| 摘要 |
<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head maintenance device that prevents the deterioration of the sucking characteristics and the disturbance of the discharge of a liquid in a capping device that sucks a liquid from the ejection head, which are caused by the solidified solute of the liquid sticking to its suction path or its discharge path, an ejection device, and a head maintenance device. Ž<P>SOLUTION: The head maintenance device includes a nozzle-sealing means having a sealing chamber for sealing an ejection nozzle, a sucking means for sucking a liquid from the ejection head via an ejection nozzle by way of sucking a gas or a liquid present in the sealing chamber that seals the ejection nozzle via a suction pipe communicating with the sealing chamber, and a discharge means having a liquid-discharge pipe capable of allowing the liquid in the sealing chamber to flow outside. The sealing chamber is equipped with a sealing-chamber opening, a bottom face, and sealing-protrusions formed on the circumference of the sealing-chamber opening to contact the ejection head. The liquid sucked from the ejection head falls off from the ejection nozzle to stay on the bottom face, and the suction pipe and the liquid-discharge pipe are open to the sealing chamber in a position closer to the sealing-protrusions than to the bottom face, in the direction of the gravitational acceleration. Ž<P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT Ž
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