After the control section of a printer (liquid discharge apparatus) discharges ink on the basis of a print job, the control section waits for an input of the next print job while causing the discharge section to perform flushing. If the next print job is input before the elapsed time Te from the end of the ink discharge on the basis of the print job exceeds the waiting time Tw, the control section causes ink to be discharged on the basis of the next print job. On the other hand, if the next print job is not input before the elapsed time Te exceeds the waiting time Tw, the control section causes the cap to be subjected to capping.

A printing head assembly with integrated purge mechanism is disclosed. The printing head assembly comprises: (a) a liquid dispensing head comprising one or more dispensing nozzles enclosed in a nozzle plate, driven by at least first and second pressures, and (b) a shielding mask including an opening in front of the one or more nozzles, wherein the opening being configured such that when printing liquid is dispensed from the head driven by the first pressure, the liquid being dispensed in pulses through the opening in the shielding mask, and (ii) when purge printing liquid is dispensed from the head driven by the second pressure, the liquid being drawn to a capillary gap formed between the shielding mask and the nozzle plate thereby removing the purge printing liquid from the nearby nozzles.

An inkjet marking apparatus 1, wherein a printing means 220 comprises a printhead 222 provided with a plurality of nozzles 224 in a direction intersecting the conveying direction of printing substrates P, the printhead 222 is supported so as to be movable in a direction in which the nozzles 224 are arranged, and a control means, at a time of nozzle change when the nozzles 224 to be used are changed, suspends the operation of a feeding means 10 to form a non-holding area on a carrier means 20 where the printing substrates P are not held in a holding part 22 and, after the printing substrates P are printed, moves the printhead 222 during a time when the non-holding area passes through a printing area A.

In one example, a shroud to protect a group of printheads in a printhead assembly includes openings through which the printheads are exposed when the shroud is installed on the printhead assembly and an elongated protrusion along an exterior surface next to the openings to block print media from contacting the exposed part of the printheads during printing when the shroud is installed on the printhead assembly.

Provided are a head maintenance system, a printing system, and a head maintenance method with which preferable washing of a nozzle surface can be realized and a damage to the nozzle surface can be suppressed. The head maintenance system includes: a wiping device (3) including a wiping sheet (10) for wiping a nozzle surface (52) of an ink jet head (50); a relative movement device (2, 3) that relatively moves the ink jet head and the wiping sheet; and a pressing device (18, 56) that presses the wiping sheet against the nozzle surface, in which the wiping device includes the wiping sheet having a value of linearity of compression in a range of 0.3 or more and less than 0.6, the linearity of compression being measured using a compression tester.

Examples of a printhead assembly are disclosed herein. An example of the printhead assembly includes a die to print, a base member, and at least one electrode. The electrode may be used to provide a charge to attract and collect particles that would normally otherwise interfere with operation of the die.

A liquid discharging head includes a recording element board in which a plurality of discharge ports configured to discharge liquid are arrayed in a first direction, a support member configured to support the recording element board and including a common liquid chamber extending in the first direction to supply the liquid to the plurality of discharge ports and a buffer chamber configured to have an opening in a ceiling surface of the common liquid chamber opposed to the recording element board and to hold a bubble, and a heater located in a region of the recording element board opposed to a part of the ceiling surface extending from the opening of the buffer chamber to an end portion in the first direction and configured to generate heat when the liquid is not discharged from the plurality of discharge ports.

A cleaning method for a discharging head includes a nozzle surface wiping step for wiping a first cover member, a nozzle surface, and a second cover member by a first wiping member, with the discharging head and a first cleaning part moving relative to each other, and a second cover member cleaning step for cleaning the second cover member by a second wiping member, with the discharging head and a second cleaning part reciprocating relative to each other along the first direction. The second cover member cleaning step includes a second boundary cleaning step for cleaning a region including the second boundary by the second wiping member.

Provided is an ink-repellent member including an underlying portion that contains a tantalum oxide, and has a fluorine compound bonded to a surface of the underlying portion via a TaOSi bond, wherein, when a ratio of a fluorine atom amount with respect to a total of a carbon atom amount, an oxygen atom amount, the fluorine atom amount, a silicon atom amount, and a tantalum atom amount in measurement by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the surface after the ink-repellent member is subjected to an immersion treatment (1) and (2) is represented by F, the F is 50 atm % or more.

A liquid ejecting apparatus includes a liquid ejection head, a circulation control section that controls a circulation operation of circulating the liquid in the first individual flow path, and a minute vibration control section that supplies a drive signal having a first waveform to the first piezoelectric element so as to control a minute vibration operation of causing the liquid in the first nozzle to vibrate to such a degree that the liquid is not ejected from the first nozzle. The circulation control section starts the circulation operation at a first time, and the minute vibration control section starts the minute vibration operation at a second time later than the first time.