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:
Sep. 09, 2008
Filed:
Jan. 14, 2005
Mitsutaka Iwasaki, Nagano-ken, JP;
Mitsutaka Iwasaki, Nagano-ken, JP;
Seiko Epson Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
For cleaning a recording head, a printer seals nozzles by means of a cap member and thus forms a closed circulatory system. In this state, a gear pump is activated and draws waste ink and the air from the cap member. The waste ink and the air then flow in the cap member, a check valve, a tube, the gear pump, and a different tube in this order and are introduced into a first ink cartridge. The air is introduced into a second ink cartridge through a corresponding tube as pressurized air. The check valve prevents the waste ink and the pressurized air from returning to the cap member. This suppresses backflow of the liquid and the air, and ink ejection is performed effectively.