Patent ID: 8662632

Claim:
A method of maintaining an inkjet printhead in an inkjet printer comprising: moving a sealing face of a cap into contact with a printhead face in which are disposed nozzles of the inkjet printhead; compressing the cap while a valve connected to the cap is in an open position; closing the valve; moving a base of the cap away from the sealing face while the sealing face is sealed against the printhead face and the valve is closed in order to generate suction at the printhead face for priming the nozzles; holding the sealing face against the printhead face while the base of the cap is being moved away from the sealing face; wherein holding the sealing face against the printhead face includes turning on an electromagnet; and reversing voltage polarity of electromagnet to repel the cap from the sealing face to stop the suction at the printhead face.