Patent Publication Number: US-11034153-B2

Title: Liquid ejecting apparatus and method of controlling liquid ejecting apparatus

Description:
The present application is based on, and claims priority from JP Application Serial Number 2018-246043, filed Dec. 27, 2018, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates to a liquid ejecting apparatus such as a printer, and to a method of controlling a liquid ejecting apparatus. 
     2. Related Art 
     As disclosed in JP-A-2012-51189, for example, there is a printing apparatus representing an example of a liquid ejecting apparatus, which performs printing by ejecting an ink as an example of a liquid from a printing head portion as an example of a liquid ejecting head. The printing apparatus includes a carriage that detachably mounts a printing head, and a sub-tank representing an example of a liquid supply coupling portion held by the carriage. The sub-tank is detached from the carriage when replacing the printing head portion. 
     An operator carries out attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion to and from the carriage. If there is variation in coupling work to couple the liquid ejecting head to the liquid supply coupling portion or in attachment work to attach the liquid supply coupling portion to the carriage, the liquid ejecting apparatus may fail to ensure its performance quality after attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion to and from the carriage. 
     SUMMARY 
     An aspect of a liquid ejecting apparatus for solving the aforementioned problem includes: a carriage; a liquid ejecting head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects a liquid; a liquid supply coupling portion that is mounted on the carriage and is detachably coupled to the liquid ejecting head so as to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head; a fixation member configured to be located at a fixation position where the liquid supply coupling portion is coupled to the liquid ejecting head and fixed to the carriage, and at a release position where the fixation is released; and a carriage cover provided to the carriage and is located at a closed position when the liquid ejecting head ejects the liquid, and the carriage cover covers an upper part of the carriage at the closed position. Here, the carriage cover includes a contact portion that comes into contact with the fixation member when the carriage cover is located at a position different from the closed position in a case in which the fixation member is located at the release position. 
     An aspect of a method of controlling a liquid ejecting apparatus for solving the aforementioned problem is a method of controlling a liquid ejecting apparatus provided with: a carriage mounting a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid and being configured to move between an ejection area used to cause the liquid ejecting head to eject the liquid onto a medium and a maintenance area provided at a position adjacent to the ejection area and used to perform maintenance of the liquid ejecting head; a carriage movement mechanism that moves the carriage; a liquid supply coupling portion that is mounted on the carriage and is detachably coupled to the liquid ejecting head so as to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head; and a carriage cover provided to the carriage and covers an upper part of the carriage when the liquid ejecting head ejects the liquid. The method includes moving the carriage to a detachment position when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion. And the detachment position is provided in the maintenance area. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a liquid ejecting apparatus of an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a plan view schematically showing a layout of constituents of the liquid ejecting apparatus. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic bottom view of a liquid ejecting head and a carriage. 
         FIG. 4  is a side view schematically showing more constituents of the liquid ejecting apparatus. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic plan view of a maintenance unit. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic plan view of a capping device. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along and viewed in a direction of VII-VII arrows in  FIG. 6 . 
         FIG. 8  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a stand-by cap located at a capping position. 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic side view of the liquid ejecting apparatus in which a carriage cover is located at an open position. 
         FIG. 10  is a schematic plan view of fixation members located at fixation positions. 
         FIG. 11  is a schematic plan view of the fixation members located at release positions. 
         FIG. 12  is a schematic side view of the liquid ejecting apparatus in which the fixation members are located at the release positions. 
         FIG. 13  is a schematic front view of a liquid ejecting apparatus of a modified example. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
     A liquid ejecting apparatus of an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The liquid ejecting apparatus is an ink jet printer that performs printing by ejecting an ink representing an example of a liquid onto a medium such as paper. Meanwhile, the liquid ejecting apparatus is also a large-format printer that performs printing on a long medium. 
     In the drawings, a liquid ejecting apparatus  10  is assumed to be disposed on a horizontal plane and a direction of gravitational force is indicated with a Z-axis. Meanwhile, directions crossing the Z-axis are indicated with X-axis and Y-axis. When the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axis are orthogonal to one another, the X-axis and the Y-axis are in line with the horizontal plane. In the following description, a direction along with the X-axis may be referred to as a width direction X, a direction along with the Y-axis may be referred to as a depth direction Y, and a direction along with the Z-axis may be referred to as a vertical direction Z as appropriate. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a pair of legs  11 , and a body  12  assembled on the legs  11 . The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a reel-out portion  13  that reels out a medium M rolled up in a rolled body toward the body  12 , a guide plate  14  that guides the medium M discharged from the body  12 , and a roll-up portion  15  that rolls up the medium M guided by the guide plate  14  into a rolled body. The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a tension imparting mechanism  16  that imparts tension to the medium M being rolled up by the roll-up portion  15 , an operation panel  17  to be operated by a user, and a maintenance cover  18  which is openable and closable. The maintenance cover  18  may be provided in such a way as to be turnable around a first shaft  18   a  being provided at a back end in the depth direction Y of the maintenance cover  18  and extending along the X-axis. The maintenance cover  18  is designed to be located at a closed position shown in  FIG. 1  and at an open position shown in  FIG. 9 . 
     The operation panel  17  may notify the user of an operating state of the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  by displaying the operating state of the liquid ejecting apparatus  10 . The operation panel  17  may be configured to operate the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  by way of a screen that displays the operating state, or may include a display screen used for displaying information and buttons used for conducting the operation. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a printing portion  19  provided inside the body  12 , and a liquid supply device  20  which is provided separately from the body  12 . The printing portion  19  includes a liquid ejecting head  21  that ejects liquids and a carriage  22  that carries the liquid ejecting head  21 . In this embodiment, a scanning direction of the carriage  22  is along the X-axis while an ejecting direction of the liquids ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  is along the Z-axis. 
     The liquid supply device  20  may include an attachment portion  24  configured to attach liquid supply sources  23  that store the liquids. The liquid supply device  20  and the body  12  move relative to each other. The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may include casters  25  so as to facilitate the movement of the body  12  and the liquid supply device  20 . 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes supply flow channels  27  that couple the liquid ejecting head  21  to the liquid supply sources  23  so as to supply the liquids inside the liquid supply sources  23  attached to the liquid supply device  20  to the liquid ejecting head  21 , and a bellows tube  28  that protects part of the supply flow channels  27 . The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a coupling member  29  which couples the liquid supply device  20  to the body  12  so that the liquid supply device  20  can move relative to the body  12 . 
     The coupling member  29  may be formed from a deformable member such as a string, a rope, a wire, a chain, and a belt. The coupling member  29  may be formed from a non-deformable member such as a plate, a rod, and a pipe and may be turnably fitted to the body  12  and to the liquid supply device  20 . 
     Of the bellows tube  28 , a first end  28   a  is fixed to the body  12  and a second end  28   b  is fixed to the liquid supply device  20 . The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may include a first fixing portion  31  to fix the first end  28   a  of the bellows tube  28  to the body  12  and a second fixing portion  32  to fix the second end  28   b  of the bellows tube  28  to the liquid supply device  20 . The coupling member  29  may couple the first fixing portion  31  to the second fixing portion  32 . 
     The liquid supply sources  23  and the supply flow channels  27  are provided so as to at least correspond to respective types of the liquids. Examples of the types of the liquids include inks containing coloring materials, storage liquids not containing coloring materials, process liquids that promote fixation of the inks, and so forth. The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  can perform color printing when the supply flow channels  27  supply color inks of different colors from one another. 
     Examples of colors of the color inks include cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white, and the like. The color printing may be carried out by using four colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, or may be carried out by using three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow. The color printing may be carried out by adding at least one of light cyan, light magenta, light yellow, orange, green, gray, and the like to the three colors of cyan, magenta, and yellow. Each of these inks may contain an antiseptic agent. 
     The white ink can be used for background printing before the color printing when printing on a medium M that is a transparent or translucent film or when printing on a medium M that has a dark color. The background printing is also referred to as solid printing or fill printing in some cases. 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the carriage  22  is movably provided between an ejection area JA which is used to cause the liquid ejecting head  21  to eject the liquids onto the medium M and a maintenance area MA which is provided at a position adjacent to the ejection area JA and used to perform maintenance of the liquid ejecting head  21 . The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a housing  34  that surrounds the ejection area JA and the maintenance area MA. The housing  34  includes an opening  34   a  which enables access to the carriage  22  located in the maintenance area MA. 
     The opening  34   a  is blocked by the maintenance cover  18  located at the closed position. In other words, the maintenance cover  18  located at the closed position covers the maintenance area MA. The maintenance cover  18  located at the open position exposes the maintenance area MA. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a support portion  35  that is provided in the ejection area JA. The support portion  35  extends in the width direction X of the medium M and supports the medium M located at a printing position. In this embodiment, a transport direction Y 1  of the medium M at the printing position is along the Y-axis. In other words, the depth direction Y coincides with the transport direction Y 1  at the printing position. 
     The ejection area JA is an area where the liquid ejecting head  21  can eject the liquids onto the medium M having a maximum width. When the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  has a borderless printing function, the ejection area JA is an area that is slightly larger than the medium M having the maximum width. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a maintenance unit  36  that is provided in the maintenance area MA. The maintenance unit  36  includes a liquid collection device  37 , a wiping device  38 , a suctioning device  39 , and a capping device  40 , which are arranged in this order starting from a position close to the ejection area JA. A position above the capping device  40  is defined as a home position HP for the liquid ejecting head  21 . The home position HP defines a starting point of movement of the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the liquid ejecting head  21  may include a nozzle forming member  43  in which nozzles  42  are formed, and a cover member  44  that covers part of the nozzle forming member  43 . The cover member  44  is made of a metal such as stainless steel. The cover member  44  is provided with through holes  44   a  that penetrate the cover member  44  in the vertical direction Z. The cover member  44  covers a side of the nozzle forming member  43  where the nozzles  42  are formed in such a way as to expose nozzles  42  from the through holes  44   a . A nozzle surface  45  includes the nozzle forming member  43  and the cover member  44 . To be more precise, the nozzle surface  45  is formed from the cover member  44  and the nozzle forming member  43  that is exposed from the through holes  44   a.    
     Numerous openings of the nozzles  42  to eject the liquids are arranged in one direction at regular intervals in the liquid ejecting head  21 , thus constituting nozzle lines. In this embodiment, the openings of the nozzles  42  are arranged in the transport direction Y 1  and constitute first to twelfth nozzle lines L 1  to L 12 . The nozzles  42  that constitute one nozzle line eject the liquid of the same type. Of the nozzles  42  constituting one nozzle line, the nozzles  42  located upstream in the transport direction Y 1  are displaced in the width direction X from the nozzles  42  located downstream in the transport direction Y 1 . 
     Every two lines out of the first to twelfth nozzle lines L 1  to L 12  are arranged close to each other in the width direction X. In this embodiment, the two nozzle lines arranged close to each other will be referred to as a nozzle group. In the liquid ejecting head  21 , first to sixth nozzle groups G 1  to G 6  are arranged at regular intervals in the width direction X. 
     Specifically, the first nozzle group G 1  includes the first nozzle line L 1  that ejects magenta ink and the second nozzle line L 2  that ejects yellow ink. The second nozzle group G 2  includes the third nozzle line L 3  that ejects cyan ink and the fourth nozzle line L 4  that ejects black ink. The third nozzle group G 3  includes the fifth nozzle line L 5  that ejects light cyan ink and the sixth nozzle line L 6  that ejects light magenta ink. The fourth nozzle group G 4  includes the seventh nozzle line L 7  and the eighth nozzle line L 8  that eject process liquids. The fifth nozzle group G 5  includes the ninth nozzle line L 9  that ejects black ink and the tenth nozzle line L 10  that ejects cyan ink. The sixth nozzle group G 6  includes the eleventh nozzle line L 11  that ejects yellow ink and the twelfth nozzle line L 12  that ejects magenta ink. 
     The liquid ejecting head  21  is provided with projections  21   a  that project to two sides in the transport direction Y 1 . Among the projections  21   a , two of the projections  21   a  located at the same position in the width direction X form a pair. The pairs of projections  21   a  thus formed are arranged in the width direction X at the same intervals as the nozzle groups. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may include air flow stabilizing portions  46  held at a lower part of the carriage  22 . Installation of the air flow stabilizing portions  46  on two sides in the width direction X of the liquid ejecting head  21  facilitates stabilization of airflow around the liquid ejecting head  21  that reciprocates along the X-axis. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a first guide shaft  48   a  and a second guide shaft  48   b  which support the carriage  22 , and a carriage movement mechanism  49  that moves the carriage  22 . The first guide shaft  48   a  and the second guide shaft  48   b  extend in the width direction X. The carriage  22  reciprocates along the first guide shaft  48   a  and the second guide shaft  48   b  by driving of the carriage movement mechanism  49 . 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a liquid supply coupling portion  50  detachably coupled to the liquid ejecting head  21  so as to supply the liquids to the liquid ejecting head  21 , fixation members  51  held by the liquid supply coupling portion  50 , and springs  52  that push up the fixation members  51 . The fixation members  51  can be located at fixation positions shown in  FIG. 4  where the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is coupled to the liquid ejecting head  21  and fixed to the carriage  22 , and at release positions shown in  FIG. 12  where the fixation is released. The liquid supply coupling portion  50  and the liquid ejecting head  21  which are mounted on the carriage  22  are detachable from the carriage  22  when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. The fixation members  51  located at the fixation positions are pushed against engagement portions  53  by the springs  52 , thus fixing the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . 
     Tubes constituting the supply flow channels  27  are coupled to the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . The liquids are supplied to the liquid ejecting head  21  through the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . The liquid supply coupling portion  50  includes differential pressure regulating valves  54 . The differential pressure regulating valves  54  are so-called pressure reducing valves. Specifically, such a differential pressure regulating valve  54  is opened when a pressure of the liquid present between the differential pressure regulating valve  54  and the liquid ejecting head  21  falls below a predetermined negative pressure that is lower than an atmospheric pressure as a consequence of consumption of the liquid in the liquid ejecting head  21 . In this case, the differential pressure regulating valve  54  allows the liquid to flow from the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     The differential pressure regulating valve  54  is closed when the pressure of the liquid present between the differential pressure regulating valve  54  and the liquid ejecting head  21  regains the predetermined negative pressure as a consequence of the flow of the liquid from the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to the liquid ejecting head  21 . In this case, the differential pressure regulating valve  54  stops the flow of the liquid directed from the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to the liquid ejecting head  21 . The differential pressure regulating valve  54  is never opened even when the pressure of the liquid present between the differential pressure regulating valve  54  and the liquid ejecting head  21  becomes higher. Accordingly, the differential pressure regulating valve  54  functions as a one-way valve or so-called a stop valve that allows the flow of the liquid from the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to the liquid ejecting head  21  and blocks the flow of the liquid from the liquid ejecting head  21  to the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a carriage cover  55  provided to the carriage  22 . The carriage cover  55  is provided with a contact portion  56  which comes into contact with the fixation members  51  when the carriage cover  55  is located at a position different from the closed position in a case in which the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. The contact portion  56  of this embodiment is a rib being provided on a lower surface of the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position and extending in the depth direction Y. 
     The carriage cover  55  may be fitted to the carriage  22  turnably around a second shaft  55   a  between the closed position shown in  FIG. 4  and the open position shown in  FIG. 9 . The second shaft  55   a  extends in the width direction X at an end in front of the carriage cover  55  in terms of the depth direction Y. The open position is a position where an operator is allowed to access the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . The closed position is a position where the carriage cover  55  covers at least part of the carriage  22  and of the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . The carriage cover  55  is located at the closed position when the liquid ejecting head  21  ejects the liquids to print the medium M, thus covering an upper part of the carriage  22 . 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  includes a control portion  57  that controls various operations executed by the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  and a sensor  58  that can detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position. The control portion  57  is formed from a computer and a processing circuit and the like inclusive of a memory, and controls the liquid ejecting head  21 , the carriage movement mechanism  49 , and the like in accordance with programs stored in the memory. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the liquid collection device  37  collects the liquids discharged from the nozzles  42  for the purpose of maintenance of the liquid ejecting head  21 . The liquid ejecting head  21  ejects the liquids as waste fluids in order to prevent and resolve clogging of the nozzles  42 . This maintenance is called flushing. 
     The liquid collection device  37  includes a liquid receiving portion  61  to receive the liquids ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  for the flushing, a lid member  62  for covering an opening of the liquid receiving portion  61 , and a lid motor  63  that moves the lid member  62 . The liquid collection device  37  may include two or more liquid receiving portions  61  and two or more lid member  62 . The liquid ejecting head  21  may select the liquid receiving portions  61  depending on the types of the liquids. In this embodiment, liquid receiving portion  61  located near the ejection area JA receives the color inks ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  for the purpose of flushing while the liquid receiving portion  61  located near the wiping device  38  receives the process liquids ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  for the purpose of flushing. Meanwhile, the liquid receiving portion  61  may store a moisturizing agent. 
     By means of the lid motor  63 , the lid member  62  moves between a covering position to cover the opening of the liquid receiving portion  61  and an exposing position to expose the opening of the liquid receiving portion  61 . When the flushing does not take place, the lid member  62  moves to the covering position to suppress drying of the stored moisturizing agent and received liquids. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the wiping device  38  includes a sheet-like wiping member  65  that wipes the liquid ejecting head  21 , a case  66  that houses the wiping member  65 , a pair of rails  67  that extend in the transport direction Y 1 , and a wiping motor  68  that moves the case  66 . A power transmission mechanism  69  that transmits power of the wiping motor  68  is provided to the case  66 . The power transmission mechanism  69  is formed from a rack-and-pinion mechanism, for example. The case  66  reciprocates on the rails  67  along the Y-axis by using the power from the wiping motor  68 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the case  66  rotatably supports a reel-out shaft  70   a , a pressure roller  70   b , first to third driven rollers  70   c  to  70   e , and a roll-up shaft  70   f . The case  66  has openings located above the pressure roller  70   b  and above an area from the second driven roller  70   d  to the third driven roller  70   e . The reel-out shaft  70   a  reels out the wiping member  65  while the roll-up shaft  70   f  rolls up the used wiping member  65 . The pressure roller  70   b  pushes up the wiping member  65  reeled out of the reel-out shaft  70   a , thereby causing the wiping member  65  to protrude from the opening of the case  66 . The wiping member  65  located between the second driven roller  70   d  and the third driven roller  70   e  is exposed from the other opening. 
     The case  66  moves downstream in the transport direction Y 1  from an upstream position shown in  FIG. 5  and reaches a downstream position shown in  FIG. 4  by forward rotation of the wiping motor  68 . Then, the case  66  moves from the downstream position to the upstream position by reverse rotation of the wiping motor  68 . The wiping member  65  may perform wiping of the liquid ejecting head  21  at least in the process of the movement of the case  66  from the upstream position to the downstream position or in the process of the movement of the case  66  from the downstream position to the upstream position. The wiping is maintenance work of wiping the nozzle surface  45  with the wiping member  65 . 
     When the case  66  is located at the downstream position and the liquid ejecting head  21  is located above the wiping device  38  as shown in  FIG. 4 , the wiping member  65  located between the second driven roller  70   d  and the third driven roller  70   e  is opposed to the nozzle surface  45 . The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may perform pressure cleaning by discharging the pressurized liquids from the nozzles  42  in the state where the wiping member  65  is opposed to the nozzle surface  45 . In other words, the wiping member  65  may receive the liquids discharged in the course of the pressure cleaning. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the power transmission mechanism  69  may uncouple the wiping motor  68  from the roll-up shaft  70   f  when the wiping motor  68  rotates forward and couple the wiping motor  68  to the roll-up shaft  70   f  when the wiping motor  68  rotates in reverse. The roll-up shaft  70   f  may be rotated by the power originating from the reverse rotation of the wiping motor  68 . The roll-up shaft  70   f  may roll up the wiping member  65  when the case  66  moves from the downstream position to the upstream position. 
     As shown in  FIG. 5 , the suctioning device  39  includes suction caps  72  and a suction motor  73  that causes the suction caps  72  to reciprocate along the Z-axis. The suctioning device  39  includes a cleaning liquid supply mechanism  74  that supplies a cleaning liquid into the suction caps  72 , and a discharge mechanism  75  that discharges the liquids inside the suction caps  72 . 
     When the liquids ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  are aqueous inks, the cleaning liquid may be purified water or water containing additives such as an antiseptic agent, a surfactant, and the moisturizing agent. Meanwhile, the cleaning liquid may be a solvent when the liquids ejected from the liquid ejecting head  21  are solvent inks. 
     Such a suction cap  72  may be configured to surround all the nozzles  42  in a lump, configured to surround at least one nozzle group, or configured to surround some of the nozzles  42  constituting a nozzle group. The suctioning device  39  of this embodiment includes the suction cap  72  corresponding to the nozzles  42  out of the nozzles  42  constituting one nozzle group which are located upstream in the transport direction Y 1  and the suction cap  72  corresponding to the rest of the nozzles  42  located downstream in the transport direction Y 1 . The suctioning device  39  may include a tub  76  that houses the two suction caps  72 . Projections  77  may be provided on two ends in the transport direction Y 1  of the tub  76 . The projections  77  may be provided with positioning portions  78  of which upper parts are opened and recessed. 
     The suction motor  73  moves the suction caps  72  and the tub  76  between a contact position and a retreat position. The contact position is a position where the suction caps  72  come into contact with the liquid ejecting head  21 . The retreat position is a position where the suction caps  72  retreats from the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     When the suction motor  73  moves the suction caps  72  and the tub  76  located at the retreat position to the contact position, the projections  21   a  of the liquid ejecting head  21  are inserted into the positioning portions  78  of the suctioning device  39 . The suction caps  72  are positioned in the width direction X and in the depth direction Y as a consequence of engagement of the projections  21   a  with the positioning portions  78 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 , the capping device  40  includes stand-by caps  80 , a stand-by holder  81 , and a stand-by motor  82  that causes the stand-by holder  81  to reciprocate along the Z-axis. When the stand-by motor  82  moves the stand-by holder  81  up and down, the stand-by caps  80  are moved up and down accordingly. Such a stand-by cap  80  moves from a separated position shown in  FIG. 7  to a capping position shown in  FIG. 8  and comes into contact with the nozzle surface  45  of the liquid ejecting head  21  which is stopped at the home position HP. 
     The stand-by caps  80  located at the capping positions cover the openings of the nozzles  42  that constitute the first to sixth nozzle groups G 1  to G 6 . The above-described maintenance of causing the stand-by caps  80  to surround the openings of the nozzles  42  is referred to as stand-by capping. The stand-by capping is one of capping operations. The stand-by capping inhibits the nozzles  42  from getting dried. 
     Such a stand-by cap  80  may be configured to surround all the nozzles  42  in a lump, configured to surround at least one nozzle group, or configured to surround some of the nozzles  42  constituting a nozzle group. The capping device  40  of this embodiment includes twelve stand-by caps  80 . Each stand-by cap  80  corresponds to the nozzles  42  out of the nozzles  42  constituting one nozzle group which are located upstream in the transport direction Y 1 , or to the rest of the nozzles  42  located downstream in the transport direction Y 1 . Though the stand-by cap  80  located upstream in the transport direction Y 1  and the stand-by cap  80  located downstream in the transport direction Y 1  are oriented differently from each other, these caps have the same configuration. 
     As shown in  FIG. 6 , each stand-by cap  80  includes an annular lip portion  84  that can come into contact with the nozzle surface  45 , and a recessed portion  85  that uses the lip portion  84  as an upper end and is recessed inward from the lip portion  84 . An opening area of the recessed portion  85  is larger than an opening area of the through holes  44   a . For this reason, when the stand-by cap  80  is located at the capping position, the lip portion  84  comes into contact with the nozzle surface  45  formed from the cover member  44 . 
     The recessed portion  85  may include an outer peripheral wall  86 , an inclined side wall  87 , an inner bottom wall  88 , a side wall  89 , and an air communication wall  90 . At least one wall out of the inner bottom wall  88 , the air communication wall  90 , the side wall  89 , and the inclined side wall  87  which collectively form the recessed portion  85 , at least part of the outer peripheral wall  86 , and the lip portion  84  may be integrally formed from an elastic member. The outer peripheral wall  86 , the inclined side wall  87 , the inner bottom wall  88 , the side wall  89 , and the air communication wall  90  are provided visibly from the opening side of the recessed portion  85  that adopts the lip portion  84  as a rim. 
     The outer peripheral wall  86  is a wall which is linked to the lip portion  84  and forms the opening of the recessed portion  85 . The outer peripheral wall  86  surrounds the inclined side wall  87 , the inner bottom wall  88 , the side wall  89 , and the air communication wall  90 . The outer peripheral wall  86  crosses the inclined side wall  87 , the inner bottom wall  88 , the side wall  89 , and the air communication wall  90  at a position below the lip portion  84 . 
     The air communication wall  90  is provided with a communication port  91  directed toward the opening of the recessed portion  85 . In other words, the communication port  91  is formed visibly from the opening of the recessed portion  85  when the opening of the recessed portion  85  is not covered. The air communication wall  90  is provided at a position which is closer to the opening of the recessed portion  85  than to the inner bottom wall  88 . 
     When two or more stand-by caps  80  are provided, the stand-by caps  80  are provided such that the communication ports  91  are located at positions near the center in the transport direction Y 1 . This makes it easier to clean the surroundings of the communication ports  91 . In this embodiment, of the two stand-by caps  80  that cover one nozzle group, the stand-by cap  80  located upstream in the transport direction Y 1  is arranged such that its air communication wall  90  is located downstream in the transport direction Y 1  relative to its inner bottom wall  88 . Meanwhile, the stand-by cap  80  located downstream in the transport direction Y 1  is arranged such that its air communication wall  90  is located upstream in the transport direction Y 1  relative to its inner bottom wall  88 . The stand-by caps  80  may be arranged such that the inclined side walls  87  are located at positions vertically below the nozzles  42 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , the inner bottom wall  88  is located between the side wall  89  and the inclined side wall  87  in the transport direction Y 1 . The air communication wall  90 , the side wall  89 , and the inclined side wall  87  are located between the inner bottom wall  88  and the lip portion  84  in the transport direction Y 1 . 
     The outer peripheral wall  86  joins the inner bottom wall  88 , the air communication wall  90 , the side wall  89 , and the inclined side wall  87  to the lip portion  84  in the vertical direction Z. The side wall  89  is located between the air communication wall  90  and the inner bottom wall  88  in the transport direction Y 1 , and joins the air communication wall  90  to the inner bottom wall  88 . The lip portion  84 , the air communication wall  90 , and the inner bottom wall  88  may be continuously provided in a stepped fashion. The inclined side wall  87  may join the inner bottom wall  88  to the lip portion  84  without interposing the air communication wall  90  in-between. 
     The inner bottom wall  88  is provided away vertically downward from the opening of the recessed portion  85  as compared to the air communication wall  90 , the side wall  89 , and the inclined side wall  87 . An inclination of the inner bottom wall  88  relative to the horizontal plane is smaller than an inclination of the inclined side wall  87  relative to the horizontal plane. The inner bottom wall  88  of this embodiment is formed in line with the horizontal plane. A first inner angle θ 1  formed between the inclined side wall  87  and the inner bottom wall  88  is larger than a second inner angle θ 2  formed between the side wall  89  and inner bottom wall  88 . 
     Each stand-by cap  80  includes an air communication portion  93  that establishes communication between the communication port  91  formed inside the recessed portion  85  and an open port  92  formed outside the recessed portion  85 . The air communication portion  93  may be formed by providing a cap member  94  and fitting a rigid member  97  having a groove  96  on its side surface into an insertion hole  95  formed in the cap member  94 . The air communication portion  93  may be formed by blocking the groove  96  with an inner surface of the insertion hole  95 . A width of the groove  96  may be set smaller than a diameter of the communication port  91 . The groove  96  may be formed in a meandering manner. The air communication portion  93  is provided at a position more distant from the opening of the recessed portion  85  than the communication port  91  is. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , in the stand-by cap  80  located at the capping position, the lip portion  84  is in contact with the nozzle surface  45  and the nozzle surface  45  of the liquid ejecting head  21  covers the opening of the recessed portion  85 . In this state of capping, the communication port  91  formed toward the opening of the recessed portion  85  is opposed to the nozzle surface  45 . When the stand-by cap  80  is located at the capping position, a space  99  including the nozzles  42  is formed by the recessed portion  85  in conjunction with the liquid ejecting head  21 . The space  99  is made open to the atmosphere by the air communication portion  93 . 
     While the stand-by cap  80  is located at the capping position, the lip portion  84  is in contact with the nozzle surface  45 , thus forming the space  99 . In the state where the space  99  is formed, the air communication wall  90  may be opposed to the cover member  44 . In the state where the lip portion  84  is in contact with the nozzle surface  45 , the communication port  91  may be formed at a position different from the position located vertically below the nozzles  42 . The air communication wall  90 , the side wall  89 , and the inner bottom wall  88  may be located at positions different from the position immediately below the nozzles  42 . 
     Next, a description will be given of liquid repellent characteristics. 
     Liquid repellent characteristics may vary among the nozzle surface  45 , the suction cap  72 , and the stand-by caps  80 . As for the nozzle surface  45 , the liquid repellent characteristics may vary between a portion formed from the nozzle forming member  43  and a portion formed from the cover member  44 . For example, the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the nozzle forming member  43  may have higher liquid repellency than that of the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the cover member  44 . When placed in order from highest to lowest liquid repellency or from lowest to highest wettability, this embodiment includes the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the nozzle forming member  43 , the suction caps  72 , the stand-by caps  80 , and the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the cover member  44 . 
     The portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the nozzle forming member  43  may be subjected to a liquid repellent treatment. A contact angle formed between the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the nozzle forming member  43  and a droplet of an ink as an example of the liquid may have an angle equal to or above 90 degrees. The liquid repellent treatment may be conducted to form a thin foundation layer mainly from polyorganosiloxane containing an alkyl group, and a liquid repellent film layer from a metal alkoxide having a fluorine-containing long-chain polymer group. 
     The cover member  44  may be formed from stainless steel while being spared from the liquid repellent treatment. A contact angle formed between the portion of the nozzle surface  45  formed from the cover member  44  and the ink droplet may have an angle below 50 degrees. 
     The suction caps  72  may be formed from a fluorine-based elastomer having liquid repellency. Examples of the fluorine-based elastomer include SHIN-ETSU SIFEL (a registered trademark) manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd., Kalrez (a registered trademark) manufactured by DuPont de Nemours, Inc., and so forth. Each suction cap  72  may be provided with the liquid repellency by using the fluorine-based elastomer for forming the lip portion that comes into contact with the nozzle surface  45  when located at the contact position, and forming the recess that defines the space with the nozzle surface  45 . A contact angle formed between the surface made of the fluorine-based elastomer and the ink droplet is about 60 degrees. The surfaces of the lip portion of the suction cap  72  and of the recess may be subjected to mirror finishing and thus inhibited from deterioration in liquid repellency owing to irregularities on the surfaces. The mirror finishing may be set to surface roughness Ra equal to or below 2.0 according to arithmetical mean roughness as defined by JIS B 0601 of Japanese Industrial Standards, for example. 
     The stand-by caps  80  may be formed from a styrene-based elastomer having lower liquid repellency and higher wettability than the fluorine-based elastomer. Examples of the styrene-based elastomer include LEOSTOMER (a registered trademark) manufactured by Riken Technos Corp. and so forth. In each stand-by cap  80 , the lip portion  84  and the recessed portion  85  may be made of the styrene-based elastomer. A contact angle formed between the surface made of the styrene-based elastomer and the ink droplet is smaller than 60 degrees. 
     Liquids that scatter along with the ejection from the nozzles  42  or liquids leaking out of the nozzles  42  may go into the stand-by caps  80 . Those liquids may contain glycerin such as in the case of the inks. If the stand-by cap  80  with the inks inside comes into contact with the nozzle surface  45  and forms the space  99 , glycerin may absorb water from the inks and increase viscosity of the inks inside the nozzles  42 . In this regard, the stand-by cap  80  may discharge the liquid adhering to the recessed portion  85  to the outside by taking advantage of wettability of the recessed portion  85 . 
     To be more precise, the stand-by cap  80  may discharge the liquid by use of a rise-up phenomenon of the liquid. The liquid adhering to a surface with high wettability spreads along the surface and moves upward in the vertical direction Z as well. The stand-by cap  80  has higher wettability than that of the suction cap  72 . The nozzle surface  45  to come into contact with the lip portion  84  has higher wettability than that of the stand-by cap  80 . The liquid adhering to the inside of the stand-by cap  80  spreads and moves to the nozzle surface  45  in contact with the lip portion  84 . In this way, the liquid can be discharged from the inside of the stand-by cap  80 . After the capping with the stand-by cap  80  is released, the wiping device  38  may wipe the nozzle surface  45  to wipe off the liquid that moved onto the nozzle surface  45 . 
     The stand-by cap  80  may have different liquid repellent characteristics depending on the walls that constitute the recessed portion  85 . The liquid repellent characteristics may be made different by changing roughnesses among the surfaces. For example, a contact angle formed between the surface of the inclined side wall  87  and the droplet of the liquid may be smaller than a contact angle formed between the surface of the side wall  89  and the droplet of the liquid. When the wettability of the surface of the inclined side wall  87  is set higher than the wettability of the surface of the side wall  89 , the liquid adhering to the inner bottom wall  88  is more likely to be attracted to the inclined side wall  87 . When the wettability of the outer peripheral wall  86  is set higher than the wettability of the inclined side wall  87 , the liquid adhering to the inclined side wall  87  is more likely to be attracted to the outer peripheral wall  86 . 
     Now, the operation of this embodiment will be described. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion  50  in order to replace the liquid ejecting head  21 , for example, the control portion  57  causes the carriage  22  to move to a detachment position DP by controlling the carriage movement mechanism  49 . The detachment position DP is defined in the maintenance area MA in this embodiment. 
     As shown in  FIG. 9 , when the maintenance cover  18  is located at the open position, the operator can access from the opening  34   a  to the carriage  22  located at the detachment position DP for detaching the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . When the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position, the operator can access the liquid supply coupling portion  50  and the fixation members  51 . The sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55 . When detaching the liquid supply coupling portion  50 , the control portion  57  moves the carriage  22  to the detachment position DP. Then, the control portion  57  may forbid driving of the carriage movement mechanism  49  when the sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position. When the sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position, the control portion  57  may forbid the supply of the liquids from the liquid supply sources  23  to the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     The carriage cover  55  is arranged such that at least part of the carriage cover  55  protrudes to the outside of the housing  34  from the opening  34   a  of the housing  34  when the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position that enables access to the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 10 and 11 , the four fixation members  51  are provided at four corners of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  in this embodiment. The fixation members  51  located at the fixation positions shown in  FIG. 10  are turned in the state of being held by the liquid supply coupling portion  50  and are located at the release positions shown in  FIG. 11 . The release positions are the positions where the engagement of the fixation members  51  with the engagement portions  53  is released. The operator moves the fixation members  51  located at the fixation positions to the release positions, then detaches the liquid supply coupling portion  50 , and replaces the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 10 , the carriage cover  55  may be provided with two contact portions  56 . The two contact portions  56  are provided with an interval in the width direction X in-between. When the fixation members  51  are located at the fixation positions, the fixation members  51  are located between the two contact portions  56 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 11 and 12 , the contact portions  56  come into contact with the fixation members  51  when an attempt is made to move the carriage cover  55  located at the open position to the closed position in the state where the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. In other words, the contact portions  56  are in contact with the fixation members  51  when the carriage cover  55  is located at the position different from the closed position, and the carriage cover  55  does not move to the closed position as a consequence. 
     The carriage cover  55  is arranged such that at least part of the carriage cover  55  protrudes to the outside of the housing  34  from the opening  34   a  of the housing  34  when the contact portions  56  come into contact with the fixation members  51  located at the release positions. For this reason, even when the operator pushes and moves the carriage  22 , the carriage cover  55  hits the rim of the opening  34   a . Accordingly, the opening  34   a  functions as an example of a blocking portion that comes into contact with the carriage cover  55 , thus blocking movement of the carriage  22  from the maintenance area MA to the ejection area JA when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. 
     Effects of this embodiment will be discussed. 
     1. The carriage cover  55  is provided with the contact portion  56  that can come into contact with the fixation members  51 . When the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions, the contact portion  56  comes into contact with the fixation members  51  such that the carriage cover  55  is located at the position different from the closed position. In other words, it is not possible to locate the carriage cover  55  at the closed position when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. Thus, the operator can check whether or not the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is fixed to the carriage  22  based on the position of the carriage cover  55 , thereby easily ensuring quality after attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to and from the carriage  22 . 
     2. Since the fixation members  51  are held by the liquid supply coupling portion  50 , it is possible to reduce the risk of losses of the fixation members  51  when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion  50  from the carriage  22 . 
     3. The housing  34  includes the opening  34   a  that enables access to the carriage  22  located at the detachment position DP. The detachment position DP is defined in the maintenance area MA. In other words, since the liquid supply coupling portion  50  can be detached in the maintenance area MA, it is possible to reduce the risk of contaminating the ejection area JA with the liquids as a consequence of detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . 
     4. The carriage cover  55  is turnable between the open position and the closed position. Accordingly, when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions, the carriage cover  55  comes into contact with the fixation members  51  before the carriage cover  55  completes the movement from the open position to the closed position. Thus, it is possible to check easily whether or not the fixation members  51  are located at the fixation positions. 
     5. The carriage cover  55  located at the open position is arranged such that at least part of the carriage cover  55  protrudes to the outside of the housing  34 . When the carriage  22  is moved in the state where the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position, the carriage cover  55  comes into contact with the rim of the opening  34   a  and restricts the movement of the carriage  22 . Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the risk of the movement of the carriage  22  into the ejection area JA in the state where the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position. 
     6. The housing  34  includes the opening  34   a  that blocks the movement of the carriage  22  from the maintenance area MA toward the ejection area JA. The opening  34   a  comes into contact with the carriage cover  55  and blocks the movement of the carriage  22  when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the risk of movement of the carriage  22  to the ejection area JA when the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is not properly fixed to the carriage  22 . 
     7. The control portion  57  causes the carriage  22  to move to the detachment position DP by controlling the carriage movement mechanism  49 . As a consequence, it is possible to perform detachment work on the liquid supply coupling portion  50  easily at the detachment position DP. 
     8. The control portion  57  forbids the driving of the carriage movement mechanism  49  when the sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position. Thus, it is possible to restrict the movement of the carriage  22  during the detachment work on the liquid supply coupling portion  50  or when the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions and the carriage cover  55  is not located at the closed position. 
     9. The detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is carried out after moving the carriage  22  to the detachment position DP defined in the maintenance area MA. In other words, since the liquid supply coupling portion  50  can be detached in the maintenance area MA, it is possible to reduce the risk of contaminating the ejection area JA with the liquids as a consequence of the detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . As a consequence, it is possible to easily ensure quality after attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  to and from the carriage  22 . 
     10. The fixation members  51  are held by the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . Accordingly, it is possible to replace the liquid ejecting head  21  more easily than the case of providing the fixation members  51  separately from the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . 
     This embodiment can also be carried out in modified manners as described below. This embodiment and the following modified examples may be carried out in combination within the scope that is technically consistent. 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , the housing  34  and the carriage cover  55  may be provided with marks  101  that indicate the detachment position DP. The operator may locate the carriage  22  at the detachment position DP by directly moving the carriage  22 . Specifically, when replacing the liquid ejecting head  21  that requires detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50 , for example, the control portion  57  may turn off the electrical coupling to the liquid ejecting head  21  and the power supply to the carriage movement mechanism  49 . In this case, the control portion  57  may also turn off the power supply to the sensor  58 . When information indicating completion of attachment of the liquid ejecting head  21  and the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is inputted from the operation panel  17 , the control portion  57  may turn on the electrical coupling to the liquid ejecting head  21 , the power supply to the carriage movement mechanism  49 , and the power supply to the sensor  58 . The detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  may be carried out in the state where the power supply to the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  is turned off. When the attachment of the liquid supply coupling portion  50  is completed, the operator may turn on the power supply to the liquid ejecting apparatus  10  so as to supply the power to the carriage movement mechanism  49  and the sensor  58 . When the sensor  58  to which the power supply is resumed does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position, the control portion  57  may forbid the driving of the carriage movement mechanism  49 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 13 , the housing  34  may include a blocking portion  102  that blocks the movement of the carriage  22  when the carriage  22  is located at the detachment position DP and the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position. The blocking portion  102  may be formed from a recess of part of the opening  34   a  recessed in accordance with the width of the carriage cover  55 , for instance. This makes it possible to inhibit the carriage  22  from moving from the detachment position DP while keeping the carriage cover  55  located at the open position. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may be provided with a blocking portion in such a way as to protrude from the opening  34   a  in accordance with the width of the carriage cover  55 , and may block the movement of the carriage  22  by using the blocking portion. The blocking portion may be provided separately from the housing  34 . Such blocking portions may be provided on two sides of the carriage cover  55  located at the open position, or one blocking portion may be provided on one side thereof. When the blocking portion is provided between the ejection area JA and the detachment position DP, it is possible to restrict the movement of the carriage  22  from the detachment position DP to the ejection area JA while keeping the carriage cover  55  located at the open position. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may drive the carriage movement mechanism  49  without any relation to a result of detection by the sensor  58 . 
     The carriage cover  55  in contact with the fixation members  51  located at the release positions may be located at such a position that does not cause interference with the housing  34 . When the sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position and the carriage  22  is movable, the control portion  57  may determine that the fixation members  51  are located at the release positions. When the sensor  58  does not detect the carriage cover  55  located at the closed position and the carriage  22  is not movable, the control portion  57  may determine that the carriage cover  55  is located at the open position. For example, the control portion  57  may determine that the carriage  22  is movable when a load of the motor to move the carriage  22  is small, and may determine that the carriage  22  is not movable when the load is large. 
     The carriage cover  55  may be provided slidably between the open position and the closed position. The carriage cover  55  may be detachably fixed by using screws or fixtures. Such a fixture may be turnably provided at one of the carriage cover  55  and the carriage  22 , for instance, and may be engaged with the other so as to fix the carriage  22  to the carriage cover  55 . 
     The detachment position DP may be defined in the ejection area JA. The housing  34  may include an opening that enables access to the carriage  22  located in the ejection area JA. 
     The fixation members  51  may be provided separately from the liquid supply coupling portion  50 . The fixation members  51  may be held by the carriage  22 . The fixation members  51  may be held by the liquid ejecting head  21 . 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus  10  may be a liquid ejecting apparatus that ejects or discharges a liquid other than the inks. Conditions of such a liquid to be discharged from the liquid ejecting apparatus in the form of a small amount of a droplet are assumed to include a granular shape, a teardrop shape, and a shape with a string-like long trail. The liquid discussed herein only needs to be a material that can be ejected from the liquid ejecting apparatus. The liquid only needs to be a substance being in the state of a liquid phase and examples thereof include a liquid body having high or low viscosity, sol, gel water, and other fluid bodies such as an inorganic solvent, an organic solvent, a solution, a liquid resin, a liquid metal, and a metallic melt. The liquid includes not only the liquid as a state of matter but also a substance obtained by dissolving, dispersing, or mixing particles of a functional material formed of solids such as pigments or metal particles into a solvent. Representative examples of the liquid include the inks as described above in the embodiment, liquid crystals, and so forth. Here, the inks encompass various liquid compositions including general water-based inks and oil-based inks, gel inks, hot-melt inks, and the like. Specific examples of the liquid ejecting apparatus include apparatuses that eject materials in a dispersed state or a dissolved state, the materials being any of electrode materials, coloring materials, and the like which are used for manufacturing liquid crystal display units, electroluminescence display units, surface-emitting display units, color filters, and so forth. The liquid ejecting apparatus may be any of an apparatus that ejects a bioorganic substance used for manufacturing a biochip, an apparatus used as a precision pipette for ejecting a liquid as a sample, a textile printing machine, a microdispenser, and the like. The liquid ejecting apparatus may be any of an apparatus that ejects a lubricant oil with pinpoint accuracy onto a precision instrument such as a watch and a camera, and an apparatus that ejects a transparent resin liquid such as an ultraviolet curable resin onto a substrate in order to form a micro semi-spherical lens, an optical lens, or the like used in a device such as an optical communication element. The liquid ejecting apparatus may be an apparatus that ejects an etchant of an acid, an alkali, and the like for etching a substrate and so forth. 
     Technical thought perceived by the embodiment and the modified examples mentioned above and the operation and effects thereof will be described below. 
     A liquid ejecting apparatus includes: a carriage; a liquid ejecting head that is mounted on the carriage and ejects a liquid; a liquid supply coupling portion that is mounted on the carriage and is detachably coupled to the liquid ejecting head so as to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head; a fixation member configured to be located at a fixation position where the liquid supply coupling portion is coupled to the liquid ejecting head and fixed to the carriage, and at a release position where the fixation is released; and a carriage cover provided to the carriage such that the carriage cover is located at a closed position and covers an upper part of the carriage when the liquid ejecting head ejects the liquid. Here, the carriage cover includes a contact portion that comes into contact with the fixation member when the carriage cover is located at a position different from the closed position in a case in which the fixation member is located at the release position. 
     According to this configuration, the carriage cover is provided with the contact portion that can come into contact with the fixation member. When the fixation member is located at the release position, the contact portion comes into contact with the fixation member such that the carriage cover is located at the position different from the closed position. In other words, it is not possible to locate the carriage cover at the closed position when the fixation member is located at the release position. Thus, the operator can check whether or not the liquid supply coupling portion is fixed to the carriage based on the position of the carriage cover, thereby easily ensuring quality after attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion to and from the carriage. 
     In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the fixation member may be held by the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this configuration, since the fixation member is held by the liquid supply coupling portion, it is possible to reduce the risk of loss of the fixation member when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion from the carriage. 
     In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the carriage may be configured to move between an ejection area used to cause the liquid ejecting head to eject the liquid onto a medium and a maintenance area provided at a position adjacent to the ejection area and used to perform maintenance of the liquid ejecting head. Moreover, the liquid ejecting apparatus may include a housing that surrounds the ejection area and the maintenance area, and the housing may include an opening that enables access to the carriage located at a detachment position defined in the maintenance area and used to detach the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this configuration, the housing includes the opening that enables access to the carriage located at the detachment position. The detachment position is defined in the maintenance area. In other words, it is possible to detach the liquid supply coupling portion in the maintenance area and thus to reduce the risk of contaminating the ejection area with the liquid due to the detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the carriage cover may be fitted to the carriage such that the carriage cover is turnable between the closed position and an open position that enables access to the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this configuration, the carriage cover can be turned between the open position and the closed position. For this reason, when the fixation member is located at the release position, the carriage cover comes into contact with the fixation member before the carriage cover completes the movement from the open position to the closed position. Thus, it is possible to check easily whether or not the fixation member is located at the fixation position. 
     In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the carriage cover may be arranged such that at least part of the carriage cover protrudes to outside of the housing from the opening of the housing when the carriage cover is located at the open position that enables access to the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this configuration, the carriage cover located at the open position is arranged such that at least part of the carriage cover protrudes to the outside of the housing. When the carriage is moved in the state where the carriage cover is located at the open position, the carriage cover comes into contact with the rim of the opening and restricts the movement of the carriage. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the risk of the movement of the carriage into the ejection area in the state where the carriage cover is located at the open position. 
     In the liquid ejecting apparatus, the housing may include a blocking portion that comes into contact with the carriage cover and blocks movement of the carriage from the maintenance area to the ejection area when the fixation member is located at the release position. 
     According to this configuration, the housing includes the blocking portion that blocks the movement of the carriage from the maintenance area to the ejection area. When the fixation member is located at the release position, the blocking portion comes into contact with the carriage cover, thereby blocking the movement of the carriage. As a consequence, it is possible to reduce the risk of the movement of the carriage to the ejection area when the liquid supply coupling portion is not properly fixed to the carriage. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a carriage movement mechanism that moves the carriage, and a control portion that causes the carriage to move to the detachment position by controlling the carriage movement mechanism when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this configuration, the control portion causes the carriage to move to the detachment position by controlling the carriage movement mechanism. As a consequence, it is possible to perform the detachment work on the liquid supply coupling portion easily at the detachment position. 
     The liquid ejecting apparatus may further include a sensor configured to detect the carriage cover located at the closed position. When detaching the liquid supply coupling portion, the control portion may forbid driving of the carriage movement mechanism in a case in which the sensor does not detect the carriage cover located at the closed position after the carriage is moved to the detachment position. 
     According to this configuration, the control portion forbids the driving of the carriage movement mechanism when the sensor does not detect the carriage cover located at the closed position. As a consequence, it is possible to restrict the movement of the carriage during the detachment work on the liquid supply coupling portion or when the fixation member is located at the release position and the carriage cover is not located at the closed position. 
     A method of controlling a liquid ejecting apparatus is applicable to a liquid ejecting apparatus that includes: a carriage mounting a liquid ejecting head that ejects a liquid and being configured to move between an ejection area used to cause the liquid ejecting head to eject the liquid onto a medium and a maintenance area provided at a position adjacent to the ejection area and used to perform maintenance of the liquid ejecting head; a carriage movement mechanism that moves the carriage; a liquid supply coupling portion that is mounted on the carriage and is detachably coupled to the liquid ejecting head so as to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head; and a carriage cover provided to the carriage so as to cover an upper part of the carriage when the liquid ejecting head ejects the liquid. The method includes moving the carriage to a detachment position defined in the maintenance area when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion. 
     According to this method, the detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion is carried out after moving the carriage to the detachment position defined in the maintenance area. In other words, since the liquid supply coupling portion can be detached in the maintenance area, it is possible to reduce the risk of contaminating the ejection area with the liquid as a consequence of the detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion. As a consequence, it is possible to easily ensure quality after attachment and detachment of the liquid supply coupling portion to and from the carriage. 
     The method of controlling a liquid ejecting apparatus may further include forbidding the driving of the carriage movement mechanism when detaching the liquid supply coupling portion, for a period after moving the carriage to the detachment position defined in the maintenance area until locating the carriage cover at the closed position used to cause the liquid ejecting head to eject the liquid. 
     According to this method, it is possible to achieve similar effects to those of the above-described liquid ejecting apparatus.