Patent ID: 7841694

Claim:
An inkjet printer comprising: a recording head including a nozzle surface with nozzles for ejecting ink; a nozzle cap having a sealing surface that comes into contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head; a cap actuator that operates to moves the nozzle cap both toward and away from the nozzle surface; a controller that controls the operation of the cap actuator; and a suction pump that operates to decrease an internal pressure of the nozzle cap when the nozzles are covered with the nozzle cap, wherein the controller executes steps including: a first detaching step including: moving the nozzle cap from a starting state, where the sealing surface is entirely in contact with the nozzle surface, to a first state, where a first end of the sealing surface is either in physical contact with or separated by a minute distance from the nozzle surface and a second end of the sealing surface is separated from the nozzle surface by a first predetermined distance; and maintaining the nozzle cap in the first state for a first predetermined time; and a second detaching step including: moving the nozzle cap from the first state to a second state, where the first end of the sealing surface is separated from the nozzle surface by a second predetermined distance which is greater than the minute distance and the second end is separated from the nozzle surface by a distance greater than the first predetermined distance; and maintaining the nozzle cap in the second state for a second predetermined time; wherein the minute distance is defined as any distance that can indefinitely sustain an ink bridge between the first end of the sealing surface and the nozzle surface.