm) represents a thickness of the wiping member Condition 2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Takumi Atake
  • Patent number: 10702039
    Abstract: A drawing device, including: a drawing head which performs drawing on a drawing target; a head moving unit which moves the drawing head in a first direction and in a second direction which intersects with the first direction; a processor which controls the drawing head and the head moving unit; and a plurality of maintenance units in which the drawing head performs maintenance with contents different from each other, wherein within a range where the drawing head is moved by the head moving unit, a drawing area, a stand-by area and the plurality of maintenance units are provided at positions different from each other, and the processor controls the head moving unit to control whether the maintenance is performed or not in at least one of the plurality of maintenance units when the drawing head moves between the stand-by area and the drawing area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 7, 2020
    Assignee: CASIO COMPUTER CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Daisuke Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10688791
    Abstract: A printer clean system includes a base, an ink stack assembly, a scraper assembly, a power transmission device and a driving device. The ink stack assembly is disposed on a first accommodation groove. The scraper assembly is disposed on a second accommodation groove. The power transmission device is connected with the driving device, the ink stack assembly, and the scraper assembly. When the power transmission device is rotated to a first angle, the ink stack assembly is brought to an ink stack clean position. When the power transmission device is rotated to a second angle, the scraper assembly is brought to a scraper clean position. When the power transmission device is rotated to a third angle, the ink stack assembly is located at an ink stack return position, and the scraper assembly is located at a scraper return position. Therefore, the pollution can be avoided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2020
    Assignee: TECO IMAGE SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Teng-Yuan Ou, Yu-Jen Chang
  • Patent number: 10682858
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head which ejects a liquid from a plurality of nozzles disposed on a nozzle surface; an absorbing member which makes contact with the nozzle surface and can absorb a liquid which is adhered to the nozzle surface; and a pressing member which causes the ink absorbing member to contact the nozzle surface by pressing the absorbing member from a side which opposes a side which contacts the nozzle surface. In the liquid ejecting apparatus, a pressure applied to a nozzle peripheral region within the nozzle surface due to the absorbing member which is pressed by the pressing member making contact with the nozzle surface is smaller than a pressure applied to a region other than the nozzle peripheral region within the nozzle surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 21, 2013
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Keiichiro Yoshino, Akira Shinoto
  • Patent number: 10675873
    Abstract: A head cleaning device includes: a porous cleaning roller that rotates around a cylindrical axis while a cylindrical side circumferential surface is in pressure contact with a nozzle surface of an ink head to clean the nozzle surface; a storage tank that immerses a lower part of the cleaning roller in a cleaning liquid stored therein; a unit moving mechanism that moves a cleaning unit including the storage tank and the cleaning roller in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cleaning roller; a hardware processor that controls a rotation speed [vr] of the cleaning roller and a moving speed [vx] of the storage tank and the cleaning unit; and a composition acquisition part that acquires a change in composition of the cleaning liquid in the storage tank due to mixing of ink supplied from the nozzle surface through the cleaning roller.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 30, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: KONICA MINOLTA, INC.
    Inventors: Hiroshi Akita, Taku Mitsuhashi
  • Patent number: 10638905
    Abstract: A cleaner includes a cleaner body, a handle, an input unit located at the handle, one or more wheels configured to drive the cleaner body, a motor configured to provide force to the one or more wheels, and a control unit configured to control rotation of the motor based on an input to the input unit. The input unit is positioned at a portion of the handle configured to be held by a user's hand, and includes a lever connected to the cleaner body and configured to rotate about a horizontal axis and a vertical axis with respect to the cleaner body, and a sensor located at the lever and configured to detect a vertical rotation of the lever about the horizontal axis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 5, 2016
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Donghoon Kwak
  • Patent number: 10639899
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a medium support portion that has a medium support surface for supporting a medium, a liquid ejecting unit that ejects liquid onto the medium supported on the medium support surface through a plurality of nozzles arranged in a nozzle surface, a first cleaning member that wipes the nozzle surface by moving relative to the liquid ejecting unit in a direction along the nozzle surface in a first maintenance operation of discharging the liquid through the nozzles for maintenance of the liquid ejecting unit, and a second cleaning member that removes foreign matters which have adhered to the nozzle surface by moving relative to the liquid ejecting unit in the direction along the nozzle surface in a second maintenance operation of removing the foreign matters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: May 5, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Jun Shimazaki, Shigenori Nakagawa, Yoichi Kurogochi, Hitotoshi Kimura
  • Patent number: 10618283
    Abstract: A piezoelectric device includes a pressure chamber forming substrate in which a pressure chamber empty portion is formed, a vibrating plate that is formed on the pressure chamber forming substrate, corresponding to the pressure chamber empty portion, and a piezoelectric element that is formed on the vibrating plate, corresponding to the pressure chamber empty portion, in which the vibrating plate is provided with a concave portion having a bottom portion which is overlapped with the pressure chamber empty portion, and is larger than the pressure chamber empty portion in a planar view, and a wall portion which surrounds the bottom portion, on the pressure chamber empty portion side, the wall portion has a curved surface that is inclined to widen in a direction toward the pressure chamber empty portion from the bottom portion, and a curvature radius of the curved surface is 60 nm to 1000 nm.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 14, 2020
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takashi Kasahara, Masao Nakayama, Takeshi Saito, Yoshihiro Hokari, Toshihiro Shimizu, Naoto Yokoyama
  • Patent number: 10611157
    Abstract: A wiping device includes a wiping member including a web to wipe an object to be wiped, and circuitry to cause the wiping member to perform a wiping operation to wipe the object to be wiped. The circuitry causes the wiping member to perform a first wiping operation to move the wiping member relative to the object to be wiped in a first direction to wipe the object to be wiped from a wiping start side of the first wiping operation, and perform a second wiping operation to relatively move the wiping member relative to the object to be wiped in a second direction different from the first direction, to wipe the object to be wiped from a wiping finish side different from the wiping start side of the first wiping operation with the wiping member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2019
    Date of Patent: April 7, 2020
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yukihiro Asano, Tatsuroh Watanabe, Daisuke Hasebe, Kenta Takahashi
  • Patent number: 10583658
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus, including a recording head with a nozzle, a cap, a moving mechanism to move at least one of the recording head and the cap, a communication interface, and a controller, is provided. In response to receipt of a preceding command from an information processing terminal through the communication interface, the controller determines a standby period based on a parameter being in correlation with a receiving interval between a preceding command and a record command. In response to elapse of the determined standby period, the controller controls the moving mechanism to uncap the recording head. In response to receipt of the record command from the information processing terminal, and in response to completion of the uncapping, the controller controls the recording head in accordance with the record command to discharge the ink from the nozzle to record the image on a medium.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Satoru Arakane
  • Patent number: 10556433
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head including a discharge port configured to discharge liquid and a discharge port surface provided with the discharge port. A head cleaning member including a contact portion contacts the discharge port surface, and is configured to cause the contact portion to contact the discharge port surface and to move relative to the discharge port surface in order to clean adherents attached to the discharge port surface. The discharge port includes a plurality of protrusion portions extending toward a discharge port inner side. The contact portion includes a fiber, and the fiber in the contact portion includes a portion having a size greater than a minimum protrusion distance among protrusion distances between the protrusion portions.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2019
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tomoki Ishiwata, Takatsugu Moriya, Shinya Asano, Kanto Kurasawa, Ryosuke Araki
  • Patent number: 10556434
    Abstract: An inkjet recording apparatus includes an ink ejection surface, a washing liquid storage portion, a washing liquid nozzle, a mesh sheet, and a sponge member. The washing liquid storage portion includes a supply surface adjacent to the ink ejection surface. The washing liquid nozzle includes a communicating hole that is communicated from a supply port formed in the supply surface to an inside of the washing liquid storage portion, and forms a concave meniscus by a surface of the washing liquid in the communicating hole. The mesh sheet is provided in close contact with an opposite rear surface of the supply surface, and has an opening that is smaller in size than an inner diameter of the communicating hole. The sponge member is provided in a compressed state in the inside of the washing liquid storage portion, presses the mesh sheet toward the opposite rear surface of the supply surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2018
    Date of Patent: February 11, 2020
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Masanobu Maeshima, Noriaki Furukawa, Takashi Somete
  • Patent number: 10518540
    Abstract: A rotary wiper assembly for a fluid-ejection printhead that has fluid-ejection nozzles includes one or more wipers and a rotatable shaft to which the wipers are at least indirectly attached. The rotatable shaft is to rotate the wipers to a static wiping position. While the wipers are stationary in the static wiping position, the fluid-ejection printhead is to move back and forth in relation to the wipers while the wipers are not to move, to cause the wipers to come into contact with the fluid-ejection nozzles to wipe material from the fluid-ejection nozzles.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Jacinto Berrios, Michael W. Munro, Matias Negatu, Rafael Ulacia
  • Patent number: 10513120
    Abstract: An ink cartridge clean device including a housing, a work platform, at least one ink stack and at least one ink absorption pad clean element. The housing has a first sidewall and a second sidewall opposite to each other, and an accommodation groove is defined by the housing. The work platform is disposed in the accommodation groove and has two lateral surfaces opposite to each other, and each lateral surface has at least one stopper. The ink stack is disposed on the work platform, and has an ink absorption pad. The ink absorption pad clean element is rotatably connected with the first sidewall and the second sidewall. When the work platform is adjusted from a first position to a second position, the ink absorption pad clean element is rotated, so that the corresponding ink absorption pad is cleaned, thereby preventing the residual ink from contaminating or blocking the ink cartridge.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 24, 2019
    Assignee: TECO IMAGE SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
    Inventor: Teng-Yuan Ou
  • Patent number: 10500862
    Abstract: There is provided a liquid ejecting apparatus including: a liquid ejecting head that has a nozzle-formed surface; guide shafts that guide the liquid ejecting head in a direction in which the liquid ejecting head is lifted and lowered; a cap that is lifted and lowered in the direction and covers the nozzle-formed surface; and a restrainer that restrains the liquid ejecting head against the cap at a position shifted from the center of the cap when viewed from the direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: December 10, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Ryota Kinoshita
  • Patent number: 10471720
    Abstract: In an example, a printhead-wiping device comprises: a wiper element and a biasing mechanism, the biasing mechanism to bias the wiper element towards a printhead. An actuator may be used to adjust a preload force applied to the biasing mechanism. The preload force applied to the biasing mechanism may be controlled using a controller so as to control a wiping force applied by the wiper element against the printhead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Gonzalo Gaston Llado, Ana Cristina Garcia Alvarez, Marta Coma Vives
  • Patent number: 10464326
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head having nozzles for ejecting a liquid, and an attachment section to which a maintenance unit to be used for maintenance of the liquid ejecting head is to be detachably attached. If the maintenance unit having a maintenance mechanism for performing the maintenance by driving force transmitted from the attachment section is a first unit and the maintenance unit having no maintenance mechanism is a second unit, one of a plurality of the maintenance units including the first unit and the second unit and having different structure is interchangeably attached to the attachment section, and the attachment section includes an identification section configured to identify the structure of the attached maintenance unit and a driving-force transmission section configured to transmit the driving force to the attached first unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 19, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Ryoji Fujimori, Takeshi Iwata, Chikashi Nakamura, Shuhei Harada, Kazutoshi Shimizu
  • Patent number: 10457052
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus includes a plurality of head arrays each including a plurality of liquid discharge heads to discharge a liquid from nozzles onto a medium, a drum to rotate and convey the medium to a position facing the plurality of head arrays, and a wiper to wipe the plurality of liquid discharge heads. The plurality of head arrays is inclined at different angles, and the wiper includes a plurality of wiping surfaces to wipe nozzle surfaces of the plurality of liquid discharge heads of the plurality of head arrays, respectively, the nozzles are formed on the nozzle surfaces, and the plurality of wiping surfaces is inclined at the different angles in accordance with the plurality of head arrays, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kengo Tsubaki
  • Patent number: 10457050
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member, which contains an impregnation liquid, and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Nakane, Akira Mizutani, Toshihiro Shinbara, Masako Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10421280
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid from a plurality of nozzles disposed in a nozzle surface, a wiping member that wipes the nozzle surface, and a wiping member moving mechanism that moves the wiping member between a wiping position where the nozzle surface is wiped and a retracted position. The wiping member moving mechanism has a wiping member holding mechanism that holds the wiping member and a holding state releasing mechanism that releases a holding state of the wiping member holding mechanism in a case where a load that is equal to or higher than a set value is received.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 2018
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shinji Hirata, Keiichiro Yoshino, Seiya Sato
  • Patent number: 10369796
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes: a printhead configured to discharge ink; a carriage, on which the printhead is mounted, configured to move in a first direction such that the printhead moves across a printing region where a printing operation by the printhead is performed and a standby region adjacent to the printing region; a cap arranged in the standby region and configured to suck the ink from the printhead; and a wiper configured to perform wiping for the printhead. The cap can be displaced to a first position and a second position farther from the printing region in the first direction than the first position. At the second position, the cap can be displaced to an upper position to cap the printhead and a lower position to be separated from the printhead allowing the wiper to wipe the printhead.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventor: Muneharu Fujikawa
  • Patent number: 10369794
    Abstract: As first determination processing, a CPU of a printer determines whether a temperature T, which is based on an input value from a temperature detector, is higher than a reference temperature Tw. In a case where the CPU has not determined, in the first determination processing, that the temperature T is higher than the reference temperature Tw, the CPU, after cover processing and without performing soak processing, performs first cap processing, which puts a nozzle face into a state in which it is not soaked by a cleaning liquid. In a case where the CPU has determined, in the first determination processing, that the temperature T is higher than the reference temperature Tw, the CPU, after the cover processing, performs the soak processing, which supplies the cleaning liquid to a cap, thus putting the nozzle face into a state in which it is soaked by the cleaning liquid. The possibility that a discharge failure will occur in a nozzle of the printer is therefore reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: August 6, 2019
    Assignee: BROTHER KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA
    Inventor: Naoki Mizuno
  • Patent number: 10365588
    Abstract: A wiper holder comprises a body part and a first slot formed in the body part, the first slot for holding a first wiper element, where the first slot is bent to form-lock the first wiper element, and a second slot formed in the body part adjacent to the first slot, the second slot for holding a second wiper element, where the second slot is bent to form-lock the second wiper element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2019
    Assignee: HP Indigo B.V.
    Inventors: Nathan A. Levy, Shunit Petachia Halely
  • Patent number: 10350895
    Abstract: A head cleaner to clean a liquid discharge head including a nozzle face in which nozzles are formed includes a wiper to wipe the nozzle face by moving relative to the liquid discharge head in a wiping direction. The wiper includes a wiper sheet, a blade having a higher water repellency than the wiper sheet, and a controller that controls the wiper to perform a first wiping operation and a second wiping operation. The first wiping operation involves wiping the nozzle face with the wiper sheet without bringing the blade into contact with the nozzle face, and the second wiping operation involves wiping the nozzle face with the wiper sheet and the blade by bringing the wiper sheet and the blade into contact with the nozzle face. The controller controls the wiper to perform the second wiping operation after performing the first wiping operation at least once.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 6, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2019
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventors: Yuichi Tanioku, Kazuki Suzuki, Taku Hatakeyama
  • Patent number: 10336076
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting unit that can eject a first liquid and a second liquid to a medium, a first rotating body having a circumferential surface that can receive the first liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting unit, a first sliding contact member that can be slidably in contact with the circumferential surface of the first rotating body, a first collection unit that collects the first liquid that is collected from the circumferential surface by the first sliding contact member, a second rotating body having a circumferential surface that can receive the second liquid ejected from the liquid ejecting unit, a second sliding contact member that can be slidably in contact with the circumferential surface of the second rotating body, and a second collection unit that collects the second liquid that is collected from the circumferential surface by the second sliding contact member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2018
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Takanori Seki, Hitotoshi Kimura, Takayuki Kawakami, Tatsuya Nakano
  • Patent number: 10308027
    Abstract: A liquid ejecting apparatus performs first contact of an absorption member with a nozzle surface in which nozzles for liquid ejection are arranged, and performs second contact of the absorption member with the nozzle surface after the first contact. Pressure applied to, of the nozzle surface, a nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) including the nozzles due to contact of the absorption member in the first contact is lower than pressure applied to the nozzle neighborhood area (a nozzle peripheral area) due to contact of the absorption member in the second contact.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 11, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 4, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventor: Chikashi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 10300719
    Abstract: In one example, a printer having a rotation mechanism coupleable to a liquid-ejecting printhead in the printer. The printer includes a controller coupled to the rotation mechanism to control the rotation mechanism to intermittently rotate the printhead, during a non-printing time, from a first orientation relative to vertical to a second orientation relative to vertical and back to the first orientation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2015
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2019
    Assignee: HEWLETT-PACKARD DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, L.P.
    Inventor: Norman E. Pawlowski
  • Patent number: 10259225
    Abstract: A recording head is provided with an ink ejection surface and a cleaning liquid supply surface. The ink ejection surface includes a nozzle region in which a plurality of ink ejection nozzles for ejecting ink onto a recording medium are open. The cleaning liquid supply surface is provided, with respect to the nozzle region, on an upstream side in a wiping direction in which a wiper wipes the ink ejection surface, and a plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports for supplying a cleaning liquid are open through the cleaning liquid supply surface. On the cleaning liquid supply surface, at least in a region including the cleaning liquid supply ports, a hydrophilic region having wettability with respect to water higher than that of the ink ejection surface is formed substantially evenly across an entire region in a width direction thereof orthogonal to the wiping direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 2017
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Takuma Araki, Kenichi Satake, Yasutaka Inui
  • Patent number: 10259217
    Abstract: In a printer, when a pressed member that is movable together with a movable table pressed by an ink head causes a movement mechanism to move the movable table and the pressed member slides on the ink head, caps are moved from a separate position to a cap position by changing relative positions of nozzle surfaces and the caps in a vertical direction without changing the relative positions of the nozzle surfaces and the caps in a main scanning direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2018
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2019
    Assignee: ROLAND DG CORPORATION
    Inventor: Hideyuki Hasegawa
  • Patent number: 10252530
    Abstract: A spittoon system for a printing mechanism includes a reservoir elongated in a longitudinal direction and having a bottom part. The reservoir receives printing fluid residue spit from a print-head onto a first zone of the reservoir. The spittoon system further includes a cleaning element arranged inside the reservoir to transfer, by sliding along the longitudinal direction of the reservoir, the received printing fluid residue from the first zone to a second zone. The second zone includes a drain outlet to drain the printing fluid residue from the reservoir.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2015
    Date of Patent: April 9, 2019
    Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
    Inventors: Oscar Moya Rojo, Rafael Ulacia Portoles, Joaquim Brugue Garvi, Daniel Gonzalez Perello
  • Patent number: 10239319
    Abstract: An ink-jet recording apparatus of the present disclosure includes a recording portion, a cap unit, a wipe unit, and a lid member. The recording portion has a recording head. The cap unit is capable of reciprocating between a first position directly below the recording portion and a second position that is retracted in a horizontal direction from the first position, and has a cap portion that caps the recording head when at the first position. The wipe unit performs a recovery process with respect to the recording head. At the second position, the lid member is disposed above the cap unit and comes into tight contact with the cap portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 26, 2019
    Assignee: KYOCERA DOCUMENT SOLUTIONS INC.
    Inventors: Yasuyuki Fukunaga, Masaki Murashima
  • Patent number: 10206426
    Abstract: A maintenance apparatus for a fluid ejection and vaporization device and a fluid ejection and vaporization device containing the maintenance apparatus. The maintenance apparatus includes a movable wiper blade, the wiper blade being attached to an arm on one end of the arm, wherein a distal end of the arm is attached to an air operated mechanism for moving the arm and for causing a sweeping movement of the wiper blade over an ejection head in the fluid ejection and vaporization device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 8, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 19, 2019
    Assignee: Funai Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Sam Norasak
  • Patent number: 10195858
    Abstract: Provided is a liquid ejecting apparatus capable of suppressing ink from remaining on a nozzle surface. A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a head unit 16 capable of ejecting a liquid from a nozzle 27 provided in a nozzle surface 22a of a nozzle plate 22, an anchoring plate 17 in which the head unit 16 is anchored and that is provided with an opening region 17a that exposes the nozzle surface 22, and a wiper member 12 that wipes an anchoring plate exposed-surface 17b located on the opposite side of the head unit 16 of the anchoring plate 17 and the nozzle surface 22a. When an angle of contact between the nozzle surface 22a and the liquid is taken as ?n, an angle of contact between the anchoring plate exposed-surface 17b and the liquid is taken as ?s, and an angle of contact between the wiper member 12 and the liquid is taken as ?w, the relationship ?n>?s>?w>90° is fulfilled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Shunsuke Watanabe, Yuma Fukuzawa, Katsumi Enomoto, Hiroaki Okui, Yoshinao Miyata, Satoshi Oguchi, Fujio Akahane
  • Patent number: 10195853
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member, which contains an impregnation liquid, and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroki Nakane, Akira Mizutani, Toshihiro Shinbara, Masako Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10189260
    Abstract: An ink jet recording apparatus includes a recording head having a plurality of nozzles through which an ink composition containing an inorganic pigment is ejected, a nozzle surface having nozzle orifices, and a liquid-repellent film disposed on the nozzle surface; an absorbing member that absorbs the ink composition containing the inorganic pigment from the nozzle orifices and the nozzle surface; and an actuating mechanism including a pressing member that presses the absorbing member and the nozzle surface relative to each other. The actuating mechanism moves at least one of the absorbing member and the recording head relative to the other to perform a cleaning operation in which the ink composition is removed from the nozzle surface with the absorbing member. The absorbing member contains an impregnation liquid having a surface tension of 45 mN/m or less during the cleaning operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 26, 2013
    Date of Patent: January 29, 2019
    Assignee: Seiko Epson Corporation
    Inventors: Akira Mizutani, Hiroshi Mukai, Hiroki Nakane, Toshihiro Shinbara, Keiji Matsumoto, Masako Fukuda
  • Patent number: 10183505
    Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a suction unit configured to allow a negative pressure, by which a sheet is sucked to a supporting portion, to act on the sheet; and ink receivers configured to receive ink ejected outside of the sheet. Waste ink ejected to the ink receivers is guided to a waste ink discharge port formed on an outer peripheral wall of a platen through waste ink channels. A sheet sucking mechanism configured to apply the negative pressure is disposed adjacent to the suction unit. A discharging mechanism configured to forcibly discharge waste ink outside of the platen is connected to the waste ink discharge port.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 22, 2019
    Assignee: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Seiji Ogasawara, Tetsuji Kurata, Masakazu Tsukuda, Takahide Onuma, Yasunori Saito
  • Patent number: 10155389
    Abstract: A head cleaning mechanism of the disclosure includes a recording head and a wiper. The recording head includes an ink ejection surface in which an ink ejection area with a plurality of ink ejection ports opened therein is provided. The wiper wipes the ink ejection surface in a specified direction. The recording head includes an inclined surface placed on an upstream side of the ink ejection surface in a wiping direction that is a direction in which the wiper wipes the ink ejection surface, the inclined surface being inclined downward toward a downstream side of the wiping direction. A plurality of cleaning liquid supply ports for supplying cleaning liquid are provided on a wiping-direction upstream side of a position in the inclined surface with which the wiper makes contact during wiping operation.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 18, 2018
    Assignee: KYOCERA Document Solutions Inc.
    Inventors: Takuma Araki, Kenichi Satake, Yasutaka Inui
  • Patent number: 10144232
    Abstract: A printer includes: a media support defining a media feed path; and a pagewide printing unit for printing onto media fed along the media feed path. The printing unit includes: a maintenance chassis fixedly positioned over the media feed path, the maintenance chassis having a maintenance module fixedly mounted thereto; a print bar chassis movably mounted on the maintenance chassis, the print bar chassis including a print module having a printhead; and a lift mechanism for raising and lowering the print bar chassis relative to the maintenance chassis between a maintenance position a printing position. The printhead extends and retracts through a space defined by the maintenance module in the printing and maintenance positions, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2018
    Assignee: Memjet Technology Ltd.
    Inventors: Mark Profaca, David Burke, Billy Sy, Gilbert Alemana, Christopher Hibbard, Rommel Balala
  • Patent number: 10099478
    Abstract: A liquid discharge apparatus is provided including a liquid discharge head, a cap, and a wiper. The liquid discharge head includes a nozzle plate having thereon a nozzle for discharging a liquid. The cap caps a surface of the nozzle plate. The wiper moves relative to the nozzle plate to wipe the surface of the nozzle plate. The surface of the nozzle plate has a cap contact region that is contactable with the cap. The wiper starts wiping from a wiping start position that is disposed between both end parts of the cap contact region in a direction of wiping. The wiper comes into contact with the surface of the nozzle plate at the wiping start position and moves in a first direction to wipe the surface of the nozzle plate, and thereafter moves in a second direction opposite the first direction to wipe the surface of the nozzle plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
    Inventors: Masashi Ohnishi, Shotaro Takeuchi
  • Patent number: 10086615
    Abstract: A nozzle surface wiping device capable of using a plurality of types of wiping members in a state where discharge deterioration is suppressed regarding the respective wiping members is provided. In the nozzle surface wiping device that wipes a nozzle surface of a liquid discharge head with a wiping member to which a cleaning liquid is applied, information on cleaning liquid application conditions for applying respective saturated liquid amounts of the cleaning liquid to a plurality of types of wiping members, respectively, according to the types of the respective wiping members is held in advance. The type of a wiping member to be used for the wiping of the nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head is specified, and a saturated liquid amount of the cleaning liquid is applied to the wiping member according to the determined cleaning liquid application conditions corresponding to the type of the specified wiping member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 2, 2018
    Assignee: FUJIFILM Corporation
    Inventor: Takuma Nakano