Liquid discharge device and liquid discharge apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11065895-B2
Application number	US-202016875253-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2020
Priority date	Jul 4, 2019
Publication date	Jul 20, 2021
Grant date	Jul 20, 2021

Abstract

A liquid discharge device includes a liquid discharge head to discharge a liquid, a head holder to hold the liquid discharge head, a sub-carriage to hold the head holder, a carriage to hold the sub-carriage and move in a main scanning direction, an adjuster supported by the sub-carriage, and a guide to guide the sub-carriage to be movable in a vertical direction. The carriage includes a reference shaft extending in the main scanning direction, the reference shaft supports the sub-carriage via the adjuster and positions the sub-carriage in the vertical direction, the adjuster adjusts an inclination of the sub-carriage with respect to the reference shaft, the sub-carriage includes a sub-reference shaft extending in parallel with the reference shaft, and the guide allows the sub-reference shaft to move in the vertical direction while restricting a movement of the sub-reference shaft in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid discharge device comprising:
a liquid discharge head configured to discharge a liquid;
a head holder configured to hold the liquid discharge head;
a sub-carriage configured to hold the head holder;
a carriage configured to hold the sub-carriage and move in a main scanning direction;
an adjuster supported by the sub-carriage; and
a guide configured to guide the sub-carriage to be movable in a vertical direction,
wherein the carriage includes a reference shaft extending in the main scanning direction,
the reference shaft supports the sub-carriage via the adjuster and positions the sub-carriage in the vertical direction,
the adjuster adjusts an inclination of the sub-carriage with respect to the reference shaft,
the sub-carriage includes a sub-reference shaft extending in parallel with the reference shaft, and
the guide is configured to allow the sub-reference shaft to move in the vertical direction while restricting a movement of the sub-reference shaft in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction.

2. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the guide includes through holes into which both ends of the sub-reference shaft in the main scanning direction are respectively inserted, and
each of the through holes has a long-hole shape longer in the vertical direction than the sub-scanning direction to allow the sub-reference shaft to move in the vertical direction and restrict the movement of the sub-reference shaft in the sub-scanning direction.

3. The liquid discharge device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the carriage includes the through holes at both ends of the carriage in the main scanning direction,
the sub-carriage includes the sub-reference shaft, and
the both ends of the sub-reference shaft are respectively inserted into the through holes in the carriage.

4. The liquid discharge device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the carriage includes the sub-reference shaft,
the sub-carriage includes the through holes at both ends of the sub-carriage in the main scanning direction, and
the both ends of the sub-reference shaft are respectively inserted into the through holes in the sub-carriage.

5. The liquid discharge device according to claim 4 ,
wherein a width of each of the through holes in the sub-scanning direction perpendicular to the vertical direction is equal to an outer diameter of the sub-reference shaft.

6. The liquid discharge device according to claim 2 ,
wherein the sub-reference shaft is divided into two on a same straight line to form two sub-reference shafts, and
the two sub-reference shafts are respectively inserted into the through holes of the guide.

7. The liquid discharge device according to claim 6 ,
wherein the two sub-reference shafts are step screws.

8. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-carriage rotatably supports the adjuster around an axis in the sub-scanning direction.

9. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the reference shaft includes a cam contacting the adjuster, and
the cam is configured to elevate the adjuster to position the sub-carriage in the vertical direction.

10. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the head holder includes rotation references configured to rotate the head holder around an axis in the main scanning direction with respect to the sub-carriage,
the sub-carriage includes shaft holes to rotatably support the rotation references, respectively, and
the head holder includes an angle adjuster configured to regulate rotation of the head holder to adjust a rotation angle between the head holder and the sub-carriage.

11. The liquid discharge device according to claim 1 ,
wherein the sub-carriage includes rotation references configured to rotate the head holder around an axis in the main scanning direction with respect to the sub-carriage,
the head holder includes shaft holes to rotatably support the rotation references, respectively, and
the sub-carriage includes an angle adjuster configured to regulate rotation of the head holder to adjust a rotation angle between the head holder and the sub-carriage.

12. A liquid discharge apparatus comprising the liquid discharge device according to claim 1 .

Assignees

• Saiga soichi
• Ricoh Co Ltd

Inventors

• Saiga soichi

Classifications

• B41J25/3086 Primary

  with print gap adjustment means between the print head and its carriage · CPC title

• B41J25/3084

  by means of a spacer contacting the matter to be printed · CPC title

• B41J25/316

  with tilting motion mechanisms relative to paper surface · CPC title

• B41J25/34 Primary

  Bodily-changeable print heads or carriages · CPC title

• B41J25/3082

  with print gap adjustment means on the print head carriage, e.g. for rotation around a guide bar or using a rotatable eccentric bearing · CPC title