Inkjet printing apparatus and cleaning method therefor

An inkjet printing apparatus comprising:

• a conveyance mechanism configured to convey a printing medium;
• a printing portion including a plurality of printheads for discharging ink onto the printing medium;
• a cleaning mechanism capable of selectively cleaning the plurality of printheads;
• a printing execution control portion configured to perform printing on the printing medium by causing the conveyance mechanism to convey the printing medium and causing the printing portion to discharge the ink onto the printing medium;
• a cleaning execution control portion configured to cause the cleaning mechanism to selectively clean the plurality of printheads;
• a cleaning startup portion configured to, when cleaning should be executed, based on discharge state information for the plurality of printheads, output a cleaning start instruction specifying a printhead to be a cleaning target as a designated head;
• and
• an additional head selection portion configured to, when the cleaning start instruction is outputted, select a printhead to be chosen as a cleaning target along with the designated head as an additional head from remaining heads based on at least one of printer-unique information specifying a cleaning-related configuration or functionality, printing job-related information, dried state information for the remaining heads, a discharge operation history for the remaining heads, and a maintenance history for the remaining heads, the remaining heads being all of the plurality of printheads excluding the designated head, wherein
• the additional head selected from the remaining heads by the additional head selection portion is a printhead that experiences deterioration due to drying when only the designated head is cleaned,
• when the cleaning start instruction is outputted, the printing execution control portion stops the printing on the printing medium until cleaning started by the cleaning start instruction ends, and
• when the additional head selection portion selects the additional head in response to the cleaning start instruction, the cleaning execution control portion causes the cleaning mechanism to clean the designated head and the additional head.

An inkjet printing apparatus comprising:

• a conveyance mechanism configured to convey a printing medium;
• a printing portion including a plurality of printheads for discharging ink onto the printing medium;
• a cleaning mechanism capable of selectively cleaning the plurality of printheads;
• a printing execution control portion configured to perform printing on the printing medium by causing the conveyance mechanism to convey the printing medium and causing the printing portion to discharge the ink onto the printing medium;
• a cleaning execution control portion configured to cause the cleaning mechanism to selectively clean the plurality of printheads;
• a cleaning startup portion configured to, when cleaning should be executed, based on discharge state information for the plurality of printheads, output a cleaning start instruction specifying a printhead to be a cleaning target as a designated head;
• an additional head selection portion configured to, when the cleaning start instruction is outputted, select a printhead to be chosen as a cleaning target along with the designated head as an additional head from remaining heads based on at least one of printer-unique information specifying a cleaning-related configuration or functionality, printing job-related information, dried state information for the remaining heads, a discharge operation history for the remaining heads, and a maintenance history for the remaining heads, the remaining heads being all of the plurality of printheads excluding the designated head;
• and
• a history information memory portion configured to accumulate information specifying at least one of histories of maintenance, discharge operation, and discharge failure inspection, for each of the plurality of printheads, wherein,
• the additional head selection portion selects the additional head from the remaining heads based on the information accumulated in the history information memory portion,
• when the cleaning start instruction is outputted, the printing execution control portion stops the printing on the printing medium until cleaning started by the cleaning start instruction ends, and
• when the additional head selection portion selects the additional head in response to the cleaning start instruction, the cleaning execution control portion causes the cleaning mechanism to clean the designated head and the additional head.