Automatic positioning of wiper blades in an ink jet printer maintenance station

摘要

A maintenance station for an ink jet printer has a wiper blade cleaning assembly which contains two wiping blades releasably mounted in slots in a blade holder. The blade holder has two opposing extensions perpendicular to and positioned on opposite sides of the mounted blades. The blade holder is movably mounted in a fixed structural member of the maintenance station and is biased towards the ink jet printhead, which traverses past the cleaning assembly on a carriage to and from the maintenance station, by a resilient urging means, such as a foam or spring housed in a receptacle in the structural member. The blade holder extensions are parallel to each other and the direction of traversal by the printhead. The leading and training ends of the blade holder extensions are sloped for functioning as ramps or cams which slidingly engage the printhead as it moves past the wiper blade cleaning assembly and automatically positions the wiping blades relative the printhead to assure an appropriate interference or contact dimension of the distal ends with the blades by the printhead.