Inkjet recording apparatus

An inkjet recording apparatus, comprising:

• a drum having a cylindrical outer circumferential surface, which rotates about a rotation axis thereof to convey a recording medium retained on the outer circumferential surface;
• a maintenance unit comprising a wiper and a cap both extending in an axial direction of the drum;
• a plurality of inkjet heads aligned in the circumferential direction of the drum along the outer circumferential surface of the drum, wherein each of the inkjet heads has an ejection surface on which a plurality of nozzles for ejecting ink droplets are opened, the ejection surface being extended in the axial direction and facing the outer circumferential surface;
• a head-moving mechanism which moves the inkjet heads to any one of positions including a recording position, a wiping position, and a capping position, wherein the recording position is a position where inkjet heads are disposed at a time of forming an image on a recording medium on the outer circumferential surface by ejecting ink droplets from the nozzles to the recording medium, and the wiping position is such a position that the ejection surface of each of the inkjet heads is farther distanced from the outer circumferential surface than in the recording position, and the capping position is a position at which the ejection surface of each of the inkjet heads is closer to the outer circumferential surface than the wiping position and is farther from the outer circumferential surface than the recording position;
• a maintenance unit moving mechanism which moves the wiper and the cap in the circumferential direction along the outer circumferential surface so as to wipe the ejection surface of at least one of the inkjet heads in the wiping position;
• and
• control means for controlling the maintenance unit moving mechanism so that the ejection surface of the at least one of the inkjet heads is wiped while the inkjet heads are in the wiping position,
• wherein, after the plurality of inkjet heads move from the capping position, at which the cap forms a sealed space having the ejection surface as an inner-wall surface, to the wiping position, the wiper moves to pass only one of the ejection surfaces such that the ejection surface is wiped by the wiper.