Printhead nozzle face wiper with fibrous pad
View Patent ↗A maintenance facility for an inkjet printer has a printhead with an array of nozzles defined in a nozzle face and media feed assembly for moving sheets of print media along a media feed path extending past the printhead in a media feed direction. The printhead maintenance facility has a wiper member having a fibrous pad for wiping the nozzle face and a maintenance drive for moving the wiper member over the printhead in a direction parallel to the media feed direction. During use, the maintenance drive moves the fibrous pad through the media feed path in order to contact the nozzle face.
1. A maintenance facility for an inkjet printer, the inkjet printer having a printhead with an array of nozzles defined in a nozzle face and media feed assembly for moving sheets of print media along a media feed path extending past the printhead in a media feed direction, the printhead maintenance facility comprising:
a wiper member having a fibrous pad for wiping the nozzle face; and,
a maintenance drive for moving the wiper member over the printhead in a direction parallel to the media feed direction; wherein during use,
the maintenance drive moves the fibrous pad through the media feed path in order to contact the nozzle face.
2. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the fibrous pad has a woven material with strands less than two deniers.
3. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the woven material has strands less than one denier.
4. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the woven material is a polyester/polyamide blend.
5. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the woven material is a microfiber material.
6. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the printhead is a pagewidth printhead and the array of nozzles extends the width of media substrate printed by the printer, the wiper member also extending the width of media substrate.
7. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the maintenance drive is configured to rotate the wiper member about an axis extending transverse to the media feed direction.
8. A maintenance facility according to claim 7 wherein the maintenance drive can move the wiper member past the printhead in the media feed direction and opposite the media feed direction.
9. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 wherein the maintenance drive can move the wiper member towards and away from the nozzle face.
10. A maintenance facility according to claim 1 further comprising a tubular chassis, the wiper member being mounted to the tubular chassis exterior.
11. A maintenance facility according to claim 10 further comprising a blotter mounted to the tubular chassis exterior.
12. A maintenance facility according to claim 11 further comprising a capper and print platen mounted to the tubular chassis exterior.
13. A maintenance facility according to claim 10 wherein the tubular chassis has porous material in a central cavity and apertures to establish fluid communication between the wiper member and the porous material.
14. A maintenance facility according to claim 12 wherein the chassis exterior has respective sockets in which the wiper member, the blotter, the capper and the print platen are mounted.
15. A maintenance facility according to claim 14 wherein the wiper member is removably mounted in the socket, such that the user can remove and replace the wiper member after prolonged use.