ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,370,797, issued on July 29, was assigned to Brother Kogyo K.K. (Nagoya, Japan).
"Maintenance apparatus and image recording apparatus" was invented by Takehiro Masuda (Nagoya, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "There is provided a maintenance apparatus for an image recording apparatus provided with a head having a nozzle configured to discharge a liquid. The maintenance apparatus includes: a foam configured to absorb the liquid discharged from the nozzle; an accommodating box which is opened upwardly and which accommodates the foam; and a plate configured to cover an upper part of the accommodating box. The plate has an opening configur...