Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Brother Industries, Ltd.

Kyocera Corporation

Hiroshi Taira

Tadanobu Chikamoto

Yoshirou Kita

Minoru Yamamoto

Teruo Imamaki

Keiji Seo

Shuichi Tamaki

Atsuo Sakaida

Makoto Suzuki

Akira Shinoda

Takashi Okumura

Hidenori Hisada

Kazunori Tanabe

Hiroshi Takami

Toyonori Sasaki

Hiroaki Takahashi

Kosuke Nukui

Atsushi Hirota

Naoya Okazaki

Akihito Ono

Tetsuro Kobayashi

Fumio Nakazawa

Tomoaki Hattori

Susumu Kuzuya

Takahiro Miyao

Hidetoshi Watanabe

Toshio Sakai

Mitsunobu Suda

Takakuni Sonoda

Yoshinori Osakabe

Taichi Shirono

Masako Kawagoe

Kenichi Hirata

Osamu Takagi

Akinari Ishibe

Noritsugu Ito

Shigeyuki Hayashi

Naoto Iwao

Yumio Matsumoto

Yuma Tanabe

Takatoshi Takemoto

Mikio Hirano

Ichiro Sasaki

Masatake Sato

Shotaro Iida

Takashi Tomizawa

Yasuo Kimura

Ayumu Matsumoto

Koji Sugiyama

Tatsuo Terakura

Yousuke Ito

Katsuhiko Shimada

Mutsuo Naoe

Takauni Sonoda

Hideki Hasegawa

Takahiro Yuasa

There is provided a controller for an image recording device. The image recording device includes: a carriage capable of moving in a first direction; a head mounted on the carriage and configured to discharge a liquid from a nozzle; and a wiper capable of being impregnated with a cleaning liquid, a nozzle surface of the head including a first region not having the nozzle and a second region having the nozzle. The controller is configured to execute: a pressing-against processing of abutting the wiper on the first region in a state in which a speed of a relative movement in the first direction between the carriage and the wiper is a first speed; and a moving processing of moving the carriage and the wiper relative to each other in the first direction at a second speed faster than the first speed, while abutting the wiper on the second region.

Controller, control method, and image recording device

A liquid cartridge includes: a cartridge casing having a liquid storage chamber; a first wall; a second wall; and an air communication passage. The first wall is positioned upward relative to the liquid storage chamber. The second wall is positioned upward relative to the first wall. The air communication passage has a first communication hole in communication with the liquid storage chamber and a communication opening open to an atmosphere. The air communication passage includes: an air chamber defined by the first wall and the second wall and in communication with the liquid storage chamber through the first communication hole; a second communication hole formed in the second wall; and a labyrinth path. The labyrinth path is positioned upward relative to the air chamber, and has one end in communication with the second communication hole and another end in communication with the communication opening.

Liquid cartridge capable of reducing leakage of liquid from liquid storage chamber

An inkjet recording apparatus includes a tank, a pivot member and a first surface. The tank has a storage chamber configured to store a liquid therein. The pivot member is disposed in the storage chamber. The pivot member is configured to pivotally move about an axis extending in an axial direction in a case where a level of a liquid surface of the liquid becomes equal to a predetermined liquid level. The pivot member includes a float and a first protrusion. The float has a specific gravity smaller than that of the liquid. The first protrusion protrudes toward the first surface. The first protrusion and the first surface provide a gap therebetween. The first protrusion is at a position in contact with the liquid in a state where the level of the liquid surface of the liquid is at the predetermined liquid level.

Inkjet recording apparatus including pivot member provided in storage chamber of tank and having first protrusion and second protrusion

A supply apparatus includes: a tank in which a liquid supply section is formed, the liquid supply section having a liquid storage chamber, an inlet for supplying liquid to the liquid storage chamber, and a liquid flow path, the liquid storage chamber being demarcated by first surfaces facing in a first direction, a second surface joining the first surfaces, and a third surface separated from the second surface in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction; a holding member holding a part of the tank from one side in the second direction; a coupling member having a coupling section coupled to the liquid supply section of the tank from another side in the second direction to allow flow of the liquid; and a casing supporting at least one of the holding member and the coupling member.

Supply apparatus

An image recording apparatus including: (a) a head assembly including (a-) recording heads having respective nozzle opening surfaces and (a-) a head frame supporting the recording heads; (b) annular protrusions each of which is to be brought into contact with the head assembly, so as to surround the plurality of nozzles opening in the corresponding nozzle opening surface; (c) a supporting tray elongated in a supporting-tray longitudinal direction and supporting the annular protrusions; (d) a movement mechanism configured to move the head assembly and/or the supporting tray, and (e) a positioning pin projecting from a pin-located portion of the supporting tray. The pin-located portion is outside the annular protrusions, and is located in a center of the supporting tray in the supporting-tray longitudinal direction. The head frame has a positioning hole, into which the positioning pin is to be introduced upon contact of each annular protrusion with the head assembly.

Image recording apparatus

A liquid ejection apparatus, including: a head having an ejection face having at least one ejection opening for ejecting liquid; a sealing mechanism configured to selectively establish one of a sealing state in which the sealing mechanism seals an ejection space and an open state in which the sealing mechanism does not seal the ejection space; an air introduction opening configured to open in an area that faces the ejection space in the sealing state; a humid air supplier configured to supply a humid air from the air introduction opening to the ejection space in the sealing state; a cleaner configured to clean the liquid contacting at least a part of an area of the head and the sealing mechanism, the area facing the ejection space; and a controller configured to control the cleaner to clean the liquid before the supply of the humid air supplier.

Liquid ejection apparatus and humid-air supply method

A liquid ejection apparatus including: a liquid ejection head and ejection openings; a tank; an air communication device; a supply channel; a return channel; a supply device; an adjusting device; and a controller, wherein the controller performs a liquid circulation control by controlling: the adjusting device such that a channel resistance value of the return channel is less than a predetermined maximum value; and the supply device to supply the liquid into the inside channel, wherein, when the liquid is circulated by the liquid circulation control, the controller starts a liquid discharge control for discharging the liquid by making the channel resistance value larger than that in the liquid circulation control, and wherein the controller controls the air communication device such that an inside of the tank is interrupted from the ambient air in at least a part of a period of the liquid circulation control.

Liquid ejection apparatus and liquid ejection method

A liquid ejection apparatus, including: a head having ejection openings and configured to eject liquid through the ejection openings; a sealing mechanism configured to selectively establish a sealing state in which the sealing mechanism seals an ejection space in which the ejection openings are open, from an outside and an unsealing state in which the sealing mechanism does not seal the ejection space from the outside; and a humid-air supply mechanism configured to supply a humid air into the ejection space when the sealing mechanism is in the sealing state; wherein a controller is configured to control the humid-air supply mechanism such that an amount of the humid air to be supplied into the ejection space from the humid-air supply mechanism when the sealing mechanism is in the sealing state increases with a longer length of time of the unsealing state just before the current sealing state.

Liquid ejection apparatus and nonvolatile storage medium storing program

A liquid ejection apparatus including: a liquid ejection head that ejects ink through liquid ejection openings in a liquid ejection surface of the head, a cap device that establishes a sealing state, such that an ejection space opposed to the liquid ejection surface is sealed from an exterior space by the cap device, an air introduction opening and an air discharge opening that are located in the cap device, and a humidifier that supplies an humidified air into the ejection space through the air introduction opening and that discharges an air from the ejection space through the air discharge opening. The air discharge opening opens in an area other than a liquid discharge area onto which the ejected liquid is to be discharged. The apparatus further includes a flow restrainer that restrains the liquid discharged onto the liquid discharge area, from flowing to the air discharge opening.

Liquid ejection apparatus

A head cap for protecting an ink ejecting face of an ink-jet head may be provided with a plate member. The plate member may be opposed to the ink ejecting face. The head cap may include a flexible, continuous lip, which projects from one surface of the plate member. Recesses may be formed in the one surface of the plate member. Through-holes may be formed through the bottom walls of the recesses, respectively. Films may further be used where each covers the associated through-hole and is joined partially to a circumferential edge portion of the associated recess.

Cap and ink-jet head protection assembly

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a wiper, first and second movement mechanisms, and a controller. The wiper wipes an ejection face of a head. The controller controls the first movement mechanism to make at least either one of the wiper and the head move in a first direction perpendicular to the ejection face, so as to make the wiper and the head overlap each other with respect to the first direction. And thereafter the controller controls the second movement mechanism to make the wiper perform a first wiping. In the first wiping, while liquid is forcibly ejected from the ejection face, the wiper moves along the ejection face while being in contact with the ejection face.

An inkjet recording apparatus including: (a) a recording head; (b) an ink supply source; (c) an ink supply conduit interconnecting the recording head and the ink supply source, such that the ink is supplied from the ink supply source to the recording head in an ink supplying direction; (d) a movable body disposed in the ink supply conduit and movable in the ink supply conduit; (e) a moving device configured to move the movable body in the ink supply conduit; and (f) a control device configured to control the moving device. The ink supply conduit includes a small-clearance defining portion in which a small clearance is to be defined between the movable body and an inner surface of the ink supply conduit when the movable body is being positioned in the small-clearance defining portion. The control device is configured to control the moving device, such that the movable body is moved from a first position located in the small-clearance defining portion, to a second position located in the small-clearance defining portion, whereby the ink within the small-clearance defining portion is caused to flow toward the recording head.

Inkjet recording apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Ichinomiya, Japan

Hiroshi Taira