Patent ID: 9399343
Filing Date: 2016-07-26
CPC Classification: B41J

Claim Text:
1. A cleaning control method for an inkjet printer that prints in a printing area, the inkjet printer comprising a head unit comprising a first inkjet head and an adjacently disposed second inkjet head, the inkjet printer printing by moving the head unit reciprocally in a direction in which the inkjet heads are arrayed, the inkjet printer further comprising a maintenance head cap with an ink absorbance capability, the cleaning control method comprising: from a home position of the head unit of the inkjet printer, at which the first inkjet head is the inkjet head that is closest to the printing area, and at which the maintenance head cap is disposed opposite the first inkjet head, moving the head unit from the home position, directly and without intermediate steps, toward the printing area to a position at which the second inkjet head is positioned opposite the maintenance head cap and cleaning the second inkjet head by discharging ink droplets from the second inkjet head; subsequently and without intermediate steps, returning the head unit to the home position at which the first inkjet head is opposite the maintenance head cap, and cleaning the first inkjet head by discharging ink droplets from the first inkjet head.