A cap actuation mechanism for placing a cap, movably mounted on a cap carriage of an ink jet printer maintenance station, into sealing engagement with the nozzle face of the printhead of the printer. The cap mechanism functioning in response to movement by the cap carriage which in turn is moved by printer's print cartridge carriage when it leaves a printing zone for servicing by the maintenance station.
A printhead servicing mechanism comprises a printhead capping device that moves between a storage position and a printhead capping position, and a crank arm assembly that moves the printhead capping device between the storage and capping positions.
A service station for use in servicing one or more inkjet print cartridges includes a service station sled assembly movably attached to a service station chassis. The sled assembly includes at least one wiper and at least one cap. In one embodiment, the service station includes a cam and cam follower that interact to move the sled assembly. The cam is shaped so that movement of the cam to a first position causes each cap to contact a printhead of a corresponding inkjet print cartridge. Movement of the cam to a second position causes the cap to move away from the printhead and moves the wiper into a wiping position. In another embodiment, a service station according to the invention for use with a facsimile machine including inkjet printing apparatus includes a motor that is positioned so as to minimize the footprint of the service station. A method according to the invention includes the steps of positioning a print carriage adjacent to a service station including a sled assembly, and rotating a cam of the service station such that a cam follower of the sled assembly interacts with the cam to cause movement of the sled assembly.
Individual printheads are joined together in a manner to provide improved alignment and registration. The multiple printhead assembly is then installed and removed from the printer as a single unit. According to a preferred method of forming the assembly, individual printheads are temporarily mounted on a holddown plate. The location and position of the printheads is monitored and a fast-cure adhesive used to monolithically join the individual printheads together as a unitary assembly. Once the adhesive is cured, the temporary securing of the individual printheads is removed and the entire assembly removed as a single unit from the holddown plate.
A service station for use in servicing one or more inkjet print cartridges includes a service station sled assembly movably attached to a service station chassis. In one embodiment, the service station includes a sled assembly that includes a cap for enclosing a printhead of a print cartridge, a sled carrier on which the sled assembly is positioned, a cam follower structure including a cam follower, a cam positioned to interact with the cam follower, a mechanism for compliantly attaching the cam follower structure to the sled carrier, and a motor adapted to move the cam. The mechanism for compliantly attaching provides a compliant support for the sled assembly that enables the sled assembly to be positioned in a capping position that ensures adequate contact between the cap and printhead, but that alleviates excessive forces that may otherwise build up between the sled assembly and the print carriage during capping as a result of moving the sled assembly too far in a direction toward the printhead. The cam is shaped so that movement of the cam to a first position causes each cap to contact a printhead of a corresponding inkjet print cartridge. Movement of the cam to a second position causes the cap to move away from the printhead and moves the wiper into a wiping position. In yet another embodiment, a service station includes a motor that is positioned so as to minimize the footprint of the service station.
An ink jet printer has a temperature sensor as a permanent part thereof to measure the temperature of printheads which are an integral part of a replaceable printhead cartridge assembly. The temperature sensor is a part of the maintenance station and senses the temperature of the printheads each time the printhead enters the maintenance station. In the preferred embodiment, the temperature sensor is spring-loaded and is located at a printhead spitting location between fixed wiper blades and the capping location in the maintenance station, so that temperature is sensed each time the printhead enters and leaves the maintenance station to eject nozzle cleaning droplets onto a collection surface at the spitting location to clean the printhead nozzle face by the wiper blades, or to cap the printhead nozzles. To facilitate good thermal contact, a recess is provided in the heat sink upon which the printhead resides for entry by the spring-loaded temperature sensor.
