1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology that cleans the nozzle forming surface of a discharge head which discharges liquid, and, in particular, to a technology that performs wiping with a wiping member on the nozzle forming surface using cleaning liquid.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a liquid discharging apparatus, such as an ink jet printer, which discharges liquid, such as ink or the like, from the nozzles of a discharge head is known. In such an apparatus, there is a case in which the liquid discharged from the nozzles adheres to the nozzle forming surface of the discharge head. If the liquid adheres to the nozzle forming surface, there is a problem in that the liquid is not appropriately discharged from the nozzles, thereby causing deterioration of image quality. Here, various technologies for removing liquid which adheres to the nozzle forming surface of a discharge head are proposed.
For example, a head cleaning mechanism disclosed in JP-A-2009-233896 is provided with an ejecting unit that ejects cleaning liquid onto a nozzle forming surface (droplet discharge surface) in order to suitably remove liquid which adheres to the nozzle forming surface. Further, after the cleaning liquid is ejected onto the nozzle forming surface, wiping is performed by a wiping member, and thus it is possible to suitably clean the nozzle forming surface.
As described above, in the head cleaning apparatus disclosed in JP-A-2009-233896, the cleaning liquid is directly ejected onto the nozzle forming surface, and thus the cleaning liquid easily comes in nozzles. Therefore, for example, there is a problem in that meniscus which are formed in ink in the vicinity of the openings of the nozzles are destroyed by the cleaning liquid which comes in the nozzles, and thus it is difficult to appropriately discharge ink from the nozzles. Here, in JP-A-2009-233896, it is described that the cleaning liquid is ejected onto the region of the nozzle forming surface other than the nozzles, and thus the cleaning liquid is prevented from coming in the nozzles. However, if the cleaning liquid is ejected onto the nozzle forming surface, there is limitation of preventing the cleaning liquid from coming in the nozzles.