Patent ID: 7506944

Claim:
An inkjet recording apparatus comprising: an ink cartridge having an ink chamber storing an ink and an ink supply opening formed in the ink chamber, the ink cartridge that supplies the ink from the ink chamber through the ink supply opening; a cartridge mounting section removably holding said ink cartridge, and having a guide section that guides the ink in the ink chamber from the ink supply opening; a controller capable of detecting that the ink cartridge is mounted in the cartridge mounting section; an image recording unit having an inkjet recording head that discharges the ink supplied from said ink cartridge as ink droplets; an ink channel connecting the ink cartridge to said image recording unit to allow an ink flow between the ink chamber of said ink cartridge and the inkjet recording head of said image recording unit; and a bidirectional pump capable of feeding the ink flowing in said ink channel in two directions, wherein said controller is further capable of driving said bidirectional pump to feed a predetermined amount of ink toward the ink chamber when the mounting operation of said ink cartridge in the cartridge mounting section is detected.