1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a maintenance device used for cleaning a print head of an ink cartridge, and more particularly, to a maintenance device used for cleaning a print head of an ink cartridge with a wiper in a rotation method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Copy machines, fax machines, and printers are commonly used for processing documents at work places. To meet the requirement of high printing quality, most inkjet printers have maintenance devices for print head cleaning and maintenance to avoid ink problems and ensure future printing precision. A wiper is installed on the maintenance device for scrubbing residual ink on the print head using relative movement between the wiper and the print head.
Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are diagrams of a maintenance device 10 for an inkjet cartridge in different states in the prior art. The maintenance device 10 includes a wiper sliding platform 12 and a wiper base 14. The wiper sliding platform 10 has a wiper 16A and a wiper 16B for scrubbing ink from print heads. The wiper sliding platform 10 moves right with its sliding pins 18A and 18B sliding along the slits 20A and 20B inside the wiper base 14.
In state of FIG. 1 a carrier 24 drives cartridges 22A and 22B to the maintenance device 10. As the carrier 24 moves right, it contacts and pushes the wiper sliding platform 12 to move right, too. As state of FIG. 1 shows, the carrier 24 pushes the wiper sliding platform 12 right, along with the sliding pins 18A and 18B installed on the wiper sliding platform 12. The sliding pins 18A and 18B slide in the slits 20A and 20B respectively of the wiper base 14. As the sliding pins 18A and 18B slide right a distance S, the upward slopes of the slits 20A and 20B lift the sliding pins 18A and 18B and the wiper sliding platform 12 a fixed height. The wipers 16A and 16B installed on the wiper sliding platform 12 will then rise to a predetermined position so that the wipers 16A and 16B can contact the surfaces F of the cartridges 22A and 22B. The maintenance device 10 will keep the wipers 16A and 16B at the predetermined position while the carrier 24 drives the cartridges 22A and 22B backward, causing a moving contact between the wipers 16A, 16B and the surfaces F of the cartridges 22A, 22B to scrub ink from the print heads, thus cleaning the print heads.
The slopes of the slits 20A and 20B of the maintenance device 10 make the wiper sliding platform 10 lift from a height in state of FIG. 1 to a height in state of FIG. 2. Such slopes in the maintenance device 10 require an extra width for sliding to drive the wiper sliding platform 12 to a predetermined height. Therefore, an extra cost for an enlarged size of the maintenance device 10 exists, and possibilities for further miniaturization are reduced.