Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090284566 | DROPLET EJECTING DEVICE - A droplet ejecting device including: plural droplet ejecting heads that eject droplets; a transporting body, disposed to face nozzle surfaces of the droplet ejecting heads, that transports a recording medium; and a head holding member that holds the droplet ejecting heads movably along droplet ejecting directions respectively is provided. | 11-19-2009 |
20100188453 | DROPLET EJECTING APPARATUS - A droplet ejection apparatus includes droplet ejection units each including a supply port and an ejection port, a common supply flow path, a common discharge flow path, supply flow paths that connect the supply port to the common supply flow path, openable mechanisms provided at the supply flow paths, discharge flow paths that connect the ejection port to the common discharge flow path, one-way valves provided at the discharge flow paths, a pressure applying unit, and a controller. When performing a maintenance operation of a selected droplet ejection unit, the controller applies a pressure with the pressure applying unit so that the pressure in the plural discharge flow paths at the common discharge flow path side with respect to the respective one-way valves is higher than the other side, and opens only the openable mechanism corresponding to the selected droplet ejection unit. | 07-29-2010 |
20100188454 | DROPLET EJECTION APPARATUS - A droplet ejection apparatus includes a common flow path; droplet ejection units each respectively including a first distribution port; first flow paths that respectively connect each first distribution port to the common flow path; first open/close mechanisms provided respectively at the first flow paths; a first pressurizing unit that applies a positive pressure to the common flow path; a second open/close mechanisms provided at the common flow path at the first pressurizing unit side of connection portions that connect the common flow path and the respective first flow paths; and a controller. When the second open/close mechanism is closed, the controller opens only one or more first open/close mechanisms corresponding to one or more target droplet ejection units, applies positive pressure to a section of the common flow path at the first pressurizing unit side of the second open/close mechanism, and then opens the second open/close mechanism. | 07-29-2010 |
20100252528 | LIQUID DROPLET EJECTION HEAD, APPARATUS FOR EJECTING LIQUID DROPLET, AND METHOD OF PRODUCING LIQUID DROPLET EJECTION HEAD - A liquid droplet ejection head includes: a nozzle plate that has a plurality of nozzles ejecting a liquid droplet; a flow path member that includes: pressure generating chambers that communicate with the nozzles; and liquid supply paths through which liquid is supplied to the pressure generating chambers; and a damper portion that is disposed in at least one part of a region, the region being on the nozzle plate, corresponding to the liquid supply paths, the damper portion reducing a fluctuation of an ejection amount of the liquid droplets to enable stable ejection. | 10-07-2010 |
20100293314 | COMPUTER SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING COMPUTER SYSTEM - CPU architecture is modified so that content of the interrupt mask register can be changed directly based on a decoding result of an instruction decoder of a CPU. Such modification does not require a great deal of labor in changing a CPU design. In addition, an extended CALL instruction and an extended software interrupt instruction are added to the CPU, and each of the extended CALL instruction and the extended software interrupt instruction additionally has a function of changing the value of the interrupt mask register. Atomicity is achieved by: allowing such a single instruction to concurrently execute a call of a process and a value change of the interrupt mask register; and disabling other interrupts during execution of the single instruction. | 11-18-2010 |
20110074892 | LIQUID DROPLET EJECTING APPARATUS - A liquid droplet ejecting apparatus including: plural liquid droplet ejecting portions; supply-side individual flow paths; discharge-side individual flow paths; a supply-side common flow path; a discharge-side common flow path; first opening/closing mechanisms; second opening/closing mechanisms; a first pressure applying portion; a second pressure applying portion; a first circulating path; a third opening/closing mechanism; a second circulating path including an upstream end portion being connected to the supply-side common flow path further downstream than a connecting portion of a supply-side individual flow path connected to the supply-side common flow path at a furthest upstream side in a liquid circulating direction and a downstream end portion being connected to the discharge-side common flow path, and circulating the liquid between the supply-side common flow path and the discharge-side common flow path; and a fourth opening/closing mechanism, is provided. | 03-31-2011 |
20110316904 | LIQUID DROPLET CIRCULATION CONTROL APPARATUS, LIQUID DROPLET EJECTION APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER READABLE STORAGE MEDIUM - There is provided a liquid droplet circulation control apparatus including: a first circulation controller that sets a first circulation mode in which liquid is circulated with pressure control by driving a supply side pressure generator and a return side pressure generator, the supply side pressure generator supplying the liquid to the liquid droplet ejector and the return side pressure generator returning the liquid from the liquid droplet ejector; a second circulation controller that sets a second circulation mode in which the liquid is circulated by driving the supply side pressure generator and/or the return side pressure generator, such that the liquid is made to bypass at least the liquid droplet ejector; a selector that selects one or other circulation modes; and a setting unit that sets a circulation path of the liquid based on the selected circulation mode. | 12-29-2011 |
20120007902 | LIQUID SUPPLY CONTROLLER, LIQUID DROPLET DISCHARGE DEVICE, NON-TRANSITORY COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM STORING PROGRAM, AND LIQUID SUPPLY CONTROL METHOD - A liquid supply controller includes a liquid circulation controller that includes supply and recovery units of a liquid droplet discharge unit, and that circulates liquid according to a differential pressure between the supply unit and the recovery unit, a back pressure setting unit that sets a back pressure that is a discharge pressure based on supply and recovery pressures set by the liquid circulation controller, a circulation amount obtaining unit that obtains a flow rate of the liquid circulated; a judging unit that judges whether or not the obtained flow rate is a proper value, and a differential pressure adjusting unit that adjusts the differential pressure while maintaining the back pressure within an allowable range when it is judged that the flow rate is not the proper value. | 01-12-2012 |
20120033003 | FLOW RATE CONTROL DEVICE, LIQUID-DROPLET EJECTING DEVICE, AND COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM - A flow rate control device includes a pressure generating unit that delivers a liquid to a liquid reservoir unit including an ejecting port; a flow rate control unit that controls a flow rate of the pressure generating unit by performing a first flow rate control and a second flow rate control, the first flow rate control being to raise a pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit up to a target pressure at a first pressure change rate which is sufficiently high to float air bubbles adhering to a wall surface inside the liquid reservoir unit, the second flow rate control being to maintain the target pressure or to lower the pressure inside the liquid reservoir unit from the target pressure at a second pressure change rate lower than the first pressure change rate in order to eject air bubbles floating inside the liquid reservoir unit from the ejecting port | 02-09-2012 |
20120140006 | DAMPING DEVICE, LIQUID SUPPLYING APPARATUS, AND DROPLET DISCHARGING APPARATUS - A damping device includes an elastic membrane that serves as a wall of a part of a supply channel between a reservoir unit that contains liquid and a droplet discharging unit that discharges the liquid in the form of a droplet; a wall portion provided outside of the supply channel such that a gas chamber is provided between the wall portion and the elastic membrane; and a resistance unit provided on the wall portion, the resistance unit providing ventilation and generating a resistance force against a movement of the elastic membrane. | 06-07-2012 |
20120162331 | LIQUID CIRCULATING APPARATUS, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM, AND LIQUID DISCHARGING APPARATUS - A liquid circulating apparatus includes a liquid discharging unit for having a nozzle, a supply path, a recovery path, first and second pressure adjusting units, an opening/closing valve and a circulation controlling unit. The circulation controlling unit controls the first and second pressure adjusting units and the opening/closing valve to circulate the liquid by causing a differential pressure between the liquid at a supply side and at a recovery side with respect to the nozzle while the liquid maintains a meniscus in the nozzle. The circulation controlling unit (i) makes a differential pressure between the liquid of the supply path and the recovery path to be lower than the differential pressure in middle of the circulation while the opening/closing valve is closed when the liquid starts circulating, (ii) opens the opening/closing valve, and (iii) changes the differential pressure to the differential pressure in middle of the circulation. | 06-28-2012 |
20130002772 | LIQUID SUPPLY MECHANISM AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A liquid supply mechanism includes: a supply pathway that supplies liquid to a plurality of ejection sections each ejecting the liquid from nozzles; a branching path that is branched off from the supply pathway and through which the liquid circulates; a buffer unit that is disposed in the branching path and that lessens pressure fluctuations occurred in the liquid in the branching path; and a changing unit that changes a pathway to the buffer unit so that the changing unit shuts the pathway to the buffer unit during maintenance for discharging the liquid from the nozzles of the ejection sections. The liquid discharged during the maintenance is greater in quantity than the liquid discharged during normal operation. | 01-03-2013 |
20130002774 | DEGASIFIER AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A degasifier includes a gas chamber, a degasification unit and a resistance applying unit. The gas chamber is separated from a liquid flow path by a transmission member capable of transmitting a gas dissolving in a liquid in the liquid flow path. The degasification unit expels the gas dissolving in the liquid from the liquid by discharging the gas in the gas chamber through a discharge path so that a pressure in the gas chamber is negative. The resistance applying unit applies an inflow resistance to atmosphere which flows into the discharge path so that the gas chamber is maintained at a pressure at which the liquid can be degasified at the time of the discharging by the degasification unit while the discharge path is open to the atmosphere at all times. | 01-03-2013 |
20130120503 | LIQUID EJECTION APPARATUS AND DRIVE METHOD FOR INKJET HEAD - A liquid ejection apparatus includes: a gas chamber surrounding a piezoelectric element in an inkjet head; and a dry gas supply device configured to start supply of dry gas to the gas chamber before supply of electric power to the inkjet head is started, to continue the supply of the dry gas while the supply of the electric power to the inkjet head is continued, and to halt the supply of the dry gas after the supply of the electric power to the inkjet head is halted. While the dry gas supply device halts the supply of the dry gas to the gas chamber, a dry gas supply flow channel opening and closing device is closed to disconnect the dry gas supply device and the gas chamber, and a gas return flow channel opening and closing device is closed to disconnect the gas chamber and the external air. | 05-16-2013 |
20130208038 | LIQUID SUPPLYING MECHANISM, COMPUTER READABLE MEDIUM AND IMAGE FORMING APPARATUS - A liquid supplying mechanism includes a control unit that controls a first pressure adjusting unit and a second pressure adjusting unit by control parameters each having a given initial value on the basis of a supply pressure detected by a first detecting unit and a discharge pressure detected by a second detecting unit, respectively, so that the supply pressure is higher than the discharge pressure while a back pressure at a nozzle surface is maintained at a given value, and when deviations of the detected supply pressure and the detected discharge pressure with respect to the corresponding target pressure value exceed a given reference value, controls each of the first pressure adjusting unit and the second pressure adjusting unit by changing the control parameters from the initial values. | 08-15-2013 |