Seiko Epson Corporation

Kazuhiko Sato

Yukihiro Hanaoka

Tsutomu Yamazaki

Atsushi Nishioka

Masahiro Fujii

Koji Kitahara

Hiroyuki Maruyama

Tadaaki Hagata

Chiyoshige Nakazawa

Hiroshi Mukai

Shigeo Nojima

Katsuko Aoki

Taro Takekoshi

Keiichi Mukaiyama

Tomohiro Makigaki

Kenichi Kato

Youichi Kubomura

Hiroyuki Nakamura

Masaru Kobashi

Satoshi Chiba

Tetsushi Takahashi

Kenichiro Arai

Toru Tanjo

Yusuke Sakagami

Yuichi Segawa

Toshio Nakata

Hiroshi Narita

Shigeo Sugimura

Hirokazu Ono

Ayumi Yokoo

Yuki Hirabayashi

Kunihiro Inoue

Tadashi Shimizu

Atushi Nishioka

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head configured to eject a liquid, a liquid supply flow path configured to supply the liquid from a liquid container containing the liquid to the liquid ejecting head, a pressurizing portion pressurizing an inside of the liquid supply flow path, and an solenoid valve which is provided in the liquid supply flow path and which opens the liquid supply flow path during energization and closes the liquid supply flow path during de-energization, in which open and closed states of the solenoid valve are forcibly switched in accordance with a pressure change by the pressurizing portion.

Liquid ejecting apparatus

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head that has a nozzle to eject a liquid and a plurality of surfaces including a nozzle surface in which the nozzle opens, a wiping unit including a first wiping unit for wiping the nozzle surface and a second wiping unit for wiping a surface different from the nozzle surface of the liquid ejecting head, a moving mechanism to relatively move the wiping unit and the liquid ejecting head, and a cleaning member including a cleaning section for cleaning the first wiping unit and the second wiping unit.

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a line head which ejects liquid from a plurality of nozzles with respect to a medium, a wiping member that is able to wipe a nozzle forming surface on which the nozzles are formed, and an electronic mounting member that governs an electronic control, in which the wiping member is attachable and detachable with respect to the liquid ejecting apparatus, and the electronic mounting member is disposed at a location which is different from below an attachment/detachment path when the wiping member is attached and detached.

Provided is a liquid ejecting apparatus having a wiping device which performs a first wiping operation in which the first surface wipes the nozzle forming surface while setting a contact pressure of a wiper with respect to the nozzle forming surface to a first contact pressure, in a state where the pressurizing portion is driven and the pressure of liquid in the nozzles is set to be equal to or greater than atmospheric pressure and a second wiping operation in which the second surface wipes the nozzle forming surface wiped by the first surface while setting the contact pressure of the wiper with respect to the nozzle forming surface to a second contact pressure less than the first contact pressure.

Provided is a maintenance device including a wiper which wipes attached material on a liquid ejecting portion, a first cleaner which cleans the wiper to which the attached material adheres during wiping, and a second cleaner which cleans the first cleaner to which the attached material adheres during cleaning.

Maintenance device, liquid ejecting apparatus, and maintenance method

A method for manufacturing an electrostatic actuator comprises a vibrating plate, an electrode plate facing the vibrating plate, and a vibrating chamber formed between the electrode plate and the vibrating plate, wherein the vibrating plate is displaced by electrostatic force, by applying voltage between the vibrating plate and the electrode plate, the method comprises: a process for forming a pressure compensating chamber communicating with the vibrating chamber; a process for forming a displacement plate at a portion of the pressure compensating chamber, displaceable according to external atmospheric pressure, into a warped form curved so as to protrude in a direction away from the facing inner wall of the pressure compensating chamber; and a process for shutting off and sealing the pressure compensating chamber from the external atmosphere, along with the vibrating chamber.

Method for manufacturing an electrostatic actuator

In a pump driver for selectively driving a plurality of pumps, a sun gear is rotated by a single drive source. A planetary gear is meshed with the sun gear. A planetary carrier rotatably supports the planetary gear revolvably around the sun gear. A plurality of driving gears are arranged in a one-by-one manner with respect to the pumps such that the planetary gear meshes with one of the driving gears to selectively drive one of the pumps. A revolution limiter allows a revolution of the planetary gear in a first direction and restricts a revolution of the planetary gear in a second direction opposite to the first direction at a position where the planetary gear meshes with one of the driving gears.

Ink pump selective driver and ink jet printer incorporating the same

An electrostatic ink-jet head ( ) in which the present invention is applied comprises a pressure chamber ( ) communicating with an ink nozzle ( ), and an atmospheric pressure chamber ( ) opened to the atmosphere, with a vibrating plate ( ) being provided on the base plane of the pressure chamber ( ). Voltage applied between the vibrating plate ( ) and an electrode ( ) causes the vibrating plate ( ) to vibrate due to electrostatic force, thereby discharging ink droplets. A vibrating chamber ( ) communicates with a pressure compensating chamber ( ), and a displacement plate ( ) capable of being displaced in the direction outward from the plane according to fluctuations in the external, atmospheric pressure is formed at the base plane of the pressure compensating chamber ( ). Displacement of the displacement plate ( ) increases/decreases the volume of the pressure compensating chamber ( ), and the internal pressure of the vibrating chambers ( ) communicating thereof is adjusted to match the external atmospheric pressure. Accordingly, the vibration properties of the vibrating plate ( ) can be maintained constant even when the external atmospheric pressure fluctuates, and proper ink droplet discharging action can be maintained.

Electrostatic actuator, manufacturing method therefor, and liquid discharging device using the same

Methods for manufacturing an electrostatic actuator that comprises electrode members having opposing surfaces with a gap disposed therebetween. In an ink jet head, a bottom surface of a diaphragm may be one of the electrodes (common electrode) of an eletrostatic actuator, the diaphragm forming a wall of an ink chamber in the ink jet head that is displaced relatively by an electrostatic force. A hydrophobic film, preferably hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS), is formed on at least one of the opposing electrode surfaces to improve the durability of the electrostatic actuator so that electrostatic attraction between opposing electrode members does not decrease and the opposing electrode members do not stick together. HMDS molecules are smaller than PFDA molecules, and a uniform, variation-free hydrophobic film can therefore be formed even when the gap between opposing electrodes is narrow. Durability and film stability of a HMDS hydrophobic film are also high. An electrostatic actuator with high durability and operating stability can thus be achieved.

Methods for manufacturing an electrostatic actuator

A connection unit for an inkjet head whereby an ink supply passage is formed by bonding an inkjet head component to a case member such that ink ejection problems do not occur, ink does not leak, reliability is high, and manufacturing is simple. A bonding channel,encircling an ink supply opening,is provided between the bonding surfaces of the head component,and head case,. Adhesive is then injected from an adhesive injection opening,to fill the bonding channel to an vent hole

Connection unit for an inkjet head, and an inkjet cartridge and inkjet printer using the same

An electrostatic actuator comprising opposing electrode members displaced relatively by an electrostatic force is provided with improved durability so that electrostatic attraction between opposing members does not drop and the opposing electrode members do not stick together. Hydrophobic films of hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) are formed on a surface of segment electrode and a bottom surface of a diaphragm (common electrode) of an eletrostatic actuator wherein the diaphragm forms a wall of an ink chamber in an ink jet head. HMDS molecules are smaller than PFDA molecules, and a uniform, variation-free hydrophobic film can therefore be formed even when the gap between opposing electrodes is narrow. Durability and film stability of a HMDS hydrophobic film are also high. An electrostatic actuator with high durability and operating stability can thus be achieved.

Electrostatic actuator and manufacturing method therefor

An ink jet printer is disclosed, which jets a water-soluble ink from a recording head comprising at least an ink passage-forming member and an orifice through the orifice to form flying droplets which form a dot image on a recording medium, wherein at least a portion of the ink passage-forming member is composed of borosilicate glass and the water-soluble ink comprises at least one of urea and thiourea. Further, an ink for use in the ink jet printer is also disclosed.

Ink jet printer and ink for ink jet recording

To provide a highly reliable and easy-to-manufacture ink jet head connection unit, in which ink supply paths are formed by gluing a substrate on which head component is formed to other components, that is free of ink ejection failure and ink leakage. A head component and case component 240 equipped with opening 241 on the bottom of which supply port 257 for supplying ink to head component 210 and concave area 243 to be filled with an adhesive are formed, are provided. Space 248 to be filled with an adhesive for joining head component 210 and case component 240 when case component 240 and head component 210 are coupled, is formed inside the joined case.

Growing community of inventors

Matsumoto, Japan

Kazuhiko Sato