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:
Nov. 21, 2000
Filed:
May. 22, 1998
Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An ink jet printer includes a rotary drum having a peripheral surface for holding a paper sheet, a print head for printing an image on the paper sheet held on the peripheral surface by jetting ink to the paper sheet, and an elevator mechanism for setting the print head to a printing position close to the peripheral surfice at a time of printing and to a non-printing position farther from the peripheral surface than the printing position along a normal line of the peripheral surface at a time of maintenance. Particularly, the elevator mechanism includes a pair of guide rails set parallel to the normal line of the peripheral surface, a slider unit rotatably holding the print head and slidably attached to the guide rails, and a driving section for moving the slider unit up and down. The slider unit includes a spindle, a head support member rotatable about the spindle by a rotational force applied due to a weight of the printhead, and a posture regulator for regulating a posture of the print head with respect to the guide rails against the rotational force.