| 摘要 |
A purge/clean system for a liquid jet apparatus, such as an ink jet printing system, having a liquid chamber including a chamber wall having an exterior surface and at least one orifice (60) though which liquid is ejected towards a substrate. The purge/clean system involves a cavity defined adjacent the exterior surface of the chamber wall into which liquid which is, expelled from the at least one orifice (60) during a purging or cleaning operation is permitted to flow and a vacuum pump for withdrawing liquid which is contained within the cavity. The cavity can be provided by a plurality of plates (90,88,86) arranged in an assembled, or stacked, relationship against the exterior surface of the chamber wall and, with the aid of a fan or compressor, can be used to create a zone of above - atmospheric pressure adjacent the exterior surface of the printer head. With the zone of above-atmospheric pressure created within the cavity, any leakage of air from the region into the atmosphere effects a flow of air out of the region and thereby helps to maintain the at least one orifice in a relatively clean condition. <IMAGE> |
