Patent ID: 6511150
Filing Date: 2003-01-28
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink jet printer, wherein the ink jet printer turns off its power in response to a turn-power-off-request signal, said ink jet printer comprising:an ink jet head having a nozzle disposed on a nozzle surface thereof for ejecting ink, said ink jet head having a predefined power-down position; a motion actuating mechanism for moving said ink jet head, including the movement of said ink jet head to said predefined power-down position in response to said turn-power-off-request signal prior to the ink jet printer turning off its power; cleaning means for cleaning said ink jet head using a cleaning sequence including a plurality of cleaning process sub-steps; initialization control means for initializing the ink jet printer when a supply of power to the ink jet printer starts; power failure detecting means for detecting a power failure wherein the supply of power to the ink jet printer is abruptly and unexpectedly cut-off, said power failure being unrelated to said turn-power-off-request signal and being effective for preventing an activation of said motion actuating mechanism; operating status storage means for storing an active status of said plurality of cleaning process sub-steps when said power failure detecting means detects said power failure; and operation selecting means for selecting an operation to be performed by said initialization control means based on the status of said cleaning process sub-steps stored in said operating status storage means, wherein the initial direction of movement of said ink jet head selected by said initialization control means is dependent on which of said cleaning process sub-steps was active at the time of power failure as recorded by said operating status storage means.