MAINTENANCE SYSTEM HAVING TRANSLATABLE AND ROTATABLE WIPER FOR PRINTHEAD

1 . A maintenance system for a printhead, the system comprising:

a sled;

a wiper module supported by the sled, the wiper module comprising a rotatable shaft and a porous material about the shaft;

a lift mechanism for lifting the wiper module from the sled to position the porous material against the printhead;

a rotation mechanism for rotating the shaft so that the porous material rotates against the printhead, the porous material being configured to absorb fluid from the printhead during said rotation; and

a sliding mechanism for sliding the sled relative to the printhead so that the rotating porous material is wiped across the printhead.

2 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein the rotation mechanism comprises a gear train rotatably mounted within a swing arm pivotally mounted to one end of the shaft.

3 . A system according to claim 2 , the rotation mechanism further comprises a media transport roller for transporting media past the printhead, the media transport roller having a gear which operatively contacts the gear train of the swing arm as the wiper module is lifted from the sled by the lift mechanism such that rotation of the media transport roller causes rotation of the shaft.

4 . A system according to claim 3 , wherein the swing arm is configured to pivot relative to the wiper module so that the gear train remains in contact with the media transport roller gear independent of the lifted position of the wiper module.

5 . A system according to claim 3 , wherein the sliding mechanism comprises a rack on each end of the sled corresponding to each end of the wiper module, and a pinion gear on each end of a shaft so as to each couple with a corresponding one of the racks and a motor.

6 . A system according to claim 1 , wherein:

the wiper module further comprises a compressible core mounted to the shaft, the porous material being provided over the core; and

the lift mechanism is configured to position the porous material against the printhead so as to compress the compressible core.

7 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein the core is formed of extruded closed-cell foam.

8 . A system according to claim 7 , wherein the porous material is formed of non-woven microfiber.

9 . A system according to claim 8 , wherein the non-woven microfiber is wrapped about the core by a spiralling technique so that at least two layers of the microfiber are present about the core with an adhesive between the layers.

10 . A system according to claim 6 , wherein a hydrophobic film is disposed between the core and the porous material.

11 . A system according to claim 10 , wherein the film is formed of a pressure sensitive adhesive.