Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Nobuyuki Akaishi

Keitaroh Sakai

Shigeru Morinaga

Tomomi Katoh

Toshiroh Tokuno

Masanori Kusunoki

Fumitaka Kikkawa

Toshitaka Osanai

Jun Ichinowatari

Tetsuya Hiruma

A liquid discharger includes a head including nozzles to discharge liquid from the nozzles, a detachable first container attached to the liquid discharger to accommodate the liquid, a second container connected to the head to accommodate the liquid to be supplied to the head, a supply channel to connect the first container and the second container, an irreversible pump connected to the second container, and a controller to control the irreversible pump to pressurize and decompress the second container to reciprocally move the liquid between the first detachable container and the second container via the supply channel.

Liquid discharger and liquid stirring method

A liquid stirrer includes a removable first liquid container to contain a liquid; a second liquid container having a capacity less than that of the first liquid container; a fluid path between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; a reversible pump disposed on the fluid path; a sensor to detect an amount of the liquid inside the second liquid container, in which the liquid reciprocally moves between the first liquid container and the second liquid container; and a controller to control the reversible pump, based on readings from the sensor, such that a moving amount of the liquid does not exceed the capacity of the second liquid container and that the second container does not go empty.

Liquid stirrer and image forming apparatus including same

A liquid discharger includes a head to discharge liquid droplets, a cap to cover a nozzle face of the head; a cap mover to move the cap to a capping position at which the cap faces the nozzle face of the head or to move the cap to an evacuation position at which the cap does not face the nozzle face of the head. Further, there is a belt arranged to face and clean the cap at the evacuation position, the belt having a width and length enough to cover whole area of a rim of the cap; a conveyer to drive the belt, and a belt cleaner which faces the belt to clean the belt.

Liquid discharger including a head, a cap, a belt, and a belt cleaner

An image forming apparatus is disclosed that includes the pressure adjusting valve including a movable member movably disposed in the pressure adjusting valve, a first throttling part; and a second throttling part, wherein the second throttling part is formed as a gap between an internal wall of the frame of the pressure adjusting valve and the movable member, an internal fluid resistance of the pressure adjusting valve varies in response to the flow rate of the liquid, and when the liquid is discharged from the nozzle, the liquid is fed from the liquid tank to the recording head by the liquid feeding unit in a state where the recording head is in fluid communication with the liquid tank via the pressure adjusting valve.

Image forming apparatus

A head capping member for capping an ejection face of a liquid ejecting head which face is provided with a nozzle for ejecting a liquid drop is provided, which includes a contact part which contacts the ejection face of the head and is made of an elastic member and a recess which forms a closed space together with the ejection head when the contact part contacts the ejection head, wherein a flat part is formed around the recess and an absorbing member is provided on the flat part so as to cover the recess.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Nobuyuki Akaishi