US 12,304,207 B2
Printing apparatus and ink discharge head maintenance method
Kaisei Kajihara, Kyoto (JP)
Assigned to SCREEN Holdings Co., Ltd., Kyoto (JP)
Appl. No. 18/018,799
Filed by SCREEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD., Kyoto (JP)
PCT Filed Aug. 20, 2021, PCT No. PCT/JP2021/030539
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jan. 30, 2023,
PCT Pub. No. WO2022/064916, PCT Pub. Date Mar. 31, 2022.
Claims priority of application No. 2020-158432 (JP), filed on Sep. 23, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0311512 A1, Oct. 5, 2023
Int. Cl. B41J 2/165 (2006.01)
CPC B41J 2/16511 (2013.01) [B41J 2/16523 (2013.01); B41J 2/16514 (2024.05)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A printing apparatus, comprising:
a head unit including a head that discharges an ink from a nozzle;
a base member facing the head unit from below;
a cap supported by the base member movably upward and downward, the cap facing the head from below;
a biasing member that biases the cap upward with respect to the base member;
a close-contact member arranged on the base member to surround the cap from outside; and
an interval changer that changes an interval between the head unit and the base member in a vertical direction,
the interval changer performing:
a first operation of elastically deforming the close-contact member according to shape of the head unit and holding the close-contact member in close contact with the head unit by setting the interval between the head unit and the base member in a vertical direction to a first interval while resisting against a biasing force of the biasing member with the cap held in contact with the head unit from below; and
a second operation of bringing the cap into contact with the head unit from below by the biasing force of the biasing member with the head unit and the close-contact member separated by setting the interval between the head unit and the base member in a vertical direction to a second interval wider than the first interval,
the close-contact member held in close contact with the head unit by the first operation isolating the nozzle inside the close-contact member from an atmosphere outside the close-contact member by blocking a flow of a gas between the outside and inside of the close-contact member,
the cap held in contact with the head unit by the second operation allowing a gas flow between the outside and inside of the cap, and
the interval changer performing the second operation when purging is performed to cause the ink to flow out from the nozzle by applying a pressure to the ink stored in the head, whereby the ink flowing out from the nozzle is received by the cap while the cap is caused to face the nozzle.