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US 7,731,329 B2Granted
Drum-mounted roller spittoon system and method
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
InventorsRussell P. Yearout, Antonio Gomez, Alan Shibata
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Various embodiments of a system and method for spitting are disclosed.
Claims18
An ink spittoon system for an ink jet printer having a media drum configured to rotate past at least one ink jet print head, comprising:
- a roller spittoon assembly, attached to the drum, having a roller for receiving ink spit from the at least one ink jet print head;
- a roller gear, attached to the roller;
- and
- a drive mechanism, having a selectively engageable gear drive, configured to engage the roller gear and transmit driving force thereto when the roller spittoon assembly is adjacent to the drive mechanism.
1 more element
A removable roller spittoon cartridge for an ink jet printer, comprising:
- an elongate body, removably mountable upon a media drum of the ink jet printer;
- an elongate roller, disposed within the body, a top portion of the roller being exposed to a print head of the printer and configured to receive waste ink material ejected therefrom;
- a roller gear, attached to the roller;
- an ink collecting structure, disposed in the body below the roller;
- and
- a drive mechanism, configured to selectively rotate the roller to transfer waste ink material from the roller to the ink collecting structure, having a selectively engageable gear drive, configured to engage the roller gear and transmit driving force thereto when the roller spittoon assembly is adjacent to the drive mechanism.
3 more elements
A method for handling waste ink in an ink jet printer, comprising the steps of:
- ejecting waste ink from a print head of the ink jet printer onto a roller of a roller spittoon device mounted on a rotating media drum of the printer;
- rotating the drum to position the roller spittoon device adjacent to a selectively engageable drive mechanism;
- engaging the selectively engageable drive mechanism with a gear attached to the roller;
- and
- rotating the roller against a scraper of the roller spittoon device to remove waste ink from the roller.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.