# US 11,999,168 B2 · Liquid discharge device and liquid discharge apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,999,168 B2 - Document ID: US11999168B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/598,308 - Filed: 2020-04-01 - Published: 2022-05-26 - Granted: 2024-06-04 - Earliest claimed: 2019-04-03 - Assignees: Ricoh Company, Ltd. - Applicants: Shuusei Murai; Kiyoshi Suzuki; Tomomi Katoh - Inventors: Shuusei Murai; Kiyoshi Suzuki; Tomomi Katoh - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11999168B2 ## CPC - B41J 2/16544: {Constructions for the positioning of wipers} - B05B 13/002: {Machines or plants for applying coating liquids or other fluent materials by inkjet} - B05B 13/005: {mounted on vehicles or designed to apply a liquid on a very large surface, e.g. on the road, on the surface of large containers} - B05B 13/0228: {the movement of the objects being rotative (B05B13/0242 takes precedence)} - B05B 13/041: {with spray heads reciprocating along a straight line} - B05B 13/0431: {with spray heads moved by robots or articulated arms, e.g. for applying liquid or other fluent material to three-dimensional [3D] surfaces} - B05B 13/0433: {the work being vehicle components, e.g. vehicle bodies} - B05B 15/52: for removal of clogging particles - B05B 15/555: discharged by cleaning nozzles - B41J 2/14201: {Structure of print heads with piezoelectric elements} - B41J 2/16508: {connected with the printer frame} - B41J 2/16523: {Waste ink transport from caps or spittoons, e.g. by suction (Collecting or collectors of waste ink B41J2/1721)} - B41J 2/16526: {by applying pressure only} - B41J 2/16547: {the wipers and caps or spittoons being on the same movable support} - B41J 2/16552: {using cleaning fluids} - B41J 2/1721: {Collecting waste ink; Collectors therefor} - B41J 3/40733: {Printing on cylindrical or rotationally symmetrical objects, e. g. on bottles} - B41J 25/304: Bodily-movable mechanisms for print heads or carriages movable towards or from paper surface - B41J 29/38: Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism - B41J 2002/16558: {Using cleaning liquid for wet wiping} - B41J 2202/05: Heads having a valve - B41J: TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS - B05B: SPRAYING APPARATUS; ATOMISING APPARATUS; NOZZLES (spray-mixers with nozzles B01F25/72; processes for applying liquids or other fluent materials to surfaces by spraying B05D) ## 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. ## Claims ### Claim 1 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. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a driver to drive and move the wiper mover. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cleaning liquid collector below the wiper, wherein the cleaning liquid collector is to receive the cleaning liquid applied to the wiper. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a retractor to move the liquid discharge device toward or away from the mounting table, wherein the retractor moves the liquid discharge device away from the mounting table before the wiper wipes the nozzle surface. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The liquid discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising a driver to drive and move the wiper mover in a vertical direction between the facing position and the standby position. ### Claim 6 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. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the wiper mover moves the wiper in the horizontal direction between the facing position and a standby position at which the wiper does not face the nozzle surface. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a carriage to movably hold the liquid discharge head and the wiper mover. ### Claim 9 (depends on 6) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the nozzle surface intersects a horizontal surface, and the cleaning liquid applier is to apply the cleaning liquid to the wiper from above the wiper. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 9, wherein an upper end surface of the wiper is inclined downward toward the nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head facing the wiper. ### Claim 11 (depends on 6) The liquid discharge apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the wiper extends in a vertical direction. ### Claim 12 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. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The liquid discharge device according to claim 12, wherein the wiper mover is to be movable between the facing position and the standby position while keeping a height of the cleaning liquid collector to be constant.