Patent Grant
8277026
The present invention relates to be field of printers and in particular pagewidth inkjet printers.
The following applications have been filed by the Applicant simultaneously with the present application:
The disclosures of these co-pending applications are incorporated herein by reference. The above applications have been identified by their filing docket number, which will be substituted with the corresponding application number, once assigned.
The following patents or patent applications filed by the applicant or assignee of the present invention are hereby incorporated by cross-reference.
The Applicant has developed a wide range of printers that use pagewidth printheads instead of traditional reciprocating printhead designs. The pagewidth designs increase print speeds as the printhead does not traverse back and forth across the page to deposit a line of an image. The pagewidth printhead simply deposits the ink on the media as it moves past at high speeds. Such printheads have made it possible to perform 1600 dpi resolution printing at speeds in the vicinity of 60 pages per minute; speeds previously not attainable with conventional inkjet printers. The high print speeds require a large ink supply flow rate. Not only are the flow rates higher but distributing the ink along the entire length of a pagewidth printhead is more complex than feeding ink to a relatively small reciprocating printhead. To address the many issues associated with supplying ink to a pagewidth printhead, the Applicant has developed an active fluidic system which gives the user control of the ink flow through the printhead. The active fluidic system is described in detail in the applicant scope pending application U.S. Ser. No. (Our docket: SBF010US), the contents of which is incorporated herein by cross-reference. The active fluidic system connects the pagewidth printhead to an ink supply reservoir via a pump or pressure pulse generator. The pagewidth printhead is also connected to a waste ink outlet or sump. While the active fluidic system can correct problems such as nozzle deprime, air bubbles, nozzle face floods and de-cap clogging, it will not fix “dead” nozzles that simply burn out or otherwise fail over the life of the printhead.
In light of this, many of the Applicant's printers provide the printhead has a user removable and replaceable cartridge. Providing the pagewidth printhead as a user removable cartridge allows the user to periodically replace the printhead and hence maintain the print quality without replacing the entire printer. This recognizes that individual ink ejection nozzles may fail over time and eventually there are enough dead nozzles to cause artifacts in the printed image. However, market expectations dictate that any cartridges must be simple, intuitive and quick to remove and replace. This presents substantial difficulties for a pagewidth printhead cartridge which needs to be precisely positioned relative to the paper path and fluidically coupled to all the ink tanks.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of inserting a printhead cartridge in a printer, the printhead cartridge having a printhead with a nozzle face defining an array of nozzles for ejecting ink on to a media substrate fed past the printhead in a media feed direction, the method comprising the steps of:
providing a printer with at least three ink tanks for storing the inks of different colour, the printer also having a cradle defining a reference surface for engaging a datum point on the printhead cartridge to support the nozzle face at a precise spacing from a media feed path, a fluid interface in fluid communication with the ink tanks, and a latch for securing the printhead cartridge in the cradle, the latch being movable between an open position where access to the cradle is unobstructed, and a closed position where access to the cradle is obstructed;
placing the printhead cartridge in the cradle such that the data point rests on the reference surface while the latch is in the open position, the printhead cartridge having a fluid coupling positioned to align with the fluid interface when placed in the cradle;
moving the latch to the closed position to secure the printhead cartridge in cradle;
providing a mechanical linkage between the latch and the fluid interface such that the fluid interface sealingly engages the fluid coupling upon moving the latch to the closed position; wherein,
any force exerted on the printhead cartridge during sealing engagement of the fluid interface and the fluid coupling is not directed to disengage the reference surface from the datum point.
The ordinary worker will appreciate that the need to fluidically couple the printhead cartridge to the printer during the cartridge insertion, immediately suggests that the fluid interface should be aligned with the direction cartridge insertion. However the cartridge is then prone to rest on the resilient parts of the fluid coupling so that the precise spacing between the nozzle face on the media feed path is compromised. By placing the printhead cartridge into the cradle so that the reference surface and data point are in contact before the fluid coupling is made, and positioning the fluid coupling so that its engagement with the fluid interface does not disengage the data point and the reference surface, the precise spacing between the nozzle face and the media feed path is maintained.
Preferably, the step of sealingly engaging the fluid interface in fluid coupling involves the fluid interface advancing onto the fluid coupling in the direction that is not disengage the data reference surface and the datum point. In a further preferred form, the fluid interface moves parallel to the media feed direction when sealingly engaging fluid coupling.
Preferably, the method further comprises the step of priming the printhead with ink from all of the ink tanks. Preferably, the step of priming the printhead further comprises pumping ink from all the ink tanks to the fluid interface under pressure. Preferably, the printhead is a pagewidth printhead and the array of nozzles extends the printing width of the media substrate. Preferably, the fluid coupling is an array of spouts extending from an interface plate, and the fluid interface is a corresponding when the sockets such that step of sealingly engaging the fluid interface in fluid coupling involves moving the sockets onto the array of spouts. In a further preferred form, the cradle provides a reference surface of contacting the datum the printhead cartridge such that the nozzle face is precisely spaced from the media feed path. In a particularly preferred form, the printhead cartridge has a first fluid coupling and a second fluid coupling, and the printer has a first fluid interface and a second fluid interface, the first fluid interface being in fluid communication with the ink tanks and second fluid interface being in fluid communication with a waste ink outlet, the first fluid coupling for sealingly engaging the first fluid interface, and the second fluid coupling for sealingly engaging the second fluid interface. Preferably the printer has support structure with a first and second bearing surface positioned in the cradle for contacting the printhead cartridge, the first bearing surface being aligned with any compressive force applied to the printhead cartridge by the first fluid interface as it engages the first fluid coupling, and the second bearing surface being aligned with any compressive force applied to the printhead cartridge by the second fluid interface as it engages the second fluid coupling. In a particularly preferred form, the support structure has a third bearing surface of aligned with any compressive force applied to the printhead cartridge by the latch as it secures the cartridge in the cradle.
In a particularly preferred form, the step of priming the printhead cartridge further comprises providing a wiper member in the printer, moving the wiper member into the media feed path, and wiping all the nozzles in the nozzle face with a single traverse of the wiper member in a direction parallel to the media feed direction.
Preferably, the wiper member is rotated about an axis extending transverse to the media feed direction when it is moved into the media feed path and traversed across the nozzle face. Preferably, the printhead is a pagewidth printhead and the array of nozzles is elongate and extends the printing width of the media substrate such that the wiper member also extends the length of the nozzle array. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of moving a spittoon into the media feed path after all the nozzles in the nozzle face have been wiped, and ejecting ink from all the nozzles into the spittoon. Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of providing the spittoon within a print platen, the print platen having a profiled guide surface for directing sheets of the media substrate past the printhead and a central recessed portion, the spittoon having an absorbent elements positioned in the central recessed portion of the print platen. Preferably, the print platen is moved into the media feed path and presented to the printhead by rotating it about the axis extending transverse to the media feed direction under which the wiper member rotates. Preferably, the wiper member and the print platen are fixed to a chassis mounted on the printer for rotation about the axis is transverse to the media feed direction. In a further preferred form, a capper for capping the array of nozzles when the printer is not in use, is also fixed to the chassis. Optionally, a primer for servicing the nozzle array when the printhead primes with ink, is also fixed to the chassis.
Optionally, an additional spittoon is fixed to the chassis for use during an extended ink purge from the printhead. Optionally, the wiper member is rotated about the axis transverse to media feed direction at variable speeds. Optionally, the wiper member is selectively rotated in either direction about the axis transverse to the media feed direction. In a particularly preferred form, the chassis is mounted towards an away from the nozzle face. Preferably, the chassis is moved by the application of equal forces to bearing points in the chassis that are equidistantly positioned from the longitudinal mid-point of the wiper member. In particularly preferred form, the pagewidth printhead has a plurality of printhead ICs aligned end to end to extend transverse to the media feed direction, the printhead ICs receiving power and data from a line of wire bonds along one of the transverse sides of the printhead ICs, and the wiper member being rotated such that it moves towards the line of wire bonds. Preferably, the line of wire bonds are sealed within a bead of encapsulant, the bead of encapsulant being profiled to assist the wiper member to retain paper dust and other contaminants wiped from the nozzle face.
Preferably, the wiper member has a plurality of resilient blades extending the width of media substrate. Preferably the plurality of blades is arranged in parallel rows, each of the rows extending the width of media substrate. In a further preferred form, the blades in one of the parallel rows positioned such that they are not in registration with the blades an adjacent one of the parallel rows. In particularly preferred form, blades in each of the parallel rows are spaced from their adjacent blades by a gap allowing independent movement of adjacent blades.
Preferably, the step of moving the chassis is performed by a maintenance drive provided a printer, the maintenance drive having a first actuator for moving the wiper member towards away from the nozzle face, and a second actuator for rotating wiper member about the axis extending transverse to the media feed direction, the first actuator and the second actuator being independently operable. Preferably, the second actuator is configured to selectively vary the speed with which the wiper member is rotated about the axis extending transverse to the media feed direction. Conveniently, the first actuator and the second actuator are both electric motors with encoder disks providing feedback to a print engine controller in the inkjet printer. Preferably, the second actuator is reversible such that the wiper member can be rotated in both directions.
Preferably, the method further comprises step of providing an absorbent pad printer removing paper dust and other contaminants on the wiper member. Preferably, method further comprises the step of providing a doctor blade in the printer such that its extends transverse to the media feed direction, wherein during use the maintenance drive moves the wiper member over the nozzle face, then across the absorbent pad and then past the doctor blade such that the resilient blade flexes in order to pass the doctor blade and upon disengagement of the resilient blade and the doctor blade, the resilient blade springs back to its quiescent shape thereby projecting contaminants from its surface.
Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:
Printer Fluidic System
Briefly, the printer fluidic system has a printhead assembly 2 supplied with ink from an ink tank 4 via an upstream ink line 8. Waste ink is drained to a sump 18 via a downstream ink line 16. A single ink line is shown for simplicity. In reality, the printhead has multiple ink lines for full colour printing. The upstream ink line 8 has a shut off valve 10 for selectively isolating the printhead assembly 2 from the pump 12 and or the ink tank 4. The pump 12 is used to actively prime or flood the printhead assembly 2. The pump 12 is also used to establish a negative pressure in the ink tank 4. During printing, the negative pressure is maintained by the bubble point regulator 6.
The printhead assembly 2 is an LCP (liquid crystal polymer) molding 20 supporting a series of printhead ICs 30 secured with an adhesive die attach film (not shown). The printhead ICs 30 have an array of ink ejection nozzles for ejecting drops of ink onto the passing media substrate 22. The nozzles are MEMS (micro electromechanical) structures printing at true 1600 dpi resolution (that is, a nozzle pitch of 1600 npi), or greater. The fabrication and structure of suitable printhead IC's 30 are described in detail in U.S. Ser. No. 11/246,687 (Our Docket No. MNN001 US) the contents of which are incorporated by reference. The LCP molding 20 has a main channel 24 extending between the inlet 36 and the outlet 38. The main channel 24 feeds a series of fine channels 28 extending to the underside of the LCP molding 20. The fine channels 28 supply ink to the printhead ICs 30 through laser ablated holes in the die attach film.
Above the main channel 24 is a series of non-priming air cavities 26. These cavities 26 are designed to trap a pocket of air during printhead priming. The air pockets give the system some compliance to absorb and damp pressure spikes or hydraulic shocks in the ink. The printers are high speed pagewidth printers with a large number of nozzles firing rapidly. This consumes ink at a fast rate and suddenly ending a print job, or even just the end of a page, means that a column of ink moving towards (and through) the printhead assembly 2 must be brought to rest almost instantaneously. Without the compliance provided by the air cavities 26, the momentum of the ink would flood the nozzles in the printhead ICs 30. Furthermore, the subsequent ‘reflected wave’ can generate a negative pressure strong enough to deprime the nozzles.
Print Engine
Sheets of media are fed through the print engine by the main drive roller 186 and the exit feed roller 178. The main drive roller 186 is driven by the main drive pulley and encoder disk 188. The exit feed roller 178 is driven by the exit drive pulley 180 which is synchronized to the main drive pulley 188 by the media feed belt 182. The main drive pulley 188 is powered by the media feed motor 190 via the input drive belt 192.
The main drive pulley 188 has an encoder disk which is read by the drive pulley sensor 184. Data relating to the speed and number of revolutions of the drive shafts 186 and 178 is sent to the print engine controller (or PEC). The PEC (not shown) is mounted to the main PCB 194 (printed circuit board) and is the primary micro-processor for controlling the operation of the printer.
Reinforced bearing surfaces 128 are fixed to the pressed metal casing 196 of the print engine 3. These provide reference points for locating the printhead cartridge within the print engine. They are also positioned to provide a bearing surface directly opposite the compressive loads acting on the cartridge 2 when installed. The fluid couplings 120 push against the inlet and outlet manifolds of the cartridge when the manifold spouts (described below) open the shut off valves in the print engine (also described below). The pressure of the latch 126 on the cartridge 2 is also directly opposed by a bearing surface 128. Positioning the bearing surfaces 128 directly opposite the compressive loads in the cartridge 2, the flex and deformation in the cartridge is reduced. Ultimately, this assists the precise location of the nozzles relative to the media feed path. It also protects the less robust structures within the cartridge from damage.
Printhead Cartridge
Both the channel molding 68 and the top cover molding 72 are molded from LCP (liquid crystal polymer) because of its stiffness and coefficient of thermal expansion that closely matches that of silicon. It will be appreciated that a relatively long structure such as a pagewidth printhead should minimize any thermal expansion differences between the silicon substrate of the printhead ICs 30 and their supporting structure.
Printhead Maintenance Carousel
Referring to
On the opposite side of the media feed path 22 is the printhead maintenance carousel 150 and its associated drive mechanisms. The printhead maintenance carousel 150 is mounted for rotation about the tubular drive shaft 156. The maintenance carousel 150 is also configured for movement towards and away from the printhead ICs 30. By raising the carousel 150 towards the printhead ICs 30, the various printhead maintenance stations on the exterior of the carousel are presented to the printhead. The maintenance carousel 150 is rotatably mounted on a lift structure 170 that is mounted to a lift structure shaft 156 such that it can pivot relative to the remainder of the print engine 3. The lift structure 170 includes a pair of lift arms 158 (only one lift arm is shown, the other being positioned at the opposite end of the lift structure shaft 156). Each lift arm 158 has a cam engaging surface 168, such as a roller or pad of low friction material. The cams (described in more detail below) are fixed to the carousel drive shaft 160 for rotation therewith. The lift arms 158 are biased into engagement with the cams on the carousel lift drive shaft 160, such that the carousel lift motor (described below) can move the carousel towards and away from the printhead by rotating the shaft 160.
The rotation of the maintenance carousel 150 about the tubular shaft 166 is independent of the carousel lift drive. The carousel drive shaft 166 engages the carousel rotation motor (described below) such that it can be rotated regardless of whether it is retracted from, or advanced towards, the printhead. When the carousel is advanced towards the printhead, the wiper blades 162 move through the media feed path 22 in order to wipe the printhead ICs 30. When retracted from the printhead, the carousel 150 can be repeatedly rotated such that the wiper blades 162 engage the doctor blade 154 and the cleaning pad 152. This is also discussed in more detail below.
Referring now to
With the lift arms 158 drawing the lift structure 170 downwards, the maintenance carousel 150 is retracted away from the printhead ICs 30. In this position, the carousel 150 can be rotated with none of the maintenance stations touching the printhead ICs 30. It does, however, bring the wiper blades 162 into contact with the doctor blade 154 and the absorbent cleaning pad 152.
Doctor Blade
The doctor blade 154 works in combination with the cleaning pad 152 to comprehensively clean the wiper blades 162. The cleaning pad 152 wipes paper dust and dried ink from the wiping contact face of the wiper blades 162. However, a bead of ink and other contaminants can form at the tip of the blades 162 where it does not contact the surface of the cleaning pad 152.
To dislodge this ink and dust, the doctor blade 154 is mounted in the print engine 3 to contact the blades 162 after they have wiped the printhead ICs 30, but before they contact the cleaning pad 152. Upon contact with the doctor blade 154, the wiper blades 162 flex into a curved shaped in order to pass. As the wiper blades 162 are an elastomeric material, they spring back to their quiescent straight shape as soon as they disengage from the doctor blade 154. Rapidly springing back to their quiescent shape projects dust and other contaminants from the wiper blade 162, and in particular, from the tip.
The ordinary worker will appreciate that the wiper blades 162 also flex when they contact the cleaning pad 152, and likewise spring back to their quiescent shapes once disengaged from the pad. However, the doctor blade 154 is mounted radially closer to the central shaft 166 of the carousel 150 than the cleaning pad 152. This bends the wiper blades 162 more as they pass, and so imparts more momentum to the contaminants when springing back to the quiescent shape. It is not possible to simply move the cleaning pad 152 closer to the carousel shaft 166 to bend the wiper blades 162 more, as the trailing blades would not properly wipe across the cleaning pad 152 because of contact with the leading blades.
Cleaning Pad
The cleaning pad 152 is an absorbent foam body formed into a curved shape corresponding to the circular path of the wiper blades 162. The pad 152 cleans more effectively when covered with a woven material to provide a multitude of densely packed contacts points when wiping the blades. Accordingly, the strand size of the woven material should be relatively small; say less than 2 deniers. A microfiber material works particularly well with a strand size of about 1 denier.
The cleaning pad 152 extends the length of the wiper blades 162 which in turn extend the length of the pagewidth printhead. The pagewidth cleaning pad 152 cleans the entire length of the wiper blades simultaneously which reduces the time required for each wiping operation. Furthermore the length of the pagewidth cleaning pad inherently provides a large volume of the absorbent material for holding a relatively large amount of ink. With a greater capacity for absorbing ink, the cleaning pad 152 will be replaced less frequently.
Capping the Printhead
As shown in
Uncapping the Printhead
Wiping the Printhead
Wiper Blade Cleaning
After dragging the wiper blades 162 past the doctor blade 154, any residual dust and contaminants stuck to the blades is removed by the absorbent cleaning pad 152. This step is shown in
During this process the print platen maintenance station 206 is directly opposite the printhead ICs 30. If desired, the carousel can be lifted by rotation of the lift cam 172 so that the nozzles can fire into the absorbent material 208. Any colour mixing at the ink nozzles is immediately purged. Holes (not shown) drilled into the side of the tubular chassis 166 provides a fluid communication between the absorbent material 208 and the porous material 210 within the central cavity of the carousel shaft 166. Ink absorbed by the material 208 is drawn into, and retained by, the porous material 210. To drain the porous material 210, the carousel 150 can be provided with a vacuum attachment point (not shown) to draw the waste ink away.
With the wiper blades clean, the carousel 150 continues to rotate (see
At the end of the print job or prior to the printer going into standby mode, the carousel 150 is retracted away from the printhead ICs 30 in rotated so that the printhead capping maintenance station 198 is again presented to the printhead. As shown in
Printhead Maintenance Carousel
The maintenance carousel has four printhead maintenance stations; a print platen 206, a wiper member 162, a printhead capper 198 and a spittoon/blotter 220. Each of the maintenance stations is mounted to its own outer chassis component. The outer chassis components fit around the carousel tubular shaft 166 and interengage each other to lock on to the shaft. At one end of the tubular shaft 166 is a carousel encoder disk 204 and a carousel spur gear 212 which is driven by the carousel rotation motor (not shown) described below. The tubular shaft is fixed to the spur gear or rotation therewith. The printhead maintenance stations rotate together with the tubular shaft by virtue of their firm compressive grip on the shaft's exterior.
The wiper blade outer chassis component 214 is an aluminium extrusion (or other suitable alloy) configured to securely hold the wiper blades 162. Similarly, the other outer chassis components are metal extrusions for securely mounting the softer elastomeric and or absorbent porous material of their respective maintenance stations. The outer chassis components for the print platen 216 and the printhead capper 198 have a series of identical locking lugs 226 along each of the longitudinal edges. The wiper member outer chassis component 214 and the spittoon/blotter outer chassis component 218 have complementary bayonet style slots for receiving the locking lugs 226. Each of the bayonet slots has a lug access aperture 228 adjacent a lug locking slot 230. Inserting the locking lugs 226 into the lug access aperture 228 of the adjacent outer chassis component, and then longitudinally sliding the components relative to each other will lock them on to the chassis tubular shaft 166.
To improve the friction, and therefore the locking engagement, between each of the maintenance stations and the chassis chip shaft 166, each of the printhead maintenance stations have an element with a curved shaft engagement surface 234. The print platen 206 has an absorbent member 224 with a curved shaft engagement surface 234 formed on one side. The spittoon/blotter outer chassis component 218 has a relatively large absorbent spittoon/blotter member 220 which also has a curved shaft engagement surface 234 formed on its interior face. Likewise, the outer chassis component for the printhead capper 198, and the common base of the wiper blades 162 work has curved shaft engagement surfaces 234.
The ordinary worker will appreciate that clamping the outer chassis to the inner chassis with the use of interengaging locking formations minimises the amount of machining and assembly time while maintaining fine tolerances for precisely mounting the maintenance station structures. Furthermore, the outer chassis components can be assembled in different configurations. The wiper blade outer chassis component 214 can change positions with the spittoon/blotter chassis component 218. Similarly, the printhead capper 198 can swap with the print platen 206. In this way the maintenance station can be assembled in a manner that is optimised for the particular printer in which it will be installed.
Injection Molded Polymer Carousel Chassis
With the widespread popularity of digital photography, there is increasing demand for full bleed printing of colour images. “Full bleed printing” is printing to the very edges of the media surface. This will usually cause some “over spray” where ejected ink misses the edge of the media substrate and deposits on the supporting print platen. This over spray ink can then smear onto subsequent sheets of media.
The arrangement shown in
Some printers in the Applicant's range use this to provide a printing gap 244 of 0.7 millimetres. However this can be further reduced by flattening the bead of encapsulant material 240 adjacent the printhead ICs 30. Power and data is transmitted to the printhead ICs 30 by the flex PCB 242 mounted to the exterior of the LCP molding 20. The contacts of the flex PCB 242 are electrically connected to the contacts of the printhead ICs 30 by a line of wire bonds (not shown). To protect the wire bonds, they are encapsulated in an epoxy material referred to as encapsulant. The Applicant has developed several techniques for flattening the profile of the wire bonds and the bead of encapsulant 240 covering them. This in turn allows the printing gap 244 to be further reduced.
The print platen 206 has an indentation or central recessed portion 248 which is directly opposite the nozzles of the printhead ICs 30. Any over spray ink will be in this region of the platen 206. Recessing this region away from the remainder of the platen ensures that the media substrate will not get smeared with wet over spray ink. The surface of the central recessed 248 is in fluid communication with an absorbent fibrous element 250. In turn, the fibrous element 250 is in fluid communication with porous material 254 in the centre of the chassis 236 by capillary tubes 252. Over sprayed ink is wicked into the fibrous element 250 and drawn into the porous material 254 by capillary action through the tubes 252.
Whenever the printhead cartridge 2 is replaced, it needs to be primed with ink. Priming is notoriously wasteful as the ink is typically forced through the nozzles until the entire printhead structure has purged any air bubbles. In the time it takes for the air to be cleared from the multitude of conduits extending through the printhead, a significant amount of ink has been wasted.
To combat this, the maintenance carousel 150 is raised so that the priming contact pad 258 covers the nozzles of the printhead ICs 30. Holding the contact pad 258 against the nozzle array as it is primed under pressure significantly reduces the volume of ink purged through the nozzles. The porous material partially obstructs the nozzles to constrict the flow of ink. However the flow of air out of the nozzles is much less constricted, so the overall priming process is not delayed because of the flow obstruction generated by the porous material. The elastomeric skirt 256 seals against the underside of the LCP molding 22 to capture any excess ink that may flow from the sides of the contact pad 258. Flow apertures 264 formed in the rigid polymer base 260 allows the ink absorbed by the pad 258 and any excess ink to flow to the absorbent fibrous element 250 (identical to that used by the print platen 206). As with the print platen 206, ink in the fibrous element 250 is drawn into the porous material 254 within the injection molded chassis 236 by the capillary tubes 252.
By using the printhead priming station 262, the amount of wasted ink is significantly reduced. Without the priming station, the volume of ink wasted when priming the pagewidth printhead is typically about two millilitres per colour. With the priming station 262, this is reduced to 0.1 millilitres per colour.
The priming contact pad 258 need not be formed of porous material. Instead, the pad can be formed from the same elastomeric material as the surrounding skirt 256. In this case, the contact pad 258 needs to have a particular surface roughness. The surface that engages the nozzle face of the printhead ICs 30, should be rough at the 2 to 4 micron scale, but smooth and compliant at the 20 micron scale. This type of surface roughness allows air to escape from between the nozzle face and contact pad, but only a small amount of ink.
In
The chassis 236 has four maintenance station mounting sockets 276 formed in its exterior surface. The sockets 276 are identical so that they can receive any one of the various maintenance stations (206, 266, 262, 272). In this way the maintenance stations become interchangeable modules and the order which the maintenance stations are presented to the printhead can be changed to suit different printers. Furthermore, if the maintenance stations themselves are modified, their standard sockets ensure they are easily incorporated into the existing production line with a minimum of retooling. The maintenance stations are secured in the sockets with adhesive but other methods such as an ultra sonic spot weld or mechanical interengagement would also be suitable.
As shown in
Five Maintenance Station Embodiment
The five station maintenance carousel 150 adds a spittoon 284 to allow the printer to use major ink purges as part of the maintenance regime. The four station carousel of
The spittoon 284 has large apertures in its face 286 or a series of retaining ribs to hold the fibrous wicking material 250 in the hard plastic base. This keeps the fibrous element 250 very open to a potentially dense spray of ink. One face of the fibrous element 250 presses against the capillary tubes 252 to enhance the flow to the porous material 254 in the central cavity of the chassis 236.
The five socket chassis 236 is injection molded using five sliders configured at 72 degrees to each other, or six sliders at 60 degrees to each other. Similarly, a maintenance carousel with more than five stations is also possible. If the nozzle face is prone to collecting dried ink, it can be difficult to remove with a wiper alone. In these situations, the printer may require a station (not shown) for jetting ink solvent or other cleaning fluid onto the nozzle face. This can be incorporated instead of, or in addition to the spittoon.
Wiper Variants
Single Contact Blade
Multiple Contact Blades
With multiple parallel blades wiping across the nozzle face, a single traverse by the wiper member will collect more of the dust and contaminants. While a multiple blade design is less compact than a single blade, each wiping operation is quicker and more effective. Hence the printhead can be wiped between pages during the print job and any preliminary maintenance regime performed prior to a print job is completed in a short time.
Single Skew Blade
A single wiper blade is a simple wiping arrangement with low production and assembly costs. Furthermore, by mounting the blade so that it is skew to the wiping direction, the nozzle face will be in contact with only one section of blade and any time during the traverse of the wiper member. With only one section in contact with the nozzle face, the blade does not buckle or curl because of inconsistent contact pressure along its full length. This ensures sufficient contact pressure between the wiper blade and all of the nozzle face without needing to precisely line the blade so that it is completely parallel to the nozzle face. This allows the manufacturing tolerances to be relaxed so that higher volume low-cost production techniques can be employed. This may entail some compromise in terms of increasing the distance that the wiper member must travel in order to clean the printhead, and therefore increasing the time required from each wiping operation. However the reduced manufacturing costs outweigh these potential disadvantages.
Independent Contact Blades
Wiping the nozzle face of pagewidth printhead with a single long blade can be ineffective. Inconsistent contact pressure between the blade and the nozzle face can cause the blade to buckle or curl at certain sections along its length. In these sections the contact pressure can be insufficient or there maybe no contact between the blade and the nozzle face. A wiper blade divided into individual blade sections can address this problem. Each section is capable of moving relative to its adjacent sections so any inconsistencies in the contact force, will not cause buckling or curling in other sections of blade. In this may contact pressure is maintained at the nozzle face is clean effectively.
Nozzle Face Wiper Having Multiple Skew Blades
In
Wiper with Array of Pads
In
Using a wiping surface that has been divided into an array 310 of individual contact pads allows each pad to move relative to its adjacent pads so any inconsistencies in the contact force will vary the amount each pad compresses and deforms individually. Relatively high compression of one pad will not necessarily transfer compressive forces to its adjacent pad. In this way, uniform contact pressure is maintained at the nozzle face is cleaned more effectively.
Sinusoidal Blade
In the wiping maintenance station 266 shown in
Using a wiping blade that has a zigzag or sinusoidal shape wipes the nozzle face with a number wiper sections that are inclined to the media feed direction. This configuration also keeps the length of travel of the wiper member relative to the printhead small enough to remain accurate and compact.
Single Blade with Non-Linear Contact Surface
By using a wiping surface that has an angled or curved shape so that the majority of the nozzle face is wiped with a wiper section that is inclined to the media feed direction while reducing the length of travel of the wiper member relative to the printhead. The ordinary worker will understand that the contact blade can have a shallow V-shape or U-shape. Furthermore if the leading edge of the blade 318 is the intersection of the two linear sections (or the curved section of the U-shaped blade), the Applicant has found that there is less blade wear because of the additional support provided to the initial point of contact with the nozzle face.
Fibrous Pad
Combination Wiper Maintenance Stations
It will be appreciated that some printhead designs will be most effectively cleaned by a wiper that has a combination of the above wiping structures. For example a single blade in combination with a series of skew blades, or a series of parallel blades with a fibrous pad in between. The combination wiper maintenance station can be derived by choosing the specific wiping structures on the basis of their individual merits and strength.
Printhead Maintenance Facility Drive System
The exploded perspective in
The carousel lift cams 172 contact respective carousel lift arms 158 via the cam engaging rollers 168 (it will be appreciated that the cam engaging rollers could equally be a surface of low friction material such as high density polyethylene-HDPE). As the cams 172 are identical and identically mounted to the carousel lift shaft 160 the displacement of the carousel lift arms 158 is likewise identical.
The carousel rotation drive is best illustrated in the enlarged exploded partial perspective of
As the carousel rotation and the carousel lift the controlled by a separate independent drives, each drive powered by a stepper motor that provides the PEC with with feedback as to motor speed and rotation, the printer has a broad range of maintenance procedures from which to choose. The carousel rotation motor 326 can be driven in either direction and at the variable speeds. Accordingly the nozzle face can be wiped in either direction and the wiper blades can be cleaned against the absorbent pad 152 in both directions. This is particularly useful if paper dust or other contaminants passed to the nozzle face because of a mechanical engagement with the surface irregularity on the nozzle face. Wiping in the opposite direction will often dislodge such mechanical engagements. It is also useful to reduce the speed of the wiper blades 162 as they come into contact with the nozzle face and then increase speed once the blades have disengaged the nozzle face. Indeed the wiper blades 162 can slow down for initial contact with the nozzle face and subsequently increase speed while wiping.
Similarly, the wiper blades 162 can be moved past the doctor blade 154 at a greater speed than the blades are moved over the cleaning pad 152. The blades 162 can be wiped in both directions with any number of revolutions in either direction. Furthermore the order in which the various maintenance stations are presented to the printhead can be easily programmed into the PEC and or left to the discretion of the user.
The present invention has been described herein by way of example only. The ordinary worker will readily recognise many variations and modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the broad inventive concept.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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