A method of operating a printer supplies an ink solvent or mixture of ink solvents to porous members positioned adjacent printheads. The ink solvent or solvent mixture evaporates from the porous members to provide a solvent vapor environment in the vicinity of the nozzle plates of the printheads. The solvent vapor environment attenuates the evaporation of ink solvent from ink drops on the nozzle plates or from the ink in the nozzles of the printheads. Thus, the ink on the nozzle plates and in the nozzles does not dry out and the operational status of the inkjets is preserved.

A printing system includes a print bar, a plurality of printheads installed on the print bar and an auxiliary printhead moveable parallel to the print bar. A number of first nozzles of the auxiliary printhead substitute for a number of second nozzles of the printheads during a nozzle servicing operation performed on the second nozzles.

An image forming apparatus includes a conveyance part, a head unit, a distance changing part, three blocks and three pins. The distance changing part moves the head unit between a printing position where a printing operation is performed and a retreat position separated away from the conveyance part farther than the printing position. The three blocks are provided in one of the conveyance part and the head unit at intervals in the conveyance direction and a width direction crossing the conveyance direction. The three pins are provided in the other of the conveyance part and the head unit at positions facing the three blocks. Each of the three blocks has a positioning groove having a pair of inclined surfaces. The pins come into two-point contact with the inclined surfaces of the blocks in a state where the head unit is positioned in the printing position.

An inkjet printing apparatus includes: a print bar unit including an inkjet head configured to eject ink to a web being conveyed; and a guide configured to guide movement of the print bar unit in a print bar movement direction intersecting a conveyance direction of the web between a first position, a second position, and a third position. The first position is a position where the print bar unit performs printing on the web. The second position and third position are located on one and the other sides of the first position in the print bar movement direction.

A method of operating a printer supplies an ink solvent or mixture of ink solvents to porous members positioned adjacent printheads. The ink solvent or solvent mixture evaporates from the porous members to provide a solvent vapor environment in the vicinity of the nozzle plates of the printheads. The solvent vapor environment attenuates the evaporation of ink solvent from ink drops on the nozzle plates or from the ink in the nozzles of the printheads. Thus, the ink on the nozzle plates and in the nozzles does not dry out and the operational status of the inkjets is preserved.

An inkjet recording apparatus includes an ink jetter that jets ink and a transfer unit that has a ring-shaped intermediate transfer body. The transfer unit transfers, to a recording medium, a primary image formed on an outer circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer body with the ink that is jetted to land on the outer circumferential surface by the ink jetter. The transfer unit includes a heater that heats air in an internal space of the intermediate transfer body enclosed by an inner circumferential surface of the intermediate transfer body, and an air mover that flows the air in the internal space.

The present invention relates to an ink-jet print heads protecting system in a digital printing machine, wherein the module comprises a chassis (1), rollers (2), and a plurality of digital printing units (10), each with a bridge (11) with guides (12) and a sliding carriage (13) with ink-jet print heads (14), one part of each guide overlapping the band and another part projecting beyond the band path, the carriage being movable between the printing and maintenance positions; and in that each bridge is attached to the chassis by a position adjustment device (20) and an articulation (25) that are spaced apart or by two position adjustment devices (20) that are spaced apart.

The controller: upon receiving a print job, determine whether only one of a first printer and a second printer is under cleaning; upon determining that the only one of the first printer and the second printer is under cleaning, analyze whether a print processing based on the print job is a first print processing in which printing is executable by any of the first printer and the second printer or a second print processing in which printing is to be executed by both the first printer and the second printer; and upon analyzing that the print processing based on the print job is the first print processing, drive the other one of the first printer and the second printer which is not under cleaning to execute the first print processing.

A head cap covers an inkjet type recording head. The head cap includes a cap housing and a cap cover. The cap housing has a liquid storage space opened upward. The cap cover is provided along an open end of the cap housing. The cap cover has an opening through which the recording head enters and leaves.

An inkjet recording apparatus includes a recording head including a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink, a conveyor belt that has a plurality of apertures and conveys recording media one by one, a control unit, an ink receiver, and a pipe-shaped ink discharge flow path. The control unit controls drive of the recording head and the conveyor belt to perform flushing, in which the ink is ejected from the nozzle of the recording head to pass through one of the apertures, at a timing different from a timing contributing to image recording. The ink receiver is disposed to face the recording head sandwiching the conveyor belt therebetween, to receive the ink after passing through the aperture when the flushing is performed. The ink discharge flow path is connected to the ink receiver. When the flushing is performed, a predetermined amount of liquid is stored in the ink receiver.