Method and apparatus for forming image
AssigneesKabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMasashi Hiroki, Satoshi Kaiho
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes a carriage on which a recording head of an ink-jet system is mounted, a carriage drive mechanism to drive the carriage, a sheet transport mechanism to transport a sheet in a specified direction, a main power-supply unit, and an auxiliary power-supply unit. The carriage is moved in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet by the carriage drive mechanism. The image forming apparatus includes a cap movable in a direction of coming in contact with the recording head and in a direction of separating therefrom, and a cap drive unit to move the cap. The auxiliary power-supply unit supplies electric power to the cap drive unit at a time of interruption of the main power-supply unit.
Claims14
An image forming apparatus for printing on a sheet by ink discharged from a nozzle unit of a recording head of an ink-jet system, comprising:
- a carriage on which the recording head is mounted;
- a carriage drive mechanism including a motor to reciprocate the carriage;
- a sheet transport mechanism to transport the sheet in a direction orthogonal to a movement direction of the carriage;
- a cap movable in a direction of coming in contact with the recording head and in a direction of separating therefrom;
- a head maintenance unit including a cap drive unit to move the cap in the direction of coming in contact with the recording head and in the direction of separating from the recording head;
- a main power-supply unit to supply electric power to the recording head and the sheet transport mechanism;
- and
- an auxiliary power-supply unit to actuate the cap drive unit by supplying electric power to the head maintenance unit at a time of interruption of the main power-supply unit.
An image forming apparatus for printing on a sheet by ink discharged from a nozzle unit of a recording head of an ink-jet system, comprising:
- sheet transport means for transporting the sheet in a specified direction;
- carriage drive means for moving a carriage on which the recording head is mounted in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet;
- means for forming an image on the sheet by discharging the ink to the sheet from the nozzle unit;
- cap means movable in a direction of coming in contact with the recording head and in a direction of separating therefrom;
- cap drive means for moving the cap means in the direction of coming in contact with the recording head and in the direction of separating from the recording head;
- main power-supply means for supplying electric power to the recording head and the sheet transport means;
- and
- auxiliary power-supply means for actuating the cap drive means by supplying electric power to the cap drive means at a time of interruption of the main power-supply means.
An image forming method for printing on a sheet by ink discharged from a nozzle unit of a recording head of an ink-jet system, comprising:
- transporting the sheet in a specified direction by actuating a sheet transport mechanism by electric power supplied from a main power-supply unit;
- moving the recording head in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the sheet by actuating carriage drive means by the electric power supplied from the main power-supply unit;
- forming an image on the sheet by actuating an ink discharge mechanism of the recording head by the electric power supplied from the main power-supply unit and by discharging the ink from the nozzle unit;
- and
- moving a cap to the recording head to cover the nozzle unit with the cap by supplying electric power from an auxiliary power-supply unit to a head maintenance unit at a time of interruption of the main power-supply unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.