PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION WITH CURVED CONTACT PAD
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 assembly can be complementarily received within the slots. The support arm assembly is able to slide within the slots and also defines a pad recess. A pad is received in the recess and has a contact surface defining a curved profile that can be brought 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 assembly which can be complementarily received within the slots, the support arm assembly able to slide linearly within the slots and defining a pad recess; and
a pad received in the recess and having a contact surface defining a curved profile that can be brought into contact with an ink ejection face of a printhead.
2 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the curved profile is arcuate and either convex or concave.
3 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the pad has a circular section which yields said curved profile.
4 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the elongate support arm assembly includes:
an elongate support arm defining lugs at either end which are complementarily received in the slots so that the support arm can slide within the slots; and
a support mounted to the lugs and defining the recess.
5 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 4 , 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.
6 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the housing includes a body, and a cap which can be snap fitted to the body.
7 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the body defines an elongate aperture through which the pad can protrude, and biasing means fast between the cap and the support arm biases the pad to protrude through the aperture.
8 . A printhead maintenance station as claimed in claim 4 , 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 within the slots.