US 12,011,929 B2
Ink jet printer including wiper to wipe nozzle surface and wiper cleaner to clean wiper
Bunji Shinomiya, Hamamatsu (JP); Yuichi Sugiyama, Hamamatsu (JP); and Masato Kubo, Hamamatsu (JP)
Assigned to ROLAND DG CORPORATION, Shizuoka (JP)
Filed by Roland DG Corporation, Hamamatsu (JP)
Filed on Aug. 26, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/412,306.
Application 17/412,306 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2020/005134, filed on Feb. 10, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-036353 (JP), filed on Feb. 28, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2021/0379897 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. B41J 2/165 (2006.01)
CPC B41J 2/16538 (2013.01) [B41J 2002/16582 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An ink jet printer comprising:
an ink head including a plurality of nozzles to discharge ink onto a recording medium and a nozzle surface on which the plurality of nozzles are provided;
a carriage on which the ink head is mounted and which is movable in a main scanning direction;
a wiper extending upward to wipe the nozzle surface;
a wiper mover to move the wiper in a sub-scanning direction perpendicular or substantially perpendicular to the main scanning direction;
a wiper cleaner disposed upstream or downstream of the carriage in the sub-scanning direction and extending downward to contact the wiper and remove ink adhering to the wiper; and
a controller configured or programmed to control the carriage and the wiper mover; wherein
the controller is configured or programmed to control the wiper mover such that the nozzle surface is wiped by the wiper after bringing the wiper into contact with the wiper cleaner, and
an amount of ink absorption by the wiper cleaner is larger than an amount of ink absorption by the wiper.