Patent ID: 8210667

Claim:
A liquid application mechanism comprising: a liquid application unit that applies liquid to an application medium, the liquid being supplied; and a liquid supply unit that supplies liquid stored in a storage unit to the liquid application unit by making the liquid flow out from an outlet of the storage unit, and recovers a portion of the liquid to the storage unit by making the portion of the liquid flow into the storage unit through an inlet of the storage unit, the portion of the liquid being the liquid that has been supplied to the liquid application unit and has not been applied to the application medium by the liquid application unit, wherein, a plurality of trap space sections are formed at a bottom portion of the storage unit, the trap space sections being separated from each other with wall members, the trap space sections having continuous rectangular shapes, sides of each of the trap space sections being surrounded by the wall members, the trap space sections being open upward in a direction opposite to gravity, the trap space sections having a length equal to or greater than 3 mm in a direction of gravity and a length in the range from 2 mm to 10 mm in a horizontal direction.