Inkjet head cleaning apparatus and method
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsKang Woong Ko, Hyun Cheol Oh, Dong Eog Kim, Dae Jung Kim
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
According to an example embodiment, an inkjet head cleaning apparatus that removes ink residue from an inkjet head after a purging operation in a non-contact manner includes a cleaning blade and a drive unit. The cleaning blade is at a distance from a bottom of the inkjet head. The drive unit is configured to move the cleaning blade in a direction parallel to the inkjet head bottom. The cleaning blade includes a flat upper surface parallel to the inkjet head bottom, and an ink film is produced between the flat upper surface of the cleaning blade and the inkjet head bottom. The cleaning blade also includes an elongated groove longitudinally in the upper surface of the cleaning blade.
Claims12
An inkjet head cleaning apparatus for removing ink residue from an inkjet head after a purging operation in a non-contact manner, comprising:
- a cleaning blade at a distance from a bottom of the inkjet head, the cleaning blade including,
- a flat upper surface parallel to the inkjet head bottom, and
- an elongated groove longitudinally defined in the flat upper surface of the cleaning blade, the inkjet head cleaning apparatus configured to supply ink into the elongated groove;
- and
- a drive unit configured to move the cleaning blade in a direction parallel to the inkjet head bottom.
An inkjet head cleaning method, comprising:
- positioning a cleaning blade including an upper surface parallel to an inkjet head bottom at a distance from the inkjet head bottom;
- forming an ink film between the inkjet head bottom and the cleaning blade by supplying ink into an elongated groove in the upper surface of the cleaning blade;
- and
- removing ink residue from the inkjet head bottom in a non-contact manner after a purging operation by moving the cleaning blade.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.