# US 10,369,780 B2 · Printing apparatus

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- Number: US 10,369,780 B2
- Document ID: US10369780B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/937,949
- Filed: 2018-03-28
- Published: 2018-10-11
- Granted: 2019-08-06
- Earliest claimed: 2017-04-11
- Assignees: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Applicants: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha
- Inventors: Seiji Suzuki
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10369780B2

## CPC

- B41J 2/0057: {where an intermediate transfer member receives the ink before transferring it on the printing material}
- B41J 2/165: Prevention {or detection} of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
- B41J 2/16517: {Cleaning of print head nozzles (B41J2/16505, B41J2/1707 take precedence)}
- B41J 2/16588: {Print heads movable towards the cleaning unit}
- B41J 25/001: {Mechanisms for bodily moving print heads or carriages parallel to the paper surface}
- B41J 25/304: Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface
- B41J 2002/012: {with intermediate transfer member}
- B41J 2025/008: {comprising a plurality of print heads placed around a drum}
- B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS

## Abstract

A printing apparatus includes a printing unit configured to form an ink image on a transfer member by discharging ink, a transfer unit configured to transfer the ink image formed on the transfer member to a print medium, a recovery unit configured to recover performance of the printing unit, a guide unit configured to guide the printing unit to a recovery position for the recovery unit to recover the performance of the printing unit and a discharge position for the printing unit to discharge the ink to the transfer member, and a positioning structure configured to position the printing unit at the discharge position.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A printing apparatus comprising:
a transfer drum;
a printing unit configured to form an ink image on the transfer drum by discharging ink;
a pressurizing drum configured to transfer the ink image formed on the transfer drum to a print medium which passes between the pressurizing drum and the transfer drum;
a guide unit configured to guide the printing unit to a discharge position for the printing unit to discharge the ink to the transfer drum and a retreat position where the printing unit retreats from the discharge position;
an adjusting member supporting a rotation-center axis of the transfer drum and configured to adjust a position of the transfer drum with regard to the pressurizing drum, and
a positioning unit configured to position the printing unit at the discharge position and be displaced together with the transfer drum displaced by the adjusting member.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a supporting unit configured to support the printing unit at the discharge position,
wherein the positioning unit is provided on the supporting unit.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an elevating unit configured to elevate the printing unit with respect to the supporting unit,
wherein when the printing unit is moved downward onto the supporting unit, the printing unit is positioned by the positioning structure.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing unit is floatingly supported with respect to the elevating unit.

### Claim 5 (depends on 3)

The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the printing unit includes
a printhead configured to discharge ink, and
a carriage configured to support the printhead,
the positioning unit includes a plurality of first contact portions provided for the supporting unit,
a plurality of second contact portions are provided for the carriage and configured to contact the plurality of first contact portions, and
combinations of the plurality of first contact portions and the plurality of second contact portions includes a plurality of combinations mutually different in contact direction.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a contact direction of one of the plurality of combinations is a vertical direction,
a contact direction of another of the plurality of combinations is a conveyance direction of a print medium between the pressurizing drum and the transfer drum, and
a contact direction of still another of the plurality of combinations is a direction of the rotation-center axis of the transfer drum.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a recovery unit configured to recover performance of the printing unit, wherein
the recovery unit is arranged adjacent to the transfer drum in a direction of the rotation-center axis of the transfer drum,
the retreat position is a recovery position for the recovery unit to recover the performance of the printing unit, and
the guide unit guides movement of the printing unit in the direction of the rotation-center axis.