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:
Mar. 16, 2021
Filed:
Mar. 02, 2018
Shotaro Ueda, Tokyo, JP;
Shingo Masaoka, Kanagawa, JP;
Isamu Kubo, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a liquid discharge apparatus capable of sucking liquid in a cap member while suppressing generation of bubbles by a suction assisting member detachable from a cap member. A liquid discharge apparatus includes a liquid discharge head () to discharge liquid from a plurality of nozzles, and a suction mechanism () to suck the liquid from the liquid discharge head (). The suction mechanism () includes a cap member () to contact the liquid discharge head () and cover the plurality of nozzles while forming a space between the cap member () and the liquid discharge head (), a suction pump () connected to the cap member () via a suction hole () formed in a surface of the cap member () to reduce pressure in the space, a suction assisting member () to cover the suction hole () and the surface in which the suction hole () is formed in the cap member (), the suction assisting member () including a surface that forms a suction path between the suction assisting member () and the cap member (), and a first support () to provide a gap (c) between the surface that forms the suction path of the suction assisting member () and the surface in which the suction hole () is formed.