Brother Kogyo Kabushiki-kaisha

Other

Takamasa Usui

Hikaru Kaga

Tsuyoshi Suzuki

Katsunori Nishida

Seiji Shimizu

Yoichiro Shimizu

Masayuki Takata

Yasuhiro Sekiguchi

Hirotake Nakamura

Takaichiro Umeda

Naoya Okazaki

Toyonori Sasaki

Hisaki Sakurai

Tatsuya Shindo

Yoshitsugu Morita

Tomohiro Nodsu

Bing Wang

A piezoelectric actuator includes one piezoelectric layer, a common electrode disposed on the lower surface of the piezoelectric layer and individual electrodes disposed on the upper surface of the piezoelectric layer. In the piezoelectric layer, a plurality of metal patterns arranged at regular intervals in the conveyance direction and in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction and overlapping with pressure chambers are provided substantially at the central part in the direction of the thickness. The metal patterns are not electrically continuous with each other and not electrically continuous with other parts. The metal patterns situated outermost in the conveyance direction are disposed so as to cross the edge of the pressure chamber. Some metal patterns overlap with the individual electrode and the other metal patterns do not overlap with the individual electrode.

Piezoelectric actuator and method of manufacturing piezoelectric actuator

There is provided a method of manufacturing liquid transporting apparatus including: providing a channel unit; providing a piezoelectric actuator having a first and second active portion corresponding to a central portion and an outer periphery portion of the pressure chamber, respectively. The first and second active portions are sandwiched between an upper electrode and an intermediate electrode, and between the upper electrode and a lower electrode, respectively. The method further includes joining the channel unit and the piezoelectric actuator by positioning such that the intermediate electrode overlaps the central portion of the pressure chamber. Accordingly, since it is possible to make the first active portion overlap the central portion of the pressure chamber, it is possible to apply a appropriate pressure to the liquid in the pressure chamber without excessively small deformation of the first active portion.

Method of manufacturing liquid transporting apparatus

A droplet ejecting apparatus, including: a head having a cavity unit with pressure chambers and a piezoelectric actuator; and a voltage application device, the actuator including: first and second active portions; a first potential electrode; a second potential electrode including a second trunk portion; and individual electrodes each having a connection portion, wherein the connection portion is disposed to overlap the second trunk portion as seen in a superposition direction of the cavity unit and the actuator, wherein the individual electrodes are arranged in rows to correspond to rows of the pressure chambers, and all connecting portions belonging to any one row are disposed on the same side in a direction of arrangement of the rows, and wherein the connecting portions of the individual electrodes that belong to one and the other of any adjacent two rows are disposed on mutually opposite sides with respect to the corresponding pressure chambers.

Droplet ejecting apparatus

An ink jet printer including a carriage which is movable relative to a sheet of paper, a recording head which is mounted on the carriage and records an image on the sheet by ejecting a droplet of ink toward the sheet, one or more ink tanks which store the ink or inks to be supplied to the recording head, a buffer tank which is mounted on the carriage, and one or more ink flow passages in which the inks are supplied from the ink tanks to the recording head via the buffer tank. The buffer tank has, at a height position higher than a height position where the recording head is provided, one or more air buffer chambers which accommodate respective amounts of the inks, and collect air bubbles produced in the ink flow passages.

Air bubble removal in an ink jet printer

A liquid ejection device of a first aspect of the invention includes a sub tank capable of fluid communicating with the main tank removably mountable to the liquid ejection device. The sub tank is configured to satisfy the formula: S&#x2212;S&#x2266;M&#x2212;Mwhere Sis a liquid amount in the sub tank in a balanced state at which the liquid has flowed into the sub tank by a hydraulic head pressure on mounting the main tank with the liquid fully filled; Sis a liquid amount in the sub tank in a state where the liquid level is positioned at the outlet of the sub tank; Mis a liquid amount in the main tank when the liquid is fully filled in the main tank; and Mis a liquid amount in the main tank in a state where the liquid level is positioned at a threshold level.

Liquid ejection device

There is provides an inkjet recording apparatus comprising: an inkjet head held in a head holder; and an ink tank mounted on the head holder. The ink tank has an ink chamber, a path for communicating the chamber with atmosphere, and an exit valve to open and close the path. The apparatus further comprises: an ink cartridge arranged below the ink tank for supplying the ink to the ink chamber through a channel; an operating member for opening and closing the exit valve; a ink transfer device; and a controller. The controller performs controls of causing the operating member to open the exit valve such that an atmosphere pressure affects an inside of the ink chamber, and such that the ink both in the chamber and in the channel returns to the ink cartridge through the channel; and causing the device to fill the chamber.

Inkjet recording apparatus and air removal method therefor

A cap apparatus includes a cap which seals nozzles of a liquid jetting head, an absorber which is accommodated tightly inside the cap, a cap holder which is accommodated tightly inside the cap, and a holder which has a holding body which makes a contact with an upper surface of the absorber, a pin which is protruded downward from the holding main portion, and an engaging portion which is provided on a front end of the pin. Through holes which make the cap, the absorber, and the cap holder communicate, are formed in the cap, the absorber, and the cap holder. Since the through holes function as a passage, it is possible to improve an assembling workability of the cap apparatus.

Cap apparatus for liquid jetting head and liquid jetting apparatus

An inkjet printer has a printing head having a nozzle surface on which a plurality of nozzles are located that spray a plurality of kinds of ink and a cap that covers the nozzle surface of the printing head. This cap includes a ring-shaped seal lip that is constructed so that the tip end thereof comes in contact with the nozzle surface to perform capping and a partitioning lip that partitions the area inside the seal lip into areas for nozzle groups that correspond to the kinds of ink. The tip end of either seal lip or partitioning lip is shaped so that it is compressed more easily than that of the other.

Inkjet printer and printing head capping method

An inkjet printer includes a recording head having a nozzle face provided with a nozzle for discharging an ink to form an image on a recording medium, and a detachable cap for capping the nozzle face. The cap of the inkjet printer is provided with an annular rim and an annular groove, which are provided along a periphery of the cap, the groove being opposed to the nozzle face in a state where the cap is abutted against the nozzle face. In the inkjet printer, a during non-image-forming period, the rim of the cap is abutted against the nozzle face, thus capping the nozzle face.

Inkjet printer and capping method

A recovery device comprising: a cap configured to cover a nozzle face in which a plurality of nozzle groups are formed; and a cap holder supporting the cap; wherein the cap includes: a sealing lip being configured to sealingly contact the nozzle face; a plurality of partitioning lips that partition an inside area surrounded by the sealing lip into a plurality of compartments corresponding to the respective nozzle groups; and a plurality of suction openings provided in the respective compartments; and wherein a common flow path, which is communicated with suction openings of some or all compartments and connects the suction openings to a negative pressure source, is formed in the cap or in the cap holder, or by a space containing faces of the cap and the cap holder opposed to each other.

Recovery device and recovery method

An ink-jet printer including: a buffer tank; an air-discharging valve device; and a valve opening-and-closing device. The ink-jet printer further includes an operating member which is arranged to be interposed between the air-discharging valve device and the valve opening-and-closing device. The valve opening-and-closing device operates the air-discharging valve device via the operating member, such that the air-discharging valve device is placed in a valve-open state and a valve-close state. The ink-jet printer is arranged to execute a first discharge operation in which the air separated from the ink in the buffer tank is discharged while placing the air-discharging valve device in the valve open state, and a second discharge operation in which an inside of the air-discharging valve device is exhausted to remove the ink remaining in the air-discharging valve device while placing the air-discharging valve device in the valve-close state.

Ink-jet printer

A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus comprises an ejecting head including a passage which is connected to a sub-tank and an ejecting pressure applying device which applies a feed pressure to the liquid inside the passage, a main tank detector which detects that a main tank is mounted to a main tank mounting portion, a suction pump which applies a negative pressure to an air layer inside the sub-tank to discharge air from inside the sub-tank to outside, and a controller configured to control the suction pump and the ejecting pressure applying device, based on information from the main tank detector. The controller causes the suction pump to discharge the air from inside the sub-tank to outside and causes the ejecting pressure applying device to eject the liquid from a nozzle, when the main tank detector detects that the main tank is mounted to the main tank mounting portion.

Liquid droplet ejecting apparatus

A storage housing for storing a recording head having inside and outside surfaces and operable to perform a recording operation by an ink which is supplied to the recording head through an ink inlet opening in the inside surface and which is ejected through nozzles opening in the outside surface. The storage housing including: first and second bodies which include first and second sealing portions, respectively, and which are opposed to each other with the inside and outside surfaces of the recording head being interposed between the first and second bodies, such that the ink inlet is sealed by the first sealing portion and such that the nozzles are sealed by the second sealing portion. One of the first and second bodies includes an arm movable to attach and detach the one of the first and second bodies to and from the recording head. The other of the first and second bodies includes a protecting cover positioned outside at least a distal end portion of the arm so as to cover at least the distal end portion of the arm.

Storage housing for storing recording head

An ink jet printer including a carriage which is movable relative to a sheet of paper, a recording head which is mounted on the carriage and records an image on the sheet by ejecting a droplet of ink toward the sheet, one or more ink tanks which store the ink or inks to be supplied to the recording head, a buffer tank which is mounted on the carriage, and one or more ink flow passages in which the inks are supplied from the ink tanks to the recording head via the buffer tank. The buffer tank has, at a height position higher than a height position where the recording head is provided, one or more air buffer chambers which accommodate respective amounts of the inks, and collect air bubbles produced in the ink flow passages. The printer further includes one or more air bubble discharging passages which communicate, at one ends thereof, with upper portions of the air buffer chambers, and discharge, via the other ends thereof, the air bubbles collected by the air buffer chambers.

An ink jet printer including a stationary frame; a tank supporter which is provided in the stationary frame and which supports at least one ink storing tank storing at least one sort of ink; a recording head which records an image on a recording medium by ejecting a droplet of the ink, and which has at least one ink flow inlet; at least one ink delivering tank which delivers the ink and has at least one ink flow outlet; at least one ink supply tube which is provided between the tank supporter and the ink delivering tank and through which the ink is supplied from the ink storing tank to the recording head via the ink delivering tank, wherein the delivering tank provides at least a portion of at least one ink delivering channel connecting between the ink supply tube and the recording head; a head holder which includes a main portion holding the recording head and the ink delivering tank, and which is movable relative to the stationary frame so that the recording head records the image on the recording medium; and an ink-contact preventing portion which prevents the ink that leaks from the ink delivering channel, from contacting the recording head.

Growing community of inventors

Ogaki, Japan

Takamasa Usui