Patent ID: 8322819

Claim:
A liquid ejector comprising: a liquid ejection head which ejects a liquid through a nozzle; a discharge path used for discharging the liquid from the liquid ejection head; a cap which is connected to an upstream end of the discharge path and covers the nozzle; a pump which is provided in the middle of the discharge path, the pump sucking the liquid from the liquid ejection head through the cap and the nozzle and conveying the liquid from the upstream end to a downstream end of the discharge path; a first tank which is provided downstream of the pump on the discharge path, communicates with the outside air, and temporarily stores the liquid in the discharge path; a second tank which is detachably attached to the liquid ejector and is connected to the downstream end of the discharge path when the second tank is attached to the liquid ejector; a first valve which switches a state of the first tank between open to the outside air and cut off from the outside air; a second valve which switches a state of the first tank between connection to the second tank and cut off from the second tank; and a control unit which controls the pump, the first valve, and the second valve so as to switch between: a first conveyance mode in which the pump is driven while the first valve does not cut off the first tank from the outside air whereas the second valve cuts off the first tank from the second tank, so that the liquid in the liquid ejection head is sucked through the cap and the nozzle and conveyed to the first tank, and a second conveyance mode in which the pump is driven while the first valve cuts off the first tank from the outside air whereas the second valve does not cut off the first tank from the second tank, so that the liquid stored in the first tank is conveyed to the second tank.