PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION WITH SLIDING CONTACT PAD ASSEMBLY
A printhead maintenance station is provided for an inkjet printer. The maintenance station includes an elongate housing defining internal slots at either end. An elongate support arm defines lugs at either end which are complementarily received in the slots so that the support arm is can slide within the slots. A support is mounted to the lugs and defines a recess. A sloping pad is received in the recess and has a contact surface for bringing into contact with an ink ejection face of a printhead.
1 . A printhead maintenance station for an inkjet printer, the maintenance station comprising:
an elongate housing defining internal slots at either end;
an elongate support arm defining lugs at either end which are received in a complementary fashion in the slots so that the support arm can slide within the slots;
a support mounted to the lugs and defining a recess; and
a pad received in the recess and having a contact surface for bringing into contact with an ink ejection face of a printhead.
2 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the support arm can slide within the slots so that the pad can protrude at least partially from the housing and retract completely into the housing.
3 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the housing includes a body, and a cap which can be snap fitted to the body.
4 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the body defines an elongate aperture through which the pad can protrude, and biasing means fast between the cap and the support arm that biases the pad to protrude through the aperture.
5 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the biasing means comprises a pair of springs located at either end of the housing.
6 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 2 , in which an engagement mechanism including a motor is configured to rotate a pair of cams engaged with respective lugs so that the support arm slides linearly within the slots.
7 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the pad is elongate and has a contact surface which can be increasingly brought into contact with the ink ejection face of the printhead responsive to sliding of the support arm within the slots.
8 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the contact surface is flat and obliquely oriented relative to the ink ejection face prior to contact.