Liquid ejecting apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12370798-B2
Application number	US-202318164864-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 6, 2023
Priority date	Feb 7, 2022
Publication date	Jul 29, 2025
Grant date	Jul 29, 2025

Abstract

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a first head disposed such that an arrangement angle is a first angle; a second head disposed such that an arrangement angle is a second angle, which is greater than the first angle; a first circulation mechanism circulating liquid between a first reservoir and the first head; a second circulation mechanism circulating liquid between a second reservoir and the second head; and a control unit controlling the first and the second circulation mechanisms. The control unit performs circulation cleaning, in which the liquid is circulated, on multiple heads including the first head and the second head. The amount of the liquid circulating through the first head during the circulation cleaning is a first amount, and the amount of the liquid circulating through the second head during the circulation cleaning is a second amount that is greater than the first amount.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising:
a first head that has a first nozzle face having nozzles configured to eject liquid and that is disposed such that an angle between the first nozzle face and a horizontal plane is a first angle;
a second head that has a second nozzle face having nozzles configured to eject the liquid and that is disposed such that an angle between the second nozzle face and the horizontal plane is a second angle, which is greater than the first angle;
a first reservoir that stores the liquid to be supplied to the first head;
a second reservoir that stores the liquid to be supplied to the second head;
a first circulation mechanism that circulates the liquid between the first reservoir and the first head;
a second circulation mechanism that circulates the liquid between the second reservoir and the second head; and
a control unit that controls the first circulation mechanism and the second circulation mechanism, wherein
the control unit performs circulation cleaning, in which the liquid is circulated, on multiple heads including the first head and the second head and
the amount of the liquid circulating through the first head during the circulation cleaning is a first amount, and the amount of the liquid circulating through the second head during the circulation cleaning is a second amount, which is greater than the first amount.

2. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a flow rate of the liquid circulating through the first head during the circulation cleaning per unit period is a first flow rate, and a flow rate of the liquid circulating through the second head during the circulation cleaning is a second flow rate, which is higher than the first flow rate.

3. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a second period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the second head is longer than a first period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the first head.

4. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a third head that has a third nozzle face having nozzles configured to eject the liquid and that is disposed such that an angle between the third nozzle face and the horizontal plane is a third angle, which is greater than the second angle;
a third reservoir that stores the liquid to be supplied to the third head; and
a third circulation mechanism that circulates the liquid between the third reservoir and the third head, wherein
the control unit further controls the third circulation mechanism,
the multiple heads further include the third head, and
the amount of the liquid circulating through the third head during the circulation cleaning is a third amount, which is greater than the second amount.

5. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a third head that has a third nozzle face having nozzles configured to eject the liquid and that is disposed such that an angle between the third nozzle face and the horizontal plane is a third angle, which is greater than the second angle;
a third reservoir that stores the liquid to be supplied to the third head; and
a third circulation mechanism that circulates the liquid between the third reservoir and the third head, wherein
the control unit further controls the third circulation mechanism,
the multiple heads further include the third head, and
a flow rate of the liquid circulating through the third head during the circulation cleaning per unit period is a third flow rate, which is lower than the second flow rate representing the flow rate of the liquid circulating through the second head.

6. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the first angle and the second angle are less than 70°, and the third angle is 70° or more.

7. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein
the first head includes a first filter substantially parallel to the first nozzle face,
the second head includes a second filter substantially parallel to the second nozzle face, and
a third head includes a third filter substantially parallel to the third nozzle face.

8. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein a third period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the third head is longer than the second period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the second head.

9. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein
a flow rate of the liquid circulating through the first head during the circulation cleaning per unit period is a first flow rate,
a flow rate of the liquid circulating through the second head during the circulation cleaning is a second flow rate,
a period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the first head is a first period,
a period during which the circulation cleaning is performed on the second head is a second period,
the first amount is obtained by multiplying the first flow rate by the first period, and
the second amount is obtained by multiplying the second flow rate by the second period.

Assignees

• Seiko Epson Corp

Inventors

• Yanagihara Hirokazu
• Watanabe Eiichiro
• Okui Hiroaki

Classifications

• B41J2/14

  Structure thereof {only for on-demand ink jet heads} · CPC title

• B41J2002/14403

  including a filter · CPC title

• B41J2202/19

  Assembling head units · CPC title

• B41J2202/12

  with ink circulating through the whole print head · CPC title

• B41J2202/20

  Modules · CPC title