Ink jet printer print head cleaning apparatus and method

An ink jet printer of the present invention, comprises:

• a paper supporting mechanism for supporting a printing paper;
• an ink jet head for ejecting ink onto the printing paper supported by the paper supporting mechanism to carry out printing;
• instruction means for instructing cleaning of the ink jet head;
• a pressing mechanism for effecting pressure contact between the ink jet head and the printing paper support by the paper supporting mechanism in response to an instruction from the instruction means;
• a slide moving mechanism for effecting relative sliding movement of the ink jet head and the printing paper under the pressure contact condition effected by the pressing mechanism for cleaning the ink jet head;
• restoring means for restoring a distance between the ink jet head and the printing paper to a distance predetermined for a regular printing operation after the relative sliding movement effected by the slide moving mechanism;
• a regular moving mechanism for effecting relative movement of the ink jet head and the printing paper where the distance between the ink jet head and the printing paper is equal to the predetermined distance;
• and
• printing means for printing a test print data by driving the ink jet head over a portion of the printing paper immediately following and below a relative slide moving area of the printing paper defined by the slide moving mechanism while the ink jet head and the printing paper are relatively being moved by the regular moving mechanism after a restoring operation effected by the restoring means.