Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Taku Hatakeyama

Takashi Watanabe

Satoyuki Sekiguchi

Toshiyuki Kobashi

Hiroshi Gotou

Tomohiro Inoue

Mio Kumai

Kaoru Tadokoro

Sho Oyamatsu

Atsushi Yamamoto

Kazuki Suzuki

Yuta Moriwaki

Muneyuki Okeguchi

Yuichi Tanioku

Takayuki Hase

A liquid surface imaging device includes an irradiator including a plurality of lightings, the irradiator configured to irradiate a liquid surface in a nozzle of a liquid discharge head with lights emitted from the plurality of lightings, and an imaging device configured to image the liquid surface. The plurality of lightings is arranged point-symmetrically with a center of the irradiator as a point of symmetry.

Liquid surface imaging device and liquid discharge apparatus

An image forming apparatus contains an ink having a dynamic surface tension of from 30 to 50 mN/m at a life time of 15 msec at 25 degrees C., a container containing the ink and a head configured to discharge the ink to a fabric including a first fabric containing synthetic fiber in an amount of more than 50 percent by mass and a second fabric containing natural fiber in an amount of 50 percent by mass or greater, the head including a nozzle surface, wherein a first distance between positions of two consecutive droplets of the ink discharged from the head on the first fabric is shorter than a second distance between positions of two consecutive droplets of the ink discharged from the head on the second fabric.

Image forming apparatus

A liquid discharging device is provided that includes: a first head () containing a pretreatment liquid, configured to discharge the pretreatment liquid onto a recording medium; a second head () disposed downstream of the first head () in a conveyance direction of the recording medium, configured to discharge an ink; an exhaust unit () disposed upstream of the first head () in the conveyance direction, configured to evacuate a gas present between the first head () and the recording medium from a downstream side to an upstream side in the conveyance direction; and a housing () internally containing the first head () and the second head (), internally or externally containing the exhaust unit (), and having an opening () downstream of the exhaust unit () in the conveyance direction.

Liquid discharging device

An image forming apparatus includes an ink having a dynamic surface tension of from 30 to 50 mN/m at a life time of 15 msec at 25 degrees C., a container containing the ink, and a head configured to discharge the ink to a fabric including a first fabric containing synthetic fiber in an amount of more than 50 percent by mass and a second fabric containing natural fiber in an amount of 50 percent by mass or greater, wherein the droplet of the ink discharged to the first fabric is larger than the droplet of the ink discharged to the second fabric.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a housing, a holder configured to hold a medium, a heater configured to heat the medium held by the holder, and a liquid discharge head configured to discharge a liquid onto the medium held by the holder. The holder has a flat holding surface on which the medium is placed flat, the holder is movable in the housing in a direction parallel to the flat holding surface and in a vertical direction, and the heater is disposed inside the housing within a movable region of the holder in which the holder is movable in the direction parallel to the flat holding surface in a view from the vertical direction.

Liquid discharge apparatus

A wiping device includes a first web material, a second web material, and a pressing member. The second web material is different from the first web material. The pressing member presses the first web material and the second web material to a target to be wiped. The first web material and the second web material are overlaid on top of one another and pressed against the target to be wiped.

Wiping device, head maintenance device, and liquid discharge apparatus

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a head configured to discharge a pretreatment liquid from nozzles formed on a nozzle surface of the head onto a medium, a holder configured to hold the medium with a gap between the nozzle surface of the head and the holder, and a heater configured to heat the medium held by the holder. The head discharges the pretreatment liquid onto the medium held by the holder with the gap of 4.0 mm or more.

A liquid discharging device includes a first head including a first nozzle formed on a first surface of the first head, the first head being configured to discharge a first ink containing a metal oxide from the first nozzle, a second head including a second nozzle formed on a second surface of the second head, the second head being configured to discharge a second ink containing a coloring material from the second nozzle, a recording medium holding unit configured to hold a recording medium, and a heating device configured to heat the recording medium, wherein the first head discharges the first ink in a state where a first distance between the first surface and the recording medium holding unit is 4.0 mm or more.

An ink set comprises black ink having a static surface tension A and yellow ink having a static surface tension B, wherein the static surface tension A is 28.7 mN/m or more and greater than the static surface tension B, wherein the ink set is used in an image forming device including an inkjet head including a nozzle plate including a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array disposed adjacent to the first nozzle array, the first nozzle array including multiple first nozzles configured to discharge the black ink and a second nozzle array including multiple second nozzles configured to discharge the yellow ink wherein each nozzle of the multiple first nozzles and the multiple second nozzles has a cylindrical portion having a length of 25 &#x3bc;m or longer along an axial direction with an opening on an ink discharging side of the nozzle plate.

Ink set and image forming device

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a conveyance path, a liquid discharge head, and a drying device. A medium is to be conveyed on the conveyance path. The liquid discharge head discharges liquid onto the medium conveyed on the conveyance path. The conveyance path includes a switchback path and an ejection path. The switchback path switches back a conveyance direction of the medium onto which the liquid has been discharged. The ejection path conveys the medium onto which the liquid has been discharged to an ejection port. The drying device dries the medium both on the switchback path and on the ejection path.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a conveyance path, a liquid discharge head, an ejection tray, and a drying device. A medium is conveyed in the conveyance path. The liquid discharge head discharges liquid onto the medium conveyed in the conveyance path. The medium is ejected to the ejection tray. The drying device dries the medium. The conveyance path includes a first bending portion to bend the medium, with a liquid-applied surface of the medium facing inward. The ejection tray includes a second bending portion to bend the medium, with the liquid-applied surface of the medium facing inward. A curvature of the medium bent by the first bending portion is greater than a curvature of the medium bent by the second bending portion. The drying device dries the medium conveyed in the first bending portion.

An ink set comprises black ink having a static surface tension A and yellow ink having a static surface tension B, wherein the static surface tension A is by 0.6 mN/m or more greater than the static surface tension B, wherein the ink set is used in an image forming device including an inkjet head including a nozzle plate including a first nozzle array and a second nozzle array disposed adjacent to the first nozzle array, the first nozzle array including multiple first nozzles configured to discharge the black ink and a second nozzle array including multiple second nozzles configured to discharge the yellow ink, wherein each nozzle of the multiple first nozzles and the multiple second nozzles has a cylindrical portion having a length of 25 &#x3bc;m or longer along an axial direction with an opening on an ink discharging side of the nozzle plate.

A head cleaner to clean a liquid discharge head including a nozzle face in which nozzles are formed includes a wiper to wipe the nozzle face by moving relative to the liquid discharge head in a wiping direction. The wiper includes a wiper sheet, a blade having a higher water repellency than the wiper sheet, and a controller that controls the wiper to perform a first wiping operation and a second wiping operation. The first wiping operation involves wiping the nozzle face with the wiper sheet without bringing the blade into contact with the nozzle face, and the second wiping operation involves wiping the nozzle face with the wiper sheet and the blade by bringing the wiper sheet and the blade into contact with the nozzle face. The controller controls the wiper to perform the second wiping operation after performing the first wiping operation at least once.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Taku Hatakeyama