Transaction printing device having wiper debris collectors

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6302515
  • Patent Number
    6,302,515
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, December 23, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, October 16, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A transaction printing device includes a printhead cartridge having an integrally formed wiper cleaning station and printhead. The wiper cleaning station is positioned so as to engage a wiper as the cleaning station travels and includes a pair of recessed wiper debris collectors. Each of the debris collectors opens into a corresponding debris accumulation channel to facilitate accumulating removed wiper debris with the debris collectors.
Description




TECHNICAL FIELD




The present invention relates to an inkjet printing system and method of printing. More particularly, the present invention relates to an inkjet transaction printing device and a method of printing transaction receipts with a disposable printhead and wiper debris collector.




BACKGROUND




A typical inkjet printing device generally include a traveling carriage unit for supporting one or more printheads in a desired orientation relative to a ink receiving surface. In this regard, as the carriage unit travels along a rectilinear path of travel adjacent to the ink-receiving surface, the printheads eject ink on to the ink-receiving surface to form desired indicia.




Such printheads typically have an orifice plate with a plurality of small nozzles for ejecting the ink toward the ink-receiving surface. Because of residue build up on and around these small nozzles or opening, many inkjet printing devices include a service station module that caps, wipes and catches spit ink droplets that facilitates keeping the printhead clean. A necessary operation in servicing such a printhead is to make certain that the wiper utilized to remove residue is also cleaned periodically.




A prior solution for cleaning such a wiper included providing a wiper cleaning station within the service station module. In this regard, not only is a wiper cleaning station required but also special wiper cleaning fluids are necessary to clean the wiper. Thus, while such wiper cleaning stations are satisfactory for their intended purpose, the wiper cleaning station parts are nevertheless expected to last for the life of the printing device and adds to the cost of operating the printer because of the special cleaning fluids that must be provided. Therefore it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved inkjet printing device that does not require a wiper cleaning station that is expected to last the life of the printing device nor require special cleaning fluids.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention provides a disposable printhead cartridge having an integrated inkjet printhead and wiper debris collector for printing and servicing a transaction printing device.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS




The above mentioned features of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become apparent, and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of the embodiment of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of an inkjet printing device which uses an exemplary disposable inkjet print cartridge with an integrated printhead and printhead wiper cleaning station which is constructed in accordance with the present invention;





FIG. 2

is an exemplary disposable print cartridge having an integrated inkjet printhead and printhead wiper station which may be used in the printing device of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is another exemplary disposable print cartridge having an integrated inkjet printhead and printhead wiper station which may be used in the printing device of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a front face plan-view of the print cartridge of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 5

is an enlarged diagrammatic fragmentary cross sectional view taken at the line


5





5


of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 6

is an enlarged diagrammatic fragmentary cross sectional view taken at the line


6





6


of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 7

is a greatly enlarge front face plan view of a printhead of the print cartridge of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 8

is a greatly enlarged front face plan view similar to

FIG. 7

of the printhead with portions removed for clarity of illustration;





FIG. 9

is a diagrammatic fragmentary cross sectional view taken at the line


5





5


of

FIG. 8

, and is shown greatly enlarged in comparison to the illustration of

FIG. 8

; and





FIG. 10

is a diagrammatic cross sectional view of a portion of the printhead, and during a stage of the manufacturing process, and is similar to the portion seen in FIG.


9


.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to

FIG. 1

thereof there is illustrated an inkjet printing device, such as a transaction printer


10


that is constructed in accordance to the present invention. The transaction printer


10


is utilized for printing receipts and the like in typical commercial transactions. In this regard, the transaction printer


10


is constructed for ease of use in a highly reliable manner requiring operator intervention only for the purpose of changing the consumables utilized in printing transaction receipts, such as a transaction receipt


12


illustrated in FIG.


1


.




Considering now the transaction printer


10


in greater detail with reference to

FIG. 1

, the printer


10


generally includes a base


14


for supporting therein a paper delivery system


18


and an ink delivery system


20


. The paper delivery system


18


moves a continuous roll of paper


22


through a print zone


24


, where ink is ejected onto the paper


22


from one or more disposable low profile inkjet printhead cartridges, such as a printhead cartridge


26


that forms part of the ink delivery system


20


.




As best seen in

FIG. 1

, the ink delivery system


20


includes a print engine


28


for controlling the movement of a carriage cartridge stall


30


that travels along a slide bar


32


in a rectilinear path of travel adjacent to the print zone


24


. The print engine


28


also controls the ejecting of ink from the cartridge


26


to facilitate the forming of transaction receipts. As the manner of controlling the movement of the carriage cartridge stall


30


and the manner of ejecting of ink from the cartridge


26


are well known to those skilled in the art of inkjet printing, the details of the print engine


28


will not be described hereinafter in greater detail. In a like manner, the paper delivery system


18


for moving the continuous roll of paper


22


through the print zone


24


is also well known to those skilled in the art of impact printers and thus, the paper delivery system


18


will not be described in greater detail. It should be noted that the cartridge stall


30


may accommodate either a single cartridge


26


for black ink printing or a pair of cartridges


26


for black and selected color printing.




Considering now the inkjet printhead cartridge


26


in greater detail with reference to

FIG. 2

, the inkjet printhead cartridge


26


generally includes a cartridge body


34


having a substantially hollow structure for holding a supply of ink. In this regard, supply of ink provided in the cartridge


26


is a fast drying pigment ink that is provided in either black or a user selected color, such as magenta, cyan or yellow for example.




As best seen in

FIG. 2

, the cartridge body


34


has a general box like structure that includes a rear wall


37


, a top wall


39


, a bottom wall


41


, a pair of side walls


43


and


44


respectively and a front wall


46


. Integrally formed to the front wall


46


and projecting outwardly therefrom is a front face portion


36


having a sloping top wall


71


terminating at a lower lip


65


. A lower portion of the front face portion


36


helps define an inkjet printhead wiper cleaning station


45


as will be described hereinafter in greater detail. An inkjet printhead


47


is mounted within a recessed channel area


42


on the front face portion


36


and is sandwiched between the wiper cleaning station


45


.




In order to help improve the reliable operation of the printhead


47


, the printing device


10


also includes a wiper assembly


38


and wiper


40


. The wiper assembly


38


is mounted to the paper delivery system


18


in such a manner to provide interference between the wiper


40


and the printhead cartridge


26


. In this regard the interference is also provided with the printhead


47


in order to remove any residue build up on and around a set of fine-dimensioned orifices


58


(

FIG. 7

) forming thereon. In this regard, the interference of the wiper


40


with the printhead


47


is set to about between 0.25 millimeters to about 0.75 millimeters. A more preferred setting is between about 0.35 millimeters to about 0.60 millimeters, while the most preferred setting is set to about 0.50 millimeters. The wiper cleaning station


45


defined by the front face portion


36


of the printhead cartridge


26


makes certain that the wiper


40


is cleaned of accumulated debris each time the wiper


40


and the printhead


47


move relative to one another.




The ink delivery system


20


further includes a sponge


48


that is carried within a chamber


50


defined by the hollow space within the interior of the cartridge body


34


. The sponge


48


is for holding the supply of ink within the interior of the cartridge body


34


. A standpipe (not shown) conveys the printing fluid from the chamber


50


to the printhead


47


.




Considering now the printhead


47


in greater detail with reference to

FIG. 7

, the printhead


47


generally includes a printed circuit


53


which electrically couples the printhead


47


via a set of circuit traces


54


and electrical contacts


56


with the print engine


28


. That is, the electrical contacts


56


individually make electrical contact with matching contacts on a flex circuit (not shown) to the carriage stall


30


, and provide for the electrical interface of the printhead


47


with the print engine


28


. Individual fine-dimension orifices, such as the orifices


58


of the printhead


47


eject fluid when appropriate control signals are applied to the contacts


56


by the print engine


28


. The fine-dimensioned orifices


58


are formed in a metallic plate member


62


that is adhesively attached to the floor of the recess area


42


of the underlying front face portion


36


of the printhead cartridge


26


.




In order to provide a fluid communication path between the chamber


50


and a fluid receiving cavity


64


formed in the front face portion


36


of the cartridge body


34


, a through hole


66


is formed between front face portion


36


and a portion of the plate member


62


.




Considering now the printhead cartridge


26


in greater detail, the printhead cartridge


26


generally includes an integrally form outwardly projecting tab


35


for facilitating the installation and removal of the printhead cartridge


26


from the carriage stall


30


. The tab


35


is disposed on the rear wall


37


of the cartridge body


34


adjacent to the top


39


of the cartridge body


34


.




A top bull feed lip


52


is integrally formed in the top wall


39


extends across substantially the entire width dimension W of the cartridge body


34


adjacent to the rear wall


37


. A bottom bull feed lip


60


is disposed adjacent the bottom of the rear wall


37


on the bottom wall


41


of the cartridge body


34


. The bottom bull feed lip


60


is about one half the width dimension of the top bull feed lip


52


. In this regard, the top bull feed lip


52


and the bottom bull feed lip


60


cooperate with a bull feeder (not shown) to facilitate the proper orientation of the cartridge body


34


for manufacturing assembly purposes.




The cartridge body


34


has integrally formed thereon a right side datum member


93


and left side datum member


95


. The datum members


93


and


95


are integrally formed on respective ones of the sides


43


and


44


. In this regard, the respective datum members


93


and


95


extend across substantially the entire longitudinal dimension D of the walls


43


and


44


respectively. The datum members


93


and


95


are provided on the cartridge body


34


to further help facilitate the manufacturing of the printhead cartridge


26


by cooperating with the bull feeder to provide proper orientation of the cartridge body


34


for assembly purposes.




The datum members


93


and


95


also help in the proper installation of the printhead cartridge


26


in the carriage stall


30


. In this regard, as best seen in

FIG. 2

, the datum members


93


and


95


each extend outwardly from the front face portion


36


of the cartridge


26


to space the front face portion


36


from the cartridge stall


30


when the cartridge


26


is installed in the stall


30


. This spacing distance is selected to help provide a proper spacing between the orifices


58


and the paper


22


for printing purposes.




Considering now the front face portion


36


in greater detail with reference to

FIGS. 4-6

, the front face portion


36


includes a pair of spaced apart flex clip clearing slots


31


and


33


respectively. The slots


31


and


33


have a generally rectangular shaped and are disposed on opposite sides of the printhead


47


adjacent the glass substrate


73


. The flex clip clearing slots


31


and


33


permit the printhead cartridge


26


to rest in the carriage stall


30


without interfering with the flex cable clips (not shown) disposed therein.




As best seen in

FIG. 4

, the elongated recess area


42


has a sufficient depth and width for receiving therein the printhead


47


. In this regard, when the printhead


47


is mounted within the recess


42


, the printhead


47


cooperates with a right sidewall


69


and a left sidewall


70


of the recess


42


to form a pair of debris accumulation channels


73


and


74


respectively. The channels


73


and


74


extend into a pair of recessed debris catchers


77


and


79


respectively each having a generally rectangular box like shape. The debris catchers


77


and


79


are closed on one end and open into respective channels


73


and


74


to permit debris flowing and falling down the channels under the force of gravity to accumulate within the catchers


77


and


79


. A pair of dams


67


and


68


block the respective channels


73


and


74


for helping to direct channel residual ink into the catchers


77


and


79


.




The front face portion


36


further includes a pair of spaced sidewall members


81


and


83


that extend perpendicularly outwardly from the front wall


46


. The side wall members terminate in a pair of lips


85


and


87


respectively that are disposed adjacent to the recess


42


. In this regard, the lips are disposed in a horizontal plane parallel to the printhead


47


but at a slightly higher elevation for facilitating the cleaning of the wiper


40


as it first engages a side wall member, such as the side wall member


81


and then a lip, such as the lip


87


. As best seen in

FIG. 2

, the respective ones of the lips


85


and


87


have a sufficient width to provide a cleaning surface for engaging the cleaning surfaces of the wiper


40


.




Considering now the operation of the wiper cleaning station


45


in greater detail with reference to

FIGS. 1-2

, as the printhead cartridge


26


and wiper


40


are moved relative to one another in a first direction, the printhead cartridge


26


will engage a first cleaning surface of the wiper


40


with side wall


81


. As relative movement continues in this same first direction, the first cleaning surface of the wiper


40


is scraped along a second cleaning surface provided by the lip surface


87


. This scraping action permits any debris on the first cleaning surface of the wiper


40


to fall and flow down the sidewall


81


onto a lower right side plateau


98


. From the lip surface


87


, the wiper


40


snaps into the channel


73


permitting any remaining wiper debris to fall freely down the channel


73


and into the debris accumulating catcher


77


.




Next, the wiper


40


travels across the orifices


58


of the printhead


47


to clean the orifices


58


with the cleaned wiping surface of the wiper


40


. After cleaning the orifices


58


, the wiper


40


snaps off of the printhead


47


entering the opposite channel


74


permitting any debris removed from the printhead


47


to fall freely down the channel


74


to be accumulated in the channel


74


and the debris accumulating catcher


79


. As relative movement continues in the first direction, the first cleaning surface of the wiper engages the wall


70


and then the lip surface


85


. This engagement and scraping action further cleans the first cleaning surface of the wiper allowing the debris to fall down the wall


70


, and the channel


74


for accumulation in the debris accumulating catcher


79


. After passing over the lip surface


85


, the wiper


40


snaps into the space opposite side wall


83


allowing any remaining debris to fall under the force of gravity onto the outside lower left plateau


99


.




Considering further the operation of the cleaning station


45


with reference to

FIGS. 1-2

, as the printhead cartridge


26


and wiper


40


are moved relative to one another in a second or opposite direction than the first direction, the printhead cartridge


26


will engage a second cleaning surface of the wiper


40


with side wall


83


. As relative movement continues in this same second direction, the second cleaning surface of the wiper


40


is scraped along a second cleaning surface provided by the lip surface


87


. This scraping action permits any debris on the second cleaning surface of the wiper


40


to fall and flow down the sidewall


83


onto the lower plateau


99


. From the lip surface


87


, the wiper


40


snaps into the channel


74


permitting any remaining wiper debris to fall freely down the channel


74


and into the debris accumulating catcher


79


.




Next, the wiper


40


travels across the orifices


58


of the printhead


47


to clean the orifices


58


with the cleaned second wiping surface of the wiper


40


. After cleaning the orifices


58


, the wiper


40


snaps off of the printhead


47


entering the opposite channel


73


permitting any debris removed from the printhead


47


to fall freely down the channel


73


to be accumulated in the channel


73


and the debris accumulating catcher


77


. As relative movement continues in the first direction, the first cleaning surface of the wiper engages the wall


69


and then the lip surface


87


. This engagement and scraping action further cleans the second cleaning surface of the wiper


40


allowing the debris to fall down the wall


69


, and the channel


73


for accumulation in the debris accumulating catcher


77


. After passing over the lip surface


87


, the wiper


40


snaps into the space opposite side wall


81


allowing any remaining debris to fall under the force of gravity onto the outside plateau


98


.




The above described cleaning action of the first cleaning surface of the wiper


40


and the second cleaning surface of the wiper


40


is repeated until the ink supply of the printhead cartridge


26


is spent. At this time the printhead cartridge


26


is replaced resulting in a new wiper station being provided. It should also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the cutout areas indicated generally at


55


and


57


on either side of the raised front face portion above plateaus


98


and


99


respectively allows the wiper to disengage from the printhead, which in-turn allow the linear translation of the printhead cartridge to be reversed without creating any substantial wiper wear. The cutout areas


55


and


57


also allow a centrally disposed service station to be placed in the printing device


10


thereby greatly reducing the overall width of the printing device


10


.




Considering now the manufacture of the fully integrated thermal (FIT) fluid jet architecture of the printhead


47


in greater detail with reference to

FIGS. 7-10

, the thermal inkjet printhead


47


includes a substrate


72


(FIGS.


9


-


10


), which is most preferably formed as a plate of glass (i.e. an amorphous, generally non-conductive material). As seen in plan-view, the substrate


72


has a generally rectangular shape. Most preferably, the glass substrate is formed from an inexpensive type of soda/lime glass utilized in ordinary glass windows, which makes the printhead


47


very economical to manufacture. The printhead


47


is especially economical and inexpensive to manufacture when considered in comparison to printheads utilizing the conventional technologies that require a substrate of silicon or other crystalline semiconductor material.




On the glass substrate


72


is formed a thin-film structure


75


of plural layers. As will be further explained, during manufacturing of the printhead head


47


, the thin-film structure


75


is formed substantially of plural thin-film layers applied one after the other and atop of one another, and each of which entirely covers and is congruent with the plan-view shape of the substrate


72


. Again, this plan-view shape of the substrate


72


is seen in

FIGS. 7 and 8

. Once selected ones of these thin-film layers are formed on the substrate


72


, subsequent patterning and etching operations are used to define the contacts


56


and printed circuit


53


, for example, as is described hereinafter in greater detail.




The thin-film structure


75


includes a metallic heat sink and diffusion barrier thin-film layer


76


(

FIGS. 5 and 6

) which is applied upon the substrate


72


. The layer


76


covers the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


, and is preferably formed of chrome about 1 to 2 microns thick. Alternatively, the layer


76


may be formed of other metals and alloys. For example, the thin-film heat sink and diffusion barrier layer


76


may be formed of gold, palladium, or platinum, or of alloys of these or other metals.




Upon the metallic thin-film layer


76


is formed an insulator thin-film layer


78


. The insulator layer


78


is preferably formed of silicon oxide, and is about 1 to 2 microns thick. Again, this insulator layer


78


covers and is congruent with the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


.




Next, on the substrate


72


and on the insulator layer


76


, is formed a resistor thin-film layer


80


. The thin-film resistor layer


80


is preferably formed of tantalum, aluminum allow, and is preferably about 600 Angstroms thick. The resistor thin-film layer


80


is formed to cover and be congruent with the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


, but does not remain this extensive. That is, the resistor thin-film layer


80


is later patterned and etched back until it covers only an area congruent with the traces


54


of the printed circuit


53


, with each of the contacts


56


, and with each one of plural print resistor areas


82


(

FIG. 9

, and generally indicated with the arrowed number


82


on FIG.


8


).




Over the unpatterned and unetched resistor layer


80


is next formed a metallic conductor thin-film layer


84


. The metallic conductor thin-film layer


84


is formed preferably of aluminum, and is about 0.5 microns thick. Again, this metallic conductor layer


84


is initially formed to cover and be congruent with the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


. However, the conductor layer


84


is also later patterned and etched back to cover only the area defining the traces


54


of the printed circuit


53


, and defining the contacts


56


. More particularly, the conductor layer


84


is first etched away at the location of the print resistors


82


so that a portion of the thin film resistor layer


60


spanning between traces


54


of the printed circuit


53


provides the only conduction path between these traces


54


. Later, the etching operation is carried further, removing both the conductive layer


64


and the underlying resistive layer


60


over the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


, except at the locations of the traces


54


and contact pads


56


. This etching operation leaves the traces


54


and the contact pads


56


standing in relief on the insulative layer


78


, as can be appreciated from viewing FIG.


9


.




Accordingly, an in view of the foregoing, it will be understood that during operation of the printhead


47


when a current is applied between two of the contacts


56


leading via traces


54


to opposite sides of one of the print resistors


62


, the current to and from the respective print resort


82


is carried in the traces of the printed circuit


53


by a combination of the conductor thin-film layer


84


and the underlying resistor thin-film layer


80


. Because the conductive layer


64


has a much lower resistance than the resistive layer


80


, most of this current will flow in the layer


84


. However, at the print resistor


82


itself, only the underlying resistor layer


80


is available to carry (the overlying conductive layer


64


having been locally etched away). The print resistors


82


are fine-dimension areas of the resistive layer


80


. Thus, the print resistors


82


can be caused to quickly dissipate energy, and to liberate heat. However, also as best seen in

FIG. 7

, and recalling that the metallic heat sink layer


76


cover substantially the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


, it will be understood that this heat sink layer


76


both underlies the resistors


82


to absorb heat from these resistors, and has a large area (i.e. essentially the entire plan-view area of the printhead


47


) from which to dissipate excess heat. Thus, the printhead


47


during operation maintains a desirably low temperature, and can operate at firing repetition rates not hereto possible with conventional printheads using a glass substrate.




As

FIG. 10

illustrates in fragmentary cross sectional view, a first manufacturing intermediate article


90


results from the above described manufacturing steps prior to the patterning and etching steps described above and prior to the formation of the through hole


66


. This first manufacturing intermediate article


90


includes the substrate


72


, and the thin-film layers


76


,


78


,


80


, and


84


, each of which substantially covers and is congruent with the entire plan-view shape of the substrate


72


. The first manufacturing intermediate article


90


is subjected to the patterning and etching processes described above to produce a second manufacturing intermediate article


92


, substantially as is seen in

FIGS. 4 and 5

. On the second manufacturing intermediate article


92


is formed a pair of passivating thin-film layers


86


(

FIG. 9

) and which is indicated on

FIG. 6

in dash line. This passivating thin-film layer


86


includes a first sub-layer


88


of silicon nitride, followed by a second substrate layer


89


of silicon carbide. As seen in

FIG. 9

fragmentarily, the completion of the printhead


47


requires only the adhesive attachment of the metallic plate member


44


, with the print orifices


58


in alignment with the print resistors


82


.




In view of the foregoing, those ordinarily skilled in the pertinent arts will understand that the thin-film structure


74


may be formed on the substrate


72


using a variety of techniques. In summary then, during one or more of the deposition processes, the work-piece that will become the first and second intermediate articles, and which will become the completed printhead


47


, may be subjected to radio frequency energy. Particularly during the formation of the passivating layers


88


and


89


, the second manufacturing intermediate article


92


is exposed to elevated temperatures and to radio frequency energy to assist in the deposition of the layers. During the exposure of the article


92


to radio frequency energy at elevated temperature, the metallic heat sink layer


76


serves as a diffusion barrier to prevent migration of sodium from the soda/lime glass substrate


72


into the other thin layer structures of the printhead


47


. Particularly, where the sodium is not prevented from migrating into the passivation layer


88


, the sodium could cause a lesion in the passivation layer at which this layer would not long withstand the cavitation occurring in the printing fluid each time a bubble collapse after an ink jet droplet ejection. However, because the heat sink layer


76


covers the entire plan-view shape of the printhead


47


, there is no place where sodium from the glass substrate


72


can migrate into the thin-film structures above the metallic heat sink layer


76


. Thus, contamination of the thin film structure


74


with sodium from the glass substrate


72


is prevented.




Referring now to

FIG. 3

, there is illustrated another printhead cartridge


126


, which is constructed in accordance with the present invention. The printhead cartridge


126


is substantially identical to printhead cartridge


26


except for the structure of the front face portion. In this regard, the printhead cartridge


126


includes a cartridge body


134


that is integrally connected to a raised front face portion


136


. The raised front face portion


136


is substantially identical to the front face portion


36


except for its sidewall-outside plateau interconnection. In this regard, the front face portion


136


includes a pair of sidewalls


181


and


183


respectively that extend upwardly from plateaus


198


and


199


respectively at an angle θ, where the angle θ is about 60 degrees. Each one of the sidewalls


181


and


183


terminate in a lip, such as a lip


185


and a lip


187


respectively. From the foregoing, it should be understood by those skilled in the art, that the wedge shaped sidewalls


181


and


183


commence engaging a tip portion of the wiper


40


first and then gradually engage the respective ones of the first cleaning surface and the second cleaning surface providing more of scraping action against such cleaning surfaces.




While particular embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed, it is to be understood that various different modifications are possible and are contemplated within the true spirit and scope of the appended claims. There is no intention, therefore, of limitations to the exact abstract or disclosure herein presented. In this regard, those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central attributes thereof. Because the foregoing description of the present invention discloses only particularly a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that other variations are recognized as being within the scope of the present invention. For example, although the glass substrate of the present invention was describes as having a rectangular shape in plan-view, it is contemplated that other plan-view shapes could be formed to carry out the invention as well. Accordingly, the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiment that has been described in detail herein. Rather, reference should be made to the appended claims to define the spirit and scope of the present invention.



Claims
  • 1. A transaction printing device, comprising:a base having a width dimension; a wiper fixedly mounted within the printing device for removing debris from a printhead; a printhead cartridge stall coupled to said base and mounted for rectilinear movement along a path of travel along said width dimension, said stall being dimensioned to support from below a printhead cartridge having an integrally formed wiper cleaning station and a printhead; said wiper cleaning station being positioned by said stall to engage said wiper as the wiper cleaning station travels along the path of travel to remove wiper debris therefrom, said wiper cleaning station including a pair of recessed wiper debris collectors each having a generally rectangular box like shape wherein each individual recessed debris collector opens into a corresponding debris accumulation channel to facilitate accumulating removed wiper debris within said debris collectors; the printhead mounted on said printhead cartridge for engaging said wiper to facilitate removing printhead debris immediately after said wiper debris has been removed from said wiper.
  • 2. A transaction printing device according to claim 1, wherein said debris accumulating channels are dammed to facilitate directing fluid communication with printhead debris into said debris collectors.
  • 3. A transaction printing device according to claim 1, wherein said wiper debris collectors in a front plan-view have a generally rectangular shape to facilitate wiper debris collection.
  • 4. A transaction printing device according to claim 1, wherein the printhead cartridge stall is dimensioned to support the printhead cartridge for facilitating the ejecting of ink onto a transaction receipt having a width dimension of about 3 inches.
  • 5. A transaction printing device according to claim 1, wherein said printhead cartridge further includes a first linear translation reversing space adjacent a first one of said debris accumulation channels, said first space defined by a first external sidewall of the wiper service station and a front wall of the printhead cartridge, and a second linear translation reversing space adjacent a second one of said debris accumulation channels, said second space defined by a second external sidewall of the wiper service station and the front wall of the printhead cartridge for permitting the wiper to disengage from said wiper service station when said first or second linear traversing space of said printhead cartridge is opposite said wiper.
  • 6. A transaction printing device according to claim 5, wherein said printhead is disposed between said corresponding debris accumulation channel of a first one of said pair of wiper debris collectors and said corresponding debris accumulation channel of a second one of said pair of wiper debris collectors, and includes a nozzle array positioned to engage the stationary wiper to clean the nozzle array as the printhead cartridge travels along the path of travel.
RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to co-pending patent application Ser. No.: 09/471,860 by Yinan Xu, entitled “Wiper Cleaning Apparatus and Method of Using Same” filed Dec. 23, 1999, and co-pending patent application Ser. No.: 09/471,436 by Yinan Xu et al., entitled “Transaction Printing Device and Method of Using Same,” filed Dec. 23, 1999.

US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
4709247 Piatt et al. Nov 1987
5025271 Baker et al. Jun 1991
5202702 Terasawa et al. Apr 1993
5905513 Brandon et al. May 1999