Patent ID: 8376538

Claim:
A liquid jetting apparatus which jets a liquid, comprising: a liquid jetting head; a liquid supply channel which supplies the liquid to the liquid jetting head; an air discharge mechanism which discharges air existing in the liquid to be supplied to the liquid jetting head, the air discharge mechanism including an air storage portion which is provided at an intermediate portion of the liquid channel, and which temporarily stores air in the liquid, at least one air discharge passage which extends from the air storage portion up to an outside of the air discharge mechanism, at least one valve which opens and closes the air discharge passage, and a flexible member which is deformed in accordance with a pressure inside the air discharge passage; wherein when a negative pressure is generated in the air discharge passage, the flexible member is deformed to open the valve, and to discharge the air inside the air storage portion to the outside via the air discharge passage, wherein the flexible member comprises a film that forms a portion of the air discharge passage, wherein the valve comprises a valve element configured to selectively open and close the air discharge passage, and an arm extending from the valve element to contact the film, wherein, when the film is deformed, the arm and the valve member are configured to pivot to selectively open and close the air discharge passage, wherein the arm comprises a contact portion that contacts the deformed film, and the arm is configured to regulate a movement of the valve by the contact portion moving along a predetermined direction, such that the valve element moves between an open position, in which the air discharge passage is open, and a closed position, in which the air discharge passage is closed, and wherein, when the contacting portion moves in the predetermined direction due to a deformation of the film, the valve element moves from the closed position to the open position.