Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080238981 | Printhead Maintenance Station With A Pad Mounted On A Pad Support And Having An Engagement Mechanism - Provided is a printhead maintenance station which includes a body defining an elongate slot along a length thereof, and a pad mounted on a pad support inside said body. The pad support is slidably engaged to said housing to be slidable to a first position, where the pad protrudes from the slot, and a second position, where the pad is inside the body. The station also includes an engagement mechanism to displace the pad between the first and second positions. | 10-02-2008 |
20080238991 | Printhead assembly with a printhead, a wicking element and a pad to facilitate the transferral of ink from the printhead to the wicking element. - Provided is a printhead assembly including a support structure, and a printhead mounted on the support structure, said printhead having an ink ejection face. The assembly also includes a print media guide proximate the support structure for guiding print media past the printhead for printing, and a wicking element mounted on the support structure between the support structure and the print media guide. Further included is a pad with an angled contact surface to operatively facilitate the transferral of ink from the printhead to the wicking element. | 10-02-2008 |
20080291237 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY HAVING A WICKING ELEMENT AND A PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION - Provided is a printhead assembly that includes a support structure and a printhead mounted on the support structure, said printhead having an ink ejection face. The assembly also includes a print media guide proximate the support structure for guiding print media past the printhead for printing, and a wicking element mounted on the support structure between the support structure and the print media guide. Further included is a pad with an angled contact surface to facilitate the transfer of ink from the printhead to the wicking element, as well as a printhead maintenance station. The maintenance station has a body defining an elongate slot along a length thereof, said pad slidably mounted inside said body to be slidable to a first position, where the pad protrudes from the slot, and a second position, where the pad is inside the body. | 11-27-2008 |
20080291238 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH A PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION - Provided is a printhead assembly that includes a support structure with a printhead mounted on the support structure, said printhead having an ink ejection face, and a print media guide proximate the support structure for guiding print media past the printhead for printing. Also included is a wicking element mounted on the support structure between the support structure and the print media guide, as well as a printhead maintenance station configured to facilitate the transferral of ink from the printhead to the wicking element. | 11-27-2008 |
20090002434 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH A WICKING ELEMENT - Provided is a printhead assembly having a support structure with a printhead mounted on the support structure, said printhead having an ink ejection face, and a print media guide proximate the support structure for guiding print media past the printhead for printing. The assembly also includes a wicking element mounted on the support structure between the support structure and the print media guide. An ink collector is arranged on the wicking element for receiving ink that has wicked through the wicking element to ensure that wicked ink is removed away from the printhead. | 01-01-2009 |
20090002436 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH A WICKING ELEMENT - A printhead maintenance station includes a housing operatively positioned with respect to an ink ejection face to be maintained. The housing defines a pair of slots. A support arm has lugs at each end that are slidably received in respective slots. A support is mounted on the support arm. A pad is mounted on the support and is suitable for wiping ink. A motor is operatively mounted with respect to the housing. A pair of cams is rotatable by the motor and engaged with respective lugs such that the motor can slide the arms with respect to the housing, thereby moving the pad between a first operative position and a second, inoperative position. | 01-01-2009 |
20090002437 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH A PRINT MEDIA GUIDE AND A WICKING ELEMENT - Provided is a printhead assembly that includes a printhead mounted on a support structure, said printhead having an ink ejection face, and a print media guide mounted on the support structure for guiding print media past the printhead for printing. The assembly also includes a wicking element mounted on the support structure between the support structure and the print media guide, as well as a pad with an angled contact surface to operatively facilitate the transferral of ink from the printhead to the wicking element. The wicking element is formed from an absorbent material and is positioned in a cavity defined between the print media guide and the support structure. | 01-01-2009 |
20090009554 | PRINT CRADLE ASSEMBLY FOR A PRINTHEAD CARTRIDGE - Provided is a print cradle assembly for a printhead cartridge. The cradle assembly includes a docking bay molding and a media feed drive assembly positioned on the docking bay molding and configured to feed media through the assembly. The cradle assembly also includes a printed circuit board (PCB) with a printer controller for controlling the media feed drive assembly and operation of the cartridge, as well as a heatshield mounted to the PCB for shielding the printer controller from electromagnetic interference (EMI) and user contact with the PCB. | 01-08-2009 |
20090009557 | METHOD OF MAINTAINING PRINTHEAD WITH CLEANED PAD - A method of maintaining a printhead in an operable condition is provided in which a pad is moved between a first position in which the pad is sealingly engaged with the printhead, a second position in which the pad is disengaged from the printhead and a third position in which the pad is engaged with a pad cleaner. The pad is biased towards the second position relative to the third position. | 01-08-2009 |
20090009576 | VALVE AND REGULATOR ARRANGEMENT FOR A PRINTHEAD CARTRIDGE - Provided is an inlet valve and pressure regulator arrangement for a printhead cartridge. The arrangement includes an inlet body having a skirt engaging portion with a depressible member, and a spacer with a central hub. Also included is a diaphragm with a central opening and a spring positioned by a regulator outlet portion so that said spring biases the central opening of the diaphragm against the central hub. An increase in fluid pressure when the depressible member is operatively depressed overcomes the spring bias to allow fluid to flow from the inlet body to the regulator outlet. | 01-08-2009 |
20090015631 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY WITH PROGRESSIVELY ENGAGING MAINTENANCE PAD AND PRINTHEAD - A printhead assembly is provided for an inkjet printer. The printhead assembly includes a printhead having an ink ejection face defining a plurality of nozzle openings from which ink can be ejected. A maintenance station is operatively mounted to the printhead. The maintenance station includes a pad having a contact surface that can be brought into contact with the ink ejection face, and an engagement mechanism configured to progressively engage the contact surface with the ink ejection face. | 01-15-2009 |
20090021554 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION WITH SLIDING CONTACT PAD ASSEMBLY - A printhead maintenance station is provided for an inkjet printer. The maintenance station includes an elongate housing defining internal slots at either end. An elongate support arm defines lugs at either end which are complementarily received in the slots so that the support arm is can slide within the slots. A support is mounted to the lugs and defines a recess. A sloping pad is received in the recess and has a contact surface for bringing into contact with an ink ejection face of a printhead. | 01-22-2009 |
20090021555 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION WITH CURVED CONTACT PAD - A printhead maintenance station is provided for an inkjet printer. The maintenance station includes an elongate housing defining internal slots at either end. An elongate support arm assembly can be complementarily received within the slots. The support arm assembly is able to slide within the slots and also defines a pad recess. A pad is received in the recess and has a contact surface defining a curved profile that can be brought into contact with an ink ejection face of a printhead. | 01-22-2009 |
20090027442 | PRINT ENGINE WITH NESTED CRADLE, PRINTHEAD CARTRIDGE AND INK CARTRIDGES - The present invention relates to a print engine with a nested cradle, printhead cartridge and ink cartridges that form a stack. The print engine includes a printer cradle including an elongate chassis, a media drive assembly mounted at one end of the chassis, and a print media drive roller extending along the chassis and driven by the media drive assembly. A printhead cartridge is installed in the cradle to form a plurality of docking bays and includes an ink ejection printhead. Ink cartridges are installed in respective docking bays to supply respective types of ink to the ink ejection printhead. | 01-29-2009 |
20090066754 | INK DELIVERY ARRANGEMENT WITH CMOS DRIVEN NOZZLES - An ink delivery arrangement includes a silicon substrate that defines a plurality of ink inlet channels. A CMOS drive circuitry layer is arranged on the silicon substrate. A plurality of nozzle arrangements is positioned on the silicon substrate to be in fluid communication with respective ink inlet channels. Each nozzle arrangement includes an annular nozzle wall about a respective ink inlet channel. A nozzle roof is on the nozzle wall so that the wall and roof define a nozzle chamber, the roof being movable with respect to the wall. A nozzle rim is defined by the nozzle roof so that ink can be ejected from the nozzle chamber when the roof is moved with respect to the wall. An electrically actuated beam is fast with the substrate to receive current from the drive circuitry layer and is connected to the nozzle roof to move the nozzle roof when actuated by the current. | 03-12-2009 |
20090073224 | PRINT CRADLE ASSEMBLY FOR A PRINTHEAD CARTRIDGE - Provided is a print cradle assembly for a printhead cartridge. The cradle assembly includes a docking bay molding, a media feed drive assembly positioned on the docking bay molding and configured to feed media through the assembly, and a printed circuit board (PCB) with a printer controller for controlling the media feed drive assembly and operation of the cartridge. The cradle assembly also includes a maintenance drive assembly for driving a capping mechanism of a printhead of the cartridge. | 03-19-2009 |
20090085962 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION - A printhead maintenance station comprises an elastically deformable pad having a contact surface adapted for sealing engagement with an ink ejection face of a printhead; and an engagement mechanism for moving the pad between a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly engaged with the face and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the face. The engagement mechanism moves the pad between the first position and the second position in a substantially perpendicular direction with respect to the face, and the contact surface is a curved surface, whereby the contact surface is progressively contacted with the face during sealing engagement and peeled away from the face during disengagement. | 04-02-2009 |
20090141072 | PRINTHEAD ASSEMBLY FOR MAINTAINING PRINTHEAD - A printhead assembly comprising a printhead mounted on a substrate, an elastically deformable pad and an ink removal system mounted on the substrate. The pad has a contact surface for sealing engagement with an ink ejection face of the printhead. The pad being linearly moveable between a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly engaged with the face and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the face. In order to provide a cleaning action, the contact surface is configured to progressively contact the face during sealing engagement and peel away from the face during disengagement. | 06-04-2009 |
20090147046 | METHOD OF UNUBLOCKING NOZZLES IN A PRINTHEAD - A method of unblocking nozzles in a printhead is provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) providing an elastically deformable pad having a contact surface for sealing engagement with an ink ejection face of the printhead; and (b) moving the pad from a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly engaged with the face to a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from said face. The movement causes the contact surface to be peeled away from the face during disengagement. | 06-11-2009 |
20090278885 | Printhead Maintenance Station Having Contact Pad With Sloping Profile - A printhead maintenance station for maintaining a printhead in an operable condition. The maintenance station comprises an elastically deformable pad having a contact surface for sealing contact with nozzles in an ink ejection face of the printhead. The contact surface has a sloping profile. The maintenance station has a motor and cam arrangement for moving the pad substantially perpendicularly with respect to the ink ejection face. The pad moves from a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly contacted with the nozzles to a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the face. The movement and the sloping profile of the pad causes the contact surface to be peeled away from the face during disengagement. | 11-12-2009 |
20100171790 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE SYSTEM FOR STATIONARY PAGEWIDTH PRINTHEAD - A printhead maintenance system comprises: a stationary pagewidth printhead having an ink ejection face; an elastically deformable roller having a contact surface for contacting the ink ejection face; and a mechanism for rolling the roller across the face. In use, the printhead remains stationary when the roller is rolled across the face. | 07-08-2010 |
20100182373 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION HAVING NON-POROUS ROLLER - A printhead maintenance station for maintaining a printhead in an operable condition is provided. The maintenance station comprises an elastically deformable roller having a contact surface for contacting an ink ejection face of the printhead, and a mechanism for rolling the roller across the face. The contact surface of the roller is configured so as to avoid trapping of ink on or in the roller surface. | 07-22-2010 |
20100277543 | PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE STATION HAVING ONE-PIECE ELASTOMER PAD FOR PEELING ENGAGEMENT WITH NOZZLES - A printhead maintenance station for maintaining a printhead in an operable condition. The maintenance station has an elastically deformable pad coextensive with the printhead. The pad is a one-piece elastomer pad having a uniform contact surface configured for sealing contact with all nozzles in an ink ejection face of the printhead. A mechanism is configured for reciprocally moving the pad between a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly contacted with all nozzles in the ink ejection face, and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the face. The pad and the mechanism cooperate such that the contact surface is progressively contacted with the face during sealing engagement and peeled away from the face during peeling disengagement. | 11-04-2010 |