Patent ID: 7828410
Filing Date: 2010-11-09
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising: an ink-jet head having an ink ejection face on which a plurality of ejection ports for ejecting ink are formed; a brush that brushes off matters adhering to the ink ejection face, the brush comprising a plurality of bristles and a brush main body on which the plurality of bristles are fixed; a suction unit that sucks matters brushed off by the brush; a wiper having a contact face that is to be brought into contact with the ink ejection face to remove matters adhering to the ink ejection face; a brush moving mechanism that moves the brush in parallel with the ink ejection face; a wiper moving mechanism that moves the wiper in parallel with the ink ejection face with the contact face of the wiper being brought into contact with the ink ejection face; a brush suction controller that controls the brush moving mechanism to move the brush to brush off adhering matters from the ink ejection face, and controls the suction unit to suck the adhering matters; a wiper controller that controls the wiper moving mechanism to move the wiper with the contact face of the wiper being brought into contact with the ink ejection face; and a wiper cleaning controller that controls at least one of the brush moving mechanism and the wiper moving mechanism such that the brush and the wiper are closely positioned, and then controls the brush and the suction unit to perform a wiper cleaning operation in which matters adhering to the wiper are brushed off by the brush and the adhering matters are sucked by the suction unit.