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. 14, 2014
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2011
Masanori Igarashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Masanori Igarashi, Kanagawa, JP;
Ricoh Company, Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An image forming apparatus includes an ejection device, a suction device, and a controller. The ejection device has a first nozzle and a second nozzle to eject a first liquid and a second liquid, respectively. The first liquid contains pigment particles dispersed in a dispersion medium and the second liquid contains a color material. In a first image formation mode for ejecting the second liquid from the second nozzle without ejecting the first liquid from the first nozzle, the controller controls the suction device so as not to suction the first liquid for recovery operation. When the first image formation mode is switched to a second image formation mode for ejecting at least the first liquid from the first nozzle, the controller controls the suction device so as to suction a predetermined amount of the first liquid determined based on solidification of the first liquid to perform the recovery operation.