JP4617891B2 - Cleaning method in liquid ejecting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning method and a liquid ejecting apparatus in a liquid ejecting apparatus having a liquid sucking apparatus that sucks liquid from a nozzle of a head arranged in an inclined manner.

  As a liquid ejecting device that ejects liquid onto a medium, an ink jet recording apparatus that performs printing by ejecting ink droplets onto a medium from a recording head ejects minute ink droplets onto the medium from the nozzles of the recording head. Then, an image such as a desired character or figure is recorded.

Some ink jet recording apparatuses have heads arranged at an angle. This type of ink jet recording apparatus is, for example, a large format printer. For example, when a long paper is fed from a roll paper to an inclined head, the head prints on the paper. An ink jet recording apparatus having such an inclined head is disclosed (for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-237092 (pages 6 to 7, FIG. 4)

However, in the ink jet recording apparatus shown in Patent Document 1, since the head is disposed at an inclination, the cap for sealing the nozzle of the head and sucking ink is in a state in which the nozzle plate surface of the head is inclined. It is structured to be sealed with. For this reason, for example, a problem as shown in FIG. 13 occurs.
FIG. 13 shows a conventional tilted head 1050 and a tilted cap 1060. The cap 1060 is in a state where the nozzle plate surface 1000 of the head 1050 is sealed. An absorbent 1025 is accommodated in the cap 1060. The cap 1060 only has one ink suction port 1001 in the lower part thereof. The ink suction port 1001 is connected to a suction pump.

  On the other hand, a plurality of nozzles 1020 are formed on the nozzle plate surface 1000. The plurality of nozzles 1020 are formed at intervals in series from the upper part 1051 to the lower part 1052 of the head 1050. Each nozzle 1020 is supplied with ink 1070 from the ink cartridge (not shown) side through a reservoir 1026. There is a hydraulic head pressure difference H between the nozzle 1020 in the upper part 1051 and the nozzle 1020 in the lower part 1052. When a suction pump (not shown) is operated with the cap 1060 sealing the nozzle 1020, the pressure in the cap 1060 decreases as the suction starts, and ink is sucked into the cap 1060 from each nozzle 1020.

The ejected ink flows down the nozzle plate surface 1000 and flows down. At this time, the air layer 1071 in the cap 1060 is also discharged to the outside from the ink suction port 1001 at the same time. The space between the nozzle 1020 at the lower portion 1052 of the head 1050 and the ink suction port 1001 is filled with the ink 1072 as indicated by the oblique lines.
In this state, the pressure near the nozzle 1020 in the lower portion 1052 is lower than the pressure in the air layer 1071. That is, the suction pressure applied to the nozzle 1020 on the lower 1052 side is greater than the suction pressure applied to the nozzle 1020 on the upper 1051 side.
The reason for this is that when ink flows through the absorber 1025, ink fluid resistance is generated, so that the air layer 1071 is farther away from the ink suction port 1001 than the nozzle 1020 on the lower 1052 side, and the air layer 1071. This is because the pressure of the nozzle 1020 on the lower 1052 side is lower than the nozzle 1020 on the upper 1051 side.
Since the nozzle 1020 on the upper 1051 side and the nozzle 1020 on the lower 1052 side are not horizontal, the nozzle 1020 on the lower 1052 side usually has a higher suction pressure than the nozzle 1020 on the upper 1051 side, in other words, on the lower 1052 side. Even if the suction pressure is lower on the nozzle 1020 side, the ink comes out from the nozzle.

Further, in this state, the air layer 1071 loses its place of discharge from the ink suction port 1001 and is not discharged. Therefore, when the pressure in the cap 1060 decreases while the suction operation is continued, the flow F1 of ink supply from the ink cartridge As a result, the ink flow F2 generated by the pressure difference is superior, and the air layer 1071 flows back into the head 1050 from the nozzle 1020 on the upper 1051 side.
For this reason, air enters the nozzle 1020 on the upper portion 1051 side of the head 1050, and when the head 1050 ejects ink from each nozzle 1020 after removing the cap 1060, for example, several nozzles on the upper 1051 side are used. There is a problem in that air is emitted from the nozzle 1020 and ink is not properly ejected, so that a so-called dot dropout phenomenon is likely to occur.

  Accordingly, the present invention solves the above-described problem, and provides a cleaning method and a liquid ejecting apparatus in a liquid ejecting apparatus that can perform good drawing or printing while preventing dot dropout even when a head disposed at an inclination is sucked. It is intended to provide.

In the present invention, the above object is a cleaning method in a liquid ejecting apparatus that sucks liquid from a nozzle of a head that is inclined to the liquid ejecting apparatus, wherein the nozzle is sealed by a main body. A step of stopping, and suctioning the inside of the main body through a suction port on the lower side of the main body to make a negative pressure state, so that the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the lower side of the head and the nozzle on the upper side of the head A first suction step for sucking the liquid from the nozzle so that the difference from the negative pressure does not exceed a certain value, and further, the inside of the main body is sucked into a negative pressure state to be positioned below the head. A second suction step for sucking the liquid from the nozzle so that the difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle and the negative pressure of the nozzle located above the head does not exceed a certain value. That The cleaning method of a liquid jet apparatus symptoms is achieved.
According to the structure of this invention, a nozzle is sealed with a main body at a sealing step. In the first suction step, the inside of the main body is sucked into a negative pressure state through the lower suction port of the main body, and the negative pressure of the nozzle located below the head and the negative pressure of the nozzle located above the head are The liquid is sucked from the nozzle so that the difference does not exceed a certain value.
In the second suction step, the inside of the main body is further sucked into a negative pressure state, and the difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle located below the head and the negative pressure of the nozzle located above the head does not exceed a certain value. In this manner, the liquid is sucked from the nozzle.
Thereby, the difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the lower side and the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the upper side is constant by sucking the liquid in two steps of the first suction step and the second suction step. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon of air flowing back into the upper nozzle. For this reason, even if the head arranged at an inclination is sucked, it is possible to perform good drawing or printing while preventing missing dots. In addition, by performing the suction operation separately for the first suction step and the second suction step, the pressure difference between the negative pressure of the lower nozzle and the negative pressure of the upper nozzle is temporarily increased at the end of the first suction step. Since the suction can be performed again by the second suction step after the reduction, the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles can be prevented from being greatly expanded.

In the present invention, it is preferable that a waiting time is set between the first suction step and the second suction step.
According to the configuration of the present invention, a waiting time is set between the first suction step and the second suction step.
By setting the waiting time, the second suction step can be started again after the suction operation in the first suction step is temporarily settled and the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles is made zero. Thereby, the expansion of the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles can be prevented.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the first suction step is sucked at a lower speed than the second suction step.
According to the configuration of the present invention, the first suction step is sucked at a lower speed than the second suction step.
Thereby, since the change in the suction speed at the start of each suction step is reduced, it is possible to prevent an increase in the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles even in the second suction step in which high speed suction is performed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid ejecting apparatus for sucking and cleaning liquid from a nozzle of a head arranged at an inclination, and a main body for sealing the nozzle, and a lower side of the main body The difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the lower side of the head and the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the upper side of the head exceeds a certain value by sucking the inside of the main body through a suction port of A first suction step for sucking the liquid from the nozzles, and a negative pressure state of the nozzles located under the head by sucking the main body into a negative pressure state and the upper side of the head And a suction means for performing a second suction step for sucking the liquid from the nozzle so that a difference from the negative pressure of the nozzle located in the nozzle does not exceed a certain value. Depending on the device It is made.
Thereby, the difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the lower side and the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the upper side is constant by sucking the liquid in two steps of the first suction step and the second suction step. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon of air flowing back into the upper nozzle. For this reason, even if the head arranged at an inclination is sucked, it is possible to perform good drawing or printing while preventing missing dots. In addition, by performing the suction operation separately for the first suction step and the second suction step, the pressure difference between the negative pressure of the lower nozzle and the negative pressure of the upper nozzle is temporarily increased at the end of the first suction step. Since the suction can be performed again by the second suction step after the reduction, the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles can be prevented from being greatly expanded.

In the present invention, an air release port is provided on the upper side of the main body, and the suction port connected to the suction means for bringing the inside of the main body into a negative pressure state is provided on the lower side of the main body. It is desirable that
According to the configuration of the present invention, the atmosphere opening port is provided on the upper side of the main body, and the suction port is provided on the lower side of the main body.
Thereby, the suction means can perform the first suction step and the second suction step using the lower suction port.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the liquid ejecting apparatus of the present invention.
A liquid ejecting apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is, for example, a so-called ink jet large format printer, and is an ink jet recording apparatus.
The liquid ejecting apparatus 10 includes a main body unit 1, a support unit 2, a winding device 3, a carriage 4, a recording head 5, a platen 6, a suction fan 7, feed rollers 8 and 9, an operation panel 10 </ b> A, and a control unit 100. Have.

  Housed in the main body 1 are a carriage 4, a platen 6, feed rollers 8 and 9, and a suction fan 7. The carriage 4 fixes the recording head 5. The carriage 4 and the recording head 5 are arranged so as to be inclined by an inclination angle θ with respect to the horizontal line AA. This inclination angle θ is, for example, 60 degrees. The carriage 4 can scan along with the recording head 5 in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. The recording head 5 has a nozzle plate 60, and a nozzle plate surface 61 of the nozzle plate 60 faces the platen 6. The platen 6 is also arranged with an inclination at an inclination angle θ.

The recording paper M becomes a roll body 12 and is detachably held on the main body 1. The recording paper M on the roll body 12 passes between the feed rollers 8 and 9, passes between the platen 6 and the nozzle plate surface 61, and is taken up by the take-up device 3.
The recording paper M is fed in the E direction by the feed rollers 8 and 9 and is taken up by the take-up device 3. For example, the feed roller 8 is rotated by a motor 8A, and the winding device 3 is rotated by a motor 3A.

  When the recording paper M passes between the recording head 5 and the platen 6, the carriage 4 scans along the main scanning direction T, so that the recording paper M can be drawn or printed in color, for example. The control unit 100 supplies a drive voltage to the piezoelectric vibrator of the recording head 5 to control the liquid discharge operation of the liquid from the nozzles and the motors 8A and 3A. Further, the control unit 100 controls the motor 7A, whereby the suction fan 7 rotates. The recording paper M can be sucked onto the platen 6 by rotating the suction fan 7.

  FIG. 2 shows the liquid ejecting apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, but the carriage 4 and the recording head 5 move along the main scanning direction T and come out of the facing position of the platen 6 to the ink suction device 20. It shows a face-to-face state. The ink suction device 20 is an example of a liquid suction device. The ink suction device 20 is accommodated in the main body 1. The ink suction device 20 is arranged at a home position G outside the drawing or printing area of the recording paper M.

The recording head 5 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is an example of an ink jet liquid ejecting head and is also called a print head.
The carriage 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be scanned in the main scanning direction T by the guide rails 4A and 4A.
As shown in FIG. 2, the ink suction device 20 in the home position G can also be called a capping system or a capping unit. The nozzle plate surface 61 of the recording head 5 positioned at the home position G faces the main body 21 of the ink suction device 20. The main body 21 can also be called a cap. The nozzle plate surface 61 is an example of a nozzle surface.

The ink suction device 20 shown in FIG. 2 has a suction means 400, and prevents the ink from drying at the nozzle openings of the recording head 5 and a negative pressure from the suction pump 19 to act on the nozzle openings. The ink is forcibly sucked and discharged. The suction pump 19 is a component constituting the ink suction device 20. Ink is an example of a liquid.
In addition, a wiping member 400W is provided beside the ink suction device 20 as shown in FIG. The wiping member 400 </ b> W wipes ink adhering to the nozzle plate surface 61 after sucking the nozzle plate surface 61 of the recording head 5.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of electrical connection of the liquid ejecting apparatus 10 shown in FIG. The control unit 100 of the ink jet recording apparatus 10 is connected to a printer driver 41 of the host computer 40 via a local printer cable or a communication network. The printer driver 41 includes software that sends a command for causing the ink jet recording apparatus 10 to execute printing, cleaning operation, or ink suction operation.

The liquid ejecting apparatus 10 illustrated in FIG. 3 includes an ink suction device 20, an ink cartridge 50, a recording head 5, a carriage 4, and motors 3A, 8A, and 7A in addition to the control unit 100.
In FIG. 2, the direction perpendicular to the paper surface is the main scanning direction T, which is the same as the X direction. The Y direction is the horizontal direction in FIG. 2 and the horizontal direction. The Z direction is the vertical direction. The X direction, the Y direction, and the Z direction are orthogonal to each other.

  FIG. 4 shows an arrangement example of the nozzle opening rows 54 on the nozzle plate surface 61. Each nozzle opening row 54 ejects the same type of ink or different types of ink. Different ink types mean not only the apparent color difference, but also the types and ratios of the ink components. Each nozzle opening row 54 includes, for example, several tens to several thousand nozzles 55.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the nozzle opening rows 54 are formed in parallel along the main scanning direction T at intervals, for example, eight rows are formed. The longitudinal direction of each nozzle opening row is the U direction.

FIG. 5 shows a shape example of a reservoir (common ink chamber) 56 connected to one ink cartridge 50 via an ink passage 51 and a plurality of nozzles 55. These nozzles 55 constitute one nozzle opening row 54 illustrated in FIG. Each nozzle 55 is connected to a reservoir 56 via a pressure chamber 57.
For ease of understanding, the uppermost nozzle is indicated by 55A, and the lowermost nozzle is indicated by 55B.

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the ink suction device 20 shown in FIG.
The ink suction device 20 shown in FIG. 6 has a main body 21, a tube 72, a suction pump 19, an air release port 91, and a waste liquid tank 99. The main body 21 faces the nozzle plate surface 61, and the main body 21 can seal each nozzle on the nozzle plate surface 61.

FIG. 7 illustrates in more detail the structural examples of the ink suction device 20 and the recording head 5 of FIG.
Each ink cartridge 50 is connected to correspond to eight nozzle opening rows. For example, each ink cartridge 50 is disposed at a position away from the recording head 5. Therefore, the liquid ejecting apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a so-called off-carriage type ink jet printer.

6 and 7, the main body 21 of the ink suction device 20 shows a standby state in which the main body 21 is separated from the nozzle plate surface 61. On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows a state where the main body 21 seals the nozzle plate surface 61.
As shown in FIG. 7, the main body 21 of the ink suction device 20 is made of metal or plastic, and has a bottom portion 21A and four side portions 21B. An opening 21 </ b> C is formed in the upper portion of the main body 21. The size of the opening 21C is slightly smaller than the size of the nozzle plate surface 61, and can be sealed so as to surround all the nozzles 55 on the nozzle plate surface 61 as shown in FIG.

  The absorbers 22A and 22B are stacked in the main body 21. The absorbers 22A and 22B may be any material that can absorb ink from the recording head 5, and for example, a sponge made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), which is a foamed plastic, can be used. The absorbent material may not be two layers, but may be three or more layers, or may be a single layer.

  The main body 21 in FIG. 7 has a connection pipe 82 as shown in FIG. The connection pipe 82 is provided on the lower portion 21 </ b> L side of the main body 21. The connection pipe 82 is provided so as to protrude from the bottom portion 21A at a substantially central position with respect to the width direction of the bottom portion 21A (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 7). The pipe 82 is connected to the suction port 92 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the air opening 91 preferably reaches the opening 21C side through the absorbent materials 22A and 22B. The connection pipe 82 is detachably connected to one end of the tube 72. As the tube 72, for example, a flexible plastic tube can be used.

The air release port 91 is connected to the air release valve 605, and when releasing the sealing of the nozzle plate surface 61 by the main body 21, the air release valve 605 is opened to increase the negative pressure in the main body 21. Return to atmospheric pressure.
The other end of the tube 72 is connected to the suction pump 19.
The suction unit 400 is connected to the main body 21, but the suction unit 400 includes the tube 72 and the suction pump 19 described above.

  The operation unit 250 shown in FIG. 7 is a mechanism unit that linearly reciprocates the main body 21 in the J direction so as to be in the sealed state shown in FIG. 8 from the separated state shown in FIG. The operation unit 250 uses, for example, a combination of a feed screw, a motor, and a nut, so that the main body 21 is separated from the nozzle plate surface 61 as shown in FIG. 7, or with respect to the nozzle plate surface 61 as shown in FIG. It can be tightly sealed.

Next, a suction operation (cleaning operation) method by the liquid suction device 20 in the liquid ejecting apparatus 10 described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 7, the main body 21 comes into close contact with the nozzle plate surface 61 as shown in FIG. In this case, since the main body 21 has the contact member 29 that can be elastically deformed, the contact member 29 can seal each nozzle 55 on the nozzle plate surface 61. At this time, the air release valve 605 is closed.

  In FIG. 8, when the suction pump 19 is operated, ink is sucked into the main body 21 from each nozzle 55. That is, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 10, the suction pump 19 can simultaneously suck and discharge ink and air in the main body 21 from the suction port 92 through the tube 72. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a state in which the main body 21 sucks ink in the recording head 5 while sealing the nozzle plate surface 61.

FIG. 11 shows a preferred embodiment of the cleaning method in the liquid ejecting apparatus 10 of the present invention.
FIG. 11A shows an example of a change in negative pressure over time. The negative pressure on the vertical axis is the value of the negative pressure in the main body 21. In FIG. 11A, the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2 are negative pressure setting lines at the time of suction for the suction pump 19 to suck the inside of the main body 21 in the sealed state as shown in FIG. . A waiting time (wait time) TW is provided between the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2. The negative pressure lines L1 and L2 and the waiting time TW are implemented by the control unit 100 controlling the operation of the suction pump 19. Therefore, the control unit 100 has software for the suction pump 19.
The negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2 are negative pressure setting lines by suction with the same inclination, but the negative pressure line L1 is the first suction step ST1, and the negative pressure line L2 is the second suction step ST2.

In FIG. 11A, the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2 are indicated by alternate long and short dash lines. A negative pressure curve L3 of the lower nozzle 55B shown in FIG. 7 is indicated by a two-dot chain line. The negative pressure curve L4 of the upper nozzle 55A is indicated by a thick solid line.
In the first suction step ST1, the negative pressure line L1 has a constant difference between the negative pressure value in the negative pressure curve L3 of the lower nozzle 55B and the negative pressure value in the negative pressure curve L4 of the upper nozzle 55A. It is set not to exceed. Similarly, in the second suction step ST2, the negative pressure line L2 has a difference between the negative pressure value in the negative pressure curve L3 of the lower nozzle 55B and the negative pressure value in the negative pressure curve L4 of the upper nozzle 55A. It is set not to exceed a certain value.

FIG. 11B shows the constant level CV of the difference between the negative pressure value of the lower nozzle 55B and the negative pressure value of the upper nozzle 55A, and the negative pressure of the lower nozzle 55B in the embodiment of the present invention. The curve of the difference V1 between the value and the negative pressure value of the upper nozzle 55A, and the difference V2 between the negative pressure value of the lower nozzle and the negative pressure value of the upper nozzle as a comparative example are shown.
Conventionally, the negative pressure difference V2 has exceeded a certain level CV of the upper and lower negative pressure difference. On the other hand, the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2 in FIG. 11A are set so that the negative pressure difference V1 in the embodiment of the present invention does not exceed a certain level CV of the upper and lower negative pressure difference. ing.

  As described above, in both cases of the first suction step ST1 and the second suction step ST2, the difference between the negative pressure value of the lower nozzle 55B and the negative pressure value of the upper nozzle 55A exceeds a certain level CV. Therefore, in FIG. 10, the ink flow F1 from the ink cartridge side can always suck ink from the upper nozzle 55A and the lower nozzle 55B. In other words, it is possible to reliably prevent the air in the main body 21 from flowing backward from the upper nozzle 55A to the reservoir 56 side.

Further, the main body of FIG. 10 is divided into two suction steps, the first suction step ST1 indicated by the negative pressure line L1 shown in FIG. 11A and the second suction step ST2 indicated by the negative pressure line L2. 21 can be sucked from the nozzles 55A to 55B from the upper side to the lower side with negative pressure without causing a backflow of air. That is, in the first suction step ST1, the process is completed before the difference between the negative pressure of the lower nozzle and the negative pressure of the upper nozzle is not increased so much, and further ink suction is performed in the second suction step ST2. Do it.
In addition, since the waiting time TW is provided between the first suction step ST1 and the second suction step ST2, the main body is further sucked by the second suction step ST2 after being sucked once at a constant negative pressure in the first suction step ST1. It is possible to reliably suck ink by setting the inside to a negative pressure. Thus, if the waiting time TW is provided, the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles can be returned to zero, and the pressure difference can be restarted from zero in the second suction step ST2.

FIG. 12 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12A shows the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2. In the first suction step ST1, the negative pressure is set by the negative pressure line L1, and in the negative pressure line L2, the negative pressure is set by the second suction step ST2. The inclination of the negative pressure line L2 is set larger than the inclination of the negative pressure line L1. That is, as shown by the negative pressure line L2, in the first suction step ST1, suction is performed at a lower speed than in the second suction step ST2.
Therefore, the first suction step ST1 can also be called a low-speed suction step, and the second suction step ST2 can also be called a high-speed suction step.

  FIG. 12B shows a constant level CV of the upper and lower negative pressure difference, and a negative pressure difference V1 in the embodiment of the present invention and a negative pressure difference V2 in the comparative example with respect to the constant level CV. Also in this case, the negative pressure line L1 and the negative pressure line L2 shown in FIG. 12A are set so that the negative pressure difference V1 of the embodiment of the present invention does not always exceed the constant level CV of the upper and lower negative pressure difference. ing.

In FIG. 12A, of course, a waiting time TW as shown in FIG. 11A may be provided between the first suction step ST1 and the second suction step ST2.
In FIG. 8, when the ink suction from the nozzles by the main body 21 is finished, the suction pump 19 is stopped and the atmosphere release valve 605 on the atmosphere release port side is opened. Thereby, the negative pressure state in the main body 21 can be returned to the atmospheric pressure state.

In the embodiment of the present invention, in the first suction step ST1, the suction speed change amount at the start of each suction operation can be reduced by performing suction at a lower speed than in the second suction step ST2. That is, since the first suction step ST is a low speed suction, the pressure difference between the negative pressure of the lower nozzle and the negative pressure of the upper nozzle does not increase, and this is a high speed suction step that is started subsequently. Also in the second suction step, the amount of change in the suction speed at the start becomes small, so that a large increase in the negative pressure difference between the upper and lower nozzles can be prevented.
Although an example of paper is given as the medium M, the present invention is not limited to this, and a recording medium other than paper may be used.

  The present invention is not limited to an ink jet recording apparatus, but a recording head used in an image recording apparatus such as a printer, a color material ejection head used in manufacturing a color filter such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and an FED (surface emitting display). The present invention can also be applied to a liquid ejecting apparatus using a liquid ejecting head for ejecting liquid, such as an electrode material ejecting head used for electrode formation, a bioorganic matter ejecting head used for biochip manufacturing, a sample ejecting apparatus as a precision pipette, etc. .

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.
A part of each configuration of the above embodiment can be omitted, or can be arbitrarily combined so as to be different from the above.

FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating an ink jet recording apparatus that is a preferred embodiment of the liquid ejecting apparatus of the invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a structure on a home position side of the ink jet recording apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of electrical connection of an ink jet recording apparatus. The figure which shows the example of a shape of a nozzle plate surface, and an ink cartridge. The figure which shows the example of a nozzle, a reservoir | reserver, and an ink cartridge. The figure which shows the state which the main body of the ink suction device left | separated from the nozzle plate surface. The figure which shows the detailed structural examples, such as a main body of FIG. The figure which shows the state which the main body of FIG. 7 sealed the nozzle plate surface. The perspective view which shows the main body in embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the suction state by the main body in embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of a cleaning method in the liquid ejecting apparatus of the invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another preferred embodiment of the cleaning method in the liquid ejecting apparatus of the invention. The figure which shows the suction operation example by the conventional cap.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 ... Recording head, 10 ... Liquid ejecting device, 19 ... Suction pump, 20 ... Ink suction device (an example of a liquid suction device), 55 ... Nozzle, 61 ... Nozzle plate surface 72 ... Tube, 82 ... Connection pipe, 91 ... Air release port, 92 ... Suction port, 605 ... Air release valve

Claims (3)

A cleaning method in a liquid ejecting apparatus for sucking liquid from nozzles of a head arranged with a nozzle plate surface on which a plurality of nozzles are formed inclined downward ,
A sealing step of sealing the nozzle with a cap body that caps the nozzle plate surface ;
The inside of the cap body is sucked into a negative pressure state through a suction port formed on the lower side of the cap body, the negative pressure of the nozzle located on the lower side of the head, and the nozzle located on the upper side of the head A first suction step for sucking the ink from the nozzle in such a manner that the difference from the negative pressure of the nozzle does not exceed a certain value;
The inside of the cap body is sucked through the suction port to be in a negative pressure state, and a difference between the negative pressure of the nozzle located below the head and the negative pressure of the nozzle located above the head is a constant value. And a second suction step of sucking the ink from the nozzles so as not to exceed the above.   The cleaning method for a liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a waiting time is set between the first suction step and the second suction step.   The cleaning method for a liquid ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first suction step is sucked at a lower speed than the second suction step.

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