Ink jet printing method and printing apparatus

Abstract

An ink jet printing method which comprises: directly forming an image on a printing medium on the basis of signals of image data; and fixing the image to produce a printed matter, wherein said image formation is carried out by an ink jet system of ejecting an oily ink by an electrostatic field. The method preferably further comprises cleaning an ink jet head, said cleaning step comprising: immersing said ink jet head in a cleaning solution; and applying voltage to said ink jet head. Alternatively, the method preferably further comprises, when a malfunction happens, either or both of stopping the image formation and eliminating a cause of the malfunction. Also disclosed are printing apparatuses suitably used for these methods.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.