Oki Data Corporation

Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.

Shigemi Togashi

Kotaro Yoshimura

Osamu Watanabe

Minoru Isobe

Toshimasa Shiobara

Keiichiro Yamazaki

Koutaro Yoshimura

Kazumitsu Sunohara

A carriage accommodates a plurality of ink tanks including a first ink tank and second ink tanks, all being detachably attached in the carriage. Each ink tank holds ink of a color different from others. The carriage further includes a plurality of ink entrances provided therein, each ink entrance receiving ink from a corresponding ink tank. The first ink tank is generally L-shaped and has an ink capacity larger than any of the second ink tanks. The first ink tank holds, for example, black ink therein. The first ink tank and the second ink tanks are attached in the carriage in such a fashion that the first ink tank holds the second tanks in a space defined by the L-shape. The first and second ink tanks are formed with engagement portions which engage each other in a complementary relation when the ink tanks have been assembled in the carriage. The first ink tank has at least one ink exit and may further include caps. The ink exit and the caps are formed in alignment with the ink entrances in the carriage.

Ink jet printer

An ink jet printer has a first transporting section adapted to transport a medium on which information is printed. The first transporting section has a first contact area in contact with the medium. A second transporting section is adapted to transport the medium and has a second contact area in contact with the medium. The second contact area is smaller than the first contact area. A selector selectively causes the first and second transporting sections to move into contact engagement with the medium to transport the medium.

An ink cassette is used in an ink jet printer and has nozzles through which ink is ejected. The ink cassette has a pair of nozzle levers with a cap formed between their free ends. The cap closes the nozzles when the nozzle levers pivot to a closing position and leaves the nozzles exposed when the levers pivot to an opening position. A carriage unit receives the ink cassette therein and moves between a print area and a non-print area. The carriage unit has supports on which the ink cassette pivots between a first position and a second position. When the ink cassette pivots to the first position, the ink cassette is engaged with a lock lever which holds the ink cassette in position, and the nozzle lever is engaged with lugs formed on the carriage unit which cause the nozzle levers to pivot to the opening position when the ink cassette is moved to the first position. The carriage unit may have a drive lever pivotally supported on the carriage unit and the aforementioned lug may be formed on a free end of the drive lever. The drive lever pivots between a third position where the lug engages the nozzle lever causing the nozzle lever to pivot to the opening position, and a fourth position where the post disengages from the nozzle causing the nozzle lever to pivot to the closing position.

Ink jet printer having a capping mechanism

A printer having a printer body and a print unit is disclosed. The printer body has an upper surface that supports a sheet in a horizontal plane and a drive roller below the horizontal plane. The print unit has a print head and a driven roller and rotates about the drive roller. The print unit is rotatable to printing and non-printing positions in which the printing unit is above and below the horizontal plane, respectively. A data processing apparatus having a printing unit with a print head, a display unit with a cover and display, and an input body with an upper surface that defines a horizontal plane is also disclosed. The display unit is rotatable to open and closed positions. The printing unit is above the horizontal plane in a printing position when the display unit is in the open position and below the horizontal plane in a non-printing position when the display unit is in the closed position. In the printing position, the print head is in a first orientation, and in the non-printing position, the print head is in a second orientation at about a right angle with respect to the first orientation.

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Tokyo, Japan

Shigemi Togashi