Maintaining the nozzle surface of an ink writing head

Abstract

The nozzle surface of an ink writing head installed in an ink printer is cleaned by bringing a liquid-absorbing cleaning medium into contact with at least those portions of the nozzle surface which surround the nozzle outlet openings, maintaining such contact for a period to permit ink to flow from the nozzles in the direction toward the cleaning medium and to be absorbed by the cleaning medium, whereby such nozzle surface portions are wetted by a liquid phase in which particles to be removed are dissolved, and removing the cleaning medium from the nozzle surface in order to carry such particles away from the nozzle surface. Preferably, the absorbing medium exhibits capillarity and possesses capillary passages smaller in diameter than the nozzles and presents a contact angle of less than 90.degree. with the ink. The cleaning medium can be in the form of a tape held in a cleaning device between two reels and associated with a sealing medium presenting a sealing surface in such a manner to permit one of the cleaning tape surfaces to be brought into contact with the nozzle surface and to permit the other surface of the tape to be brought into contact with the sealing surface after removal of the sealing surface from the nozzle surface.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.