Aerogel foam spittoon system for inkjet printing
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorOscar Ciordia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spittoon system is provided for receiving ink residue spit from an inkjet printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism. The spittoon system includes a storage container having a chamber, and an aerogel foam within the chamber for absorbing the received ink residue.
Claims26
A spittoon system for receiving ink residue spit from an inkjet printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:
- a storage container defining a chamber;
- and
- an aerogel foam within the chamber for absorbing the received ink residue.
An inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:
- an inkjet printhead;
- a carriage that carries the printhead through a printzone for printing and to a servicing region for printhead servicing;
- and
- a spittoon system located in the servicing region to receive ink residue spit from the printhead, with the spittoon system comprising:
- a storage container defining a chamber;
- and an aerogel foam within the chamber for absorbing the received ink residue.
A method of purging ink residue from an inkjet printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising:
- moving the printhead to a servicing region for printhead servicing;
- spitting ink residue from the printhead while in the servicing region;
- and
- absorbing the ink residue spit into an aerogel foam.
A spittoon foam prepared by a process comprising:
- combining reacting fluids and solvents to form a network of solids containing the solvents and a liquid reaction product of the combined reacting fluids;
- and
- removing the solvents without destroying the network of solids, the remaining network being an aerogel foam, the spittoon foam comprising the aerogel foam.
A spittoon foam according to claim in which said combining comprises combining the reacting fluids and solvents in which the reacting fluids comprise a metal source and an organic polymer.
A method of purging ink residue from an inkjet printhead in an inkjet printing mechanism, comprising the steps of:
- carrying the printhead to a servicing region for printhead servicing;
- spitting ink residue from the printhead while in the servicing region;
- and
- absorbing the ink residue spit into an aerogel foam.
An apparatus for purging ink residue from an inkjet printhead, comprising:
- means for carrying the printhead to a servicing region for printhead servicing;
- means for spitting ink residue from the printhead while in the servicing region;
- and
- means for absorbing the ink residue spit into an aerogel foam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.