US 7,517,047 B2
Maintenance unit and ink jet printer
Hiroaki Kambe, Chiba (Japan)
Assigned to Seiko I Infotech Inc., (Japan)
Filed on Oct. 12, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/248,870.
Claims priority of application No. 2004-369654 (JP), filed on Dec. 21, 2004.
Prior Publication US 2006/0077223 A1, Apr. 13, 2006
Int. Cl. B41J 2/165 (2006.01)
U.S. Cl. 347—29  [347/30; 347/32] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A maintenance unit for an ink jet head, comprising: a carriage that carries an ink jet head; a cap configured to close an opening in the ink jet head; a cap frame that resiliently supports the cap, the cap frame having a rigid contact portion and being movable toward the ink jet head successively to a first position in which the cap closes the ink jet head opening and the rigid contact portion is spaced from and does not contact the carriage and a second position in which the cap more tightly closes the ink jet head opening and the rigid contact portion abuts the carriage; a base member that resiliently supports the cap frame; and a mechanism that displaces the base member toward the ink jet head to successively move the cap frame to its first and second positions and that continues to displace the base member toward the ink jet head after the cap frame has been moved to its second position.