| 摘要 |
PURPOSE:To shrink a bubble in an ink flow path to prevent the ink flow path from being closed with the bubble by a method wherein ink is pressurized by a pressurizing pump as well as sucked by a suction pump. CONSTITUTION:When bubbles or the like stagnate inside a head 1, a buffer tank 2, or the like, a motor 27 is driven with the head 1 capped with a cap 4 to actuate a pressurizing pump 28, and a motor 6 is driven to actuate a suction pump 7. In this manner, a pressurizing air is fed from a pressure supply port 24 of the cap 4 to an ink tank 3 through a pressure connection port 21, whereby ink in the buffer tank 2 and an ink flow path of the head 1 is pressurized. This pressurization results in the shrinking bubble in the ink flow path, which prevents the ink flow path from being closed, thus ensuring a smooth ink flow. On the other hand, by sucking a nozzle 1a of the head 1 from an ink suction port 22 by the suction pump 7, the pressurized ink and bubble in the head 1 are sucked out of the nozzle 1a to be discharged to a waste liquid tank 8. |
