Snout wiper assembly

Details Snout wiper assembly Snout wiper assembly

2002-07-22

2003-11-11

Meier, Stephen D. (Department: 2853)

Incremental printing of symbolic information

Ink jet

Ejector mechanism

Reexamination Certificate

active

06644776

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
An inkjet printing mechanism, such as a printer, a facsimile machine, plotter, copier, photo-printer, postal franking machine, fabric printer, etc., may contain one or more pens, such as one black and three color pens. Each pen contains an orifice plate defining a plurality of ink-ejecting nozzles. During operation, ink discharged from the nozzles may form a residue that adheres to the orifice plate, which may build up over time.
Inkjet mechanism wiping systems are used in cleaning the orifice plate. A cleaning process by which residue is removed from the orifice plate involves an orifice plate wiper, which dislodges and removes the residue. This wiping process can transfer some of the residue to the snout surface of the pen, which is typically perpendicular to the orifice plate.
Referring to
FIG. 1A
, an orifice plate
100
of a pen
102
is covered with residue
104
. A nozzle wiper
106
having first and second blades
108
,
110
is used to remove the residue from the orifice plate. A globule
112
of residue may be present on one or both of the blades, due to prior contact between the blades and the orifice plate.
As seen in
FIG. 1B
, contact between the wiper blades and the pen may cause formation of a deposit
114
of residue on the snout surface
116
of the pen
102
. New globules
118
of residue form on the blades of the wiper, as they moved relative to the pen.
As seen in
FIG. 1C
, the residue carried by the orifice plate is removed by the wiper
106
. However, the new globules
118
of residue that have formed on the blades of the wiper may be added to the deposit
114
of residue which has formed on the snout surface
116
of the pen
102
when the orifice place
100
is cleaned at a later time.
If residue is allowed to build up on the snout surface, contact between the residue—or fibers carried by the residue—and print media may result in print defects. As seen in
FIG. 1D
, a fiber
120
has become attached to the deposit
114
of residue on the snout surface
116
. The fiber may be cellulose or similar material derived from paper media, lint, hair or other elongated material. During a printing operation, the fiber
120
may come into contact with the paper media
122
, resulting in a condition known as “fiber tracking.” Fiber tracking is reminiscent of the action taken by a paint brush, wherein ink recently deposited is smeared on the print media. Where the deposit
114
grows sufficiently in size, the deposit itself may contact or fall onto the print media, thereby applying unwanted ink to the media, and moving ink already deposited on the media. Where ink residue comes into contact with electrical connections associated with the inkjet printing mechanism, “ink shorts” may result, due to the electrical conductivity of the ink.
SUMMARY
A snout wiper assembly includes a support member, a supported member and a snout wiper. The support member defines a travel slot. The supported member is movable along the travel slot between a wiping position and a resting position. The snout wiper is carried by the supported member.


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Patent application Ser. No. 10/015,818, filed Oct. 30, 2001, “Curved Wiper Blade System for Inkjet Printheads,” HP#10004151.

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