Patent ID: 11858271
Assignee: RICOH COMPANY, LTD.
Field: Textile and paper machines (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC B | IPC B

Claim 11:
12. A liquid discharge device, comprising:
a liquid discharger to discharge a liquid, the liquid discharger having a first end, a second end, and a third end extending in a direction intersecting the first end and the second end;
a cleaner to move relative to the liquid discharger in a movement direction from the first end toward the second end while contacting the liquid discharger, a contact force of the cleaner contacting one of the first end and the second end being smaller than a contact force of the cleaner contacting a portion of the liquid discharger other than the first end and the second end;
a contact-force changer to change the contact force of the cleaner with the liquid discharger;
a position detector to detect a relative movement position of the cleaner relative to the liquid discharger from the first end toward the second end; and
a contact-separation driver configured to relatively move the cleaner toward or away from the liquid discharger based on the relative movement position of the cleaner detected by the position detector.