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US 9,517,629 B2Granted
Liquid discharge apparatus with wiper cleaner
AssigneeBrother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorsDaisuke Kuno, Rie Higuchi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
There is provided a liquid discharge apparatus, including: a liquid discharge head; a wiper; a wiper cleaner cleaning a liquid adhering to a first surface of the wiper and including a first contact part, which makes contact with the first surface of the wiper, and a second contact part, which is disposed to face the first contact part and makes contact with the second surface of the wiper; a movement mechanism moving the wiper and the wiper cleaner relative to each other, and a space expansion part expanding a space between the first contact part and the second contact part.
Claims20
A liquid discharge apparatus configured to discharge a liquid, comprising:
- a liquid discharge head having a liquid discharge surface formed with liquid discharge ports from which the liquid is discharged;
- a wiper configured to move relative to the liquid discharge head in a first direction, the wiper including:
- a first surface;
- and
- a second surface;
- the wiper being configured to wipe the liquid discharge surface with the first surface;
- a wiper cleaner configured to clean the liquid adhering to the first surface of the wiper and including:
- a first contact part, which is configured to make contact with the first surface of the wiper;
- and
- a second contact part, which is disposed to face the first contact part and is configured to make contact with the second surface of the wiper;
- a movement mechanism configured to move the wiper and the wiper cleaner relative to each other in a third direction, which intersects with the first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the liquid discharge surface;
- and
- a space expansion part configured to expand a space between the first contact part and the second contact part;
- the space expansion part being configured to move integrally with the wiper relative to the wiper cleaner;
- the space expansion part being disposed on at least one side, of the wiper, in the third direction;
- the space expansion part having rigidity higher than that of the wiper;
- and
- the space expansion part being configured to be inserted first into a space between the first contact part and the second contact part to expand the space, in the case that the wiper and the wiper cleaner move relative to each other in the third direction.
15 more elements
A liquid discharge apparatus configured to discharge a liquid, comprising:
- a liquid discharge head having a liquid discharge surface formed with liquid discharge ports from which the liquid is discharged;
- a wiper configured to move relative to the liquid discharge head in a first direction, the wiper including:
- a first surface;
- and
- a second surface;
- the wiper being configured to wipe the liquid discharge surface with the first surface;
- a wiper cleaner configured to clean the liquid adhering to the first surface of the wiper, the wiper cleaner including:
- a first contact part, which is made of an absorber absorbing the liquid and is configured to make contact with the first surface of the wiper;
- and
- a second contact part, which is disposed to face the first contact part and is configured to make contact with the second surface of the wiper;
- a wiper holder holding an end, of the wiper, on a side opposite to the liquid discharge surface in the second direction;
- and
- a movement mechanism configured to move the wiper and the wiper cleaner relative to each other in a third direction, which intersects with the first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the liquid discharge surface;
- wherein one end of the wiper in the third direction is parallel to the second direction;
- wherein one end of the wiper cleaner in the third direction is inclined so that one side, in the second direction, of the one end of the wiper cleaner is more projected in the third direction than the other side, in the second direction, of the one end of the wiper cleaner, the one side of the one end of the wiper cleaner being a near side close to the wiper holder, and the other side of the one end of the wiper cleaner being a far side farther from the wiper holder;
- and
- wherein the one end of the wiper in the third direction is inserted into a space, in the one end of the wiper cleaner in the third direction, between the first contact part and the second contact part to expand the space, in the case that the wiper and the wiper cleaner move relative to each other in the third direction.
14 more elements
A liquid discharge apparatus configured to discharge a liquid, comprising:
- a liquid discharge head having a liquid discharge surface formed with liquid discharge ports from which the liquid is discharged;
- a wiper configured to move relative to the liquid discharge head in a first direction, the wiper including:
- a first surface;
- and
- a second surface;
- the wiper being configured to wipe the liquid discharge surface with the first surface;
- a wiper cleaner configured to clean the liquid adhering to the first surface of the wiper, the wiper including:
- a first contact part, which is made of an absorber absorbing the liquid and is configured to make contact with the first surface of the wiper;
- and
- a second contact part, which is disposed to face the first contact part and is configured to make contact with the second surface of the wiper;
- a movement mechanism configured to move the wiper and the wiper cleaner relative to each other in a third direction, which intersects with the first direction and a second direction orthogonal to the liquid discharge surface;
- and
- a wiper guide configured to reduce deformation of the wiper in a case that the wiper is inserted into a space between the first contact part and the second contact part, thereby allowing the wiper to pass through the space easily;
- wherein the wiper guide is disposed on one side of the wiper cleaner in the third direction;
- wherein the wiper guide is separated from the wiper;
- and
- wherein the wiper guide is located at a position at which a distance from the wiper guide to the wiper cleaner is less than a length of the wiper in the third direction.
14 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.