Patent ID: 7240982
Filing Date: 2007-07-10
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. An ink-jet line printer which, by spraying ink, performs in a single operation printing of an entire line of a printing medium crossing a conveyance direction of the printing medium, comprising: a plurality of ink-jet heads arranged to cover a plurality of printing regions divided in a line direction of the printing medium and having a plurality of ink spraying nozzles arranged in the line direction; a backup mechanism, arranged at a home position on a side of the printing medium, for protecting and recovering the nozzles of the plurality of ink-jet heads, wherein the backup mechanism has caps covering surfaces of the nozzles of the ink-jet heads, a purging mechanism which performs purging of the insides of the caps, covers covering the caps, and a drive mechanism that opens the covers when the ink-jet heads are located at positions of the caps; an actuator which moves the ink-jet heads in the line direction between home positions and predetermined printing positions in the line direction, wherein the actuator is constituted by a plurality of guide rails, and each of the plurality of guide rails guide each of the ink-jet heads, respectively, towards the line direction; and a controller which, when a printing operation is to be performed in the line direction, positions the ink-jet heads at predetermined print positions in the line direction, performs printing by ink jet printing while remaining stationary, and, at a time when a printing operation is not about to take place, moves the ink-jet heads to home positions, thus enabling the backup mechanism to protect and recover the nozzles.