Printhead maintenance assembly for inkjet printer
View Patent ↗A printhead maintenance assembly for an inkjet printer includes a movable chassis arranged in a housing; an endless belt mounted on the chassis, the endless belt having a contact surface reciprocally movable between a first position in which the contact surface is engaged with the printhead and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the printhead; a pair of spools mounted on the chassis and on which the belt is mounted, one of the spools being a toothed drive spool and the other being an idler spool; a drive gear driven by a drive motor and engaged with the drive spool, the drive gear, the drive spool, and the drive motor forming a conveyor mechanism for conveying the belt in a direction substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the printhead; and a cleaning station mounted on the chassis and positioned to clean the belt as the belt moves past. The contact surface is sloped with respect to the printhead.
1. A printhead maintenance assembly for an inkjet printer, said assembly comprising:
a movable chassis arranged in a housing;
an endless belt mounted on the chassis, the endless belt having a contact surface reciprocally movable between a first position in which the contact surface is engaged with the printhead and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the printhead;
a pair of spools mounted on the chassis and on which the belt is mounted, one of the spools being a toothed drive spool and the other being an idler spool;
a drive gear driven by a drive motor and engaged with the drive spool, the drive gear, the drive spool, and the drive motor forming a conveyor mechanism for conveying the belt in a direction substantially parallel with a longitudinal axis of the printhead; and
a cleaning station mounted on the chassis and positioned to clean the belt as the belt moves past, wherein
the contact surface is sloped with respect to the printhead.
2. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the housing has a base and sidewalls, and the chassis is movable in a sliding manner relative to the housing and biased towards the first position with a pair of springs.
3. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the chassis includes engagement formations at respective ends configured to slide relative to the printhead with an engagement mechanism.
4. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the cleaning station includes a set of rollers configured to perform various cleaning functions.
5. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the springs are fixed to the base and positioned to urge against corresponding biasing abutment surfaces of the chassis.
6. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 4 , wherein a number of the rollers comprise a pad soaked with a suitable cleaning solution.
7. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 6 , wherein a number of the rollers comprise a pad soaked with deionized water for rinsing.
8. A printhead maintenance assembly as claimed in claim 7 , wherein a number of the rollers comprise dry pads for drying.