Seiko Epson Corporation

Sieko Epson Corporation

Shozo Kuwada

Nobuhito Takahashi

Shuhei Harada

Atsushi Yoshida

Hitoshi Hayakawa

Takashi Mano

Koji Harada

Tsutomu Kobayashi

A flexible tube has a first portion and a second portion located close to each other in the vicinity of an opening of an accommodating case. A pressing member moves from the first portion to the second portion along the tube while pressing a portion of the tube. An assistant member is provided in the vicinity of the opening of the case. The assistant member has an assistant surface. When the pressing member passes the vicinity of the opening of the case, the assistant member transfers the pressing member from the second portion to the first portion via the assistant surface. This structure ensures a silent operation of the tube pump.

Tube pump and liquid ejection apparatus

An inkjet recording device includes a recording head and a cap placed in tight contact with a nozzle forming surface for defining a sealed space. A head moving mechanism moves the recording head along a direction in which the nozzle forming surface is extended, toward or separately from a contact position at which the cap is placed in tight contact with the recording head. A cap moving mechanism moves the cap toward or separately from the contact position at which the cap is placed in tight contact with the nozzle forming surface. A cap holding mechanism including a slider holds the cap such that the cap is allowed to slide along a moving direction of the recording head and positions the cap at the contact position.

Liquid injection apparatus

A printer includes a cleaning mechanism that reliably performs an operation of cleaning a liquid ejecting head with a small amount of driving energy. The cleaning mechanism includes a cap manufactured by coinjection molding of a core part and an elastic part. The cap includes a bottom surface, an outer wall, and a partition wall dividing a cap inner space surrounded by the outer wall into two. A ratio of the elastic part in the partition wall is higher than that in the outer wall. With this structure, the partition wall is more elastically deformable than the outer wall. When the cap comes into contact with a nozzle surface of a recording head and covers nozzle rows, the outer wall comes into contact with the nozzle surface with a larger stress compared with the partition wall, and seals chambers where the nozzle rows on the nozzle surface are exposed.

Liquid ejecting apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Nagano-ken, Japan

Shozo Kuwada