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US 11,999,168 B2Granted
Liquid discharge device and liquid discharge apparatus
AssigneeRicoh Company, Ltd.
InventorsShuusei Murai, Kiyoshi Suzuki, Tomomi Katoh
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A liquid discharge device includes a liquid discharge head including nozzles configured to discharge a liquid, a carriage mounting the liquid discharge head and movable, a wiper configured to wipe a nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head, and a wiper mover configured to hold and move the wiper between a facing position at which the wiper faces the nozzle surface and a standby position at which the wiper does not face the nozzle surface. The carriage movably holds the liquid discharge head and the wiper mover as a single unit.
Claims13
A liquid discharge apparatus comprising:
- a liquid discharge device including:
- a liquid discharge head including nozzles configured to discharge a liquid,
- a carriage mounting the liquid discharge head, wherein the carriage is movable,
- a wiper to wipe a nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head,
- a wiper mover to hold and move the wiper between a facing position at which the wiper faces the nozzle surface and a standby position at which the wiper does not face the nozzle surface, and
- a cleaning liquid applier to apply a cleaning liquid to the wiper, wherein the wiper mover holds the cleaning liquid applier,
- wherein the carriage movably holds the liquid discharge head and the wiper mover as a single unit;
- a carriage mover to move the carriage;
- and
- a mounting table to mount a columnar member as an object to which the liquid is discharged from the liquid discharge head,
- wherein the carriage is reciprocally movable in a vertical direction as a first direction, and the carriage mover reciprocally moves the carriage in a second direction along a tangent line of the columnar member in a plane defined by the first direction and a direction orthogonal to the first direction.
8 more elements
A liquid discharge apparatus comprising:
- a liquid discharge device including:
- a liquid discharge head including a nozzle surface in which nozzles are formed, the liquid discharge head to discharge a liquid from the nozzles in a lateral direction,
- a wiper extending in a direction intersecting a horizontal plane, the wiper to contact and wipe the nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head,
- a cleaning liquid applier to apply a cleaning liquid to the wiper,
- a cleaning liquid collector to receive the cleaning liquid applied to the wiper, and
- a wiper mover to laterally move the wiper, the cleaning liquid applier, and the cleaning liquid collector in a facing region in which the wiper faces the nozzle surface, wherein the wiper mover holds the cleaning liquid applier,
- wherein the wiper mover is to move the wiper in a horizontal direction when the wiper is at a facing position at which the wiper faces the nozzle surface, and the wiper extends in a direction orthogonal to a moving direction of the wiper mover;
- a cleaning liquid tank connected to the cleaning liquid collector with a flexible tube;
- a negative pressure generator to generate a negative pressure between the flexible tube and the cleaning liquid tank;
- a pressurized air supplier to generate pressurized air;
- and
- a liquid tank to supply a pressurized liquid to the liquid discharge head with receipt of the pressurized air supplied from the pressurized air supplier,
- wherein the negative pressure generator is to generate the negative pressure using the pressurized air received from the pressurized air supplier.
10 more elements
A liquid discharge device comprising:
- a liquid discharge head including a nozzle surface in which nozzles are formed, the liquid discharge head to discharge a liquid from the nozzles;
- a wiper to contact the nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head;
- a cleaning liquid applier to apply a cleaning liquid to the wiper;
- a cleaning liquid collector below the wiper, the cleaning liquid collector to receive the cleaning liquid applied to the wiper;
- a wiper mover to:
- move the wiper, the cleaning liquid applier, and the cleaning liquid collector between a facing position at which the wiper faces the nozzle surface and a standby position at which the wiper does not face the nozzle surface, wherein the wiper mover holds the cleaning liquid applier;
- and
- keep an inclination between a horizontal plane and the cleaning liquid collector to be constant during a movement of the wiper between the facing position and the standby position.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.