JP2009148928A - Liquid jetting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid jetting apparatus which can prevent occurrence of poor ejection caused by large bubbles included in a liquid. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid jetting apparatus 1 is equipped with both a recording head 4 which has a jet opening formation face 17 where a plurality of jet openings 16 to jet the liquid L are formed, and a meniscus forming device 8 which forms a meniscus of the liquid. The meniscus forming device 8 forms the meniscus by repeating the action of pressing out the liquid L to the jet opening formation face 17 side while prohibiting the liquid from being jetted from the jet opening 16, and the action of drawing the liquid L into the jet opening 16. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an ink jet printer (hereinafter referred to as a printer) that ejects ink (liquid) to a recording medium from an ejection port of a recording head (liquid ejecting head) is known as a liquid ejecting apparatus. By the way, in such an ink jet printer, it is necessary to keep the meniscus in the ejection port in a good state in order to maintain the ink ejection characteristics. Therefore, when manufacturing a color filter using an ink jet method, there is a technique in which ink is stably ejected by vibrating a meniscus (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a printer, usually, for example, a flushing process is performed as a cleaning process for maintaining or restoring the ejection characteristics of the recording head.
JP 2001-296420 A

  However, when relatively large bubbles are contained in the ink, the bubbles cannot be discharged by the above-described flushing process or meniscus vibration. Therefore, there is a possibility that ink ejection failure may be caused by bubbles remaining in the ink.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus that can prevent the occurrence of ejection failure due to large bubbles contained in a liquid.

  In order to solve the above problems, a liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention includes a recording head having an ejection port forming surface on which a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting liquid are formed, a meniscus generating device that generates a meniscus of the liquid, The meniscus generator repeats an operation of pushing out the liquid to the ejection port forming surface side without ejecting the liquid from the ejection port, and an operation of drawing the liquid into the ejection port. The meniscus is generated.

According to the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention, for example, when a relatively large bubble is contained in the ejection port, the extrusion operation and the drawing operation are repeated, so that the bubble is discharged to the ejection port forming surface side and a meniscus is generated. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, even when large bubbles are contained in the liquid, a good meniscus can be generated in the injection port.
Accordingly, it is possible to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus having high ejection characteristics in which occurrence of defective liquid ejection due to large bubbles is prevented.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the liquid storing unit that stores the liquid and a liquid channel that connects the liquid ejecting heads are provided, and the meniscus generating unit is provided in the liquid channel.
According to this configuration, the present invention can be applied to a so-called off-carriage type liquid ejecting apparatus in which the liquid ejecting head and the liquid storage portion are connected by a fluid flow path such as a tube.
At this time, the recording head includes a liquid ejecting unit that ejects the liquid from the ejection port by performing periodic pressurization, and the meniscus generating device ejects the liquid in the liquid channel. More preferably, the push-out operation and the pull-in operation are performed by pulsating at a low frequency with a larger amplitude than that of the means.
In this way, the meniscus generating apparatus has a larger amplitude than the liquid ejecting apparatus and can apply low-frequency vibration to the liquid, and the large bubbles contained in the ink can be satisfactorily as described above. Can be discharged.
Furthermore, it is desirable that the meniscus generating device is constituted by an electric syringe. In this way, the low-frequency vibration having a large amplitude as described above can be favorably applied to the liquid, and the bubble discharge performance can be improved.

The liquid ejecting apparatus preferably includes a wiping mechanism that performs a wiping operation of wiping the ejection port forming surface after the meniscus is generated.
According to this configuration, it is possible to wipe off air bubbles adhering to the injection port forming surface by the meniscus generating device. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem that bubbles enter the liquid in the injection port again.

In the liquid ejecting apparatus, it is preferable that the meniscus generating device performs a pushing operation and a drawing operation of the liquid and slightly vibrates the meniscus.
According to this configuration, since the meniscus is slightly vibrated in addition to the pushing operation and the drawing operation, minute bubbles in the liquid can be discharged to the injection port forming substrate side, and can be stirred and dissolved in the liquid. . Therefore, the liquid ejection characteristics can be further improved by removing the microbubbles.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed in order to make each member a recognizable size.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a plan view.
The liquid ejecting apparatus according to the present embodiment is a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects a fluid such as ink. As an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, description will be made using an ink jet printer that ejects ink onto a recording medium from an ejection port of a recording head and executes recording on the recording medium. In the following description, as an example of the ink jet recording apparatus, an ink jet printer that discharges (injects) ink droplets onto a recording paper that is a recording medium and performs recording on the recording paper will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the ink jet printer 1 includes a recording unit 2 that performs recording on recording paper with ink, and a recording paper transport mechanism 3 that transports the recording paper.
The recording unit 2 is disposed at a position facing the recording head 4 and the carriage 5, a recording head 4 (ejection head) that ejects ink, a carriage 5 that can move while supporting the recording head 4, and ink is ejected. And a platen 6 that supports the recording paper.

The ink jet printer 1 includes a carriage driving device 7 including a motor that moves the carriage 5 and a carriage guide member that guides the movement of the carriage 5.
The carriage 5 is moved in the main scanning direction by the carriage driving device 7 while being guided by the carriage guide member. The recording paper is moved in the sub-scanning direction intersecting the main scanning direction with respect to the recording unit 2 by the recording paper transport mechanism 3.

The ink jet printer 1 also includes a paper feed cassette 9 that stores recording paper.
The paper feed cassette 9 is detachably provided on the back side of the main body of the inkjet printer 1. The paper feed cassette 9 is provided so as to accommodate a plurality of stacked recording papers.

  The recording paper transport mechanism 3 includes a paper feeding roller for carrying out the recording paper in the paper feeding cassette 9, a paper feeding roller driving device 10 including a motor for driving the paper feeding roller, and recording for guiding the movement of the recording paper. A paper guide member 11, a transport roller disposed downstream in the transport direction with respect to the paper feed roller, a transport roller driving device that drives the transport roller, and a downstream of the recording unit 2 in the transport direction And a discharge roller.

  The paper feed roller is configured to pick up the recording paper arranged on the uppermost side among the plurality of recording papers stacked in the paper feed cassette 9 and to carry it out of the paper feed cassette 9. The recording paper in the paper feeding cassette 9 is fed to the conveying roller by the paper feeding roller driven by the paper feeding roller driving device 10 while being guided by the recording paper guide member 11. The recording paper sent to the transport roller is transported to the recording unit 2 arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction by the transport roller driven by the transport roller driving device.

  The platen 6 of the recording unit 2 is disposed at a position facing the recording head 4 and the carriage 5 and supports the lower surface of the recording paper. The recording head 4 and the carriage 5 are disposed above the platen 6. The recording paper transport mechanism 3 transports the recording paper in the sub-scanning direction in conjunction with the recording operation by the recording unit 2. The recording paper recorded by the recording unit 2 is discharged from the front side of the ink jet printer 1 by a recording paper transport mechanism 3 including a discharge roller.

The ink jet printer 1 also includes an ink supply tube 12 that supplies ink from the ink cartridge to the recording head 4 of the carriage 5. The ink in the ink cartridge is supplied to the ink supply path via the ink supply needle, and is supplied from the ink supply path to the recording head 4 of the carriage 5 via the ink supply tube 12.
The ink jet printer 1 also includes a maintenance device 13 that can maintain the recording head 4.

  The maintenance device 13 includes a capping device 14 and a wiping device 15. The wiping device 15 includes a wiping member 44 that can face the recording head 4 and can wipe the ejection port forming surface 17 of the recording head 4. The wiping device 15 can wipe or wipe off foreign matter adhering to a discharge port forming surface 17 (described later) of the recording head 4 such as residual ink by using the wiping member 44.

  The maintenance device 13 is disposed at the home position of the carriage 5 and the recording head 4. The home position is set in an end area outside the recording area in which the recording operation by the recording unit 2 is executed, within the movement area of the carriage 5. When the power is turned off or when the recording operation is not performed for a long time, the carriage 5 and the recording head 4 are arranged at the home position.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining an ink supply path in the inkjet printer 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the inkjet printer 1 has an ink supply tube 12, and ink L supplied from the ink cartridge 48 via the ink supply tube 12 flows into the recording head 4.

  The ink supply tube 12 connects an ink cartridge 48 and a sub tank (self-sealing valve) 51 connected to the recording head 4, and ink is supplied from the ink cartridge 48 to the sub tank 51 through the ink supply tube 12. It has come to be.

  The ink cartridge 48 includes a case member 49 and an ink pack 50 housed in the case member 49 and formed of a plastic material. A detection device (not shown) is connected to the case member 49 so that the replacement time of the ink cartridge 48 can be detected.

  The sub tank 51 is molded from a resin material such as polypropylene. The sub-tank 51 is formed with a recess that becomes the ink chamber 52, and the ink chamber 52 is partitioned by attaching a transparent elastic sheet to the opening surface of the recess. The sub tank 51 is formed with an extending portion 53 having a communication groove portion 53 ′ communicating with the ink chamber 52, and an ink inlet 54 projects from the upper surface of the extending portion 53. The ink supply tube 12 that supplies the ink L stored in the ink cartridge 48 is connected to the ink inlet 54. Accordingly, the ink L that has passed through the ink supply tube 12 flows into the ink chamber 52 from the ink inlet 54 through the communication groove 53 ′.

  In the ink jet printer 1, a meniscus generating device 8 that generates a meniscus of ink in the recording head 4 is provided in an ink supply tube 12 that connects the recording head 4 and the sub tank 51. The meniscus generation device 8 does not eject (eject) ink from the ejection ports (ejection ports) 16 and pushes the ink toward the ejection port forming surface 17 where a plurality of ejection ports 16 are formed. It is possible to generate a meniscus by repeatedly performing the operation of pulling into the. The meniscus generator 8 is driven by a controller 58 that controls the operation of the entire inkjet printer 1.

  In the present embodiment, the meniscus generating device 8 is configured by an electric syringe. The electric syringe includes a piston 8a and a case portion 8b that forms a closed space between the piston 8a. The case portion 8 b is formed in a cylindrical shape, and one end side thereof is connected to the ink supply tube 12. In the present embodiment, the inner diameter of the case portion 8b is set to about 0.1 mm to 0.2 mm, and the stroke of the piston 8a is set to about 3 to 15 mm.

  A flow path valve that can open and close the ink supply tube 12 is provided between the meniscus adjusting device 8 and the ink cartridge 48. In the present embodiment, in the ink supply tube 12, the first flow path valve B 1 provided on the ink cartridge 48 side between the ink cartridge 48 and the sub tank 51 and the sub tank 51 side provided between the sub tank 51 and the meniscus adjusting device 8 are provided. A second flow path valve B2.

  The ink jet printer 1 prevents the ink from flowing back to the ink cartridge 48 by performing the opening and closing operations of the first and second flow path valves B1 and B2 in accordance with the operation of the meniscus adjusting device 8. The ink jet printer 1 holds the first flow path valve B1 and the second flow path valve B2 in an open state during the ink pushing operation. Further, when the ink is drawn out, the inkjet printer 1 holds the first flow path valve B1 and the second flow path valve B2 in a closed state. With this configuration, when the piston 8a is pushed in, the space in the case portion 8b is pressurized by the piston 8a, and the ink supply tube 12 is in a positive pressure state. Therefore, the ink in the ink supply tube 12 is pressurized, and the ink meniscus can be pushed out from the discharge port 16. On the other hand, when the piston 8b is pulled in, the space in the case portion 8b is decompressed by the piston 8a, and the inside of the ink supply tube 12 is in a negative pressure state. Therefore, the ink in the ink supply tube 12 is drawn into the case portion 8b, and the ink meniscus can be drawn into the discharge port 16. In the present embodiment, since the meniscus generating device 8 is configured by the electric syringe as described above, the meniscus can be generated with high accuracy based on the electric signal from the control device 58.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the recording head 4.
As shown in FIG. 4, the recording head 4 includes a head main body 18 and a flow path forming unit 22 including a vibration plate 19, a flow path substrate 20, and a nozzle substrate 21. The discharge port forming surface 17 is formed by the lower surface of the nozzle substrate 21. The discharge port 16 is formed in the nozzle substrate 21. Here, the diameter of the ejection port 16 is formed to be, for example, about 15% larger than that of the prior art, corresponding to the ink used. The flow path forming unit 22 is a unit in which the diaphragm 19, the flow path substrate 20, and the nozzle substrate 21 are laminated and joined together with an adhesive or the like.

  The recording head 4 includes an accommodation space 23 formed in the head body 18 and a drive unit 24 disposed in the accommodation space 23. The drive unit 24 includes a plurality of piezoelectric elements 25, a fixing member 26 that supports the upper end of the piezoelectric elements 25, and a flexible cable 27 that supplies a drive signal to the piezoelectric elements 25. The piezoelectric element 25 is provided so as to correspond to each of the plurality of discharge ports 16.

  In addition, the recording head 4 is formed inside the head main body 18, and an internal flow path 28 through which ink supplied from the ink cartridge via the ink supply tube 12 flows, a vibration plate 19, a flow path substrate 20, and a nozzle substrate. 21, a common ink chamber 29 formed by a flow path forming unit 22 including the flow path 21 and connected to the internal flow path 28, an ink supply port 30 formed by the flow path forming unit 22 and connected to the common ink chamber 29, A pressure chamber 31 formed by the path forming unit 22 and connected to the ink supply port 30 is provided. A plurality of pressure chambers 31 are provided so as to correspond to the plurality of discharge ports 16. Each of the plurality of discharge ports 16 is connected to each of the plurality of pressure chambers 31.

  The head body 18 is made of synthetic resin. The diaphragm 19 is obtained by laminating an elastic film on a metal support plate such as stainless steel. An island portion 32 joined to the lower end of the piezoelectric element 25 is formed at a portion corresponding to the pressure chamber 31 of the vibration plate 19. At least a part of the diaphragm 19 is elastically deformed according to the driving of the piezoelectric element 25. A compliance portion 33 is formed between the diaphragm 19 and the vicinity of the lower end of the internal flow path 28.

  The flow path substrate 20 has recesses for forming spaces for the common ink chamber 29, the ink supply port 30, and the pressure chamber 31 that connect the lower end of the internal flow path 28 and the ejection port 16. In the present embodiment, the flow path substrate 20 is formed by anisotropic etching of silicon.

  The nozzle substrate 21 has a plurality of discharge ports 16 formed at a predetermined interval (pitch) in a predetermined direction. The nozzle substrate 21 of the present embodiment is a plate-like member formed of a metal such as stainless steel. As described above, the discharge port forming surface 17 is formed by the lower surface of the nozzle substrate 21.

In the ink jet printer 1, the ink supplied from the ink cartridge 48 via the ink supply tube 12 flows into the upper end of the internal flow path 28. The lower end of the internal flow path 28 is connected to the common ink chamber 29, and the ink that has flowed into the upper end of the internal flow path 28 from the ink cartridge via the ink supply tube 12 flows through the internal flow path 28 and is then shared. The ink is supplied to the ink chamber 29. The ink supplied to the common ink chamber 29 is supplied through the ink supply port 30 so as to be distributed to each of the plurality of pressure chambers 31.
Thus, the ink jet printer 1 according to this embodiment is a so-called off-carriage type printer.

  In the inkjet printer 1, when a drive signal is input to the piezoelectric element 25 via the cable 27, the piezoelectric element 25 expands and contracts. As a result, the diaphragm 19 is deformed (moved) in a direction toward and away from the pressure chamber 31. As a result, the volume of the pressure chamber 31 changes, and the pressure of the pressure chamber 31 containing ink fluctuates. Ink is ejected (ejected) from the ejection port 16 due to this pressure fluctuation. Thus, the piezoelectric element 25 varies the pressure of the pressure chamber 31 connected to the ejection port 16 based on the drive signal for ejecting ink.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the inkjet printer 1. The ink jet printer 1 in this embodiment includes the control device 58 that controls the operation of the entire ink jet printer 1. Connected to the control device 58 are an input device 59 for inputting various information relating to the operation of the ink jet printer 1 and a storage device 60 storing various information relating to the operation of the ink jet printer 1.

The control device 58 is connected to the drive device 7, the recording paper transport mechanism 3, the carriage drive device 7, the maintenance device 13 including the capping device 14 and the wiping device 15, the meniscus generation device 8, and the like. The ink jet printer 1 also includes a drive signal generator 62 that generates a drive signal to be input to the drive unit 24 (see FIG. 4) including the piezoelectric element 25. The drive signal generator 62 is connected to the control device 58.
The drive signal generator 62 receives data indicating the amount of change in the voltage value of the ejection pulse input to the piezoelectric element 25 of the recording head 4 and a timing signal that defines the timing for changing the voltage of the ejection pulse. The drive signal generator 62 generates a drive signal such as an ejection pulse based on the input data and timing signal.

  When an ejection pulse is input from the drive signal generator 62 to the piezoelectric element 25, an ink droplet is ejected from the ejection port 16. When the ejection pulse is input to the piezoelectric element 25, the piezoelectric element 25 contracts and the pressure chamber 31 expands. After the expanded state of the pressure chamber 31 is maintained for a short time, the piezoelectric element 25 expands rapidly. Along with this, the volume of the pressure chamber 31 contracts below the reference volume, and the meniscus exposed to the discharge port 16 is suddenly pressurized outward. As a result, a predetermined amount of ink droplets are ejected from the ejection port 16. Thereafter, the pressure chamber 31 returns to the reference volume so that the vibration of the meniscus accompanying the ejection of the ink droplets is converged in a short time. That is, the piezoelectric element 25 has a function as a liquid ejecting unit that ejects ink from the ejection port 16 by periodically applying pressure. In addition, the frequency of the ejection pulse of the piezoelectric element 25 is set to about 50 KHz, for example.

  By the way, the inkjet printer 1 can perform maintenance processing for maintaining the ejection characteristics of the recording head 4 using the maintenance device 13. The maintenance process includes a flushing operation for ejecting ink from the ejection port 16 onto the cap member 34 and a wiping operation using the wipe member 44 of the wiping device 15.

  In the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment, the control device 58 causes the maintenance device 13 to be used when a defective nozzle that cannot eject ink well is generated or when a regular maintenance process is performed in order to maintain ink ejection characteristics. To drive the maintenance process. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the inkjet printer 1 performs a flushing operation every predetermined time by timer cleaning. The flushing operation is an operation in which ink is ejected (ejected) in advance from the ejection port 16 to the cap member 34 at the home position before ink from the ejection port 16 is supplied to the recording paper in the recording region. As a result, the ink with increased viscosity in the vicinity of the ejection port 16 is discharged, and the ejection characteristics of the ejection port 16 are maintained or recovered.

  Since the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment is an off-carriage type printer as described above, bubbles are slightly mixed in the ink. The bubbles grow with time, and eventually, a relatively large bubble is mixed in the ink. In the flushing process, although the thickened ink can be discharged to the outside, it is difficult to discharge large bubbles contained in the ink to the outside.

  In general, the flushing process also has a function of adjusting the meniscus of the ink into a good shape. However, when large bubbles as described above are contained in the ink, the meniscus shape cannot be adjusted, resulting in defective nozzles that cannot eject ink well, and the ink ejection characteristics are reduced. End up. Therefore, when ejection failure occurs in the inkjet printer 1 after the flushing process, it can be considered that the above-described bubbles are the cause.

  On the other hand, the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment includes the meniscus generating device 8 in order to solve the problems described above. Here, the operation method of the ink jet printer 1 will be described with reference to the drawings, focusing on the driving method of the meniscus generating device 8.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the movement of ink when the meniscus generating device 8 is used.
The meniscus generating device 8 performs an operation of pushing the ink L toward the ejection port forming surface 17 without ejecting the ink L from the ejection port 16 as shown in FIG. Note that large bubbles K are mixed in the ink L. Further, the meniscus generating device 8 performs an operation of drawing the ink L into the ejection port 16 as shown in FIG. The meniscus generating device 8 repeats the pushing operation and the drawing operation of the ink L.

  At this time, the meniscus generating device 8 causes the ink in the ink supply tube 12 to pulsate at a frequency having a larger amplitude and lower than the vibration frequency (50 KHz) in the piezoelectric element 25, thereby pushing and pulling the ink. Like to do. Specifically, in the meniscus generator 8, the frequency for moving the piston 8a is set to about 0.2 to several Hz (for example, 3 Hz), and the stroke for moving the piston 8a is set to about 3 to 15 mm as described above. To do.

In this way, as the ink pushing-out operation and the drawing-in operation are repeated a plurality of times, the large bubbles K mixed in the ink L are pushed out toward the ejection port forming surface 17 as shown in FIG. Eventually, as shown in FIG. 6D, the large bubbles K mixed in the ink L are discharged onto the discharge port forming surface 17. As described above, according to the meniscus generating device 8, it is possible to discharge the bubbles mixed in the ink that could not be discharged by the flushing process to the outside and generate the meniscus. Therefore, even when large bubbles are mixed in the ink, a good meniscus can be generated in the ejection port 16.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the ink jet printer 1 having a highly reliable ejection characteristic in which ejection failure due to large bubbles is prevented.

  As described above, the meniscus generation device 8 has a larger amplitude than the inkjet printer 1 and can impart low-frequency vibrations to the ink, so that the large bubbles K contained in the ink L are externally favorable. Can be discharged.

  The number of repetitions in the push-out operation and the pull-in operation is set to the number of times that bubbles can be discharged from the ink L. That is, it is appropriately adjusted according to the size of the bubbles mixed in the ink L and the stroke amount of the piston 8a of the syringe (meniscus generating device 8).

  In this embodiment, after the meniscus is generated by the meniscus generating device 8, the discharge port forming surface 17 is wiped by the wipe member 44 of the wiping device 15. Thereby, the bubble K discharged | emitted on the discharge port formation surface 17 by the said meniscus production | generation apparatus 8 can be wiped off. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a problem that bubbles enter the ink L in the ejection port 16 again.

  In addition to the large bubbles K described above, the ink L also contains minute bubbles before they grow into large bubbles. Therefore, in the inkjet printer 1, the meniscus generating device 8 performs the ink pushing operation and the drawing operation, and the meniscus is vibrated slightly. As described above, in addition to the pushing operation and the drawing operation of the ink L, the micro-bubbles in the ink L are discharged to the discharge port forming surface 17 side and are stirred and dissolved in the ink L by adding fine vibration to the meniscus. be able to. Therefore, by removing the microbubbles, the ejection characteristics of the ink L can be further improved, and the quality of the inkjet printer 1 can be further improved.

As described above, according to the ink jet printer 1 according to the present embodiment, when a relatively large bubble is included in the discharge port 16, the meniscus generating device 8 performs the extrusion operation and the drawing operation at a low frequency. Since it is repeated with a large amplitude, the bubble K is discharged to the discharge port forming surface 17 side and a meniscus can be generated satisfactorily. As described above, even when the large bubbles K are contained in the ink L, the meniscus can be generated in the discharge port 16 satisfactorily.
Therefore, it is possible to provide the ink jet printer 1 having high ejection characteristics in which the occurrence of poor ejection of the ink L due to the large bubbles K is prevented.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus. It is a top view which shows an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the supply path | route of an ink. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a recording head. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of an inkjet printer. It is a figure explaining the state of the ink meniscus by a meniscus adjustment means.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet printer (liquid ejecting apparatus), 4 ... Recording head, 8 ... Meniscus adjustment means, 12 ... Ink supply tube (liquid flow path), 15 ... Wiping apparatus, 16 ... Ejection port (ejection port), 17 ... Ejection port Forming surface (ejection port forming surface), 48... Ink cartridge (liquid storage part), 58... Control device, B1... First flow path valve (flow path valve), B2.

Claims (6)

A recording head having an ejection port forming surface formed with a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting liquid;
A liquid ejecting apparatus comprising: a meniscus generating apparatus that generates the liquid meniscus;
The meniscus generating device generates the meniscus by repeating an operation of pushing the liquid to the injection port forming surface side without ejecting the liquid from the injection port and an operation of drawing the liquid into the injection port. Liquid ejecting device.   2. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a liquid channel that connects the liquid reservoir that stores the liquid and the liquid ejecting head, wherein the meniscus generating unit is provided in the liquid channel. . The recording head includes a liquid ejecting unit that ejects the liquid from the ejection port by performing periodic pressurization,
The said meniscus production | generation apparatus performs the said extrusion operation | movement and a drawing-in operation | movement by pulsating the said liquid in the said liquid flow path with a large amplitude and a low frequency compared with the said liquid injection means. The liquid ejecting apparatus described.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the meniscus generating device includes an electric syringe.   The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a wiping mechanism that performs a wiping operation of wiping the ejection port formation surface after the meniscus is generated.   6. The liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the meniscus generating device performs the liquid pushing-in operation and the drawing-in operation and finely vibrates the meniscus. 6.

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