Liquid discharge apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10543689-B2
Application number	US-201816104378-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 17, 2018
Priority date	Dec 18, 2017
Publication date	Jan 28, 2020
Grant date	Jan 28, 2020

Abstract

A roll unit includes a feeding roller to which a belt-shaped member is wound, and a winding roller to which the belt-shaped member fed from the feeding roll is wound. One of the feeding roller and the winding roller is relatively movable to the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A head maintenance device to maintain a liquid discharge head to discharge a liquid from nozzles, the head maintenance device comprising:
a roll device, the roll device comprising:
a roll unit comprising:
a feeding roller to which a belt-shaped member is wound; and
a winding roller to which the belt-shaped member fed from the feeding roller is wound,
one of the feeding roller and the winding roller being relatively movable to the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller, and being movably held in the roll unit,
the feeding roller and the winding roller being arranged such that, as the belt-shaped member is wound, the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is moved depending on a diameter of a roll composed of the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller and of a portion of the belt-shaped member wound on the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller,

wherein the belt-shaped member is a wiping member to perform wiping, and
wherein the roll unit is operative to wipe a surface of the liquid discharge head on which the nozzles are formed with the wiping member.

2. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is relatively movable in an obliquely upward direction away from the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller.

3. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is movable in a horizontal direction, and
the roll unit further comprising an urging member to push the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller close to other of the feeding roller and the winding roller.

4. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is movable in a vertical direction, and
a lowest position of the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is disposed higher than the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller.

5. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is movable in a vertical direction,
a highest position of the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is disposed lower than the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller, and
the roll unit further comprising an urging member to push the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller upward.

6. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is movable in an obliquely downward direction away from the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller, and
the roll unit further comprising an urging member to push the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller obliquely upward.

7. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , further comprising a partition movably disposed between the feeding roller and the winding roller.

8. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the belt-shaped member is a wiping member to perform wiping.

9. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the roll device further comprises a movable platform detachably mounting the roll unit to move the roll unit.

10. A liquid discharge apparatus comprising:
the liquid discharge head to discharge the liquid from the nozzles; and
the head maintenance device according to claim 1 .

11. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , further comprising a partition disposed between the feeding roller and the winding roller,
wherein the partition is displaced and deformed according to a decrease or an increase in an outer diameter of a feeding roll formed by the belt-shaped member wound around the feeding roller and a winding roll formed by the belt-shaped member wound around the winding roller.

12. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein the one of the feeding roller and the winding roller is relatively movable to the other of the feeding roller and the winding roller such that a distance between an axial center of the feeding roller and an axial center of the feeding roller can change.

13. The head maintenance device according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a feeding roll formed by the belt-shaped member wound around the feeding roller; and
a winding roll formed by the belt-shaped member wound around the winding roller,
wherein, in an initial state, an outer diameter of the feeding roll is a maximum, and a distance between an axial center of the feeding roller and an axial center of the winding roller is a minimum axial-center distance,
wherein, during winding of the belt-shaped member on to the winding roller, an outer periphery of the winding roll contacts an outer periphery of the feeding roll, and the distance between the axial center of the feeding roller and the axial center of the winding roller varies and is greater than the minimum axial-center distance, and
wherein the distance between the axial center of the feeding roller and the axial center of the winding roller is a maximum axial-center distance when an outer diameter of the winding roll is equal to the outer diameter of the feeding roll.

14. The head maintenance device according to claim 13 , wherein the belt-shaped member is fed from the feeding roller to the winding roller via a guide roller, and a pair of conveyance rollers.

15. The head maintenance device according to claim 14 , wherein a pressing member which presses the belt-shaped member against an object to be wiped is disposed between the pair of conveyance rollers.

Assignees

• Hasebe Daisuke
• Watanabe Tatsuroh
• Asano Yukihiro
• Takahashi Kenta
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Hasebe Daisuke
• Watanabe Tatsuroh
• Asano Yukihiro
• Takahashi Kenta

Classifications

• B41J2002/1655

  with wiping surface parallel with nozzle plate and mounted on reels, e.g. cleaning ribbon cassettes · CPC title

• B41J2/16535 Primary

  using wiping constructions (B41J2/16552 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B41J2/16544

  Constructions for the positioning of wipers · CPC title