Patent ID: 8491088

Claim:
A maintenance apparatus, provided in a liquid ejecting apparatus including a liquid ejecting head having a nozzle capable of ejecting a liquid from a nozzle opening formed in a nozzle formation surface, that removes bubbles from within the nozzle, the maintenance apparatus comprising: a pressurizing unit disposed upstream of the liquid ejecting head that pressurizes the liquid in the nozzle in a direction in which the liquid is discharged from the nozzle opening; and a flow channel formation member having a contact surface configured to cover the nozzle formation surface, and that has, formed therein, a flow channel whose cross-sectional area is smaller than the opening surface area of the nozzle opening and that allows air to pass through from the side of the contact surface, wherein the liquid within the nozzle and in a supply tube communicating the liquid to the nozzle is pressurized by the pressurizing unit in a state in which the flow channel formation member covers the nozzle formation surface so that the flow channel is opposed to the nozzle opening.