Patent ID: 8038286

Claim:
A liquid removal apparatus which removes liquid on a base material, the liquid removal apparatus comprising: an absorbing member which has a hollow cylindrical shape, is composed to be able to rotate around an axis of rotation being a central axis of the hollow cylindrical shape, and absorbs and removes the liquid on the base material by making contact with or by approaching to the liquid; an internal rotating body which has a cylindrical shape corresponding to the hollow cylindrical shape of the absorbing member, is disposed inside a hollow portion of the absorbing member, is composed to be able to rotate around an axis of rotation being a central axis of the cylindrical shape, and comprises an opening section in an outer circumferential surface of the internal rotating body; a pressure reducing device which is connected to the opening section of the internal rotation body and reduces pressure of the hollow portion of the absorbing member; an internal rotating body drive device which causes the internal rotating body to rotate relatively with respect to the absorbing member; a movement device which causes relative movement of the base material with respect to the absorbing member and the internal rotating body; and an internal rotating body drive control device which controls the internal rotating body drive device in such a manner that: number N 1 of rotations per unit time of the absorbing member (where N 1 ≠0), number N 2 of rotations per unit time of the internal rotating body (where N1≠N2 and N 2 ≠0), and a shortest time T 1 until an amount of the liquid absorbed by the absorbing member reaches an upper limit of a liquid absorbing capability of the absorbing member, satisfy a following relationship: 1 /|N 1 −N 2 |>T 1 , and time T 2 required for the opening section of the internal rotating body to relatively pass one point on the absorbing member and time T 3 required until the liquid on a surface of the absorbing member moves to an inner wall surface of the absorbing member when the pressure of the hollow portion of the absorbing member is reduced to a prescribed pressure, satisfy a following relationship: T 2 >T 3 .