Patent EP0559122A2 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
EP0559122A2
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EP
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Ink-jet printer, electronic apparatus including it and method for controlling them
Assignee: Seiko Epson Corp
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Filing: 1993-03-01
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2013-03-01
Abstract
Abstract An ink-jet printer having an on-demand type ink-jet head (2) equipped with plural nozzles that eject ink droplets in response to pressure pulses generated by corresponding pressure generating elements and an electronic apparatus including the printer are disclosed to have timer means (34) that measures a prescribed time period, and recovery processing means (40) which performs recovery processing of said nozzles by causing ink ejection from the nozzles, wherein said recovery processing means (40) executes recovery processing at prescribed time intervals during non-operation of the ink-jet head based on said timer means 4. Also, said recovery processing means (40) performs initial recovery processing when the power supply is switched on. Further, an automatic power cut-off means operates when the number of consecutive recovery processes according to said timer means reaches a prescribed number.
Inventors
- 👤 Masahiro Fujii
- 👤 Susumu Hama
- 👤 Hiroshi Takizawa
- 👤 Masahiro Minowa
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 18:12
CPC Classifications
B; B41; B41J; B41J2/00; B41J2/005; B41J2/01; B41J2/135; B41J2/165; B41J2/16517; B41J2/1652
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim
83 words
An ink-jet printer having an on-demand type ink-jet head (2) equipped with plural nozzles that eject ink droplets in response to pressure pulses generated by corresponding pressure generating elements, comprising: timer means (34; 34a, 34b) that repeatedly measures a prescribed time period, and recovery processing means (40) that performs recovery processing of said nozzles by causing ink ejection from the nozzles, in response to said timer means (34; 34a, 34b) having measured said prescribed time period during non-operation of the ink-jet head (2).
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
28 words
The printer of claim 1 wherein said recovery processing means (40) is adapted to perform initial recovery processing when the power supply to the printer is switched on.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
34 words
The printer of claim 1 or 2 wherein said timer means (34) is adapted to be initialized by a printing signal generated together with a printing series, and starts measuring said prescribed time period.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
29 words
The printer of claim 3 wherein said timer means (34) comprises a re-triggerable timer adapted to be reset by said printing signal to re-start measuring said prescribed time period.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
16 words
An electronic apparatus including an ink-jet printer as defined in any one of the preceding claims.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus of claim 5, comprising an electronic clock (34a), wherein said timer means (34b) measures said prescribed time period by detecting a corresponding interval of time from said clock.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus of claim 5 or 6 comprising a print selector switch (24) switchable between on to enable and off to disable the ink-jet printer, and control means (31) responsive to said print selector (24) switch for controlling said recovery processing means (40).
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
131 words
The apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising counter means (32) for measuring the time interval from when the power supply is switched on until said print selector switch (24) is switched on by counting the number L of time-ups of said timer means (34; 34a, 34b), memory means (32) that stores this number L of time-ups, memory means (33) that stores a predetermined number K equal to the number of ejections of ink from each nozzle determined for recovering the nozzles after a non-operation time of said ink-jet head (2) corresponding to said prescribed time, and control means (31) that operates said recovery processing means (40) in sync with turning on of said print selector switch (24) for performing recovery processing with L x K ink ejections from each nozzle.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
19 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 8 wherein said timer means comprises a programmable timer.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
51 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 9 wherein after said print selector switch is switched on, said recovery processing means (40) performs said recovery processing in response to said timer means (34; 34a, 34b) having measured said prescribed time period during non-operation of the ink-jet head (2).
Claim 11
Independent Claim
94 words
The apparatus according to any one of claims 5 to 10, said apparatus comprising power supply control means (35) capable of switching off the power supply of the apparatus, and counter means that counts the times said timer means (34; 34a, 34b) has measured said prescribed time period in succession, said power supply control means (35) being adapted to cut off the power supply when the count value of said counter means has reached a prescribed value, said counter means being reset by a printing signal of said printer (1) and re-starts its counting.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
43 words
The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising key input means (25) and means (31) for processing key input from said key input means, wherein said counter means is also reset by an input signal from said key input means and restarts its counting.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
96 words
A method for controlling a printer having an on-demand type ink-jet head (2) equipped with plural nozzles that eject ink droplets in response to pressure pulses generated by corresponding pressure generating elements, the method comprising a recovery step for recovering the nozzles of said ink-jet head by ejecting ink from essentially all of the nozzles used in printing, wherein said recovery step is executed when a prescribed time period has passed since the last printing operation, and said recovery step is repeated at intervals of said predetermined time period during continued non-operation of the ink-jet head.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 13 wherein timer means (34; 34a, 34b) is used for repeatedly measuring a prescribed time period and wherein said timer means is reset in sync with the drive of said ink-jet head (2).
Claim 15
Independent Claim
88 words
A method for controlling a printer having an on-demand type ink-jet head (2) equipped with plural nozzles that eject ink droplets in response to pressure pulses generated by corresponding pressure generating elements, the method comprising the steps of a) generating a time signal at prescribed time intervals, b) detecting at each occurrence of said time signal whether the ink-jet head is printing, and, if the ink-jet head is not printing, c) performing recovery of the nozzles by ejecting ink from essentially all of the nozzles used in printing.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
100 words
A method for controlling an electronic apparatus as defined in claim 7 or any one of claims 8 to 12 in combination with claim 7, the metod comprising the steps of a) detecting turning on of the power switch (22; 22'), b) detecting turning on of the print selector switch (24), c) measuring the time interval from when the power switch is turned on until when the print selector switch is turned on, and d) performing recovery processing in response to step b) by controlling the amount of ink to be ejected according to the time measured in step c).
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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