SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CLEANING A NOZZLEPLATE
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and a method for cleaning a printhead by providing from a first slit a laminar flow of cleaning fluid that flows through a pretensioned brush for brushing the nozzle plate and collecting debris. The cleaning fluid with the debris is drained by a first slit having a first under pressure and next by a second slit that has a second under pressure that is greater than the first under pressure.
4 Citations
24 Claims
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1-12. -12. (canceled)
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13. A system for cleaning a nozzle plate of a printhead in an inkjet printing system, the system comprising:
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a first surface underneath and parallel to the nozzle plate at a distance D1 from the nozzle plate; a first slit in the first surface to provide, under a first pressure P1 larger than atmospheric pressure, a first laminar flow of cleaning fluid between the first surface and the nozzle plate of the printhead; a brush on the first surface to brush the nozzle plate and through which the first laminar flow of cleaning fluid passes to remove debris from the nozzle plate; a second slit in the first surface to drain a first portion of the first laminar flow of the cleaning fluid by a second pressure P2 that is lower than the atmospheric pressure; a mechanism to move the system parallel to the nozzle plate of the printhead to provide a brushing action; a pretensioning system to push the brush against the nozzle plate of the printhead; a second surface underneath and parallel to the nozzle plate at a distance D2 from the nozzle plate, wherein the distance D2 is smaller than the distance D1; and a third slit in the second surface that is raised with regard to the first surface to drain a second portion of the first laminar flow of the cleaning fluid by a third pressure P3 which is lower than the second pressure P2. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for cleaning a nozzle plate of a printhead in an inkjet printing system, the method comprising the steps of:
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providing, under a first pressure P1 that is higher than atmospheric pressure through a first slit in a first surface that is underneath and parallel to the nozzle plate of the printhead at a first distance D1, a first laminar flow of cleaning fluid between the first surface and the nozzle plate; passing the first laminar flow through a brush on the first surface to collect debris; draining, using a second pressure P2 that is lower than the atmospheric pressure, a first portion of the first laminar flow through a second slit in the first surface; moving the printhead relative to the brush to obtain a brushing action; pretensioning the brush against the nozzle plate using a pretensioning system; and draining, using a third pressure P3 that is lower than the second pressure P2, a second portion of the first laminar flow through a third slit in a second surface that is underneath and parallel to the nozzle plate of the printhead at a second distance D2, wherein D2<
D1. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification