Patent ID: 6371595
Filing Date: 2002-04-16
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
An ink jet printer, comprising:a purge cap that covers an ink ejecting surface of an ink jet print head and sucks ink therefrom to perform purging; a wiper blade that wipes the ink adhered to the ink ejecting surface purged by the purge cap; a blade holder that holds the wiper blade, the blade holder having a tiny protrusion on a side opposite to a side facing to the purge cap; an urging/pulling device that urges/pulls the blade holder in a direction that the tiny protrusion is provided and in a direction of an initial position where an edge of the wiper blade does not make contact with the ink ejecting surface; a wiper moving member that moves the wiper blade to an ink wiping position where the wiper blade makes contact with the ink ejecting surface by engaging a portion of the blade holder according to the reciprocating movement between a first position where the purge cap stays closest to the ink ejecting surface and the purging is performed and a second position where the purge cap stays farthest away from the ink ejecting surface; and a base that receives the tiny protrusion of the blade holder against the urging force by the urging/pulling device so that the wiper blade is kept at the ink wiping position, wherein the blade holder is moved so that the edge of the wiper blade reaches the ink wiping position using a cap moving mechanism that moves the purge cap from the second position to the first position, and the wiper blade is returned to the second position by the urging/pulling device as the tiny protrusion is removed from the base by the ink jet print head being moved in a direction opposite to a direction that the ink is wiped by the wiper blade.