Mimaki Engineering Company, Ltd.

Masaki Kodaira

Akihiko Mizusaki

Naoki Takizawa

Yukihiro Uchiyama

Eiji Miyashita

Kazutaka Tamaki

Atsushi Tsuchiya

Kazumi Sakurai

A nozzle-clogging determining device is provided for detecting nozzle clogging without causing an increase in the cost. A nozzle-clogging determining device is configured to detect pass of droplets ejected from a plurality of nozzles of a head of an inkjet printer, and includes a droplet detector and a determination controller. The droplet detector includes a light emitter configured to emit detection light for detecting pass of droplets in a direction intersecting with a traveling direction of droplets, and a light receiver configured to receive the detection light. The determination controller consecutively ejects a plurality of droplets from each nozzle of the head at equal intervals, and has a threshold for performing determination on nozzle clogging on the basis of a light interception rate of the detection light which the light receiver receives when droplets are positioned inside a spot of the detection light which the light receiver receives.

Nozzle-clogging determining device

A droplet detection device includes a light emitting element that emits a detection light for detecting shielding of at least one part by a microdroplet discharged from a nozzle of a head of an ink jet printer in a direction intersecting an advancing direction of the microdroplet; a light receiving element; and a pair of wall portions facing each other and enabling the microdoplet to pass therebetween; where the wall portions have one part of a light path of the detection light from the light emitting element to the light receiving element and allows at least one part of the detection light to be reflected and to reach the light receiving element, and the detection light has a width in a direction equal to a spacing in the direction of the wall portions in a region sandwiched by ends on the light emitting element side of the wall portions.

Droplet detection device and ink jet printer

An inkjet printer system includes a print head, a sub tank, and a sensor. The print head is configured to eject ink. The sub tank includes an ink supply chamber and an ink detection chamber. The ink supply chamber has an ink inlet hole and an ink outlet hole connected to the print head. Ink is supplied to the sub tank through the ink inlet hole. Ink is supplied to the print head from the sub tank through the ink outlet hole. The ink detection chamber communicates with the ink supply chamber. The sensor is configured to detect an amount of ink contained in the sub tank and includes a float member provided in the ink detection chamber to float in the ink.

Inkjet printer system and ink supply apparatus

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Nagano, Japan

Masaki Kodaira