Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Masasumi Nagashima

Osamu Asakura

Mineo Nozaki

Yoshio Uchikata

Kazuya Iwata

Yoshiyuki Shimamura

Tetsuya Ishikawa

Seiji Takahashi

Yuji Kanome

Kenji Kawazoe

Takahiro Ohde

Jun Katayanagi

Richard Nibley

Masami Ikeda

Akio Saito

Hiroshi Sugitani

Kazuaki Masuda

Tsuyoshi Orikasa

Yoshifumi Hattori

Asao Saito

Yasuhiro Unosawa

Tetsuo Kimura

Takeji Niikura

Yasushi Koike

Kou Hasegawa

Keiji Nagira

Sadao Iwakura

When the vicinity of discharge ports of the recording head of an ink jet recording apparatus is wiped for cleaning, ink is prevented from splashing in order to avoid any spoilage in the interior of a recording apparatus due to ink stains resulting from ink splashing. The apparatus is provided with a wiping blade which is shifted to abut upon or retract from a discharge port surface of the recording head. The recording head is moved so that a relative speed is generated between the wiping blade and the recording head when the wiping blade abuts upon the recording head to clean the discharge port surface thereof. The wiping blade is retracted from the recording head in a direction parting from the recording head while there is a relative speed between the recording head and the wiping blade; the wiping blade is retracted from the recording head while the wiping blade is allowed to rotate.

Ink jet recording apparatus having wiping blade ink splash prevention

The present invention relates to a discharge recovery processing of an ink jet recording apparatus which forms an image on the recording medium by discharging the ink. The invention aims to prevent the increase in the running costs and the shortened life of a waste ink tank by preventing the wasteful ink consumption which may be caused by the dual use of an automatic recovery processing and a manual recovery processing after the replacement of an ink tank. Also, the invention further aims to provide an ink jet recording apparatus with high safety and reliability as well as effecting an appropriate recovery by controlling the movement of head in involving the recovery.

Ink jet recording apparatus having discharge recovery means

A recording apparatus for performing recording on a recording medium with an ink jet recording head capable of ink jetting is described. The recording head is closed by capping after turning off the power source or during waiting or when no data is provided from a host unit for a predetermined period of time. To ensure reliable capping, the position of the carriage carrying the head is recognized. According to the invention, in a case when jumping of teeth occurs in a carriage motor drive system gear due to external disturbance of carriage running, the error that occurs in the carriage position recognition is held within one step so that there is no adverse effect on the capping executed during non-recording time such as when recording is ended or when absorbing recovering is executed.

Recording apparatus with ink jet recording head

In a recording apparatus using a plurality of kinds of head cartridges each comprising an ink jet recording head and an ink tank formed as a unit, the present invention prevents, when a wrong head cartridge has been mounted during cartridge exchange, data regarding the remain of ink in a thitherto used cartridge of other kind from being lost, and enables the remain of ink in that cartridge to be confirmed. A user is pressed for the exchange of the head cartridge now mounted to thereby effect the exchange actually, and is called on to confirm whether the newly mounted head cartridge is a right one, and the initialization of the data regarding the remain of ink is effected when the user has done the inputting of the confirmation.

Recording apparatus which allows ink amount detection upon exchange of a

An ink jet recording apparatus is provided with at least one first electrode at least in either a recording head or ink retaining member, dielectric adjacent to the first electrode or laying between the first electrodes, a second electrode electrically connected to the first electrode through the dielectric and ink, power supply to apply and release voltage to and from the first electrode, potential difference detector for detecting the potential of the second electrode, and equivalent circuit to determine the ink remains at least in either one of the recording head and ink retaining member in accordance with the potential of the second electrode detected by potential difference detector. In this way, it is possible to provide an ink jet recording apparatus having equivalent circuit for detecting ink shortage, and expect a highly precise detection thereof, and also, to provide information processing systems having such recording apparatus for its output device.

Ink jet recording apparatus, method for determining reduced ink remains,

An ink jet recording apparatus having an ink jet recording head and a cap. The apparatus includes a recording head, the recording head having a discharge port face with a discharge port arranged thereon, and a recovery device, the recovery device including the cap for covering the discharge port face, the cap having an interior and including a body portion and an edge portion opposing the discharge port face and having a leading end, the edge portion including an elastic member for covering a periphery of the discharge port, wherein during a capping operation a plane defined by the leading end of the edge portion is not parallel to the discharge port face and the edge portion is not displaced in a direction different from a capping direction between the cap and the ink jet recording head. A part of the leading end of the edge portion in contact with the discharge port face defines a contact portion between the leading end of the edge portion and the discharge port face, and the contact portion increases during the capping operation as the leading end approaches the discharge port face and gradually comes into contact with the discharge port face, the discharge port face being capped with the entire leading end of the edge portion in contact therewith when the capping operation is terminated.

Suction recovery device with a cap having a shape corresponding to a

A display unit is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to a main body of an electronic apparatus. An inlet for manually inserting a sheet is provided in the vicinity of the center of rotation of the display unit, and a sheet feeding device capable of continuously feeding sheets is provided so as to be detachable with respect to the inlet. It is thereby possible to supply a sheet from the front side of the electronic apparatus.

Electronic apparatus capable of feeding sheets from a front side, and

A recording apparatus for recording by discharging plural kinds of ink from the recording head to a recording medium comprises detection device for detecting the decrease of ink remains of each ink of the plural kinds of ink, ink amount indication device arranged in a number smaller than the number of the plural kinds of ink, and signal outputting device for outputting signals which enables the decrease of ink remains having the least amount of ink remains to be displayed on the ink amount indication device in accordance with the results of plural detections by the detection device. In this way, only the ink remains having the least ink remains among those kinds of ink in use is indicated on the display, not the ink remains of all the kinds of ink, thus making it possible to minimize the number of indication devices to make the indication device simpler and smaller or minimize the area on the screen of the display assigned for indicating the ink remains in order to save it for indicating more information other than the ink remains.

Recording apparatus and method for indicating decrease of ink remains

A record apparatus to which a recording head is removably attached is disclosed, for example, a serial printer to which the recording head is removably attached to a carriage. An electric connecting portion is provided on the carriage so that it is connected to an electric connecting portion of the recording head to supply the recording head with drive signals when the head is mounted on the carriage. A lid is provided which covers the electric connecting portion when the recording head is not mounted on the carriage, and which opens when the recording head is mounted on the carriage. This makes it possible for the electric connecting portion to be electrically and mechanically protected when the recording head is not mounted.

Recording apparatus with means for mounting a recording head

An ink ribbon cassette has a case housing an ink ribbon inside. Holes for receiving positioning members are formed at the two ends of a front portion of the case, and an engaging member is formed at the center of a rear portion of the case. One of the positioning members also serves as an ink ribbon end detector. A printing apparatus for printing using such an ink ribbon cassette has a carriage, projections and a spring. Thus, the slackening of the ink ribbon will not occur in the printing mode.

Printing apparatus and ink ribbon cassette therefor

A recording apparatus for recording information with a recording head having a plurality of recording elements while keeping a designated distance between the recording head and a recording medium has an information acquisition device for acquiring distance information between the plurality of recording elements and the recording medium, a correction device for providing a correction value for a recording timing for each recording element of the recording head in accordance with the distance information acquired by the information acquisition device, and a control device for controlling the recording head to record at a timing corrected with the correction value provided by the correction device.

Recording apparatus and method compensating for varying gap between

Recording apparatus with ink jet recording head and capping device

A carriage, movable along a predetermined path, for detachably mounting thereon an ink jet recording head includes an abutment portion for positioning the recording head in a horizontal direction; an engageable member, disposed at a side of the carriage facing in a movement direction thereof, for engaging with the recording head, the engageable member is rotatable and translatable; and an operating lever, disposed at a side of the carriage facing in the movement direction, for translating and rotating the engageable member to abut the recording head to the abutment portion, and for rotating the recording head about the abutment portion; a second abutment portion for abutment with the rotating recording head to stop it in one rotational direction; and an urging member for urging the recording head to the second abutment portion, wherein the recording head is mounted on and dismounted from the carrier by moving the operating lever in one direction and by moving it in the opposite direction, respectively.

Ink jet recording head carriage and an apparatus with same

A suction recovery device comprises a cap for covering a discharge port face of a recording head for discharging ink onto a recording medium. The cap has an ink suction port and an ink exhaust path communicating with the ink suction port. A cap direct contact member carries said cap and has a guide path communicating with the exhaust path for guiding the ink in an exhaust direction. A communicating member for communicating the guide path and exhaust path is provided on a direct contact portion where the exhaust path and guide path contact with each other. The communicating member is carried with the elasticity exhibited by at least one of the exhaust path and guide path and suction means exerts suction power on the inside of the cap through the communicating member.

Suction recovery device with a cap having a communicating member to aid

A printer has a platen for holding a recording paper sheet, a thermal head which is arranged to oppose the platen and which is urged against and prints on the paper sheet in response to a recording signal, a pivot lever for urging or separating the thermal head against or from the platen, a drive source for moving one of the thermal head and the paper sheet relative to the other, so that a new recording surface of the paper sheet sequentially opposes a front surface of the thermal head, a slide clutch for feeding an ink ribbon guided between the paper sheet and the thermal head, and an intermediate rotary body driven by a straight rail member, both of which are interposed between and couple the slide clutch and the drive source, thereby actuating the slide clutch when the thermal head is urged against the platen.

Growing community of inventors

Yokohama, Japan

Masasumi Nagashima