Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Kenichirou Hashimoto

Soichi Hiramatsu

Hideo Fukazawa

Hiroshi Nakai

Hirofumi Hirano

Yoshinori Watanabe

Kosuke Yamamoto

Yoichi Tosaka

Kunihiko Maeoka

Shinichi Hirasawa

Yoshitaka Okamura

An ink container includes at least one partition dividing the container into plural ink chambers connected in series through an ink path in each the partition; an air vent for communicating a first ink chamber with the atmosphere and an ink supply port for supplying ink from a second ink chamber; wherein the ink path in each the partition provides for an ink flow to the supply port that empties each the chamber in the series in turn as ink is supplied from the supply port; wherein the second ink chamber has a volume smaller than another ink chamber.

Ink container with plural ink chambers emptied sequentially, and recording apparatus having the same

A printer apparatus includes a carriage for moving a printer head in a reciprocal manner, a carriage supporting member for guiding the movement of the carriage by slidably supporting the carriage using a sliding supporting member which slidably supports the carriage, and a displacement portion which is provided to the carriage and is capable of displacement along the surface of the sliding member within a plane which is vertical to the movement direction of the carriage. This arrangement allows stable running of the carriage even if irregularities in height such as offsets exist in the sliding portion of the supporting member which slidably supports the carriage.

Printing apparatus with displaceable carriage guiding member

An ink jet recording method wherein ink is ejected onto a recording material, includes providing an ink jet head having a predetermined number of first ejection outlets for ejecting black ink and a smaller number of second ejection outlets for ejecting ink different from the black ink; effecting recording operation, while scanningly moving the ink jet head in a direction different from a direction in which the recording material is fed, using m second ejection outlets, m+k or m-k first ejection outlets; feeding the recording material through mxp, where p is an interval at which the ejection outlets are arranged; shifting a range of use of the first ejection outlets in a direction of feeding of the recording material; and repeating said recording, feeding and shifting steps.

Color recording apparatus and method

A black ink cartridge is mounted on a carriage capable of scanning along a guide shaft, and when a projection of the carriage rides on a sensor within the scanning range of the carriage, the weight of the black ink cartridge is detected.

Apparatus or instrument including scanning type functional element

An ink jet recording method including the steps of providing a movable carriage having a sensor and which carries a recording head, as well as a plurality of flags in a movable range of the carriage. The method further includes the steps of determining a position of the carriage on a basis of an output of the sensor responsive to the flags, effecting a movement of the carriage through a predetermined distance on the basis of the output of the sensor, and effecting a predetermined operation on the basis of an output of the sensor.

Ink jet recording method using movable detection flags

An ink cartridge, including a casing, an ink container provided in the casing, an ink absorbing material provided in the casing, and an ink supply port in communication with the ink container to supply ink from the ink container to an outside of the case. An ink receiving port is provided in communication with the ink absorbing material and a projection from the casing adjacent the supply port prevents erroneous loading of the cartridge. The projection also allows an operator to quickly understand the inserting direction of the cartridge and allows the cartridge to be placed on a surface without ink from the cartridge contaminating the surface.

Ink cartridge including projection for preventing erroneous loading

A recording apparatus includes a recording head for effecting a recording operation on a recording material while it is being moved; a plurality of detectors for detecting plural conditions of the apparatus; and a controller for effecting the recording operation in accordance with the conditions detected by the detectors. The plurality of detectors includes a detecting element movable together with the recording head and a plurality of members to be detected corresponding to the conditions of the apparatus and disposed along a movement path of the detecting element.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Kenichirou Hashimoto