The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 12, 2021
Filed:
Mar. 06, 2019
Suguru Yokozawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Takayuki Ito, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuyuki Satoh, Kanagawa, JP;
Kohtaroh Ikegami, Kanagawa, JP;
Kenta Sasaki, Kanagawa, JP;
Suguru Yokozawa, Kanagawa, JP;
Takayuki Ito, Kanagawa, JP;
Nobuyuki Satoh, Kanagawa, JP;
Kohtaroh Ikegami, Kanagawa, JP;
Kenta Sasaki, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head having at least one nozzle array including a plurality of nozzles lined in a nozzle array direction; a two-dimensional image sensor to capture an image formed by the liquid discharge head; and circuitry. The circuitry is configured to divide the nozzles into a plurality of nozzle units; form a pattern including a plurality of unit patterns with liquid discharged from the nozzle units, respectively; and detect a defective nozzle based on a captured image of each of the unit patterns. The unit patterns are arranged in a staggered manner. Each unit pattern is smaller in size than an image capture range of the two-dimensional image sensor. Each unit pattern includes a number of columns of lines extending in a direction perpendicular to the nozzle array direction, and the number of columns is not smaller than twice the number of nozzle arrays.