Translational wiping technique for a stationary inkjet printhead
US5898445A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 6, 1995 |
| Grant date | Apr 27, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 6, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB41J2/16544
- WIPO fieldTextile and paper machines
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
An inkjet printer has a printhead mounted in a carriage which periodically moves along a printhead path in a carriage scan direction to a stop position in a service station where an actuation device imparts translational motion to a wiper blade. The wiper blade moves along a linear wiping path orthogonal to the printhead path and across ink orifices on a nozzle surface of the printhead during a wiping operation. The wiper blade is removably mounted on a base and is split to form a first blade for wiping one column of ink orifices and a second blade for simultaneously wiping another column of ink orifices on a nozzle surface of the printhead. In a preferred form of the invention, the service station provides different sequential wiping steps with successive wiper blades by first drawing ink onto the nozzle surface from the ink orifices with a rounded blade edge of a leading wiper blade, and then wiping the ink from the nozzle surface with a sharp blade edge of a following wiper blade. The sequential wiping steps are repeated twice during a normal wiping cycle--once when the wiper blades leave a parking location to wipe across the stationary printhead, and again when the wiper blades…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.