The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 19, 1992
Filed:
Jan. 12, 1990
J P Harmon, Washougal, WA (US);
George T Kaplinsky, San Diego, CA (US);
Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A rotary wiper for cleaning the orifice plate of a printhead of a thermal ink-jet printer. The wiper includes a plurality of blades which successively wipe contaminants from the orifice plate of the printhead during rotation of the wiper. Apparatus is provided for automatically cleaning the contaminants from the blades of the rotating wiper. The wiper blades are either radially or non-radially oriented. The cleaning apparatus includes either a plurality of scrapers, or a roll of liquid absorbing material. The wiper is rotated by a motor, or by a rack and pinion arrangement, in which the rack is disposed on the printhead carriage and actuates the wiper as the printhead moves into the service station area. In one embodiment the wiper is used in conjunction with a cap in the service station area to clean and then seal the printhead.