Patent ID: 7887168

Claim:
A liquid droplet jetting apparatus which jets, onto a recording medium, droplets of a liquid supplied from a main tank, comprising: a main tank installing portion in which the main tank is detachably installed, the main tank having a storage space formed therein to store the liquid; a sub tank which is arranged adjacent to the main tank installing portion, which is connected to the main tank when the main tank is installed in the main tank installing portion, and which has an interior space formed therein to store the liquid, an atmosphere communicating hole formed to communicate the interior space with an atmosphere, an inflow portion through which the liquid flows into the sub tank, and a valve which opens and closes the atmosphere communicating hole; and a head having a nozzle surface in which a plurality of nozzles through which the liquid supplied via the sub tank are jetted are formed, wherein when the main tank is connected to the sub tank, the storage space communicates with the interior space via the inflow portion, and wherein when the main tank is installed in the main tank installing portion, the liquid stored in the main tank is supplied to the head through the sub tank; when the main tank is detached from the main tank installing portion, the valve is configured to close the atmosphere communicating hole; and when the main tank is being installed in the main tank installing portion, a discharge operation is performed in which the liquid is discharged from the interior space while the atmosphere communicating hole is closed, and the valve is configured to open the atmosphere communicating hole after the liquid is discharged from the interior space.