Patent ID: 8702229

Claim:
A printing apparatus comprising: an apparatus housing having a housing bay; a printing device comprising a print carriage that is movable by a motor, said print carriage comprising at least one ink jet print head; a transport path in said apparatus housing along which items to be printed by said ink jet print head are transported in a x-direction of a Cartesian coordinate system; a cleaning and sealing station in said apparatus housing; a box-shaped module removably inserted in said bay of said apparatus housing, said box-shaped module being configured to urge items in said transport path toward said ink jet print head in order to be printed by said ink jet print head, said box-shaped module comprising a module housing having a housing wall; a control unit configured to operate said printing device to switch between an operating mode, in which items in said transport path are printed by said ink jet print head and a service mode in which said control unit activates said motor to displace said print carriage in a y-direction of said Cartesian coordinate system and to maintain said printing device in said service mode until said movement of said print carriage causes said ink jet print head to reach a sealed position relative to said cleaning and sealing station; a locking mechanism that projects into said bay of said apparatus housing; a mechanical connection element integrally molded on said housing wall of said box-shaped module that interacts with said locking mechanism; and a triggering mechanism operated by said control unit that acts on said locking mechanism with a first force component and a second force component, said triggering mechanism being caused by said control unit in said operating mode to act on said locking mechanism with said first component in a z-direction of the Cartesian coordinate system to engage said locking mechanism with said mechanical connection element to lock said box-shaped element in said bay, and said triggering mechanism being operated by said control unit to act on said locking mechanism in said service mode with said second force component, along said z-direction opposite to said first force component, to cause said locking mechanism and said mechanical connection element to be disengaged to unlock said box-shaped module from said bay to permit removal of said box-shaped module from said bay.