Ricoh Company, Ltd.

Yuta Moriwaki

Tomomi Katoh

Satoru Yoshida

Hiroshi Noda

Tetsuya Kaneko

Atsushi Yamamoto

Yoichi Ito

Takashi Watanabe

Shotaro Takeuchi

Soyoung Park

Hiroshi Sawase

Taku Hatakeyama

Masashi Ohnishi

Naoki Saitoh

Yoichi Kawabata

Yuta Kashiwagi

Takahiko Sugiura

Takaya Kubodera

Naoki Saito

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

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge device configured to discharge a liquid onto a discharge target from nozzles on a discharge surface of the liquid discharge device in a liquid discharge direction, an adhesion part including an adhesion surface to which mist of the liquid discharged by the liquid discharge device adheres, and a detector including a detection surface facing the adhesion surface of the adhesion part, the detector configured to detect a surface state of the adhesion surface of the adhesion part. The detection surface of the detector is above the discharge surface of the liquid discharge device in the liquid discharge direction, and the adhesion part is configured to move to change the adhesion surface facing the detection surface of the detector.

Liquid discharge apparatus

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-asymmetrically with a center of the imaging device as a point of symmetry.

A liquid circulation device includes a liquid discharge head, a circulation channel through which a liquid is circulated via the liquid discharge head, a first liquid feed pump to supply the liquid to the liquid discharge head in a circulation direction, a second liquid feed pump to collect the liquid from the liquid discharge head in the circulation direction, a filter disposed in the circulation channel upstream from the first liquid feed pump and downstream from the second liquid feed pump in the circulation direction, and a decompression-side reverse channel to bypass the second liquid feed pump. One end of the decompression-side reverse channel is connected to the circulation channel upstream from the second liquid feed pump, and another end of the decompression-side reverse channel is connected to the circulation channel downstream from the filter in the circulation direction.

Liquid circulation device and liquid discharge apparatus

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head including a supply port, a recovery port, and nozzles to discharge a liquid from the nozzles, a circulation channel connected to the supply port and the recovery port of the liquid discharge head to circulate the liquid through the liquid discharge head, and a cap to cap a nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head in which the nozzles are formed and to suck the liquid from the nozzles in a maintenance operation. The circulation channel includes an individual supply channel communicating with the supply port of the liquid discharge head, an individual recovery channel communicating with the recovery port of the liquid discharge head to circulate the liquid through the liquid discharge head, a supply-side fluid resistance variable section disposed in the individual supply channel to vary fluid a resistance of the individual supply channel.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a plurality of liquid discharge heads to discharge liquid, and a plurality of head tanks communicating with the plurality of liquid discharge heads, respectively. Each of the plurality of head tanks includes a liquid chamber to store the liquid and a gas chamber separated from the liquid chamber by a diaphragm, and the gas chamber of one of the plurality of head tanks communicates with the gas chamber of another of the plurality of head tanks.

There is provided a liquid circulation apparatus for circulating liquid through a plurality of discharge heads that includes discharge nozzles. The liquid circulation apparatus includes a liquid circulating channel to circulate the liquid via the plurality of discharge heads, a first manifold connected to each supply port of the plurality of discharge heads, a second manifold connected to each discharge port of the plurality of discharge heads, a discharging channel to discharge the liquid in the second manifold, and a bubble-discharging channel separate from the discharging channel, to discharge bubbles in the second manifold.

A liquid discharger comprises a head including a nozzle face and a nozzle that discharges liquid droplets, the nozzle formed on the nozzle face, a carriage that mounts the moves the head in a train scanning direction, a driver that moves the carriage in the main scanning direction, a cap that contacts and covers the nozzle face, a cap mover that moves the cap between a capping position, in which the cap contacts the nozzle face, and an evacuation position, in which the cap is separated from the nozzle face, and processing circuitry configured to judge whether a capping failure has occurred based on a driving force that is measured when the carriage starts to move in the main scanning direction after the cap mover moves the cap to the capping position.

Liquid discharger and liquid discharger failure detection method

An image forming apparatus includes a liquid discharge head, a temperature detector, a memory, and a controller. The temperature detector detects a temperature of the liquid discharge head. The memory stores the temperature of the liquid discharge head detected with the temperature detector. The controller controls a bubble purge operation to purge bubbles in the liquid discharge head. When a current temperature of the liquid discharge head acquired by the temperature detector is higher than a stored temperature stored in the memory and a deviation of the acquired current temperature and the stored temperature is equal to or more than a predefined threshold value, the controller executes control to execute the bubble purge operation, and when the current temperature acquired by the temperature detector is lower than the stored temperature, the controller executes control to update the stored temperature stored and retained in the memory with the acquired current temperature.

Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus includes an output unit, a pair of output rotary bodies, and a controller. A sheet having an image formed thereon is discharged to the output unit. When plural sheets are sequentially discharged to the output unit, the controller controls overlapping output operation to, with a trailing end portion of a preceding sheet of the plural sheets being held by the pair of output rotary bodies, feed a subsequent sheet of the sheets to between the pair of output rotary bodies to overlap a leading end portion of the subsequent sheet with the trailing end portion of the preceding sheet. With the leading end portion of the subsequent sheet overlapped with the trailing end portion of the preceding sheet, the controller controls the pair of output rotary bodies to rotate to discharge the preceding sheet to the output unit.

An image forming apparatus includes an apparatus body, a recording head, a cap member, and release valves. The head has a nozzle face with nozzles to eject liquid droplets. The head is placed in the apparatus body so as to eject the droplets obliquely downward in any of the vertical or horizontal arrangement of the apparatus body. The cap member caps the nozzle face and has openings at opposed ends in a longitudinal direction of the cap member to communicate an inside of the cap member with an outside of the cap member. The valves open and close the openings relative to an atmosphere. One of the valves placed higher than another one of the valves in accordance with the vertical or horizontal arrangement is configured to open the inside of the cap member to the atmosphere through one of the openings placed higher than another one of the openings.

Image forming apparatus configured with recording head cap having plural release valves

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming part including a recording head to form an image on a recording medium, a conveyance mechanism disposed opposite the image forming part to convey the recording medium, and a cover closably openable relative to a body of the image forming apparatus and disposed opposite the conveyance mechanism with the image forming part interposed therebetween. The recording head is detachably attachable to the cover and is configured to move away from the conveyance mechanism when the cover is opened.

A liquid cartridge is detachably attachable to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus. The liquid cartridge includes a cartridge case, an information memory element, and a holding unit. The cartridge case includes at least two dividable case parts. The at least two dividable case parts form a front face of the cartridge case to face the apparatus body when the liquid cartridge is attached to the apparatus body. An information memory element is held at the front face of the cartridge case. The holding unit is provided in one of the at least two dividable case parts to hold the information memory element with only the one of the at least two dividable case parts. The holding unit includes a groove to receive the information memory element and a displaceable claw to hold the information memory element between the groove and the claw.

Liquid cartridge and image forming apparatus incorporation same

An image forming apparatus includes: a recording head with multiple nozzles on a surface of the recording head to discharge droplets, the surface with the nozzles facing in a horizontal direction or in a direction leaning upward or downward with respect to the horizontal direction, a wiper to wipe the surface with the nozzles of the recording head from top to bottom, a guide member attached to the recording head at the lower end of the surface with the nozzles, to have contact with the wiper, and a cleaning member attached to a main body of the apparatus to clean the guide member.

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Kanagawa, Japan

Yuta Moriwaki