Apparatus and method for cleaning ink jet printer
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorsKenichiro Arai, Noboru Otsuki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A maintenance apparatus wipes the nozzle surface of a print head using a wiper having no ink adhering thereto. The maintenance apparatus has a wiper that moves in a direction towards and away from the plane of the nozzle surface of a print head that travels bidirectionally widthwise to the printing paper. A remover removes foreign matter on the wiper when the wiper is moved while in contact with the rake part of the remover.
Claims14
A maintenance apparatus comprising:
- a print head drive mechanism that bidirectionally moves a print head having a nozzle surface in which are formed a plurality of nozzles;
- a wiper that wipes contamination from the nozzle surface;
- a remover connected for movement with the print head that wipes contamination from the wiper;
- a wiper drive mechanism that moves the wiper in the direction toward a plane of the nozzle surface from a standby position;
- and
- a control unit that controls the print head drive mechanism and wiper drive mechanism so as to stop the wiper at a first position and to move the print head to a position where the print head is engaged by the wiper to remove contamination from the nozzle surface, and so as to stop the print head at a specific position and to move the wiper to a position where the wiper is engageable by the remover to remove contamination from the wiper.
An inkjet printer comprising:
- a print head drive mechanism that bidirectionally moves a print head having a nozzle surface in which are formed a plurality of nozzles;
- a wiper that wipes contamination from the nozzle surface;
- a remover connected for movement with the print head that wipes contamination from the wiper;
- a wiper drive mechanism that moves the wiper in the direction toward a plane of the nozzle surface from a standby position;
- and
- a control unit that controls the print head drive mechanism and wiper drive mechanism so as to stop the wiper at a first position and to move the print head to a position where the print head is engaged by the wiper to remove contamination from the nozzle surface, and so as to stop the print head at a specific position and to move the wiper to a position where the wiper is engageable by the remover to remove contamination from the wiper.
A maintenance method for an inkjet printer having a print head drive mechanism that bidirectionally moves a print head having a nozzle surface in which are formed a plurality of nozzles, a wiper that wipes contamination from the nozzle surface, a remover connected for movement with the print head that wipes contamination from the wiper, a wiper drive mechanism that moves the wiper in the direction toward a plane of the nozzle surface from a standby position, said maintenance method comprising steps of:
- moving the print head with the wiper stopped at a first position and the print head engaged by the wiper to remove contamination from the nozzle surface;
- and
- moving the wiper with the print head stopped at a specific position and the wiper engaged by the remover to remove contamination from the wiper.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.