Patent ID: 7607755

Claim:
A method of maintaining a printhead in an operable condition and/or remediating a printhead to an operable condition, said method comprising the steps of: (i) providing a maintenance roller having an elastically deformable contact surface for sealing engagement with an ink ejection face of said printhead; (ii) moving said roller into a first position in which a clean part of said contact surface is sealingly engaged with said face, said movement being such that said contact surface progressively contacts said face during engagement; (iii) moving said roller into a second position in which said contact surface is disengaged from said face, said movement being such that said contact surface peels away from said face during disengagement, thereby providing an inked part of said contact surface; (iv) rotating said roller such that said inked part of said contact surface is conveyed away from said printhead and cleaned; and (v) optionally repeating steps (ii) to (iv), wherein said maintenance roller does not rotate when sealingly engaged with said face.