PRINTING APPARATUS AND CLEANING METHOD THEREOF

摘要

An embodiment of the present invention provides a wiping method capable of preventing a problem such as color mixing or a discharge failure in a wiping operation during the reciprocating motion of a carriage. According to the embodiment, one or a plurality of orifice arrays out of a plurality of orifice arrays included in a printhead are wiped by making a sheet-like wiping member contact to the orifice surface of the printhead. After that, the wiping member is separated from the orifice surface of the printhead, and the used wiping member is wound. Then, the wiping member is made to contact to the orifice surface of the printhead again, and the next one or more orifice arrays are wiped.

主权项

1. A printing apparatus comprising:
a printhead formed by arranging a plurality of orifice arrays in a first direction perpendicular to a second direction, each of the orifice arrays including a plurality of orifices configured to discharge ink and arranged in the second direction; a carriage, on which said printhead is mounted, configured to move in the first direction; a wiper for wiping an orifice surface of said printhead using a windable sheet-like wiping member; a moving unit configured to move part of the sheet-like wiping member so that an area of the part of the sheet-like wiping member contacts to the orifice surface or retracts from the orifice surface; a winder for winding the sheet-like wiping member; and a control unit configured to control so that said moving unit moves the part of the sheet-like wiping member to make the area contact the orifice surface of said printhead, said moving unit moves the sheet-like wiping member toward the orifice surface according to movement of said carriage, and each orifice of at least one of the plurality of orifice arrays is wiped while said winder winds the sheet-like wiping member.