Abstract:
An ink jet printer is provided having a printhead defining a plurality of orifices for ejecting ink droplets. The printer comprises a source of cleaning fluid, a cleaning member having a surface partially dipped in the cleaning fluid, a first drive mechanism to move the cleaning member surface creating a flow of cleaning fluid on the surface and a second drive mechanism to advance the printhead and the cleaning member surface into a proximate and separate relation with the cleaning member surface wherein at least one of the orifices of the printhead enters the flow of cleaning fluid wherein the print head and the cleaning member surface are separated by gap of between 0.1 mm and 2.54 mm.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser. No. 09/159,447 filed Sep. 24, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,281,707 entitled CLEANING ORIFICES IN INK JET PRINTING APPARATUS by Fassler et al. 
     Reference is also made to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,127 filed Sep. 24, 1998 entitled ADJUSTABLE VANE USED IN CLEANING ORIFICES IN INKJET PRINTING APPARATUS to Werner Fassler et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to the cleaning of ink jet print head apparatus having multiple orifices. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Many different types of digitally controlled printing systems of ink jet printing apparatus are presently being used. These ink jet printers use a variety of actuation mechanisms, a variety of marking materials, and a variety of recording media. For home applications, digital ink jet printing apparatus is the printing system of choice because low hardware cost makes the printer affordable to every one. Another application for digital inkjet printing uses large format printers. It is a further requirement that these large format printers provide low cost copies with an ever improving quality. Ink jet printing technology is the first choice in today&#39;s art. Thus, there is a need for improved ways to make digitally controlled graphic arts media, such as billboards, large displays, and home photos for example, so that quality color images may be made at a high-speed and low cost, using standard or special paper. 
     Ink jet printing has become recognized as a prominent contender in the digitally controlled, electronic printing arena because of its nonimpact, low-noise characteristics, its use of papers from plain paper to specialized high gloss papers and its avoidance of toner transfers and fixing. Inkjet printing mechanisms can be categorized as either continuous inkjet or droplet on demand ink jet. Continuous inkjet printing dates back to at least 1929. See U.S. Pat. No. 1,941,001 to Hansell. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,373,437, issued to Sweet et al. in 1967, discloses an array of continuous inkjet orifices wherein ink droplets to be printed are selectively charged and deflected towards the recording medium. This technique is known as binary deflection continuous inkjet, and is used by several manufacturers, including Elmjet and Scitex. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,153, issued to Hertz et al. in 1966, discloses a method of achieving variable optical density of printed spots in continuous inkjet printing using the electrostatic dispersion of a charged droplet stream to modulate the number of droplets which pass through a small orifice. This technique is used in ink jet printers manufactured by Iris. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,878,519, issued to Eaton in 1974, discloses a method and apparatus for synchronizing droplet formation in a liquid stream using electrostatic deflection by a charging tunnel and deflection plates. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,387, issued to Hertz in 1982 discloses a method and apparatus for controlling the electric charge on droplets formed by the breaking up of a pressurized liquid stream at a droplet formation point located within the electric field having an electric potential gradient. Droplet formation is effected at a point in the field corresponding to the desired predetermined charge to be placed on the droplets at the point of their formation. In addition to charging tunnels, deflection plates are used to actually deflect droplets. 
     Conventional continuous ink jet utilizes electrostatic charging tunnels that are placed close to the point where the droplets are formed in a stream. In this manner individual droplets may be charged. The charged droplets may be deflected downstream by the presence of deflector plates that have a large potential difference between them. A gutter (sometimes referred to as a “catcher”) may be used to intercept the charged droplets, while the uncharged droplets are free to strike the recording medium. If there is no electric field present or if the break off point from the droplet is sufficiently far from the electric field (even if a portion of the stream before droplets break off is in the presence of an electric field), then charging will not occur. 
     The on demand type inkjet printers are covered by hundreds of patents and describe two techniques for droplet formation. At every orifice, (about 30 to 200 are used for a consumer type printer) a pressurization actuator is used to produce the ink jet droplet. The two types of actuators are heat and piezo materials. The heater at a convenient location heats ink and a quantity will phase change into a gaseous steam bubble and raise the internal ink pressure sufficiently for an ink droplet to be expelled to a suitable receiver. The piezo ink actuator incorporates a piezo material. It is said to possess piezo electric properties if an electric charge is produced when a mechanical stress is applied. This is commonly referred to as the “generator effect”. “The converse also holds true; an applied electric field will produce a mechanical stress in the material. This is commonly referred to as the “motor effect”. Some naturally occurring materials possessing these characteristics are quartz and tourmaline. Some artificially produced piezoelectric crystals are: Rochelle salt, ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (ADP) and lithium sulphate (LH). The class of materials used for piezo actuators in an ink jet print head possessing those properties includes polarized piezoelectric ceramics. They are typically referred to as ferroelectric materials. In contrast to the naturally occurring piezoelectric crystals, ferroelectric ceramics are of the “polycrystalline” structure. The most commonly produced piezoelectric ceramics are: lead zirconate titanate, barium titanate, lead titanate, and lead metaniobate. For the ink jet print head a ferroelectric ceramic is machined to produce ink chambers. The chamber is water proofed by gold plating and becomes a conductor to apply the charge and cause the piezo “motor effect”. This “motor effect” causes the ink cavity to shrink, raise the internal pressure, and generate an ink droplet. 
     Inks for high speed jet droplet printers must have a number of special characteristics. Typically, water-based inks have been used because of their conductivity and viscosity range. Thus, for use in a jet droplet printer the ink must be electrically conductive, having a resistivity below about 5000 ohm-cm and preferably below about 500 ohm-cm. For good flow through small orifices water-based inks generally have a viscosity in the range between about 1 to 15 centipoise at 25 degree C. 
     Over and above this, the ink must be stable over a long period of time, compatible with the materials comprising the orifice plate and ink manifold, free of living organisms, and functional after printing. The required functional characteristics after printing are: smear resistance after printing, fast drying on paper and waterproof when dry. Examples of different types of water-based jet droplet printing inks are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,903,034; 3,889,269; 3,870,528; 3,846,141; 3,776,642; and 3,705,043. 
     The ink also has to incorporate a nondrying characteristic in the jet cavity so that the drying of ink in the cavity is hindered or slowed to such a degree that through occasional spitting of ink droplets the cavities can be kept open. The addition of glycol will facilitate the free flow of ink through the ink jet. Ink jet printing apparatus typically includes an ink jet print head that is exposed to the various environments where ink jet printing is utilized. The orifices are exposed to all kinds of air born particles. Particulate debris accumulates on the surfaces, forming around the orifices. The ink will combine with such particulate debris to form an interference burr to block the orifice or cause through an altered surface wetting to inhibit a proper formation of the ink droplet. That particulate debris has to be cleaned from the orifice to restore proper droplet formation. This cleaning commonly is achieved by wiping, spraying, vacuum suction, and/or spitting of ink through the orifice. The wiping is the most common application. 
     Inks used in ink jet printers can be said to have the following problems: 
     1) they require a large amount of energy to dry after printing; 
     2) large printed areas on paper usually cockle because of the amount of water present; 
     3) the printed images are sensitive to wet and dry rub; 
     4) the compositions of the ink usually require an anti-bacterial preservative to minimize the growth of bacteria in the ink; 
     5) the inks tend to dry out in and around the orifices resulting in clogging; 
     6) the wiping of the orifice plate causes wear on plate and wiper; 
     7) the wiper itself generates particles that clog the orifice; 
     8) cleaning cycles are time consuming and slow the productivity of ink jet printers. It is especially of concern in large format printers where frequent cleaning cycles interrupt the printing of an image; and 
     9) when a special printing pattern is initiated to compensate for plugged or badly performing orifices, the printing rate declines. 
     Some of these problems may be overcome by the use of polar, conductive organic solvent based ink formulations. However, the use of non-polar organic solvents is generally precluded by their lack of electrical conductivity. The addition of solvent soluble salts can make such inks conductive, but such salts are often toxic, corrosive, and unstable. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These objects are achieved by an ink jet printer having an ink jet printer having a printhead defining a plurality of orifices for ejecting ink droplets. The printer comprises a source of cleaning fluid, a cleaning member having a surface partially dipped in the cleaning fluid, a first drive mechanism to move the cleaning member surface creating a flow of cleaning fluid on the surface and a second drive mechanism to advance the printhead and the cleaning member surface into a proximate and separate relation with the cleaning member surface wherein at least one of the orifices of the printhead enters the flow of cleaning fluid wherein the print head and the cleaning member surface are separated by gap of between 0.1 mm and 2.54 mm. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, these objects of the invention are achieved by an inkjet printer having a printhead with a structure defining at least one ink drop ejection orifice and a liquid collection vessel adapted to contain a cleaning fluid. A roller is partially submerged in the cleaning fluid and a first actuator fixed to and rotating the roller to create a continuous flow of cleaning fluid about the roller. A second actuator variably positions the roller and the printhead between two separated positions, a distal position and a proximate position wherein at least one orifice of the printhead enters into the flow of cleaning fluid. 
     According to another aspect the objects of the present invention are met by an ink jet printer comprising a printhead defining at least one orifice for ejecting ink droplets and a source of cleaning fluid. A cleaning member having a surface is partially dipped in the cleaning fluid. A first drive mechanism is provided to move the cleaning member surface creating a flow of cleaning fluid on the surface and a second drive mechanism is provided to advance the printhead and the cleaning member surface into a proximate and separate relation with the cleaning member surface wherein at least one orifice of the printhead enters the flow of cleaning fluid. A computer operates the first drive mechanism and second drive mechanism to clean the print head using at least a normal cleaning mode and a high cleaning mode wherein the computer detects conditions indicating the extent of cleaning needed by the print head and changes cleaning modes based upon detected conditions. 
     ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION 
     Rapid cleaning of orifices in accordance with the present invention can be accomplished in such a short time because of the efficiency of cleaning apparatus in accordance with the present invention. 
     The cleaning fluid on the roller is replenished at a predetermined rate and removes waste ink and particulate debris permanently from the inkjet print head. 
     Another advantage of this invention is that the cleaning fluid on the roller can have a substantial thickness thereby minimizing the requirements for mechanical tolerances. 
     Another advantage of this cleaning technique is that with no mechanical rubbing, the wear of the delicate orifice plate is eliminated or greatly reduced. The replacement of the ink jet head will be less frequent and more of the orifices will stay functional to result in a higher image quality. 
     Another advantage is that individual inks can be cleaned by selecting the rotation rate of the roller to change the turbulence or agitation rate. In this way, the speed of the roller can be selected to match the cleaning needs of a particular ink. In other words, red, green, and blue inks in the same cartridge can have different roller speeds. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a prior art cross sectional schematic view of a typical piezo electric inkjet print head; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic showing an ink droplet exit orifice in the FIG. 1 structure and an elastomeric wiper blade commonly used for cleaning the orifice plate; 
     FIG. 3 the ink droplet as it begins to form in the orifice of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 shows the ink droplet after formation with the orifice of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 5 shows the interference of the particulate debris with the formation of an ink droplet; 
     FIG. 6 shows that a particulate material can cause a change of direction of ink droplets; 
     FIG. 7 shows a schematic of ink jet printing apparatus in accordance with the present invention which shows a print head and a cleaning station; 
     FIG. 8 shows the same as FIG. 7 but a different perspective for clarification of illustration; 
     FIG. 9 shows the cleaning mechanism in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 10 shows an enlargement of the cleaning fluid coating depicting its turbulent counter clockwise flow; 
     FIG. 11 shows a schematic view of another embodiment of the present invention, which depicts an ink jet print head and a head cleaning device. 
     FIG. 12 shows a view of a roller having a first surface area and a second surface area for cleaning in more than one mode. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG. 1 shows a prior art cross sectional view of an inkjet print head  1 . Orifices defining structures such as the depicted outlet plate  5  includes orifice  9  having a diameter “d” and can be manufactured by electro-forming or sheet metal fabrication methods. It will be understood that the outlet plate  5  actually includes a plurality of orifices for forming multiple ink droplets. The outlet plate  5  is glued to the piezo walls  3 . Ink  2  is included in a pumping cavity  8 . An inlet orifice  7  formed in an inlet plate  4  permits ink to be delivered to the pumping cavity  8 . A meniscus  6  of ink is formed in the orifice  9 . 
     FIG. 2 shows the outlet plate  5  with the ink outlet meniscus  6  and an elastomeric wiper blade  10  in contact with the outlet orifice plate. The blade is in position to wipe across the diameter “d” of the orifice  9  to clean any ink or other particulate debris that could interfere with the proper functioning of the ink jet print head  1 . 
     FIG. 3 shows the meniscus  6  as it changes from an inward curve to an outward curve during the early stages before an actual ink droplet is manufactured. For reference and clarity the elastomeric wiper blade  10  and the outlet orifice plate  5  are also shown. 
     FIG. 4 shows the completed ink droplet  30 , and its direction, which is indicated by the arrow “X”. Also shown are (as often is the case when an ink droplet is formed) two ink droplet satellites  31 . The formation of satellites  31  is chaotic and can incorporate any number of ink droplet satellites  31  from 0 up to 10. These numbers of satellites  31  have been observed. Note that the outlet meniscus  6  has returned to the original state. 
     FIG. 5 shows how a debris  40  can interfere with the meniscus  6  during the ink droplet formation. As the ink  2  touches the debris  40 , the droplet formation can be completely stopped by the ink surface condition change, due to the presence of the debris  40 . Again outlet orifice plate  5  and elastomeric wiper blade  10  are shown for clarity. 
     FIG. 6 shows another defect caused by the presence of a debris  40 . The direction of the droplet  30  with satellites  31  shown as “X” is changed and will result in a degradation of the image. Again outlet orifice plate  5  and elastomeric wiper blade  10  are shown for clarity. Note that the outlet meniscus  6  has returned to the original state but debris  40  can also interfere with that process. 
     FIG. 7 shows an ink jet printing apparatus  79  in accordance with the present invention, an inkjet head  75 , a drive motor  70  linked with a gearbox  71 , an ink jet head belt drive wheel  74 , and the ink jet head drive belt  72  to drive the ink jet head  75  back and for across the print paper  85 . The ink jet droplets are controlled by the position of the inkjet head  75 . This position is monitored by a position encoder strip  76  and the image input from computer  100 . The same computer controls the ink jet print head  75 , drive motor  70 , the cleaning roller drive motor  83  which rotates at a desired velocity the cleaning roller  91 . Also shown is the guide  84  for back and forth translation of the ink jet head  75 . The inkjet generates an image  81  (shown in FIG. 8) on the print paper  85 . The print paper  85  is supported by the platen roller  78  and registration of the paper is controlled by the capstan roller  88 . Both rollers, platen  78  and capstan  88  are driven by a motor not shown and are controlled by the computer  100 . Also shown is a cleaning roller  91  with the cleaning roller drive belt  82  connecting the cleaning drive motor  83  to the cleaning roller  91 . A mounting structure  87  supports all the associated mechanism for the inkjet printer  79 . 
     FIG. 8 shows the same printer as FIG. 7 but in a 90 degree rotated position. It can now be visualized how the ink jet head  75  with ink droplets  77  move across the paper  85  driven by the ink jet print head drive motor  70 , a gearbox  71  to match motor speed with print speed. An ink jet head drive belt  72  driven by the belt drive wheel  74  drives the ink jet print head  75  across the total width of the print paper  85 . The position of the print head  75  is metered by the position encoder strip  76 . At the right location determined by the computer  100  (shown in FIG. 7) and the encoder strip  76  an ink droplet  77  is deposited to form the image  81 . When the inkjet print head  75  reaches the far end of the print paper  85  it de-accelerates in the indicated direction and distance of arrow “d”. When reversing, indicated by the direction and distance of arrow “a”, the print head  75  re-accelerates to the correct print speed. This turn around deceleration (“d”) and re-acceleration (“a”) time is used to accomplish the cleaning without added time for the ink jet print head  75 . The cleaning station  89  is mounted at the far right side end of the ink jet printer  79  and consists of a cleaning fluid tank  92 , a cleaning roller  91 , cleaning roller drive motor  83 , and a cleaning roller drive belt  82 . A number of different cleaning fluids can be used in accordance with the present invention. For example, such fluids can include plain water, distilled water, alcohol or other water miscible solvents, and surfactants such as Zonyl, FSN (duPont). See also the disclosure of the above referenced commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,127 filed Sep. 24, 1998 entitled ADJUSTABLE VANE USED IN CLEANING ORIFICES IN INKJET PRINTING APPARATUS by Werner Fassler et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIG. 9 shows the rotating cleaning roller  91  mounted to a shaft  93  is partially submerged in the cleaning fluid and spaced from the structure defining the orifices  9 . The cleaning roller  91 , as it rotates, carries by surface tension a coating  94  of cleaning liquid  95  to the outlet orifice plate  5 . The roller or the roller surface is made from a material which can be surface coated by the cleaning fluid. Such roller surface material can be selected from the group consisting of aluminum, teflon, polyvinyl chlorine, stainless steel, glass, and titanium. The liquid will fill the cleaning cavity  80 . The liquid surface friction between the stationary outlet orifice plate  5  and the rotating cleaning roller  91  will cause a great amount of turbulence and liquid shearing to remove dirt and ink from the outlet orifice plate  5  in and near the orifices  6 . An arrow marked “r” indicates one of the possible two the rotational direction of the cleaning roller  91 . 
     It will be appreciated that the amount of turbulence that is applied by this system to clean contaminant from outlet orifice plate  5  and orifice  9  is a function of a number of factors. These factors include the width A of gap  97 , the separation B between the roller top  98  and the surface  99  of cleaning fluid  95 , the diameter C of cleaning roller  91 , and the speed D of rotation of roller  91 . Preferably, the width A of gap  97  is maintained between 0.1 mm and 2.54 mm. The distance B between the top surface  98  of cleaning fluid  95  and the top of roller  91  is preferably maintained at a separation distance that is no greater than 75% of the diameter of outer surface  96  of roller  91 . The amount of turbulence to which orifice  6  and outlet orifice plate  5  are exposed can be increased by reducing the distance A and/or the distance B. The diameter C of roller  91  is preferably maintained in the range of 2.54 mm to 38.1 mm. The roller speed D is preferably maintained in the range of 250 to 2500 revolutions per minute. It will be appreciated that the amount of turbulence can be increased by increasing the diameter C of roller  91  and by increasing roller speed D. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the diameter C of roller  91  is 2.9 cm, the roller is rotated at a speed D of 1500 revolutions per minute, the distance A is 0.38 mm and the distance B between roller top  98  and fluid top surface  99  is 1.4 cm. 
     FIG. 10 shows in an enlarged form of how the fluid friction shown by vectors  101  causes the flow of the cleaning fluid to shear dirt and other particles  40  permanently from the outlet orifice plate  5 . The vectors  101  indicate the flow of fluid in the cleaning cavity  80  caused by surface friction of orifice plate  5  and cleaning roller  91 . 
     FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of the invention cleaning an ink jet print head. The inkjet print head has moved (see arrows) from the print position (not shown) to a cleaning position. The head cleaning device  111  includes a cleaning fluid collection vessel  113 , cleaning fluid supply  115  and exit  117  channels, and a rotating cleaning roller  119  mounted onto a shaft  121 . A wall  147  separates the channels  115  and  117 . Cleaning head  111  is brought into contact with outlet orifice plate  123  and a leak-proof seal is created by elastomer  125  at bottom of cleaning head  111 . The outlet orifice plate  123  has a plurality of orifices of which only one orifice  151  is shown. Cleaning fluid  127  is pumped from cleaning fluid reservoir  133  into cleaning fluid supply channel  115  (by pump  131  with valves  137  and  139  in the open position and valve  141  in the closed position). Cap and vent  128  is provided on the reservoir  133 . The head cleaning device  111  is substantially filled with cleaning fluid  127 . Cleaning roller  119  (driven by computer  100  shown in FIG. 7) is rotated at the desired rotation rate. The rotation of the cleaning roller creates shear forces in the gap  118 , thus producing a cleansing/scrubbing action capable of dislodging particles and/or debris accumulating around ink jet orifices. The size of gap  118  is controlled by the location of the cleaning roller, the diameter of the cleaning roller and the thickness of the elastomer seal  125 . The dislodged debris is carried away by the cleaning fluid exiting in exit channel  117 . However, particles and fibers may adhere to rotating cleaning roller  119 , in which case the contaminated rotating cleaning roller  119  will most likely abrade outlet orifice plate  123 . In order to minimize this, a scraper blade  149  attached to the roller end of wall  147  and in contact with cleaning roller  119  removes particles adhering to the roller and also prevents particles form entering the supply channel  115 . It is preferred but not necessary that the scraper be flexible and in contact with cleaning roller  119 . The exiting cleaning fluid preferably is re-circulated. A filter  129  interposed between the cleaning fluid reservoir  133  and pump  131  ensures that cleaning fluid entering the supply channel  115  is free of particles and fibers. A second filter  135  is also preferably used to filter cleaning fluid from exit channel  117  before entering reservoir  133 . The cleaning fluid is fed into device  111  at a steady rate by pump  131 . At a desired time, pump  131  is turned off and valve  139  is closed. Valve  137  (a 3-way valve) is positioned so that it is open to atmosphere only. Vacuum pump  143  is activated and valve  141  is opened to suck trapped cleaning fluid between valves  137  and  139  into collection receptacle  145 . This operation prevents spillage of cleaning fluid when the device  111  is detached from outlet orifice plate  123 . Further, the outlet orifice plate  123  is substantially dry, permitting the ink jet print head to function without impedance from liquid drops around the orifices. Cleaning fluid in collection receptacle  145  may be poured back into cleaning fluid reservoir  133  or can be pumped back into cleaning fluid reservoir  133  (pump and piping is not shown). 
     Although the cleaning roller surface  153  is shown spaced from the plate  123 , it can be in direct contact with plate. In such a case the roller surface  153  should be formed of a soft absorbent material such as porous elastomeric material which can carry cleaning fluid  127 . In this case it is preferable that the scraper blade  149  presses against the roller surface  153  so that cleaning fluid and debris is squeezed out of the porous roller surface  153 . For this purpose, it is preferable that the scraper blade  149  be constructed out of a stiff material made of plastic. 
     It is understood that the device  111  would function without wall  147  and scraper blade  149 . In this case however, channels  115  and  117  would be combined to create one chamber with an inlet and an out let for the cleaning solution. This modification to head cleaning device  111  is not shown. The head cleaning device  111  will also function if the device is primed with cleaning fluid and connected to a cleaning fluid reservoir. When the cleaning roller rotates, cleaning fluid is siphoned from cleaning solution reservoir and pumped through device  111 . The cleaning roller therefore has a dual function in that it cleans the outlet orifice plate  123  and also acts as a pump. This embodiment is not shown. The device  111  may also be configured to utilize a variety of cleaning fluids by incorporating appropriate valves and plumbing (not shown). 
     It will also be understood that printing conditions can vary and, accordingly, the degree of cleaning that is required to remove contaminant from the print head can vary. In certain circumstances conditions may indicate that a normal cleaning mode will suffice. However, under extreme conditions, for example where a print head has not been operated for a long period of time, a high level of cleaning may be required. Similarly, it is known that certain colors and types of inkjet inks are more likely to adhere to outlet plate  5  and orifice  9  and therefore be more difficult to remove. The print head cleaning structure described in the various embodiments of the present application can be operated at variable levels of cleaning efficiency. 
     In this regard, computer  100  is adapted to detect conditions indicating the extent of cleaning, to change cleaning modes based upon the detected conditions, and to operate the first drive mechanism and second drive mechanism to clean outlet plate  5  and orifice  9  in one of a normal cleaning mode or a high cleaning mode. One example of a condition that can be used by computer  100  to select a level of cleaning is the elapsed time between the last use of the print head. Where, for example, the print head was last used 20 days ago, a high cleaning mode may be selected because of the increased probability that ink will be dried to the print head. However, where the print head was used a few moments or hours earlier, normal printing mode can be selected. Similarly, where an ink that is known to have fast drying properties or other characteristics that make it difficult to remove the ink from the output orifice plate  5  and orifice  9 , the high cleaning mode may be selected. 
     The computer  100  can be used to adapt the operation of the printer of the present invention to perform cleaning in the normal mode or the high mode. This can be done by adjusting the width A of gap  97 , the separation B between the roller top  98  and the surface  99  of cleaning fluid  95 , the diameter C of cleaning roller  91 , and the speed D of rotation of roller  91 . Further, computer  100  can selectably reverse the direction of rotation of roller  91  to create additional turbulence. As is shown in FIG. 12, roller surface  91  can also be adapted with a first surface area  154  having a first diameter C 1  and a second surface area  156  having a different diameter C 2 . In this embodiment, computer selectively confronts the outlet plate  5  and orifice  9  with the first surface area  154  during normal cleaning and the second surface area  156  during high cleaning mode. 
     It is also understood that the efficiency of the cleaning system of the cleaning system described herein is a function of the force applied to the surface of the print head to remove cleaning fluid from the surface. This force is created by fluid pressure that is applied at the surface of the print head. Thus, to increase the efficiency at which contaminants are removed from the surface of the print head, it is important to increase the fluid pressure applied at the surface of the print head. 
     The invention has been described in detail, with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it should be understood that variations and modifications can be effected with the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     
       
         
               
             
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                 PARTS LIST 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                   
               
             
          
           
               
                 1 
                 ink jet print head 
               
               
                 2 
                 ink 
               
               
                 3 
                 piezo material 
               
               
                 4 
                 inlet plate 
               
               
                 5 
                 outlet plate 
               
               
                 6 
                 outlet meniscus 
               
               
                 7 
                 inlet orifice 
               
               
                 8 
                 pumping cavity 
               
               
                 9 
                 outlet orifice 
               
               
                 10 
                 elastomeric wiper blade 
               
               
                 30 
                 ink droplet 
               
               
                 31 
                 satellite 
               
               
                 40 
                 debris as particles 
               
               
                 70 
                 ink jet head drive motor 
               
               
                 71 
                 gearbox 
               
               
                 72 
                 ink jet head drive belt 
               
               
                 74 
                 drive wheel 
               
               
                 75 
                 ink jet head 
               
               
                 76 
                 encoder strip 
               
               
                 77 
                 ink droplets 
               
               
                 78 
                 platen roller 
               
               
                 79 
                 ink jet printer 
               
               
                 80 
                 cavity space 
               
               
                 81 
                 image 
               
               
                 82 
                 cleaning roller drive belt 
               
               
                 83 
                 cleaning roller drive motor 
               
               
                 84 
                 guide 
               
               
                 85 
                 print paper 
               
               
                 87 
                 mounting structure 
               
               
                 88 
                 capstan roller 
               
               
                 89 
                 cleaning station 
               
               
                 91 
                 cleaning roller 
               
               
                 92 
                 cleaning fluid tank 
               
               
                 93 
                 shaft 
               
               
                 94 
                 surface coating 
               
               
                 95 
                 cleaning fluid 
               
               
                 97 
                 gap 
               
               
                 98 
                 roller top 
               
               
                 99 
                 surface of cleaning fluid 
               
               
                 100 
                 computer 
               
               
                 101 
                 vectors 
               
               
                 111 
                 head cleaning device 
               
               
                 113 
                 cleaning fluid collection vessel 
               
               
                 115 
                 cleaning fluid supply channel 
               
               
                 116 
                 cleaning fluid exit channel 
               
               
                 117 
                 exit channel 
               
               
                 118 
                 gap 
               
               
                 119 
                 rotating cleaning roller 
               
               
                 121 
                 shaft 
               
               
                 123 
                 outlet orifice plate 
               
               
                 125 
                 elastomer 
               
               
                 127 
                 cleaning fluid 
               
               
                 128 
                 cap and vent 
               
               
                 129 
                 first filter 
               
               
                 131 
                 pump 
               
               
                 133 
                 cleaning fluid reservoir 
               
               
                 135 
                 second filter 
               
               
                 137 
                 first valve, 3-way valve 
               
               
                 139 
                 second valve 
               
               
                 141 
                 third valve 
               
               
                 143 
                 vacuum pump 
               
               
                 145 
                 collection receptacle 
               
               
                 147 
                 wall 
               
               
                 149 
                 scraper blade 
               
               
                 151 
                 orifice 
               
               
                 153 
                 cleaning roller surface 
               
               
                 154 
                 first area 
               
               
                 156 
                 second area 
               
               
                 A 
                 gap width 
               
               
                 B 
                 separation between roller top and cleaning fluid surface 
               
               
                 C 
                 diameter of roller outer surface 
               
               
                 D 
                 speed of rotation