Patent ID: 7404615

Claim:
A maintenance and recovery device of a liquid droplet discharge apparatus having a liquid droplet discharge head discharging droplets of a recording liquid from a nozzle, the recording liquid containing water, pigment, a polymer component and a water-soluble organic solvent, an amount of pigment being equal to or more than 6 weight percent of the recording liquid, a viscosity of the recording liquid being equal to or higher than 5 cps and equal to or lower than 20 cps, and a surface tension of the recording liquid being equal to or smaller than 40 dyne/cm at a temperature of 25° C., the maintenance and recovery device comprising: a suction cap member that caps a nozzle plane of the liquid droplet discharge head; and a plurality of inclined surfaces formed in said suction cap member that provide a slope toward an evacuation port on a bottom of said suction cap member from an entire circumference of an opening part of said suction cap member, each of the inclined surfaces forming an inclination angle equal to or larger than 20 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane so that a cross-sectional area of a liquid passage formed by said inclined surfaces continuously decreases from said opening part toward said evacuation port, wherein a sum of the inclination angle and a contact angle of said recording liquid with respect to a material forming said inclined surfaces is within a range from 75 degrees to 97 degrees.