Ink jet printer with a fixed positional relationship between a capping mechanism and printhead
First Claim
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1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
- a platen across which a recording medium is fed;
a print head for printing onto the recording medium by jetting ink;
a carriage on which the print head is mounted, the carriage being provided movably along a guide rail;
a capping mechanism having a cap for air-tightly covering a nozzle surface of the print head, the capping mechanism making the cap come into contact with the nozzle surface of the print head;
a gap adjusting mechanism for adjusting an amount of a head gap between the print head and the platen to accommodate at least two different thicknesses of recording medium; and
a capping mechanism moving mechanism for moving the capping mechanism in a fixed relationship with the carriage during head gap adjustment by the gap adjusting mechanism in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium being used.
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Abstract
The position of a guide rail is changed by eccentrically rotating the guide rail by turning a control lever, thereby adjusting an amount of a head gap. A supporting frame for supporting a capping mechanism is connected to the guide rail. When the position of the guide rail is changed for the head gap adjustment, the position of the capping mechanism is also changed. Consequently, even when the position of the guide rail is changed for the head gap adjustment, the positional relation between the capping mechanism and the print head can be almost fixedly maintained.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
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a platen across which a recording medium is fed; a print head for printing onto the recording medium by jetting ink; a carriage on which the print head is mounted, the carriage being provided movably along a guide rail; a capping mechanism having a cap for air-tightly covering a nozzle surface of the print head, the capping mechanism making the cap come into contact with the nozzle surface of the print head; a gap adjusting mechanism for adjusting an amount of a head gap between the print head and the platen to accommodate at least two different thicknesses of recording medium; and a capping mechanism moving mechanism for moving the capping mechanism in a fixed relationship with the carriage during head gap adjustment by the gap adjusting mechanism in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium being used. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An adjustable cleaning mechanism for a printing apparatus, the printing apparatus having a platen and a defined print area within a length of the platen, a carriage mounting at least one print head slideably mounted to a guide rail for reciprocal movement opposite and parallel to the platen, the adjustable cleaning mechanism comprising:
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a supporting frame attached at one end to the guide rail; a purging mechanism having a suction cap for each print head extendibly mounted to the supporting frame; an eccentric collar mounted to the guide rail, a center of the eccentric collar offset from a center axis of the guide rail; and a control lever attached to the eccentric collar and movable over a continuum of intermediate positions from a first position to a second position, wherein the supporting frame is positioned to a side of the defined print area and movement of the control lever between the first position and the second position causes the guide rail to move toward and away from the platen. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. An ink jet printer having a carriage for mounting at least one print head/ink cartridge system for reciprocal movement along a guide rail and opposed to a platen, further comprising:
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a print head cleaning apparatus mounted at one end to the guide rail; and means for moving the guide rail toward and away from the platen, wherein a positional relationship of the carriage and the print head cleaning mechanism is unchanged by the movement of the guide rail. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A printing apparatus, comprising:
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a platen across which a recording medium is fed; a print head for printing onto the recording medium by jetting ink; a capping mechanism having a cap for air-tightly covering a nozzle surface of the print head; and a moving mechanism for moving the print head and adjusting an amount of a head gap between the print head and the platen to accommodate at least two different thicknesses of recording medium, the moving mechanism moving the capping mechanism in a fixed relationship with the print head during head gap adjustment in accordance with the thickness of the recording medium being used. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification