Drawing apparatus and drawing method for drawing apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10130154-B2
Application number	US-201715466564-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 22, 2017
Priority date	Mar 25, 2016
Publication date	Nov 20, 2018
Grant date	Nov 20, 2018

Abstract

A drawing apparatus includes a drawing device provided with at least one pen or nozzle configured to perform a drawing on a nail, a processor which controls operations of the pen or the nozzle, and a cleaning pad provided to clean a tip of the pen or the nozzle. The processor causes the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned by bringing the tip of the pen or the nozzle into a pressed state where the tip of the pen or the nozzle is pressed against the cleaning pad.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A drawing apparatus comprising:
a drawing device comprising at least one pen or nozzle configured to perform a drawing on a nail;
a processor configured to control operations of the pen or the nozzle; and
a maintenance part comprising a cleaning pad provided to clean a tip of the pen or the nozzle and a test drawing part configured to perform test drawing or discharging of the pen or the nozzle;
wherein the processor causes the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned by bringing the tip of the pen or the nozzle into a contact state in which the tip of the pen or the nozzle contacts the cleaning pad, and
wherein the processor performs control to notify a user to replace the maintenance part in a case in which at least one of the cleaning pad and the test drawing part has no empty space.

2. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the processor causes the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned by moving the pen or the nozzle while maintaining the contact state.

3. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
in a case in which a result of the test drawing or the discharging at the test drawing part indicates that the pen or the nozzle is not in a drawable state, the processor controls operations of the pen or the nozzle so as to perform cleaning of the tip of the pen or the nozzle at the cleaning pad.

4. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the cleaning pad includes a material capable of removing debris adhered to the tip of the pen or the nozzle by adsorbing or catching the debris.

5. The drawing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein:
the cleaning pad is impregnated with a cleaning agent configured to clean the tip of the pen or the nozzle.

6. A drawing method for a drawing apparatus, wherein the drawing apparatus comprising: comprises (i) drawing device comprising at least one pen or nozzle configured to perform a drawing on a nail, and (ii) a maintenance part comprising a cleaning pad provided to clean a tip of the pen or the nozzle and a test drawing part configured to perform test drawing or discharging of the pen or the nozzle, the drawing method comprising:
causing the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned by bringing the tip of the pen or the nozzle into a contact state in which the tip of the pen or the nozzle contacts the cleaning pad; and
notifying a user to replace of the maintenance part, in a case in which at least one of the cleaning pad and the test drawing part has no empty space.

7. The drawing method according to claim 6 , wherein:
causing the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned comprises moving the pen or the nozzle while maintaining the contact state.

8. The drawing method according to claim 6 , further comprising:
controlling operations of the pen or the nozzle to perform cleaning of the tip of the pen or the nozzle at the cleaning pad, in a case in which a result of the test drawing or the discharging at the test drawing part indicates that the pen or the nozzle is not in a drawable state.

9. The drawing method according to claim 6 , wherein:
the cleaning pad includes a material capable of removing debris adhered to the tip of the pen or the nozzle by adsorbing or catching the debris.

10. The drawing method according to claim 6 , wherein:
the cleaning pad is impregnated with a cleaning agent configured to clean the tip of the pen or the nozzle.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which a drawing control program for a drawing apparatus is stored, wherein the drawing apparatus comprises (i) a drawing device comprising at least one pen or nozzle configured to perform a drawing on a nail, (ii) maintenance part comprising a cleaning pad provided to clean a tip of the pen or the nozzle and a test drawing part configured to perform test drawing or discharging of the pen or the nozzle, and (iii) a computer configured to control operations of the pen or the nozzle, the drawing control program being executable by the computer to perform operations comprising:
causing the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned by bringing the tip of the pen or the nozzle into a contact state in which the tip of the pen or the nozzle contacts the cleaning pad at a time of cleaning the pen or the nozzle; and
notifying a user to replace the maintenance part in a case in which at least one of the cleaning pad and the test drawing part has no empty space.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 11 , wherein:
causing the tip of the pen or the nozzle to be cleaned comprises moving the pen or the nozzle while maintaining the contact state.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 11 , the operations further comprising:
controlling operations of the pen or the nozzle to perform cleaning of the tip of the pen or the nozzle at the cleaning pad, in a case in which a result of the test drawing or the discharging at the test drawing part indicates that the pen or the nozzle is not in a drawable state.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 11 , wherein:
the cleaning pad includes a material capable of removing debris adhered to the tip of the pen or the nozzle by adsorbing or catching the debris.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium according to claim 11 , wherein:
the cleaning pad is impregnated with a cleaning agent configured to clean the tip of the pen or the nozzle.

Assignees

• Casio Computer Co Ltd

Inventors

• Irie Tamotsu

Classifications

• A45D29/00 Primary

  Manicuring or pedicuring implements · CPC title

• A45D34/04

  Appliances specially adapted for applying liquid, e.g. using roller or ball · CPC title

• B41J3/4073

  Printing on three-dimensional objects not being in sheet or web form, e.g. spherical or cubic objects (B41J3/283, B41J3/286 take precedence; building up a 3D object using individual droplets from jetting heads B29C64/112) · CPC title

• B41J3/407

  for marking on special material · CPC title

• A45D2029/005

  Printing or stamping devices for applying images or ornaments to nails · CPC title