Patent ID: 8888233

Claim:
A device to clean wiper elements for an inkjet print head of an ink dispenser of a printing apparatus having a chassis, said device comprising: a maintenance station configured to be mounted on said chassis to allow travel of said maintenance station in at least one direction that causes said maintenance station to move past said inkjet print head; said maintenance station carrying wiper elements that interact with a surface of said inkjet print head to wipe ink from said surface as said maintenance station moves past said inkjet print head; an ink uptake unit comprising a sponge body mount configured to be removably attached to said chassis at a stationary position on the chassis traveled past by said maintenance station after said maintenance station travels past said inkjet print head, and a stationary sponge body fixedly held in said sponge body mount, said stationary position of said sponge body mount causing said sponge body to rub against said wiper elements as said maintenance station passes by said ink uptake unit, and said sponge body being comprised of material that interacts with said wipers to transfer the ink from said wipers to said material that said wipers wiped from said surface of said inkjet print head, and said material of said sponge body binding said ink in said sponge body by suction due to capillary action; said sponge body mount comprising an attachment portion and a receptacle portion adjacent to said attachment portion, said attachment portion and said receptacle portion, in combination, forming a flat surface of said sponge body mount that is configured to abut against said chassis, said receptacle portion comprising at least one open box that receives said sponge body therein with a surface of said sponge body in said open box facing away from said flat surface; and said attachment portion of said sponge body mount having a single central opening therein configured to receive a single attachment element that exclusively attaches said sponge body mount to said chassis by engagement of said single attachment element with said chassis, said single attachment element allowing removal of said sponge body mount with said sponge body therein from said chassis to clean said sponge body of said ink bound therein, solely by disengaging said single attachment element from said chassis.