A panel jig apparatus is provided which has first moving units that are respectively installed at the left and right sides of a base frame, and selectively reciprocate a first sliding plate provided on top of the base frame leftward and rightward on the base frame. Likewise, the second moving units are respectively installed at the front and rear sides of the base frame, and selectively reciprocate a second sliding plate provided on top of the base frame forward and rearward on the base frame. The first support units are movable leftward and rightward on the base frame by the respective first sliding plates, and movable upward and downward by an ascending and descending means so as to support a panel. The second support units are movable forward and rearward on the base frame by the second sliding plates, and provided to support the panel.

A rocking jaw gripper for restraining tubulars including an arm with a rocking jaw gripper rocker jaw, a rocking jaw gripper frame connected with the arm, a locking pin connecting the rocking jaw gripper frame to the chain cylinder, a hinge pin connecting the rocking jaw gripper frame to the arm and a plate jaw fastener retaining the rocker jaw body between the top plate and the bottom plate by engaging the tail hole of the rocker jaw body. When the rocking jaw gripper is engaged, it acts to restrain the movement of a tubular during make-up and break-out.

A c-shaped clamp tool system preferably includes slider arms, one or more slider arm supports, pads, one or more threaded rods, and turning knobs. The clamping system preferably includes multiple slider arms and slider arm supports of different lengths. In a preferred embodiment, the slider arms are made of unidirectional pultruded carbon fiber and the slider arm support is made of woven carbon fiber.

A reconfigurable clamping system is disclosed. An example clamping system for securing a workpiece comprises a retention assembly and an inflatable bladder. The retention assembly comprises a plurality of links, each pair of adjacent links having a pivotal connection to enable the retention assembly to be configured to the general shape of a workpiece, and each pair of adjacent links having a locking mechanism to selectively lock an angular relationship between the pair. The inflatable bladder is coupled between the retention assembly and the workpiece and is to apply a clamping force to the workpiece.

An optical fiber fusion splicer includes: a windshield cover having a rotating shaft and rotating around the rotating shaft so as to be openable and closable; a cable member wrapping unit coupled and fixed to the windshield cover on the same axis as the rotating shaft of the windshield cover or formed as a portion of the windshield cover, the cable member wrapping unit being rotatable in a normal direction or in a reverse direction around the rotating shaft; a first cable member winding unit that is a rotary pulley, a non-rotary pulley, or a rotary gear; and a closed-loop member including a deformable cable member wound around the cable member wrapping unit and the first cable member winding unit, the closed-loop member constituting a closed loop.

A retractable assembly for introducing an insertable device into a container through a container opening, comprising: a linear guide, which is releasably mountable on the container via a holder; and, guided along the linear guide, a slider, on which an articulated head is so seated, that it has at least two degrees of freedom perpendicular to the linear guide, wherein the insertable device is at least axially guided in the articulated head in the mounted state.

A multi-functional vice base including a main body and a plate is provided. The main body includes a bottom surface, side surfaces and fixing portions. At least two side surfaces form a groove therebetween. Each fixing portion is disposed between the groove and the bottom surface. A first fixing member goes through a through hole of one of the fixing portions and is fixed on a working machine bench. The plate is detachably disposed at one of the side surfaces. Whereby the vice base can be mounted on various sized horizontal machining centers. Besides, plates with different size are allowed to be mounted on the main body for clamping work pieces whose sizes are different.

A hand tool for inserting a large variety of connector components into narrow plastic irrigation piping is disclosed. This tool is an improved and progressive development of my previous Israeli patent no: 152089 in that it is designed to work with a large variety of connector components and is designed to accommodate both sizes of narrow spaghetti piping, whereas the previous patent could accommodate only a single size of narrow piping. The tool as shown in FIG. 2 has a body onto which all the elements are connected and the body is configured to sit comfortably in the palm of the hand. When pressing down on the handle, the grips secure the narrow piping and cause a connector component, deployed in appropriate recess provided in the tool to be easily inserted into the narrow piping.

A clamp device includes a clamp main body, an engagement assembly, a clamp rod, a drive mechanism, and a support mechanism. The engagement assembly can be changed over between a diameter-expanded state in which it engages with an inner circumferential surface of an aperture in a workpiece, and a diameter-reduced state in which it does not so engage. The clamp rod is engaged with an interior of the engagement assembly. The drive mechanism drives the clamp rod to and from the clamp main body. The support mechanism supports the engagement assembly with a pneumatic force of pressurized air. At least a part of the pneumatic force is released after the engagement assembly has been expanded in diameter.

A rotating cylinder includes and a main body, a piston head, a piston rod and a guide assembly. The piston head slidably is received within the main body. The piston rod partially received within the main body, the piston head is fixed to the piston head, the piston rod defines one or more guiding groove adjacent to the piston head, the guiding groove includes a straight portion, a first helix portion and a second helix portion, the straight portion extends axially toward the piston head, the first helix portion curvedly extends away from the straight portion toward the piston head, the second helix portion curvedly extends from an end of the first helix portion toward a direction away from the piston head and the straight portion. The guide assembly is mounted on the main body and includes one or more guiding member slidably engaged with the guiding groove.

An optical fiber fusion splicer that heats and fusion-splices optical fibers to each other, the optical fiber fusion splicer includes: a coating clamp installation base; a coating clamp that is attached to the coating clamp installation base and has a coating clamp lid that is openable and closable; and a first power source for advancing the coating clamp installation base and opening the coating clamp lid. An operation of opening the coating clamp lid is performed using the first power source after the fusion splicing is completed.

An interlocking and removable tool for floral arranging, consisting of two interlocking pieces which form a sturdy grid when assembled. This grid is placed on top of a vase, jar, bowl, or other vessel used for housing arranged flowers. This grid keeps flowers in place while being arranged, without falling over, and allows the user to construct floral arrangements with ease. When the desired arrangement is complete, the interlocking components slide apart and are removed without disrupting the floral arrangement.

An adjustment mechanism includes a first adjustment assembly and a second adjustment assembly. The first adjustment assembly includes a first regulating member and a second regulating member. The first regulating member includes a bearing plate and a first supporting portion protruding from the bearing plate. The first supporting portion includes an arcuate first supporting surface. The second regulating member includes a base body and a second supporting portion protruding from the base body away from the first supporting portion. The second supporting portion includes an arcuate second supporting surface. The second adjustment assembly includes a mounting member latched with the base body. First supporting surface resists the base body, to enable the bearing plate to rock along a curvature relative to the base body. Second supporting surface resists the mounting member, to enable the bearing plate and the base body to rock relative to the mounting member.

The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods for clamping along a work piece. In one embodiment, a clamping system includes one or more force applying units each including a plunger or force applying member adapted to apply clamping force to the work piece, and one or more coupling units linked with the force applying units forming a chain of force applying units and coupling units. The coupling units may include a lockable pivot adapted to pivot to conform the chain to the surface of the work piece when unlocked, and adapted to be locked when at least one of the plurality of force applying units applies clamping force to the work piece. In another embodiment, a clamping system may include multi-axis pivot units. In a further embodiment, a clamping system may include length adjusting units.

A support structure for supporting a semiconductor device during a bonding operation is provided. The support structure comprises a body portion defining an upper surface configured to support a semiconductor device during a bonding operation. The upper surface defines a constraining feature for constraining at least a portion of the semiconductor device during the bonding operation.

A device for cleaning trays comprises a tub that has a bottom and a wall. The tub is dimensioned such that a baking tray can be placed therein. The device further comprises a dish drain that can be placed in the tub. Said device for cleaning a baking tray uses only a small amount of space in a kitchen and is easy to handle. In fact, in a typical kitchen that already has a dish drain, the device requires no additional space.

A prosthetic inserter includes an inserter head having at least first and second bosses, at least one of the bosses movable from a first position to a second position, that couple the inserter to a femoral provisional component via a pair of corresponding apertures, such as drill holes, within the articulating surfaces of a selected one of a series of femoral provisional components. Each provisional component of the series is capable of having different aperture distances measured between a respective pair of apertures. The bosses of the inserter are biased into an engagement position in which the inserter can be secured to a femoral provisional component to eliminate the need for an external engagement force to be supplied to the inserter.

A device for recontouring a gas turbine blade includes at least one support configured to rest on an edge of the gas turbine blade during the recontouring, at least one side bearing configured to rest on an intake side or an outlet side of the gas turbine blade during the recontouring and a machining unit for machining the gas turbine blade. The machining unit is configured to fuse at least one partial area of the edge of the gas turbine blade using a beam of energy that is targeted such that material of the blade solidifies into a new contour, substantially without the addition of supplementary material.

An image forming apparatus includes an image forming part including a recording head to form an image on a recording medium, a conveyance mechanism disposed opposite the image forming part to convey the recording medium, and a cover closably openable relative to a body of the image forming apparatus and disposed opposite the conveyance mechanism with the image forming part interposed therebetween. The recording head is detachably attachable to the cover and is configured to move away from the conveyance mechanism when the cover is opened.

An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a conveyer configured to convey a recording medium along a conveying path in a conveying direction, an image forming unit configured to form an image on the recording medium being conveyed, a supporting member arranged in a position to face the image forming unit and configured to support the recording medium, and an aspirator configured to aspirate dust through an aspiration inlet, which is formed in a downstream position along the conveying direction with respect to the image forming unit and in proximity to a downstream end of the supporting member.

The present invention aims to provide a technique that prints characters and patterns clearly onto a tire surface without complicated operations. A tire printing device of the present invention includes a printer head that ejects and applies a coating material onto a tire surface, a widthwise moving unit that moves the printer head along the width direction of the tire, a radial moving unit that moves the printer head along the radical direction of the tire, and a swinging unit that swings the printer head around the axis along the circumferential direction of the tire.

The present invention addresses the problem of improving the quality of recorded images in ink jet recording technologies in which a plurality of nozzle lines that discharge ink of the same color are used. As a solution, nozzle lines (10) of n columns (where n is a natural number of three or more) each record a recording pixel column (2) on a recording medium by discharging ink of the same color while scanning over the recording medium (1); and when the nozzle lines (10) of n columns each extract a recording pixel column (2), which is recorded in a single scan, for each n columns in the scanning direction, ink is discharged in such a manner that there are at least two permutation patterns for the nozzle columns (10) that record each column of the extracted recording pixel columns (3).

A fluidic structure has a first chamber having a connection to a fluid reservoir and a connection to an array of apertures, the chamber forming a flow path between the fluid reservoir and the array of apertures, a second chamber having a connection to at least one vent connected to an atmosphere external to the fluidic structure, and at least one path between the first chamber and the second chamber.

An ink-jet printing module is used for a page-width array ink-jet printer. The ink jet printing module includes a page-width array platen and a plurality of ink-jet cartridges. The page-width array platen has a plurality of receiving cavities arranged as an array. Each of the ink-jet cartridges is detachably and independently embedded into one of the receiving cavities, and includes a body for storing ink, an ink-jet chip to be driven for ejecting the ink, a plurality of nozzles disposed on the ink-jet chip, and a control node for receiving signal to drive the ink-jet chip. The ink-jet chip is disposed on a bottom of the page-width array platen and is driven to eject the ink through the nozzles onto a printing medium.

An ink jet recording head includes a substrate having a plurality of discharge energy generation elements and having an ink supply port, a protective film provided on the substrate and configured to protect wiring connected to the discharge energy generation elements, and an ink discharge port forming member, wherein the protective film has a protruding portion, wherein the ink discharge port forming member has a beam-like protrusion, wherein the beam-like protrusion has a reinforcing rib, and wherein a separation film containing gold is formed at a portion where the protruding portion and the reinforcing rib are held in close contact with each other.

A full-line printhead includes a base in which a plurality of substrates each including arrayed print elements are arranged in the arrayed direction has the following arrangement. The base includes a terminal for inputting a first differential signal, a first pair of lines for transferring the first differential signal from the terminal to the substrates, a terminal for inputting a second differential signal, and a second pair of lines for transferring the second differential signal from the terminal to the substrates. Each substrate includes a first amplifier for amplifying the first differential signal transferred via the first pair of lines, and a second amplifier for amplifying the second differential signal transferred via the second pair of lines. Control is performed to change the gain of the first amplifier based on a control signal from outside.

A liquid ejecting head includes: a nozzle plate formed with a plurality of nozzle orifices; a drive unit configured to apply pressure vibration to pressure generating chambers communicating to the plurality of nozzle orifices; and a head casing including the drive unit and having a surface opposed to the nozzle plate. The plurality of nozzle orifices defines a first nozzle array group and a second nozzle array group which are staggered, and the surface has a first recess and a second recess which are staggered.

A material deposition system includes a frame, a support coupled to the frame to support an electronic substrate during a deposit operation, a gantry coupled to the frame, and a deposition head coupled to the gantry. The deposition head is movable over the support by movement of the gantry. The deposition head includes a chamber to hold material, an actuator to push a volume of material out of the chamber, a needle extending from the chamber and terminating in a needle orifice, and at least two air jets located on opposite sides of the needle orifice. A desired volume of material is formed at the needle orifice in response to the actuator, and each of the at least two air jets produce a timed pulse of air to create a micro-droplet from the desired volume and to accelerate the micro-droplet to high velocity.

A liquid feed valve unit is configured to switch between a releasing mode for forcibly opening a valve and a blocking mode for closing the valve, and the valve can therefore be opened and closed in a short time as needed. Since the releasing mode is implemented by pushing the peripheral part and the pressure-receiving part of the flexible member, the flexible member can be prevented from flexing toward the outside of the liquid accommodating chamber even in the case that the pressure-receiving part is pushed. In this case, since a residual pressure can be prevented from forming in the liquid accommodating chamber, there is no need to suspend operation, and it is possible to immediately proceed to the next operation. A fast-operating liquid feed valve unit can thereby be obtained.

An ink supply reservoir, and method of supplying ink, is described.

Ink in an ink tank is fed through a dissolved gas control filter to a printer head. A gas pressure changing mechanism reduces pressure in a gas pressure control tank. In response, the dissolved gas control filter removes gas dissolved in the ink. The gas pressure control tank is placed under pressure corresponding to a sum of the pressure reduced by the gas pressure changing mechanism and the pressure of the gas having been removed from the liquid. A gas pressure measuring part measures the sum of these pressures as pressure in the gas pressure control tank. Then, a controller determines when time of exchange of the dissolved gas control filter has come based on the magnitude of a gradient of gas pressure variation in the gas pressure control tank.

A liquid container includes a liquid which generates gases over time due to a chemical change in components; a liquid storage chamber in which the liquid is stored; a liquid flow port which communicates with the liquid storage chamber, via which the liquid inside the storage chamber flows out; and an information holding portion which holds time information on manufacturing of the liquid container.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes: a head including: a reservoir tank; an inlet opening; and ejection openings; an air-discharge passage for discharging air from the reservoir tank to an outside; a first sucking device for sucking air from the reservoir tank via the air-discharge passage; a semipermeable membrane dividing a space in the reservoir tank and the air-discharge passage, into a reservoir-tank-side space and a first-sucking-device-side space and allowing communication of the air and inhibiting communication of liquid between the reservoir-tank-side space and the first-sucking-device-side space; and a first valve mechanism dividing the reservoir-tank-side space into a first space on a semipermeable-membrane side and a second space on an inlet-opening side, inhibiting fluid from flowing from the first space to the second space, and allowing fluid to flow from the second space to the first space. The first space is located above the ejection openings.

A liquid cartridge is detachably attachable to an apparatus body of an image forming apparatus. The liquid cartridge includes a cartridge case, an information memory element, and a holding unit. The cartridge case includes at least two dividable case parts. The at least two dividable case parts form a front face of the cartridge case to face the apparatus body when the liquid cartridge is attached to the apparatus body. An information memory element is held at the front face of the cartridge case. The holding unit is provided in one of the at least two dividable case parts to hold the information memory element with only the one of the at least two dividable case parts. The holding unit includes a groove to receive the information memory element and a displaceable claw to hold the information memory element between the groove and the claw.

A printing apparatus adapted to have a cartridge detachably mounted thereon includes a cartridge mounting structure, a printing material supply tube, a plurality of apparatus-side terminals and a lever used for attachment and detachment of the cartridge to and from the printing apparatus. The lever has an operating member, a first apparatus-side locking portion and an axis of rotation. When an external force is applied to the operating member of the lever from the +X-axis direction to the −X-axis direction, the lever moves the first apparatus-side locking portion about the axis of rotation from a specified locking position toward the +X-axis direction and disengages the first apparatus-side locking portion from a first cartridge-side restriction portion, so as to eliminate the restriction of motion of the cartridge. This ensures stable electrical connection between cartridge-side terminals and apparatus-side terminals.

A cartridge comprises an ink supply structure, a terminal bearing structure, and a first restriction portion. The terminal bearing structure has terminals arranged in a terminal plane which is neither parallel nor perpendicular to a plane defined by a mounting direction leading edge of the ink supply structure, so that the contact portions of the terminals receive a force in a direction opposite from the mounting direction. An engagement portion of the first restriction portion is provided at a position adjacent to the terminal bearing structure.

An ink system of an ink jet printer includes a fluid tank. The fluid tank includes a generally conically shaped side wall, the side wall sloping inwardly from a top portion to a bottom portion. A bottom surface is disposed adjacent the bottom portion of the side wall. A first fluid conduit is disposed in the fluid tank and includes an opening adjacent to and above the bottom surface of the fluid tank. A second fluid conduit is disposed in the fluid tank and includes an opening at a location above the opening of the first fluid conduit. A pump is in fluid communication with the first fluid conduit and the second fluid conduit. An ink supply line is in fluid communication with the pump. A print head is in fluid communication with the ink supply line.

A particle removal device for an ink jet printer is discussed. The particle removal device includes a first separator comprising an arrangement of obstacles including at least two rows of obstacles that extend laterally with respect to a flow path of ink in the first separator. The rows of obstacles are offset from one another by a row offset fraction. The arrangement of obstacles is configured to preferentially route larger particles having diameters greater than a critical diameter through the arrangement and along a first trajectory vector that is angled with respect to the direction of the flow path of the ink. The angle of the first trajectory vector with respect to the ink flow path is a function of the row offset fraction. Smaller particles having diameters less than the critical diameter travel through the arrangement along a second trajectory vector that is not substantially angled with respect to the flow path of the ink. The first separator causes a pressure drop of the ink of less than about 100 Pa.

There are provided an image processing apparatus and an image processing method which can shorten a drying time of inks in an edge region of an image, and can form a sharp image without bleeding of the ink applied onto the edge region into a blank paper. The image processing method generates applying data for forming an image on a print medium by a relative scan between print heads for ejecting a first ink and a second ink having the same color with the first ink and lower in surface tension than the first ink, and the print medium. The image processing method generates first data for applying the first ink to a predetermined region that is adjacent to an edge region of the image and that is included in an inside region inward of the edge region, and generates second data for applying the second ink to the edge region.

A solid ink stick identification system enables accurate and efficient identification of solid ink sticks in a solid ink imaging device. The solid ink identification system includes an actuator configured to move one of an optical source and an optical sensor between a plurality of predetermined positions. The optical source emits light toward a face of the ink stick, and the optical sensor generates signals corresponding to an amount of reflected light received. A controller identifies features on the solid ink stick based on the signals as the one of the optical source and optical sensor is moved between the plurality of predetermined positions.

An image recording method includes applying an ink containing a pigment in a dispersion to a region of a recording medium, and applying a liquid composition capable of destabilizing the dispersion of the pigment in the ink to the recording medium so as to cover at least part of the region of the recording medium. The ink further contains polymer particles, and at least one surfactant selected from the group consisting of the compounds expressed by General Formula (1) and the compounds expressed by General Formula (2). In the ink, the content of the polymer particles is 3% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less relative to the total mass of the ink, and the mass ratio of the polymer particles to the surfactant is 1 or more and 10 or less.

An image recording apparatus includes: a nozzle that discharges electromagnetic wave curable ink that is cured when an electromagnetic wave is irradiated onto a recording medium; and an irradiator for irradiating the electromagnetic wave, wherein a filter that transmits the electromagnetic wave is provided on the irradiator, and the filter has a first transmittance that causes the electromagnetic wave curable ink on the recording medium to be curable with respect to an electromagnetic wave that is incident at a first angle and a second transmittance that maintains a state in which the nozzle can discharge the electromagnetic wave curable ink with respect to an electromagnetic wave that is incident at a second angle.

A liquid ejection apparatus includes: (a) a storage device for storing an image data set representing a plurality of images; (b) a liquid ejection head for performing an image formation on each recording medium; (c) a curl reduction device for reducing curl caused in each recording medium having the corresponding image formed thereon by the liquid ejection head; (d) an output tray for receiving each recording medium whose curl has been reduced by the curl reduction device, such that the received recording media are stacked on the output tray; and (e) a control device configured to control the curl reduction device, such that the curl caused in an earlier one of the recording media is reduced by a smaller degree than the curl caused in a later one of the recording media that has been subjected to the image formation later than the earlier one of the recording media.

This invention relates to a media multi-feed rejection apparatus, comprising: a plurality of feed rollers; a feed roller driving means operatively connected to one of the plurality of feed rollers; a clutch means operatively connected to the other of the plurality of feed rollers; and a single channel encoder means operatively connected to the clutch means to measure a rotation of the other of the plurality of feed rollers.

According to an aspect of the present invention, in a medium conveyance apparatus which securely supports and conveys a medium, by providing a function for applying a back tension to the medium, in a guide section which forms a guide for supporting the medium in a medium conveyance unit, it is possible to apply a back tension to the medium of which at least a portion is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit, thereby restricting the occurrence of creasing and floating when the medium is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit and maintaining the flatness of the medium which is securely supported by the medium conveyance unit.

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejecting head which ejects liquid toward a recording medium; a rib which projects in a direction toward the liquid ejecting head, and includes a support portion for supporting the recording medium; a detection target portion which is provided at a position lower than the support portion; a lower side portion located at a position lower than the detection target portion; a light emitting unit which irradiates the detection target portion with light rays; a light receiving unit which receives reflected light rays resulting from reflection of the light rays with which the detection target portion is irradiated, convers the received reflected light rays into photocurrent, and outputs the photocurrent as an output voltage; and a sensitivity setting unit which causes the light emitting unit to irradiate the detection target portion with light rays and sets the sensitivity of the light receiving unit.

A recording apparatus includes: a transporting roller which includes a cylindrical shaft having one joint from one end portion to the other end portion of the shaft and transports a recording medium by being driven to rotate; a driven roller which holds and transports the recording medium with the transporting roller; and a recording section which performs recording on the recording medium, in which the joint includes a plurality of protrusion sections which protrude in a direction intersecting with an axial direction of the transporting roller, in which the plurality of protrusion sections are disposed in positions which do not come into contact with both end portions of the recording medium in the axial direction of the cylindrical shaft.

A printing apparatus includes a housing, a carriage in which a print head is mounted, the carriage moving inside the housing, and an openable cover provided for the housing. A restricting member configured to restrict movement of the carriage during transport of the printing apparatus is attachable to the printing apparatus. While the restricting member is attached to the apparatus, the restricting member engages with the carriage, the cover in a closed position, and the housing and part of the restricting member is exposed outside of the cover in the closed position. When the part is pulled, the restricting member disengages from the carriage, the cover, and the housing and is detached from the apparatus.

The disclosure discloses a printer performing printing processing that forms desired print on a print-receiving medium. The printer includes a cartridge holder, a drive device, a thermal head, an energization device, an attribute detecting device, a first determination portion, and a processing portion. The cartridge holder removably mounts a cartridge. The drive device drives a feeding roller to feed the print-receiving medium. The thermal head performs printing on the print-receiving medium fed. The energization device controls energization of the thermal head. The attribute detecting device detects an attribute of the print-receiving medium. The first determination portion determines whether or not a tube cartridge capable of supplying a tubular print-receiving medium is mounted. The processing portion performs predetermined processing that is for suppressing expansion of the tubular print-receiving medium and is triggered by the determination that the tube cartridge has been mounted by the first determination portion.

A sheet discharging device includes a first conveying path that guides a sheet to be conveyed. A second conveying path branches from the first conveying path. A sorting section sorts a sheet being conveyed on the first conveying path into either a downstream side of the branch point or the second conveying path. A first discharge tray is placed at a position downstream of the first conveying path and receives a sheet discharged from the first conveying path at a first sheet loading surface. A second discharge tray is placed at a position downstream of the second conveying path and below the first discharge tray, and receives a sheet discharged from the second conveying path at a second sheet loading surface whose distance to the first sheet loading surface increases toward a downstream side thereof in a sheet discharging direction.