Liquid jetting apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9649845-B2
Application number	US-201615058576-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 2, 2016
Priority date	Apr 8, 2014
Publication date	May 16, 2017
Grant date	May 16, 2017

Abstract

A liquid jetting apparatus includes a casing, a tank formed with a liquid storage chamber which stores liquid, an inlet which allows the liquid to be poured into the liquid storage chamber, and a liquid outflow channel which allows the liquid to flow out from the liquid storage chamber, a conveying mechanism which conveys a recording medium along a conveying path extending in a front-rear direction, a carriage which moves in a left-right direction, and a head mounted on the carriage and having a nozzle which jets the liquid onto the recording medium conveyed by the conveying mechanism. The tank, the conveying path, and the carriage are arranged inside the casing, the tank is arranged outside the conveying path in the left-right direction, and at least a part of the tank is arranged inside both ends of a movement area of the carriage in the left-right direction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A liquid jetting apparatus comprising:
a casing;
a tank positioned inside the casing, the tank having a liquid storage chamber, an inlet through the tank, and a liquid outflow channel configured to allow the liquid to flow out from the liquid storage chamber;
a conveying mechanism positioned inside the casing, the conveying mechanism configured to convey a recording medium along a conveying path extending in a first direction;
a carriage positioned inside the casing above the conveying path, the carriage being configured to move in a second direction so as to define a movement area having a range in the second direction, the range of the movement area having first and second ends spaced apart in the second direction; and
a head mounted on the carriage and having a nozzle configured to jet the liquid onto the recording medium conveyed by the conveying mechanism,
a tube connecting the tank and the head and configured to supply the liquid stored in the tank to the head, the tube being positioned above the conveying path,
wherein the tank is positioned outside the conveying path in the second direction,
wherein a first part of the tank is positioned between the first and second ends of the range of the movement area of the carriage in the second direction,
wherein a second part of the tank is positioned outside the first and second ends of the range of the movement area of the carriage in the second direction,
wherein the tank further comprises first and second sides facing in a particular direction which is perpendicular to the first direction, and a connecting portion which is connected to the tube formed on the first side, and
wherein the first and second sides face in the second direction, and the second part of the tank includes the first side.

2. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the tank is positioned in front of the carriage in the first direction.

3. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein the casing has a side wall formed with an opening configured to allow the inlet of the tank to be accessible, and
the inlet is configured to face outward and obliquely upward from the casing.

4. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the opening of the casing is formed in the side wall provided at front side of the casing in the first direction.

5. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 4 ,
wherein the tank is formed with a plurality of the liquid storage chambers and a plurality of inlets, and
the plurality of inlets is positioned to align along the second direction.

6. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 5 ,
wherein the plurality of the chambers include at least a first chamber and a second chamber positioned adjacent to the first chamber in the second direction, and
wherein the first chamber includes the second part of the tank, and the second chamber includes the first part of the tank.

7. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 6 ,
wherein the first chamber defines a first dimension in the second direction and the second chamber defines a second dimension that is smaller than the first dimension in the second direction.

8. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 3 ,
wherein the casing is provided with a cover configured to open and close the opening.

9. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 8 ,
wherein the cover is configured to pivot around pivot axis extending along the second direction, and
in a state that the cover closes the opening, the pivot axis is positioned at a position nearer to a lower end of the cover than an upper end of the cover.

10. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein an operation panel having at least one of an input section configured to accept an input from outside and a display section configured to display an image is arranged, on a side wall provided at front side of the casing, at a position above the tank in an up-down direction.

11. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 1 ,
wherein a feeding cassette configured to support the recording medium is positioned at a position overlapping with the conveying path when viewed from an up-down direction, and
the feeding cassette is configured to be drawn frontward of the casing.

12. The liquid jetting apparatus according to claim 11 ,
wherein the casing has an internal space provided above the feeding cassette and configured to allow the recording medium to be discharged.

Assignees

• Brother Ind Ltd

Inventors

• Osakabe Yoshinori
• Higuchi Tomohisa
• Shinoda Akira
• Igarashi Akinori
• Tomoguchi Suguru
• Sakurai Hisaki

Classifications

• B41J2/01

  Ink jet · CPC title

• B41J2/17553

  Outer structure · CPC title

• B41J2/1752

  Mounting within the printer · CPC title

• B41J29/02

  Framework · CPC title

• B41J29/023 Primary

  with reduced dimensions · CPC title