Claims
- 1 A cleaning station for a vertical nozzle plate of an ink jet printer, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
a cylindrical roller having an outer surface, and having a substantially vertical central axis and a substantially vertical rotation axis, wherein:
the roller is spaced from the nozzle plate to form a cleaning cavity between the roller and the nozzle plate; and the roller has a top end above the nozzle plate and a bottom end below the nozzle plate; a rotator operatively connected to the roller for rotating the roller about its rotation axis; a fluid outlet near the top end of the roller, wherein the fluid outlet directs cleaning fluid onto the outer surface of the roller; a fluid reservoir; and a fluid conduit for conducting cleaning fluid from the fluid reservoir to the fluid outlet.
- 2. The cleaning station of claim 1, wherein the fluid conduit extends through the interior of the roller.
- 3. The cleaning station of claim 1, additionally comprising an impeller for moving fluid through the fluid conduit.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the roller is circular in cross section.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rotation axis of the roller is coincident with the central axis of the roller.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein a first portion of the surface of the roller is hydrophilic, and a second portion of the surface of the roller is hydrophobic.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the rotation axis of the roller is parallel to, and offset from, the central axis of the roller.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the roller is elliptical in cross section.
- 9. The cleaning station of claim 1, wherein the fluid reservoir is near the bottom of the roller to collect cleaning fluid that has cascaded along the outer surface of the roller.
- 10. Apparatus for cleaning a vertical nozzle plate, the cleaning apparatus comprising:
a reservoir for containing cleaning fluid; a cleaning cavity adjacent the nozzle plate; an upper fluid outlet above the cleaning cavity for directing fluid into the cleaning cavity; and a conduit for conducting cleaning fluid from the reservoir to the upper fluid outlet.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 10, additionally comprising an agitator for agitating fluid in the cleaning cavity.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the agitator is positioned a small distance from the nozzle plate, and the distance between the agitator and the nozzle plate defines the cleaning cavity.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the agitator is a roller having a rotation axis.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein:
the roller is substantially cylindrical with a central axis; and the rotation axis of the roller is substantially vertical.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the surface of the roller has surface variations about its circumference.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein a first portion of the surface of the roller is hydrophilic, and a second portion of the surface of the roller is hydrophobic.
- 17. A method of cleaning a vertical nozzle plate of an ink jet printer, the method comprising:
cascading cleaning fluid along the nozzle plate; and agitating the cleaning fluid against the nozzle plate.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein:
cascading cleaning fluid along the nozzle plate comprises: positioning an agitator near the nozzle plate; and cascading cleaning fluid along the outer surface of an agitator spaced from the nozzle plate; and agitating the cleaning fluid against the nozzle plate comprises moving the agitator relative to the nozzle plate.
- 19. The method of claim 18, wherein moving the agitator relative to the nozzle plate comprises rotating the agitator about a rotation axis substantially parallel to the nozzle plate.
- 20. The method of claim 19, wherein cascading cleaning fluid along the outer surface of the agitator comprises:
directing cleaning fluid out of a fluid outlet near the top of the agitator; collecting cleaning fluid in a reservoir near the bottom of the agitator; and directing cleaning fluid from the reservoir to the fluid outlet.
- 21. The method of claim 20, wherein positioning an agitator near the nozzle plate comprises moving the nozzle plate into proximity with the agitator.
BACKGROUND
[0001] This application is based on a Provisional Patent Application No. 60/342,209, filed Dec. 26, 2001.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60342209 |
Dec 2001 |
US |