US Patent 7520589 Ink-jet recording apparatus and cleaning blade

A cleaning blade for wiping ink adhering to an ink ejection surface of an ink-jet head in which nozzles are formed by a relative movement of the cleaning blade and the ink ejection surface with the cleaning blade held in contact with the ink ejection surface, wherein the cleaning blade has a surface having: a first region which is located near to the ink ejection surface and which has a first degree of water repellency; and a second region which is contiguous to the first region and located away from the ink ejection surface and which has a second degree of water repellency that is lower than the first degree of water repellency, and wherein a boundary line which constitutes a boundary between the first region and the second region has at least one oblique portion each of which is inclined with respect to a straight line that is orthogonal to the ink ejection surface.