JP2011143544A - Method for cleaning liquid droplet delivering head - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for cleaning a liquid droplet delivering head which has little remaining of a liquid on a nozzle forming face. <P>SOLUTION: The method for cleaning the liquid droplet delivering head includes: a process A in which a nozzle forming face 56a of the liquid droplet delivering head 50 is brought into contact with a suction part 20 covering a nozzle to form a suction space 32; a process B in which the suction space 32 of the liquid droplet delivering head 50 is sucked to suck a liquid body; a process C in which the nozzle forming face 56a of the liquid droplet delivering head 50 and the suction part 20 are separated from each other, and the nozzle forming face 56a and an absorbing material surface 24a being an opposing face of the suction part 20 are held by holding a gap and an angle; and a process D in which after the process C, the nozzle forming face 56a of the liquid droplet delivering head 50 is sucked from the suction part 20 to suck the liquid body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a droplet discharge head.

In a droplet discharge apparatus that discharges droplets and draws on a substrate or the like, the droplet discharge head is regularly cleaned in order to maintain the discharge performance of the droplet discharge head.
In the droplet discharge head, nozzles are formed with a large number of small holes, and droplets are discharged from the nozzles. The nozzles are easily clogged with foreign matters such as bubbles in the ink and dried ink, and cleaning is performed to remove these. Generally, the ink is discharged by sucking the droplet discharge head, and foreign matter is removed at the same time as the bubbles in the droplet discharge head. However, ink remains on the nozzle forming surface, and cleaning is not sufficient. .
As another method of cleaning the droplet discharge head, for example, in Patent Document 1, the nozzle formation surface of the inkjet print head (droplet discharge head) and the suction nozzle are opposed to each other with a small gap, and the ink is held. There has been proposed a method for cleaning the nozzle forming surface of an inkjet print head by applying ultrasonic waves.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-254691

The ink between the ink jet print head and the suction nozzle in Patent Document 1 is sucked and discharged from the suction nozzle side, as in a general method.
For this reason, ink may remain near the nozzles of the ink jet print head, and the remaining ink may dry and cause clogging of the nozzles. Further, even if a step of wiping the nozzle formation surface with a wiper or the like after this suction is performed in order to remove ink remaining on the nozzle formation surface, wiping residue is generated.
For this reason, there is a demand for a method of cleaning a droplet discharge head that has as little ink as possible on the nozzle formation surface.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  Application Example 1 A method for cleaning a droplet discharge head according to this application example has a nozzle for discharging a liquid material as a droplet on the droplet discharge head, and the nozzle formation surface on which the nozzle is formed is drawn from a suction portion. A method of cleaning a droplet discharge head to be sucked, wherein the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction portion covering the nozzle are in contact with each other to form a suction space, and the droplet discharge A step B for sucking the liquid by sucking the suction space of the head, the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction portion are separated, and the nozzle forming surface and the facing surface of the suction portion are separated from each other. A C step for maintaining a gap and an angle, and a D step for sucking the liquid material by sucking the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head from the suction portion after the C step. Features.

According to this droplet discharge head cleaning method, a suction space is formed between the nozzle formation surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction portion to suck the liquid once, and then the nozzle formation surface and the suction portion are separated from each other. The nozzle forming surface is again sucked from the suction portion while maintaining a gap and an angle between the nozzle forming surface and the facing surface of the suction portion. Since the nozzle forming surface and the suction portion face each other at an angle, the gap between the two is continuously formed from a narrow portion to a wide portion.
In this way, the liquid that accumulates in the gap by suction is sucked from the opposing surface, and finally the liquid is reduced and sucked so that the liquid moves from the wide part to the narrow part. As described above, since the liquid material is sucked so as to flow from a wide space to a narrow space on the opposed surfaces, the liquid material remaining on the nozzle forming surface can be almost eliminated.

  Application Example 2 In the method for cleaning a droplet discharge head according to the application example described above, it is preferable to include an E step of releasing the inside of the suction space to the atmosphere after the B step.

  According to this method for cleaning a droplet discharge head, an E step of releasing the inside of the suction space to the atmosphere is provided after the B step of sucking the suction space to suck the liquid material. By reliably releasing the inside of the suction space to the atmosphere, the liquid material can be reliably prevented from scattering when the nozzle forming surface and the suction portion are separated in the next C process.

  Application Example 3 In the droplet discharge head cleaning method according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the suction force from the suction unit in the step D is larger than the suction force from the suction unit in the step B.

According to this method for cleaning a droplet discharge head, the step B for sucking the suction space between the nozzle formation surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction portion results in a gap between the nozzle formation surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction portion. The suction force from the suction part in step D for sucking the gap is large.
That is, when the suction space is formed, the space can be set to a negative pressure even if the suction force is not large, and the liquid material can be sucked. On the other hand, when a gap is formed between the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction part, a large suction force is required. For this reason, the suction of the liquid material can be ensured by increasing the suction force from the suction part in the D step rather than the B step.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device according to the present embodiment. 1 shows a configuration of a droplet discharge head according to the present embodiment, (a) is an external perspective view of the droplet discharge head viewed from the nozzle plate side, and (b) is a perspective view showing a structure around a pressure chamber of the droplet discharge head. Sectional drawing, (c) is a sectional view showing the structure of the nozzle portion of the droplet discharge head. Schematic which shows the structure of the suction apparatus concerning this embodiment. The schematic sectional drawing explaining the inclination mechanism of the suction part concerning this embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the cleaning procedure of the droplet discharge head concerning this embodiment. Schematic explaining the suction state of the liquid in the cleaning method according to the present embodiment. Explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between the nozzle formation surface and suction part which oppose this embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings used for the following description, the ratio of dimensions of each member is appropriately changed so that each member has a recognizable size. In the following description, the configuration and operation of each unit will be described using an orthogonal coordinate system.
(Embodiment)

<Droplet ejection device>
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device.
The droplet discharge device 100 discharges a liquid containing a predetermined functional liquid from a droplet discharge head 50 provided with nozzles onto a substrate K as an object to be discharged, thereby drawing predetermined characters, designs, images, and the like. It is a device to do.
The droplet discharge device 100 includes a pair of guide rails 101 provided in a straight line, an air slider provided on the guide rail 101, and a linear motor (not shown) in one linear axis direction (Y axis in this embodiment). (Moving direction) is provided. On the moving table 103, a mounting table 105 for mounting the substrate K is provided. The substrate K is configured to be sucked and fixed to the mounting table 105.

A pair of guide rails 102 are provided at a predetermined distance above the mounting table 105 on the opposite side of the moving table 103. The guide rail 102 is provided so as to extend in a linear axis direction orthogonal to the guide rail 101 (in this embodiment, the X-axis direction).
The droplet discharge device 100 includes a carriage 120 that moves along the pair of guide rails 102. The carriage 120 is provided with carriage carriages 110 that are integrated with or separate from the carriage 120 on both sides thereof. An air slider and a linear motor (both not shown) provided on the guide rail 102 extend along the X-axis direction. It is configured to be movable.

  The carriage 120 is provided with a droplet discharge head 50 in which a plurality of nozzles provided so as to exhibit a predetermined arrangement direction on the lower side thereof and a discharge mechanism for discharging a liquid material for each nozzle are formed. Yes. The liquid material supplied to the carriage 120 from a liquid material supply mechanism (not shown) is supplied to the droplet discharge head 50 via a flow path formed in the carriage 120, and is discharged as droplets from each nozzle by the discharge mechanism. Discharge.

In addition, the droplet discharge device 100 includes a suction device 130 and a wiping device 140 that maintain the droplet discharge head 50 as a maintenance unit for the droplet discharge head 50 near the end of the guide rail 102.
In the suction device 130, a cap 21 made of an elastic member is fitted into a cap base 22 having a recess. The suction device 130 includes a suction mechanism that sucks the inside of the recess. Further, the cap base 22 can be moved up and down in the Z-axis direction, and is configured to come into contact with the droplet discharge head 50.

In the wiping device 140, a wiper 46 having elasticity such as rubber is erected on the wiper base 45 in the Z-axis direction. The wiping device 140 is configured to be movable up and down in the Z-axis direction, moved to the vicinity of the droplet discharge head 50, and configured to be able to contact the droplet discharge head 50 and the wiper 46. The droplet discharge head 50 The nozzle forming surface can be wiped.
Generally, the wiping device 140 is used after the droplet discharge head 50 is sucked by the suction device 130.

  The control unit 150 controls the movement of the moving table 103 in the Y-axis direction, the movement of the carriage moving table 110 provided in the carriage 120 in the X-axis direction, and the drive of the discharge mechanism formed in the droplet discharge head 50. . Similarly, suction and lifting control of the suction device 130 and lifting control of the wiping device 140 are performed by the control unit 150. The control unit 150 has a computer function, and executes these processes based on a predetermined program.

<Droplet ejection head>
Next, the droplet discharge head 50 will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of the droplet discharge head. 2A is an external perspective view of the droplet discharge head as viewed from the nozzle plate side, FIG. 2B is a perspective sectional view showing the structure around the pressure chamber of the droplet discharge head, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the nozzle part of a droplet discharge head.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the droplet discharge head 50 includes a liquid introducing portion 51 having a connecting needle 52, a head substrate 53 and a square head main body 54 that are connected to the side of the liquid introducing portion 51. A liquid supply tube is connected to the connection needle 52 of the liquid introduction part 51 to supply a liquid material. A pair of head connectors 57 are mounted on the head substrate 53, and a flexible cable is connected thereto. A nozzle plate 56 is configured in the head main body 54.

A plurality of nozzles 58 for ejecting liquid droplets are formed on the nozzle forming surface 56a of the nozzle plate 56 in a straight line.
In a state where the droplet discharge head 50 is attached to the droplet discharge device 100, the nozzles 58 are aligned in the Y-axis direction. Further, a plurality of droplet discharge heads 50 as described above may be arranged in the droplet discharge apparatus 100.

As shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C, in the droplet discharge head 50, the pressure chamber plate 61 is stacked on the nozzle plate 56, and the vibration plate 62 is stacked on the pressure chamber plate 61. .
The pressure chamber plate 61 is formed with a liquid pool 65 filled with a liquid material supplied from the liquid introducing portion 51 via the liquid supply hole 63 of the vibration plate 62. The liquid pool 65 is a space surrounded by the diaphragm 62, the nozzle plate 56, and the wall of the pressure chamber plate 61. Further, the pressure chamber plate 61 is formed with a pressure chamber 68 partitioned by a plurality of head partition walls 67. A space surrounded by the diaphragm 62, the nozzle plate 56, and the two head partition walls 67 is a pressure chamber 68.

  The pressure chamber 68 is provided corresponding to each of the nozzles 58. The liquid material is supplied from the liquid pool 65 to the pressure chamber 68 via the supply port 66 positioned between the two head partition walls 67. A set of the head partition 67, the pressure chamber 68, the nozzle 58, and the supply port 66 is arranged in a line along the liquid pool 65.

One end of the piezoelectric element 69 is fixed to the portion of the diaphragm 62 constituting the pressure chamber 68.
The piezoelectric element 69 has an active portion in which an electrode layer and a piezoelectric material are laminated. By applying a predetermined voltage waveform to the electrode layer, the active portion contracts or expands in the longitudinal direction and deflects the diaphragm 62. Then, the liquid existing in the pressure chamber 68 is pressurized. As a result, the pressurized liquid is discharged from the nozzles 58 of the nozzle plate 56 as the liquid 10 as droplets 10a.
A water repellent film 56b is formed on the nozzle forming surface 56a of the nozzle plate 56 to prevent the liquid 10 from spreading on the nozzle forming surface 56a.
As the liquid, ultraviolet (UV) curable ink, water-based dye ink, water-based pigment ink, oil-based dye ink, oil-based pigment ink, or the like is used.

<Suction device>
Next, the suction device will be described.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the configuration of the suction device. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the tilting mechanism of the suction part.
The suction device 130 includes a suction unit 20, a three-way valve 36, a suction pump 37, and a drained liquid tank 38. Moreover, although not shown in figure, the raising / lowering mechanism which raises / lowers the suction part 20 to a Z-axis direction is provided.
The suction unit 20 includes a cap base 22 having a recess, and a cap 21 made of an elastic member is fitted in the recess of the cap base 22. The cap 21 has a protruding portion that protrudes from the surface of the frame-shaped cap base 22 so as to surround and cover the plurality of nozzles of the droplet discharge head 50. Therefore, the suction space 32 is formed between the cap 21 and the droplet discharge head 50 by contacting the nozzle forming surface 56 a of the droplet discharge head 50. A suction hole 25 is formed in the bottom surface 22 a of the recess of the cap base 22.
A porous absorbent material 24 that absorbs the liquid material is disposed in the concave portion of the cap base 22 to prevent the liquid material from scattering.

Further, the cap base 22 is fixed to the base 23. The pedestal 23 is formed with a connection hole 23b communicating with the suction hole 25 of the cap base 22, and both holes are connected via a seal ring 26 so that the sucked liquid material does not leak.
A joint member 27 is attached to one end of the connection hole 23 b of the pedestal 23, and a suction tube 35 is connected to the joint member 27.
In addition, a shoulder portion 23 a that extends in the outer peripheral direction is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the base 23. Furthermore, a guide recess 23 c in which the spring 29 is disposed is provided at the bottom of the base 23.

  A cap holder 30 that surrounds the outside of the base 23 and opens the cap 21 is provided. The cap holder 30 is formed with an engaging portion 31 that covers the shoulder portion 23a of the pedestal 23, and the engaging portion 31 of the cap holder 30 and the shoulder portion 23a of the pedestal 23 are configured to come into contact with each other. A spring 29 is disposed in the guide recess 23 c of the pedestal 23 to give a force to push the pedestal 23 in the Z-axis direction with the bottom of the cap holder 30.

A suction pump 37 is connected downstream of the suction tube 35 connected to the joint member 27. The liquid material sucked by the suction pump 37 is stored in the drained liquid tank 38.
A three-way valve 36 is disposed in the suction tube 35 between the joint member 27 and the suction pump 37, and one of the three-way valves 36 serves as an air inlet. By switching the three-way valve 36, the flow path of the suction tube 35 can be changed to suction or air introduction.

In the suction device 130 configured as described above, the suction unit 20 is raised by the lifting mechanism, and the suction unit 20 contacts the droplet discharge head 50 as shown in FIG. A suction space 32 is formed between the nozzle forming surface 56 a of the droplet discharge head 50 and the suction unit 20. In this state, the cap 21 is pressed against the droplet discharge head 50 by the urging force of the spring 29, and the sealing performance of the suction space 32 is ensured.
Then, the liquid material in the droplet discharge head 50 can be sucked by operating the suction pump 37 to suck the suction space 32.

Further, when the suction unit 20 is lowered by the lifting mechanism and the contact between the droplet discharge head 50 and the suction unit 20 is released, the suction unit 20 maintains the posture shown in FIG.
The pedestal 23 is biased by the spring 29 and moves upward to a position where the shoulder portion 23a of the pedestal 23 and the locking portion 31 of the cap holder 30 come into contact with each other. Here, since it is comprised so that height (thickness) may differ in right and left of the latching | locking part 31, the base 23 will be in the inclination attitude | position.
That is, the bottom surface 22a of the cap base 22 or the absorbent material surface 24a of the absorbent material 24 in the suction section 20 facing the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 is inclined by an angle θ. This angle θ is set to 1 to 2 ° in this embodiment. Thus, the suction unit 20 is provided with the tilt mechanism of the cap base 22.

<Dropping head cleaning method>
Next, a cleaning procedure for the droplet discharge head will be described.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for cleaning the droplet discharge head.
First, the droplet discharge head moves and stops above the suction device. Then, as shown in FIG. 5A, the suction unit 20 is lifted by the lifting mechanism of the suction device 130 and contacts the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 (step A). As a result, a suction space 32 is formed between the droplet discharge head 50 and the suction unit 20.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5B, the suction pump 37 is operated to suck the suction space 32 (step B). At this time, the valves V1, V2, and V3 of the three-way valve 36 have the suction path valves V1 and V2 open and the atmosphere release valve V3 closed, and the suction space 32 is sucked and the droplet discharge head The liquid material can be sucked from 50. The sucked liquid is stored in the drained liquid tank 38.

Next, the suction pump 37 is stopped and the three-way valve 36 is switched. The valve V2 of the three-way valve 36 is closed and V1 and V3 are opened. Then, as shown in FIG.5 (c), air | atmosphere is introduce | transduced in the suction space 32 from the valve | bulb V3, and the inside of the suction space 32 which was attracted | sucked by the suction pump 37 and became negative pressure will become atmospheric pressure (E process). Thus, since the atmosphere is introduced from the valve V3 into the suction space 32, the inside of the suction space 32 is reliably converted to atmospheric pressure in a short time.
As described above, the air may not be forcibly introduced into the suction space 32 and may wait for a certain period of time until the inside of the suction space 32 returns to the atmospheric pressure.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5D, the suction part 20 is lowered by the lifting mechanism of the suction device 130 to separate the nozzle forming surface 56a and the suction part 20 (step C). Thus, since the inside of the suction space 32 is at atmospheric pressure, the liquid material can be reliably prevented from scattering when the nozzle forming surface 56a and the suction portion 20 are separated from each other.
At this time, the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 and the opposing surface of the suction unit 20 are held with a gap and an angle maintained by the tilting mechanism of the cap base 22 of the suction unit 20.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5E, the suction pump 37 is operated to suck the nozzle forming surface 56a from the suction portion 20 to suck the liquid (step D). At this time, the valves V1, V2, and V3 of the three-way valve 36 are open while the valves V1, V2 that are the suction path valves are open, and the atmosphere release valve V3 is closed.
Due to the suction from the suction unit 20, the liquid material is once drawn into the gap between the nozzle forming surface 56 a and the suction unit 20, and then flows from the suction unit 20 into the drained liquid material tank 38 via the suction pump 37 to discharge the liquid droplets. Cleaning of the head 50 is completed.

Note that the suction force in the D step may be set larger than the suction force in the B step.
That is, when the suction space 32 is formed, even if the suction force is not large, the space can be set to a negative pressure, and the liquid material can be sucked. On the other hand, when a gap is formed between the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 and the suction unit 20, a large suction force is required. For this reason, the suction of the liquid material can be ensured by increasing the suction force from the suction part in the D step rather than the B step.

The suction state in the step D in the cleaning of the droplet discharge head will be described in detail.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram for explaining the suction state of the liquid material in the step D.
As shown in FIG. 6A, in the step D, the gaps G1 and G2 between the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 and the tip of the cap 21 in the suction unit 20 are different at both ends. In the present embodiment, the gaps G1 and G2 are set to 0.5 mm to 2 mm and have a relationship of G1> G2.
In this way, the bottom surface 22a of the cap base 22 or the absorbent material surface 24a of the absorbent material 24 in the suction portion 20 facing the nozzle forming surface 56a of the droplet discharge head 50 is held at an angle with the gap. Yes.

When suction is performed from the suction unit 20 from this state, the liquid material is sucked from the nozzles 58 of the nozzle plate 56, and the liquid material 10 remaining in the droplet discharge head 50 between the nozzle forming surface 56a and the absorbent material surface 24a. Is pulled out.
The liquid 10 passes through the porous absorbing member and is drawn into the suction hole 25. At this time, since the nozzle forming surface 56a and the absorbent material surface 24a face each other at an angle, the liquid 10 exerts a force to enter a narrow space by capillary action (capillary phenomenon). As shown in FIG. 6 (b), it moves to the narrow side of the gap and is sucked. Thus, since the liquid material 10 is sucked so as to flow from a wide space to a narrow space on the opposed surfaces, the liquid material 10 remaining on the nozzle forming surface 56a can be almost eliminated.

In addition, since the place where the opposing surface is narrow is the outer peripheral portion of the nozzle forming surface 56a, the place where the liquid material 10 is finally sucked is limited to this outer peripheral portion and is far from the nozzle 58, and the liquid material 10 remains. However, the influence on the nozzle 58 is small.
Further, when the nozzle forming surface 56a is wiped by a warper having elasticity such as rubber after the droplet discharge head 50 is cleaned by suction, the liquid material 10 by wiping almost disappears because the liquid material 10 hardly remains. Splattering can be eliminated.

Next, the suction portion may be inclined with respect to the nozzle forming surface as will be described below.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the facing nozzle forming surface and the facing surface of the suction portion according to the present embodiment. Here, both surfaces are shown as a side surface viewed from the X-axis direction and a side surface viewed from the Y-axis direction.
Although the surface of the suction portion 20 facing the nozzle forming surface 56a is shown as the absorbent material surface 24a, when the absorbent material 24 is not used, the bottom surface 22a of the concave portion of the cap base 22 becomes the opposing surface ( (See FIG. 6).

FIG. 7A shows the arrangement relationship between the nozzle forming surface 56a and the absorbent material surface 24a in the embodiment described above, and the absorbent material surface 24a is inclined with respect to the nozzle forming surface 56a when viewed from the X-axis direction. When viewed from the Y-axis direction, the nozzle forming surface 56a and the absorbent material surface 24a are parallel.
In FIG. 7B, the nozzle forming surface 56a and the absorbent material surface 24a are parallel when viewed from the X-axis direction, and the absorbent material surface 24a is inclined with respect to the nozzle forming surface 56a when viewed from the Y-axis direction. ing.
7C, the absorbent material surface 24a is inclined with respect to the nozzle forming surface 56a when viewed from the X-axis direction, and the absorbent material surface 24a is inclined with respect to the nozzle forming surface 56a when viewed from the Y-axis direction. Yes.
Even if such an arrangement of the facing surface in the suction portion with respect to the nozzle forming surface as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the same effect as in the present embodiment is obtained.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Liquid body, 10a ... Droplet, 20 ... Suction part, 21 ... Cap, 22 ... Cap base, 22a ... Bottom, 23 ... Base, 23a ... Shoulder part, 23b ... Connection hole, 23c ... Guide recessed part, 24 ... Absorption Material 24a ... absorber surface 25 ... suction hole 26 ... seal ring 27 ... joint member 29 ... spring 30 ... cap holder 31 ... locking part 32 ... suction space 35 ... suction tube 36 ... Three-way valve, 37 ... suction pump, 38 ... drainage liquid tank, 45 ... wiper base, 46 ... wiper, 50 ... droplet discharge head, 51 ... liquid material introduction part, 52 ... connecting needle, 53 ... head substrate, 54 ... Head body 56 ... Nozzle plate 56a ... Nozzle formation surface 56b ... Water repellent film 57 ... Connector 58 ... Nozzle 61 ... Pressure plate 62 ... Vibration plate 63 ... Liquid supply hole 65 ... Liquid pool 66 ... Supply port, 67 ... head partition, 68 ... pressure chamber, 69 ... piezoelectric element, 100 ... droplet discharge device, 101,102 ... guide rail, 103 ... moving table, 105 ... mounting table, 110 ... carriage moving table, 120 ... Carriage, 130... Suction device, 140... Wiping device, 150.

Claims (3)

A method for cleaning a droplet discharge head, which has a nozzle for discharging a liquid material as droplets in a droplet discharge head, and sucks a nozzle forming surface on which the nozzle is formed from a suction portion,
A step in which the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head and the suction part covering the nozzle are in contact with each other to form a suction space;
A step B for sucking the liquid space by sucking the suction space of the droplet discharge head;
C step of separating the nozzle forming surface and the suction portion of the droplet discharge head, and holding the nozzle forming surface and the facing surface of the suction portion while maintaining a gap and an angle;
A method of cleaning a droplet discharge head, comprising a step D of sucking the liquid material by sucking the nozzle forming surface of the droplet discharge head from the suction portion after the step C. The method of cleaning a droplet discharge head according to claim 1,
A method of cleaning a droplet discharge head, comprising: an E step of releasing the inside of the suction space to the atmosphere after the B step. In the cleaning method of the droplet discharge head according to claim 1 or 2,
A method for cleaning a droplet discharge head, wherein a suction force from the suction part in the step D is larger than a suction force from the suction part in the step B.

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