| 摘要 |
<p>A rotary wiper (60) for cleaning the orifice plate (35) of a printhead (33) of a thermal ink-jet printer (10). The wiper includes a plurality of blades (62) which successively wipe contaminants from the orifice plate of the printhead during rotation of the wiper (60). Apparatus (64) is provided for automatically cleaning the contaminants from the blades (62) of the rotating wiper. The wiper blades are either radially or non-radially oriented. The cleaning apparatus (64) includes either a plurality of scrapers (80), or a roll (100) of liquid absorbing material. The wiper is rotated by a motor (120), or by a rack (76) and pinion arrangement (72,74), in which the rack is disposed on the printhead carriage (14) and actuates the wiper as the printhead (33) moves into the service station area (36). In one embodiment the wiper (60) is used in conjunction with a cap (56) in the service station area to clean and then seal the printhead. <IMAGE></p> |
