Inkjet recording apparatus and inkjet recording apparatus management method

An inkjet recording apparatus comprising:

• a print head which is equipped with a nozzle to discharge ink and prints on printing target objects;
• a main body including an ink container in which ink to be supplied to the print head is contained, an auxiliary ink container which supplies the ink to the ink container, a solvent container in which a solvent is contained, a supply path equipped with a pump for supplying the ink from the ink container to the print head, a circulation path equipped with a pump for circulation to return a part of the ink supplied to the print head to the ink container, a collection path equipped with a pump for collection to suck the ink spouted out from the nozzle of the print head and collect the ink to the ink container, and a viscosity measurement unit which measures viscosity of the ink contained in the ink container;
• a head receptacle unit in which the print head is put in place;
• and
• a control unit which controls the print head and the main body, wherein
• in an event when viscosity of the ink measured by the viscosity measurement unit has fallen outside a predetermined range set beforehand, the control unit controls the print head and the main body to make the viscosity of the ink fall within the predetermined range, and
• the main body further comprises an operating and display unit, and information on viscosity of the ink is displayed on the operating and display unit after viscosity of the ink falls within the predetermined range through control of the main body by the control unit.

An inkjet recording apparatus comprising:

• a print head which is equipped with a nozzle to discharge ink and prints on printing target objects;
• a main body including an ink container in which ink to be supplied to the print head is contained, a solvent container in which a solvent is contained, a supply path to supply the ink from the ink container to the print head, a circulation path to return a part of the ink supplied to the print head to the ink container, and a collection path to suck the ink spouted out from the nozzle of the print head and collect the ink to the ink container;
• and
• a control unit which controls the print head and the main body, wherein
• during inactivity of printing on the printing target objects by the print head, the control unit controls the print head and the main body to perform repetitively supplying the solvent contained in the solvent container to the print head and letting the solvent flow back to the ink container through the circulation path and the collection path at intervals of a certain period of time during inactivity of the printing by the print head.

An inkjet recording apparatus management method, in a method for preventing ink from sticking during inactivity of printing by a print head, in an inkjet recording apparatus including:

• the print head which is equipped with a nozzle to discharge the ink and prints on printing target objects;
• a main body having an ink container in which the ink to be supplied to the print head is contained, a solvent container in which a solvent is contained, a supply path to supply the ink from the ink container to the print head, a circulation path to return a part of the ink supplied to the print head to the ink container, and a collection path to suck the ink spouted out from the nozzle of the print head and collect the ink to the ink container;
• and a control unit which controls the print head and the main body, the method comprising:
• controlling the print head and the main body by the control unit, at intervals of a certain period of time during inactivity of the printing by the print head, and
• performing repetitively supplying the solvent contained in the solvent container to the print head and letting the solvent flow back to the ink container through the circulation path and the collection path at intervals of a certain period of time during inactivity of the printing by the print head, thereby preventing the ink from sticking.

An inkjet recording apparatus management method, in a method for managing viscosity of ink contained in an ink container in an inkjet recording apparatus including:

• a print head which is equipped with a nozzle to discharge the ink and prints on printing target objects;
• a main body having the ink container in which ink to be supplied to the print head is contained, an auxiliary ink container which supplies the ink to the ink container, a solvent container in which a solvent is contained, a supply path to supply the ink from the ink container to the print head, a circulation path to return a part of the ink supplied to the print head to the ink container, a collection path to suck the ink spouted out from the nozzle of the print head and collect the ink to the ink container, and a viscosity measurement unit which measures viscosity of the ink contained in the ink container;
• a head receptacle unit in which the print head is put in place;
• and a control unit which controls the print head and the main body, the method comprising:
• controlling the print head and the main body by the control unit, in an event when viscosity of the ink measured by the viscosity measurement unit has fallen outside a predetermined range set beforehand, and
• adjusting the viscosity of the ink contained in the ink container, wherein
• in an event when viscosity of the ink measured by the viscosity measurement unit is higher than a predetermined range set beforehand, the control unit controls the print head and the main body,
• with the print head being put in place in the head receptacle unit, the control unit discards a part of the ink contained in the ink container flowing through the supply path and into the head receptacle unit via the print head, and
• the control unit supplies the solvent contained in the solvent container to the ink container so as to decrease the viscosity of the ink contained in the ink container.