Chapter 2
2-31
b) Wipers
The wipers are driven by the purge motor to wipe the face of the printhead.
A pair of two wiper blades are installed to ensure wiping performance.
The wiping operation operates on a slide wiping basis, sliding the wiper blades via wiper cams through the
rotation (normal) of the purge motor. Wiping is executed by the wiper blades moving at a constant speed to the
front of the printer after the end of a print or suction operation.
A wiper blade set perpendicularly to the head wipes the entire face of the printhead, followed by a narrower
blade wiping the nozzle assembly.
The wiper blades are cleaned after wiping before they are replaced at the wiping position to maintain wiping
performance.
Wiper blade cleaning is carried out by scraping off the inks that have been wipe off from the head with the ink
scraper. The wiper blade is subjected to wet wiping, whereby it is pressed against an absorber impregnated with
glycerin for added wiping removal performance. The quantity of glycerin used (tank capacity: 50 mL) is
managed by counting the number of times the wiper blade has been pressed against the absorber. When this
count falls to equal any of the following values, either a replacement warning (continued print available) or
replacement required indication (service call error) is issued:
T-2-4
F-2-17
Advance notice of replacement 47,500timesService call 50,000times
Cap
Ink scraper
Glycerin absorbent material Printhead
Wiper blade
Blade holder
Glycerin tank
Wiper cam