Patent EP0552472A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0552472A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Ink-expelling restoring device and method for ink jet printer
Assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
•
Filing: 1992-12-17
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2012-12-17
Abstract
Abstract An ink-expelling restoring device and method capable of reliably restoring the ink-expelling restoring capability of an ink jet type recording head (1) and coping with the case where the ink supply is exhausted during the ink-expelling restoring process. The inventive ink-expelling restoring device for an ink jet printer includes a capping member (8) for capping the front face of a recording head (1), an ink-residual quantity detector (41) for checking the residual quantity of ink, and blade member (6) for wiping the front face of the recording head (1). The ink expelling capability restoring operation is carried out by a sequence of a wiping operation, ink-suction operations and flushing operation. The residual-quantity detector (41) checks the residual quantity of ink during the operation of restoring the ink-expelling capability. When the residual quantity of ink is smaller than a preset quantity, the ink suction operation is stopped. The recording head is capped with the capping member (8) after the flushing and wiping operations. With such a construction, when a small quantity of ink is left in the ink container during the ink-expelling restoring process, the ink suction is stopped, preventing useless consumption of ink.
Inventors
- 👤 Seiji Mochizuki
- 👤 Hitoshi Hayakawa
- 👤 Kazuhisa Kawakami
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 10:42
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/17; B41J2/175; B41J2/17566; B41J2/135; B41J2/165; B41J2/16517; B41J2/1652
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
171 words
An ink-expelling restoring device for an ink jet printer comprising: a capping member (8) for capping a front face of a recording head (1); an ink-residual quantity detector (41) for detecting a residual quantity of ink in an ink container (4) supplying ink to said recording head (1); a wiping device (6) for wiping said front face of said recording head (1); and a control device (44) for restoring the ink expelling capability of said recording head (1) by controlling operations of said capping member (8), said ink-residual quantity detector (41) and said wiping device (6) by a sequence of a wiping operation, an ink-suction operation, and a flushing operation, said control device (44) checking a residual quantity of ink with said ink-residual quantity detector (41) while restoring said ink-expelling capability, and stopping said ink suction operation when the residual quantity of ink is smaller than a preset quantity of ink, said control device (44) capping said recording head (1) with said capping member (8) after said flushing and wiping operations.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
33 words
The ink-expelling restoring device of claim 1, wherein said control device (44) performs said operation of capping said recording head (1) with said capping member (8) immediately after said flushing and wiping operations.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
112 words
A method for restoring ink expelling in an ink jet printer, comprising the steps of: wiping a front face of said recording head; sucking ink from nozzle openings of said recording head; detecting an amount of residual ink in an ink container supplying ink to said recording head; if said amount of residual ink is greater than a predetermined amount, continuing said step of sucking ink from nozzle openings of said recording head for a predetermined period of time; if said amount of residual ink is less than said predetermined amount, immediately discontinuing said step of sucking ink from nozzle openings of said recording head; and flushing said recording head with ink
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
51 words
The method for restoring ink expelling of claim 3, further comprising the steps of: detecting whether or not printing data is present for driving said recording head; if no printing data is present, capping said recording head; and if printing data is present, driving said recording head with said printing data.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
The method for restoring ink expelling of claim 3 or 4, wherein said step of sucking ink from nozzle opening of said recording head comprises the steps of: moving said recording head to a capping position; capping said recording head with a capping member; and applying a negative pressure within said capping member.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method for restoring ink expelling of claim 5, further comprising the steps of: releasing said capping member from said recording head; and expelling excess ink from said capping member.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
46 words
The method for restoring ink expelling of claim 6, further comprising, subsequent to said step of expelling excess ink from said capping member and prior to said step of flushing said recording head with ink, a second step of wiping said face of said recording head.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
84 words
The method for restoring ink expelling of claim 7, further comprising, subsequent to said second step of wiping said face of said recording head and prior to said step of flushing said recording head with ink, the steps of: detecting an amount of residual ink in said ink container supplying ink to said recording head; and if said amount of residual ink is less than a second predetermined amount, capping said recording head and omitting said step of flushing said recording head with ink.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
165 words
An ink-expelling restoring device for an ink jet printer comprising: a capping member (8) for capping a front face of a recording head (1); an ink-residual quantity detector (41) for detecting a residual quantity of ink in an ink container (4) supplying ink to said recording head; a wiping device (6) for wiping said front face of said recording head (1); and a control device (44) for restoring the ink-expelling capability of said recording head (1) by controlling operations of said capping member (8), said ink-residual quantity detector (41) and said wiping device (6) by a sequence of a wiping operation, an ink-suction operation, and a flushing operation, said control device (44) checking a residual quantity of ink with said ink-residual quantity detector (41) while restoring said ink-expelling capability, stopping said ink suction operation when the residual quantity of ink is smaller than a preset quantity of ink, and capping said recording head with said capping member (8) immediately after stopping said ink suction operation.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.