Patent ID: 7591602
Filing Date: 2009-09-22
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A liquid ejecting apparatus, comprising: a liquid ejecting head, adapted to eject liquid toward a target medium; a platen, adapted to support the target medium; a rotatable guide shaft, extending in a first direction; a carriage, mounting the liquid ejecting head and being supported by the guide shaft so as to reciprocately movable thereon; a gap adjuster, operable to rotate the guide shaft, thereby moving an axis of the guide shaft in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction to selectively determine a distance between the liquid ejecting head and the platen as one of a plurality of distances; a circular plate, provided on the guide shaft and rotatable together with the guide shaft, the circular plate comprising a plurality of flags formed on an outer periphery thereof, each of which is associated with one of the distances; and a sensor, disposed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the circular plate and operable to output a signal indicative of a passage of each of the flags in accordance with the rotation of the circular plate, the liquid ejection apparatus further comprising: a first motor, operable to rotate the guide shaft; a detector, operable to detect a rotation amount of the first motor; a controller, operable to identify one of the flags forming the at least one of the intervals with reference to the signal and the rotation amount; a second motor, operable to move the carriage along the guide shaft; and a transmitter, configured to be actuated by the carriage so as to be either a first state for transmitting a driving force from the first motor to the guide shaft, or a second state for not transmitting the driving force from the first motor to the guide shaft, wherein the controller is configured to drive the second motor to move the carriage so as to place the transmitter in the first state before the identification of the one of the flags, and wherein the transmitter comprises: a gear train, coupling the first motor and the guide shaft, the gear train including a spur gear having a rotary shaft extending parallel to the first direction; and an urging member, urging the spur gear toward the carriage;