Patent ID: 9073327
Filing Date: 2015-07-07
Classification: B41J

Abstract:
1. A printer comprising: a printhead having an array of nozzles in a face plate, the face plate of the printhead having a width in a cross-process direction and a height in a process direction; an elongated member having a sealed end and an open end with a slit in the elongated member that extends at least partially between the sealed end and the open end of the elongated member; a pair of walls, the two walls being parallel to one another and separated from one another by a distance that is greater than the width of the printhead face plate in the cross-process direction and is less than a length of the elongated member from the sealed end of the elongated member to the open end of the elongated member, at least one of the walls having an aperture through which the elongated member is inserted and the other wall supporting the sealed end of the elongated member at a position that holds the elongated member perpendicular to both walls, the aperture in the at least one wall being spaced from a face of the at least one wall at predetermined distance; a vacuum source operatively connected to the open end of the elongated member proximate the aperture in the wall to enable air to be pulled into the slit in the elongated member; an actuator operatively connected to the printhead to move the printhead between a position where the printhead can be operated to eject ink onto an image receiving member and a position where the printhead face plate engages the pair of walls and is opposite the slit in the elongated member at the predetermined distance; and a controller operatively connected to the actuator and the vacuum source, the controller being configured to operate the actuator to move the printhead from the position where the printhead can be operated to eject ink onto an image receiving member to the position where the printhead face plate engages the pair of walls and is opposite the slit in the elongated member at the predetermined distance, to operate the vacuum source when the printhead is at the position where the printhead face plate engages the pair of walls and is opposite the slit in the elongated member at the predetermined distance to pull debris and ink from the face plate of the printhead, and to operate the actuator to move the printhead back to the position where the printhead can be operated to eject ink onto an image receiving member.