Ink jet printer having an ink cleaning mechanism
AssigneeCanon Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsMakoto Takemura, Tetsuya Kawanabe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cartridge receptacle is mounted on a carriage for releasably receiving a cartridge having a print head and at least one removable ink reservoir. The receptacle includes a pivoting lever which permits removal of the at least one ink reservoir. The lever extends over at least a portion of the at least one ink reservoir so as to prevent access to the at least one ink reservoir until such time as the lever is pivoted away from the at least one ink reservoir. When the lever is pivoted away from the at least one ink reservoir, and then the lever is pivoted over the at least a portion of the at least one ink reservoir, a signal is output which prompts cleaning of the print head.
Claims31
A cartridge receptacle mounted on a carriage for releasably receiving a cartridge having a print head and at least one removable ink reservoir, the cartridge receptacle including:
- a lever pivotable so as to release and permit removal of the at least one ink reservoir, wherein the lever extends over at least a portion of the at least one ink reservoir so as to prevent access to the at least one ink reservoir until such time as the lever is pivoted away from the at least one ink reservoir;
- and
- a detector actuatable to output a signal which prompts cleaning of the print head, the detector being actuated in response to pivoting of said lever away from the at least one ink reservoir, and then pivoting of said lever over the portion of the at least one ink reservoir.
An ink jet printer comprising:
- a carriage scanningly drivable across a print medium;
- a first cartridge receptacle mounted on said carriage for releasably receiving a first cartridge having a first print head and at least one removable first ink reservoir, the first cartridge receptacle including:
- a first lever pivotable so as to release and permit removal of the at least one first ink reservoir, wherein the first lever extends over at least a portion of the at least one first ink reservoir so as to prevent access to the at least one first ink reservoir until such time as the first lever is pivoted away from the at least one first ink reservoir;
- and
- a first detector actuatable to output a first signal which prompts cleaning of the print head, the first detector being actuated in response to pivoting of said first lever away from the at least one first ink reservoir, and then pivoting of said first lever over the portion of the at least one first ink reservoir;
- and
- a second cartridge receptacle mounted on the carriage for releasably receiving a second cartridge having a second print head and at least one removable second ink reservoir, the second cartridge receptacle including a second lever pivotable so as to release and permit removal of the at least one second ink reservoir, wherein the second lever extends over at least a portion of the at least one second ink reservoir so as to prevent access to the at least one second ink reservoir until such time as the second lever is pivoted away from the at least one second ink reservoir;
- and
- a second detector actuatable to output a second output signal which prompts cleaning of the print head, the second detector being actuated in response to pivoting of said second lever away from the at least one second ink reservoir, and then pivoting of said second lever over the portion of the at least one second ink reservoir.
An ink jet printer comprising:
- a carriage scanningly drivable across a print medium;
- and
- a cartridge receptacle mounted on said carriage for releasably receiving a cartridge having a print head and at least one removable ink reservoir, the first cartridge receptacle including:
- a lever pivotable so as to release and permit removal of the at least one ink reservoir, wherein the lever extends over at least a portion of the at least one ink reservoir so as to prevent access to the at least one ink reservoir until such time as the lever is pivoted away from the at least one ink reservoir;
- and
- a detector actuatable to output a signal which prompts cleaning of the print head, the detector being actuated in response to pivoting of said lever away from the at least one ink reservoir, and then pivoting of said lever over the portion of the at least one ink reservoir.
An ink jet printer for performing a recording operation by using ink in a removable ink reservoir mounted on a carriage and using a print head, said ink jet printer comprising:
- an operational member releasably mounted in an operational position on the carriage so as to prevent removal of said ink reservoir from the carriage, and said operational member permitting removal of said ink reservoir from said carriage when said operational member is moved to a non-operational position away from said ink reservoir when said ink reservoir is removed from the carriage;
- and
- a detector for detecting the movement of said operational member to the non-operational position and outputting a signal used for prompting cleaning of said print head in response to the movement of said operational member to the non-operational position, and then a return of said operational member to said operational position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.