Patent ID: 6120126
Filing Date: 2000-09-19
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink jet printer comprising:an ink jet head having nozzles for ejecting ink;a suction cap for covering the nozzles;a pump for sucking ink out of the head through the suction cap to purge the head; anda controller controlling the pump depending on the condition of the printer when a purge is performed, to adjust at least one of a suction cycle period and a suction pressure applied to the suction cap, wherein,the controller controls the pump in such a manner that at least one of the automatic purges at predetermined time intervals for the maintenance of the printer, a manual purge for recovery from defective ejection of ink from the ink jet head and a purge just after the replacement of an ink cartridge for the printer differ from each other in at least one of the suction cycle period and the suction pressure, and wherein, the controller controls the pump in such a manner that the suction pressure is lower for the purge just after cartridge replacement than for the automatic purges, and the suction pressure is lower for the purge just after cartridge replacement than for the manual purge.