Patent ID: 8544982

Claim:
A liquid jet head comprising: a jetting body having a jetting hole column formed of a plurality of jetting holes; a plurality of pressure generating chambers communicating with respective ones of the plurality of jetting holes; a liquid supply system for supplying a liquid to the plurality of pressure generating chambers and the plurality of jetting holes; an actuator disposed adjacent to the plurality of pressure generating chambers, the actuator being configured to be driven to pressurize the plurality of pressure generating chambers to thereby cause the liquid to be jetted from liquid nozzles of the plurality of jetting holes; a wall portion surrounding a periphery of the jetting body and having an opening opposed to the plurality of jetting holes; an opening and closing mechanism configured to undergo an opening operation to open the opening of the wall portion to expose the plurality of jetting holes to an exterior of the liquid jet head, and configured to undergo a closing operation to close the opening of the wall portion to form a closed space between the wall portion and the jetting body; a suction flow path having on one end side thereof a suction port opening below the jetting hole column, another end side of the suction flow path being connected to a suction portion configured to evacuate an inside of the closed space between the wall portion and the jetting body to cause the closed space to become a negative pressure chamber to supply the liquid from a supply source to the plurality of pressure generating chambers and to the plurality of jetting holes; and an atmosphere release portion configured to switch between opening and closing communication of the closed space with the exterior of the liquid jet head.