Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Isao Kubo

Takahiro Ikeno

Hidenobu Kondo

Kyoichi Morita

Yuji Koga

Yasunari Yoshida

Masayuki Takata

Katsuro Miura

Jiro Yamamoto

Takahiko Watari

Hideki Arimoto

Ryuji Horata

Satoshi Yoshioka

Daiki Higashiguchi

Yoshinori Osakabe

Kenta Horade

Takashi Ohama

Hisaki Sakurai

Motohito Muraki

Kenichi Dan

Masayoshi Hayashi

Nobumasa Tanaka

Zenichiro Sasaki

Yuta Toda

Takafumi Nakase

There is provided a liquid ejection apparatus including: a liquid ejection head; a signal outputter configured to output an ejection state signal; and a controller. The ejection state signal is a first or second ejection state signal, the first ejection state signal fulfills a first condition regarding a maximum value and/or a minimum value in a first period and does not fulfill a second condition regarding the maximum value and/or the minimum value in a second period after the first period; the second ejection state signal does not fulfill the first condition in the first period and fulfills the second condition in the second period. The controller is configured to vary a process to be performed between a case in which the ejection state signal outputted is the first ejection state signal and a case in which the ejection state signal outputted is the second ejection state signal.

Liquid ejection apparatus and control method therefor

A printing system includes a controller. The controller is configured to: receive first condition information related to an ejection failure in a printer; determine a maintenance manner applicable to the first condition information; cause the printer to perform a maintenance in the determined maintenance manner; receive second condition information related to the ejection failure in the printer after the maintenance is performed; determine whether an ejection performance in the printer has been improved based on the second condition information in response to performing the maintenance; update an evaluation index in accordance with determination of whether the ejection performance in the printer has been improved, the evaluation index corresponding to the determined maintenance manner.

Printing system

A liquid ejection apparatus includes a controller configured to perform: causing a voltage application circuit to apply a voltage between a liquid ejection head having a plurality of nozzles and an electrode; driving the liquid ejection head for causing a certain nozzle to eject liquid toward a cap in a state where the plurality of nozzles face the cap; receiving a signal from a signal output circuit; determining, based on the received signal, whether the certain nozzle has ejected liquid normally; determining, based on the received signal, whether a leakage current has occurred between the certain nozzle and the electrode; and specifying the certain nozzle as a leakage nozzle if the leakage current has occurred between the certain nozzle and the electrode.

Liquid ejection apparatus

In a liquid ejection apparatus, a controller of the liquid ejection apparatus is configured to, in response to receiving a recording instruction to instruct the liquid ejection apparatus to perform image recording on a recording medium, perform ejection inspection to determine whether liquid is ejected from each nozzle of a liquid ejection head toward an electrode based on a signal outputted from a signal output circuit. For the ejection inspection, the controller is configured to control a voltage applying circuit to apply an inspection voltage between the electrode and the liquid ejection head. In response to detecting that a leakage current greater than a predetermined value flows between the electrode and the liquid ejection head, the controller is configured to cancel the ejection inspection and control a voltage applying circuit to apply a reverse voltage opposite in polarity to the inspection voltage between the electrode and the liquid ejection head.

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes an ejection portion and a circuit. The ejection portion has a plurality of ejection ports configured to eject liquid supplied from a liquid storage portion defining a liquid storage space configured to store liquid. The circuit is electrically connected to at least one of a bottom electrode and a side electrode. The circuit is configured to detect a capacitance between the bottom electrode and the side electrode. The bottom electrode is provided at a bottom surface of the liquid storage portion. The side electrode is provided at one side surface of the liquid storage portion and electrically isolated from the bottom electrode.

Liquid ejecting apparatus and cartridge

An image forming apparatus may includes a central processing device, a first switching regulator and a second switching regulator. The central processing device may perform information processing associated with image formation. The first switching regulator may receive an input of a first voltage and output a second voltage which is lower than the first voltage. The second switching regulator may receive an input of the second voltage and output a third voltage which is lower than the second voltage. The third voltage may be input to the central processing device. A first switching frequency which is a switching frequency of the first switching regulator may be lower than a second switching frequency which is a switching frequency of the second switching regulator.

Image forming apparatus

An image reading apparatus includes: a reading unit having a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements arranged in a main scanning direction; a white reference plate arranged to face the reading unit; a motor configured to move at least one of an original and the reading unit relative to each other; and a controller configured to: control the reading unit to read the white reference plate to obtain white reference data; determine, based on a driving velocity of the motor, whether relative position between the original and the reading unit has changed by a predetermined distance; and output a displacement signal in a case of determining that the relative position between the original and the reading unit has changed by the predetermined distance.

Image reading apparatus with adjustable read timing

An image forming apparatus may be configured to enter a first state where electric power is supplied from a power supply and a second state where no electric power is supplied from the power supply. A capacitor may be connected to the power supply, and may be charged by the power supply in the first state. A controller may be connected to the capacitor, and may operate with electric power supplied from the capacitor in the second state. The controller may operate with electric power supplied from the power supply in the first state. The controller may cause the image forming apparatus to enter the first state upon detecting that the image forming apparatus is in a predetermined state. The controller may acquire the related information and may cause the image forming apparatus to enter the second state.

An image reading apparatus includes: a reading unit which reads an original as an object to be read in a main scanning direction every time a command signal is inputted; a command unit which inputs the command signal to the reading unit; a conveying unit which conveys at least one of the original and the reading unit so as to change a relative position between the reading unit and the original in a sub scanning direction; a signal output unit which outputs a displacement signal every time the relative position is changed by a predetermined amount; and a control unit which controls the command unit. The command unit which operates in a first mode to output the command signal to the reading unit at a predetermined time interval and in a second mode to output the command signal to the reading unit at a timing synchronized with the displacement signal.

Image reading apparatus

An image reading apparatus includes: a command unit which generates a command signal periodically; a reading unit which reads an original in accordance with the command signal every time the command signal is generated; a conveying unit which conveys at least one of the reading unit and the original so as to change a relative position between the reading unit and the original; a signal output unit which outputs a displacement signal every time the relative position is changed by a predetermined amount corresponding to a reading interval; and a control unit which controls a generation timing of the command signal by the command unit. A generation period of the command signal is less than an output time interval of the displacement signal.

A liquid ejecting device has a liquid ejecting head to eject ink to a sheet-like object, a carriage mounting the liquid ejecting head, a conveying device which conveys the sheet-like object with holding the sheet-like object to have a corrugated shape having a corrugated cross-section in the scanning direction, a detecting unit which detects an end portion of the sheet-like object in the scanning direction, and a processor. The processor is configured to execute instructions to provide an ejection timing determining unit configured to determine an ejection timing at which the liquid is ejected from the liquid ejecting head in accordance with positional information representing the end portion detected by the detecting unit and reference information, and an ejection control unit configured to control the liquid ejecting head and the carriage to eject the liquid from the liquid ejecting head at the timing determined by the ejection timing determining unit.

Liquid ejecting device, liquid ejecting method and recording medium storing programs for liquid ejecting device

An inkjet printer is provided that includes a control device configured to determine an ink discharge moment when an inkjet head discharges an ink droplet from nozzles while moving within at least one of a acceleration range to accelerate the inkjet head and a deceleration range to decelerate the inkjet head, based on a distance between an ink discharge surface of the inkjet head and a recording sheet held in a predetermined wave shape and an amount of change in a moving velocity of the inkjet head.

Inkjet printer

A multifunction device including an image recording unit and a scanner unit is provided. The scanner unit includes an image readable plane. The image recording unit includes a first tray, a conveyer path to convey the recording sheet in a first orientation, and a second tray, which is formed along an edge of an opening formed on the front face, and in which the recording sheet having been conveyed in the conveyer path is disposed. The recording sheet in a maximum conveyable size for the conveyer path is disposed to occupy a discharge area in the second tray. A downstream end of the discharge area along a second orientation is in a displaced and downstream position with respect to a downstream end of an image readable area of the image readable plane along the second orientation for a first distance.

Multifunction device with scanner unit offset from recording sheet tray

A power supply system includes a switching power supply configured to rectify and smooth an AC voltage of an AC power to generate a DC voltage, a controller configured to control the switching power supply to start or stop operating, and a low-capacity power supply comprising a power supply capacity smaller than that of the switching power supply. The low-capacity power supply is configured to supply power to the controller. The power supply system can further include a detecting circuit configured to detect an output voltage of the low-capacity power supply, and a permission circuit configured to permit a startup of the switching power supply when the output voltage detected by the detecting circuit is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

Growing community of inventors

Tokoname, Japan

Isao Kubo