Patent Application
20150231888
The invention relates to the field of printing, and in particular, to printing systems.
Inkjet printers are used for a variety of purposes, from desktop to production printing. For example, entities with substantial printing demands typically use an inkjet production printer. An inkjet production printer is a high-speed printer used for volume printing (e.g., one hundred pages per minute or more), and may include continuous-forms printers that print on a web of print media stored on a large roll.
While a continuous-forms inkjet printer operates, the web is quickly passed underneath the nozzles of printheads of the printer, which discharge ink onto the web at intervals to form pixels. Although most of the ink dispensed by the printheads is transferred to the web, some amount of ink remains on the nozzles of the printheads, and this amount may vary depending on the viscosity of the ink used. For example, pigment inks are particularly tacky in comparison to dye inks.
In order to clean the printhead nozzles and ensure that congealed ink does not interfere with the printing process, many inkjet printers include wipers that travel across the printheads and scrape off residual ink before the ink can congeal. However, the wipers themselves accumulate residual ink as they clean the printheads. Congealed ink on a wiper reduces the overall efficacy of that wiper, and can even damage or clog the printheads.
Embodiments described herein provide wiper cleaning mechanisms that are capable of scraping ink from a wiper for a printhead and utilizing a suction device to vacuum scraped ink off of the wiper. This system, which vacuums and scrapes a wiper for a printhead, ensures that the wiper (and therefore the printhead cleaned by the wiper) remains clean even after long periods of use.
One embodiment is a system that includes a cleaning mechanism for a wiper of a printing system. The cleaning mechanism includes a scraper able to scrape ink off of the wiper, and also includes a suction device that is proximate to the scraper and is able to remove the ink from the scraper.
Another embodiment is a system which includes a wiper that is able to clean a printhead of a printer. The system also includes a scraper and a chamber. The scraper is able to scrape ink off of the wiper. The chamber surrounds the scraper and includes a suction device, proximate to the scraper, that is able to remove ink from the scraper.
Another embodiment is a method. The method includes operating a wiper of a printer to remove ink from a printhead. The method also includes sliding a scraper along the wiper to remove ink from the wiper, and applying suction proximate to the scraper while the scraper slides along the wiper.
Other exemplary embodiments (e.g., methods and computer-readable media relating to the foregoing embodiments) may be described below.
Some embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference number represents the same element or the same type of element on all drawings.
The figures and the following description illustrate specific exemplary embodiments of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of the invention and are included within the scope of the invention. Furthermore, any examples described herein are intended to aid in understanding the principles of the invention, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments or examples described below, but by the claims and their equivalents.
The operations of printheads 220 are directed by print controller 210. For example, print controller 210 may instruct printheads 220 to mark specific pixel locations on media 120 during printing. Print controller 210 may further operate wipers 230, and any suitable cleaning mechanisms for wipers 230. Printer controller 210 may be implemented, for example, as custom circuitry, as a processor executing programmed instructions stored in an associated program memory, or some combination thereof.
Wipers 230 are used to clean printheads 220. For example, print controller 210 may drive wipers 230 at regular intervals (e.g., after a certain number of pages, at the end of each job, after a specific time interval, after a cleaning or flushing cycle of a printhead 220, etc.) in order to ensure that ink does not congeal onto printheads 220. If viscous inks are used by printheads 220, wipers 230 may be used more often to ensure that no clogging of printhead nozzles occurs. Wipers 230 may be driven across printheads 220 using any suitable drive systems. For example, wipers 230 may be mounted into a track capable of being driven back and forth across printheads 220. In another example, printheads 220 may be driven across one or more stationary wipers 230. Wipers 230 may be made from any suitable material, such as rubberized compounds/materials or other elastic components.
To address the issue of ink that congeals onto a wiper, printer 110 includes a wiper cleaning mechanism that is capable of scraping and suctioning residual ink off of wiper 230.
In this embodiment, an additional support structure 638 (here, an exemplary fixed linear rail) is provided in order to guide cleaning mechanism 610 as it travels back and forth across wiper 230. Support structure 638 and cleaning mechanism 610 may, for example, include any suitable combination of cut-outs and features (not shown) to enable cleaning mechanism 610 to predictably slide across support structure 638.
As shown in
Any suitable mechanism may be used to apply a differential pressure between passage 720 and entrance 730. For example, a compressor, pressurized gas source, pump, or other means may be used.
The particular arrangement, number, and configuration of components described herein is exemplary and non-limiting. Illustrative details of the operation of cleaning mechanism 610 will be discussed with regard to
In step 1002, print controller 210 instructs an actuator at printer 110 to operate wiper 230 and thereby remove residual ink from nozzles of a printhead 220. Once wiper 230 has been swept across the printhead nozzles, some residual ink remains on wiper 230. If this ink is allowed to remain on wiper 230 it may congeal, which in turn reduces the efficacy of wiper 230, and may even damage a printhead 220, the next time wiper 230 is used to clean the nozzles of the printheads.
In order to clean wiper 230, print controller 210 instructs an actuator to slide cleaning mechanism 610 along wiper 230. Because of its design, cleaning mechanism 610 scrapes residual ink off of wiper 230. During this time, in step 1006, cleaning mechanism 610 also applies differential pressure to passage 720, operating passage 720 as a suction device to draw scraped ink into a receptable (e.g., a compartment) via tube 620.
Using cleaning mechanism 610 and method 1000, a wiper of a printing system can be cleaned in an effective manner with minimal waste and mess. The scraper and the suction device, when used in combination, ensure that excess ink is properly removed from the wiper and disposed of. Thus, the wiper may be used numerous times without congealed ink becoming a concern. This may in turn reduce the interval between manual cleaning and maintenance of the wiper.
In a further embodiment, cleaning mechanism 610 includes an additional dispenser which is capable of applying a chemical into chamber 700 and onto wiper 230. The chemical may be applied in order to aid in dissolving ink, or otherwise facilitating the ink removal process. For example, the applied chemical may be a surfactant, a solvent, etc.
In a further embodiment, a cleaning mechanism may include a chamber on either side of wiper 230 (e.g., sides 232 and 234 as shown in
In an additional further embodiment, cleaning mechanism 610 may remain substantially stationary. In such embodiments, an actuator may be used to drive wiper 230 across cleaning mechanism 610.
In one particular embodiment, software is used to direct a processing system of print controller 210 to perform the various operations disclosed herein.
Computer readable storage medium 1312 can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor device. Examples of computer readable storage medium 1312 include a solid state memory, a magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W), and DVD.
Processing system 1300, being suitable for storing and/or executing the program code, includes at least one processor 1302 coupled to program and data memory 1304 through a system bus 1350. Program and data memory 1304 can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at least some program code and/or data in order to reduce the number of times the code and/or data are retrieved from bulk storage during execution.
Input/output or I/O devices 1306 (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled either directly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapter interfaces 1308 may also be integrated with the system to enable processing system 1300 to become coupled to other data processing systems or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modems, IBM Channel attachments, SCSI, Fibre Channel, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network or host interface adapters. Display device interface 1310 may be integrated with the system to interface to one or more display devices, such as printing systems and screens for presentation of data generated by processor 1302.
Although specific embodiments were described herein, the scope of the invention is not limited to those specific embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims and any equivalents thereof.
