Claims
- 1. An inkjet printhead cleaning station for cleaning a movable inkjet printhead assembly comprising:
a housing structure for the cleaning station; a wiper element having a free end portion; a pivotable carriage assembly secured to the wiper element and adapted to rotate the wiper and thereby bend the free end portion of the wiper element; and a hook element positioned on the movable inkjet printhead assembly and adapted to engage the pivotable carriage and thereby rotate and bend the free end portion of the wiper against the housing thereby removing ink from the wiper.
- 2. An inkjet head cleaning station according to claim 1 wherein said cleaning station includes a plurality of wiper elements each being secured to a pivotable carriage assembly.
- 3. An inkjet head cleaning station according to claim 2 wherein each carriage assembly includes an arm member projecting therefrom, each arm member being adopted to engage said hook element and thereby rotate said wiper.
- 4. An inkjet printhead cleaning station comprising in a unitary housing structure:
(a) a first area in which ink is adapted to be forced through nozzles positioned in the inkjet printhead; (b) a second area including a plurality of wipers adapted to wipe an inkjet head, each of the wipers being mounted on a carriage assembly that is adapted to pivot thereby rotating the wipers and causing edges of the wipers to bend on the housing and scrape off excess ink on the wipers; (c) a third area in which ink is forced through the nozzle for a second time; and (d) a forth area of the cleaning station in which a cap is positioned on the head to seal nozzles in the printhead.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of the following U.S. provisional patent applications: serial No. 60/270,796 filed on Feb. 23, 2001, serial No. 60/277,806 filed on Mar. 22, 2001, serial No. 60/277,841 filed on Mar. 22, 2001, serial No. 60/277,873 filed on Mar. 22, 2001, serial No. 60/277,931 filed on Mar. 22, 2001, serial No. 60/277,946 filed on Mar. 22, 2001 and serial No. 60/338,892 filed Nov. 5, 2001.
Provisional Applications (7)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60270796 |
Feb 2001 |
US |
|
60277806 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60277841 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60277873 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60277931 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60277946 |
Mar 2001 |
US |
|
60338892 |
Nov 2001 |
US |