Seiko Epson Corporation

Hisashi Sato

Yuichi Urabe

Masahiko Sato

Katsuhiro Okubo

Ken Yamagishi

Kazuyuki Fujioka

Yoshiaki Kishii

Hitotoshi Kimura

Hiroyuki Hagiwara

Takahiro Kanegae

Toshio Nakata

Kentaro Murakami

Kazushi Arafuka

Hiromichi Nakashima

Shinji Hirata

Shuji Funada

Eri Tanaka

Akihiro Furuya

Sawako Tsujimura

A liquid circulation mechanism includes a first storage portion configured to store liquid to be supplied to a liquid discharging head, a second storage portion configured to store the liquid collected from the liquid discharging head, a third storage portion configured to store the liquid between the second storage portion and the first storage portion, a first check valve allowing flow of the liquid from the second storage portion to the third storage portion while regulating flow of the liquid from the third storage portion to the second storage portion, in the second collection flow path, and a second check valve allowing flow of the liquid from the third storage portion to the first storage portion while regulating flow of the liquid from the first storage portion to the third storage portion, in the third collection flow path.

Liquid circulation mechanism, liquid circulation device, and liquid discharging apparatus

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a head that ejects a liquid; a curing portion that cures the liquid by emitting energy to the liquid; and a waste-liquid collecting portion that collects the liquid as waste liquid, in which the waste-liquid collecting portion includes an absorber that absorbs the liquid from the head, a first rotational shaft that holds an unused portion of the absorber, and a second rotational shaft that holds a used portion of the absorber, and the curing portion emits the energy to the liquid absorbed by the absorber.

Liquid ejecting apparatus and waste-liquid collecting method of liquid ejecting apparatus

A liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting portion that ejects a liquid, a liquid supply flow path that supplies the liquid accommodated in a liquid supply source to the liquid ejecting portion, a storage portion that is provided in the liquid supply flow path and that stores the liquid, a pressure mechanism that changes a volume of the storage portion by making pressure act thereon, a liquid filling mechanism that fills the liquid inside the liquid supply source into the liquid supply flow path, and a control portion that fills the liquid into the liquid supply flow path while the volume of the storage portion is, by making pressure act on the flexible portion, made smaller than when the pressure does not act on the flexible portion, and after the filling, ends a state in which the pressure is made to act on the flexible portion.

Liquid ejecting apparatus and method of filling liquid in liquid ejecting apparatus

A channel structure includes a base body having a first surface, a second surface that is opposite from the first surface, and a side surface that extends in a direction intersecting the first surface. The base body includes a first channel having a supply port into which a liquid is supplied, a liquid storing chamber formed in the first surface and storing the liquid, a second channel having a discharge port through which the liquid in the liquid storing chamber is discharged, and a pressure adjusting unit that supplies the liquid from the first channel to the liquid storing chamber according to pressure in the liquid storing chamber and that located between the first surface and the second surface. The supply port is formed in the second surface of the base body or formed in the side surface of the base body.

Channel structure, liquid ejecting unit, and liquid ejecting apparatus

A liquid reservoir unit includes a reservoir portion, an outflow portion disposed at a position near a first end of the reservoir portion, and an inflow portion disposed at a position near the first end of the reservoir portion. The outflow portion includes an outflow opening opened to an interior of the reservoir portion, and the inflow portion includes an inflow opening opened to the interior of the reservoir portion. The outflow opening and the inflow opening are located at different positions in a width direction which is a lengthwise direction of the reservoir portion when the reservoir portion is viewed from the first end, and also located at different positions in a depth direction from the first end toward a second end on the opposite side to the first end.

Liquid reservoir unit, liquid ejecting apparatus, and maintenance method for liquid ejecting apparatus

In a method of controlling a liquid discharge device, the liquid discharge device includes a liquid discharge unit and at least one valve body. The liquid discharge unit discharges from a nozzle liquid supplied from at least one supply channel. The at least one valve body opens/closes the at least one supply channel. The method includes first control and second control. The first control causes a pressure to be applied to the liquid so as to supply the liquid to the at least one supply channel. The second control causes an external force to operate the at least one valve body operable in accordance with a pressure on a downstream side of the at least one valve body so as to adjust and hold a degree of opening of the at least one valve body in a range between a closed state and a full-open state.

Liquid discharge device and method of controlling the same

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head provided with a nozzle and a cap that executes capping for forming a first space to which the nozzle is open, in a surrounding manner. The cap includes a capping member that is provided with a suction hole and an atmosphere communicating hole which is configured to allow an inside of the cap to communicate with an outside, a liquid absorber that is disposed inside the capping member, and a reception member that is disposed inside the capping member so as to form a second space between the liquid absorber and the reception member. The second space is positioned closer to a side of the liquid ejecting head than to the liquid absorber in a posture of capping, and the atmosphere communicating hole is open to the second space.

Liquid ejecting apparatus and cap

There is provided a flexible membrane mechanism that is used in a valve mechanism, the flexible membrane mechanism including: a lid member; a flexible membrane that forms a space between the lid member and the flexible membrane; and a fluid flow path that communicates with the space, in which the flexible membrane is deformed such that a valve of the valve mechanism is opened and closed and includes a protrusion portion that becomes a projection toward the lid member and becomes a recess toward the opposite side of the projection.

Flexible membrane mechanism, flow path member, and liquid ejecting apparatus

A valve unit includes a valve seat that has a hole provided therethrough, the hole serving as part of a flow path, and a valve body that moves in a first direction relative to the valve seat. In the valve unit, the valve body includes a first portion that opens/closes the hole in collaboration with the valve seat, a second portion that is located inside the hole when viewed in the first direction, and a third portion that is located between the first portion and the second portion in the first direction and is located inside the hole while the hole is closed by the first portion. When viewed in the first direction, a gap between the hole and the third portion is larger than a gap between the hole and the second portion.

Valve unit and liquid ejecting apparatus

A liquid discharging head includes an external cover portion which is connected to a liquid discharging apparatus and which discharges a liquid from a nozzle, in which the external cover portion includes a first gas hole for communicating a first gas flow path which is provided inside the external cover portion with an atmosphere, a second gas hole for carrying a gas between a second gas flow path which is provided inside the external cover portion and the liquid discharging apparatus, and a first liquid hole for carrying the liquid between a liquid flow path which is provided inside the external cover portion and the liquid discharging apparatus, and in which the first gas hole and the second gas hole are disposed separately in the external cover portion.

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Shiojiri, Japan

Hisashi Sato