Hide-away wiper cleaner for inkjet printheads

A wiping system for cleaning an inkjet printhead which has accumulated ink residue thereon while printing in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:

• a wiper having two opposing surfaces;
• a moveable support that moves the wiper between a rest position and a wiping position whereat the wiper accumulates ink residue from the printhead, leaving the residue clinging on at least one of the wiper surfaces;
• and
• a scraper mechanism comprising a pair of arms each terminating in a scraper edge having first and second scraping portions separated by a recess therebetween, with each scraper edge engaging one of the wiper surfaces to scrape the clinging ink residue thereon as the support moves the wiper from the wiping position to the rest position.

A wiping system for cleaning an inkjet printhead which has accumulated ink residue thereon while in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:

• a wiper having two opposing surfaces;
• a moveable support that moves the wiper between a rest position and a wiping position whereat the wiper accumulates ink residue from the printhead, leaving the residue clinging on at least one of the wiper surfaces;
• and
• a scraper mechanism comprising a pair of arms each terminating in opposing proximate and distal ends, with the distal end of each arm having a scraping edge each engages one of the wiper surfaces to scrape the clinging ink residue therefrom as the support moves the wiper from the wiping position to the rest position, and with each arm being pivotally attached at the proximate end to a frame portion of the printing mechanism to define therebetween a storage chamber into which the wiper is moved to the rest position, and with the scraper mechanism further including a pair of spring members each urging said arms into mutual engagement at the scraping edges.

An inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:

• an inkjet printhead;
• a carriage that reciprocates the printhead through a printzone for printing and to a servicing region for printhead servicing;
• a wiper having opposing first and second surfaces;
• a moveable support that moves the wiper between a rest position and a wiping position in the servicing region so when in the wiping position the carriage moves the printhead across the wiper to leave ink residue clinging on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the wiper;
• and
• a scraper mechanism having two opposing scraping edges each engaging one of the first and second surfaces of the wiper to scrape clinging ink residue therefrom as the support moves the wiper from the wiping position to the rest position, wherein the scraper mechanism further includes a pair of arms each having a distal end terminating in one of said scraping edges, with each of the arms having a proximate end opposite from said distal end, and with each arm being pivotally attached at the proximate end to a frame portion of the printing mechanism to define therebetween a storage chamber into which the wiper is moved to the rest position, and with the scraper mechanism further including a pair of spring members each urging said arms into mutual engagement at the scraping edges.

A method of cleaning a first inkjet printhead and a second inkjet printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising the steps of:

• moving a first wiper having opposing first and second surfaces toward the first printhead and into a wiping position;
• wiping ink residue from the first printhead with the first wiper through relative motion of the first wiper and the first printhead, leaving ink residue clinging on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the first wiper;
• retracting the first wiper from the wiping position to a rest position;
• during the retracting step, scraping the clinging ink residue from the first wiper by pinching together the first and second surfaces of the first wiper with a first pair of scraper members;
• moving a second wiper having opposing first and second surfaces toward the second printhead and into a wiping position;
• wiping ink residue from the second printhead with the second wiper through relative motion of the second wiper and the second printhead to collect said ink residue on at least one of the first and second surfaces of the second wiper;
• retracting the second wiper from the wiping position to a rest position;
• and
• during the step of retracting the second wiper, scraping ink residue collected on the second wiper by pinching together the first and second surfaces of the second wiper with a second pair of scraper members.