Inventor(s)

HP INCFollow

Abstract

Latex PHs need to be wiped in order to remove the ink accumulated in the nozzle plate while printing,

spitting or priming.

Every generation of Latex ink has had more complex requirements in terms of servicing. Wiping is one

of the most affected routines due to the behavior of the ink, that has been getting more and more

stickier in every generation.

The ink paddle generated in the nozzle plate dries creating an ink crust that needs to be removed. The

wiping method has been evolving adapting to the crust behavior.

In order to wipe, the solution provided by Polestar consists in a combination of web wipe material

impregnated in polyethylene glycol (PEG) and a force applied by a rubber blade. The system is made of

three blades to apply less force but three times per wipe movement, in order to ensure the proper

cleaning of the nozzle plate without risk of nozzle cracking.

The web wipe needs to have a certain amount of tension to provide the proper cleaning service and to

avoid being unrolled. The current system is providing a small range of solutions to keep this balance,

resulting on the restriction of certain servicing parameters, such as web advance routine or the number

of wipes that can be performed without unrolling the web. In order to maintain the tension, the servicing

movements are also restricted: wipe in the two directions (what we call wipe forward and wipe reverse)

are alternated in order to help maintain the proper tension, and this ends in a reduction of the

throughput in some conditions.

The system below describes a cost-effective web advance solution to keep the proper web wipe tension

in a much wider range of servicing parameters. This system requires a good design to be robust enough

and a proper integration with other printer subsystems.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Share

COinS