Patent ID: 8820885

Claim:
A printer comprising: a printhead including: a faceplate having a first plurality of apertures formed in the faceplate and a second plurality of apertures formed in the faceplate, the first plurality of apertures being in a first contiguous area of the faceplate that is outside of a second contiguous area in which the second plurality of apertures is located and the first plurality of apertures and the second plurality of apertures extend parallel to one another in a cross-process direction across the printhead; a jet stack having a first plurality of channels and a second plurality of channels, the first plurality of channels being fluidly and independently connected to the first plurality of apertures in the faceplate in a one-to-one correspondence, and the second plurality of channels being fluidly and independently connected to the second plurality of apertures in the faceplate, each of the channels in the second plurality of channels having an inkjet ejector configured to eject a fluid through the aperture fluidly connected to the channel associated with the inkjet ejector, and none of the channels in the first plurality of channels having an inkjet ejector; a pressure source fluidly connected to each of the channels in the first plurality of channels; and a controller operatively connected to the pressure source, the controller being configured to operate the pressure source selectively to move fluid through the first plurality of channels and out of the first plurality of apertures to place fluid on the faceplate at a position in the first contiguous area that enables the fluid to move into the second contiguous area to flow over each aperture in the second plurality of apertures.