Disclosed herein is a print head maintenance cartridge, a printing device and a method of controlling a wiping subsystem of a print head maintenance cartridge. The print head maintenance cartridge comprises a wiping subsystem with a wiping material to wipe a print head; a clean material roll, wherein a clean part of the wiping material is rolled up on the clean material roll at least in part; a brake to generate a first brake force applied to the wiping material; and a friction element to generate a second brake force applied to the wiping material, wherein the friction element compensates at least in part a change in the first brake force to control a total brake force, wherein the total brake force is the sum of the first and second brake forces.

A printhead maintenance station to cleaning a nozzle plate of a printhead and a method of operating the printhead maintenance station are disclosed. The printhead maintenance station includes a wiper bar, a wiper secured to the wiper bar, a wiper cleaning assembly, and an actuator. The wiper is stored in the wiper cleaning assembly when not in use. The controller operates the actuator to rotate the wiper bar to move the wiper from the wiper cleaning assembly to a wiping position, and causes relative movement of the printhead maintenance station and the print unit to wipe the nozzle plate with the wiper.

A cleaning method of a liquid ejection head where recording element substrates having an ejection orifice forming-face having ejection orifice arrays which are aligned, and at least one array ejects a different recording liquid than another, includes wiping and preliminary ejection. In the wiping, a wiping member is caused to move along and wipe the arrays. In the preliminary ejection, before the wiping of the entire ejection orifice forming-face is completed, preliminary ejection from the wiped ejection orifices is started. The wiping and preliminary ejection are sequentially performed from a recording element substrate at one end to a recording element substrate at the other end.

The invention relates to a capping unit (1) for capping at least one printhead (311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 321.1, 321.2, 321.3) of a printer (300), in particular an inkjet printer. The capping unit (1) includes a belt element (2.1, 2.2) having an elongated extent, wherein the belt element (2.1, 2.2) includes at least one flexible cap (3.1, 3.2) for capping the at least one printhead (311.1, 311.2, 311.3, 321.1, 321.2, 321.3), wherein the belt element (2.1, 2.2) features a resting setting and a capping setting and is displaceable from the resting setting to the capping setting and back. The belt element (2.1, 2.2) provides a self-stability section (5.1, 5.2) extending over at least a portion of the belt element (2.1, 2.2)'s elongated extent, wherein in the self-stability section (5.1, 5.2), the belt element (2.1, 2.2) is bendable in a movement plane (13.1, 13.2). In the capping setting, at all positions within the self-stability section (5.1, 5.2), a course of the elongated extent follows a straight line (14.1, 14.2) in the movement plane (13.1 13.2). Furthermore, in the capping setting, at each position within the self-stability section (5.1, 5.2), the belt element (2.1, 2.2) provides a self-stability against bending of the belt element (2.1, 2.2) in a self-stability direction being oriented perpendicular to the straight line (14.1, 14.2) and being aligned in the movement plane (13.1, 13.2). At at least one position within the self-stability section (5.1, 5.2), the belt element (2.1, 2.2) is bendable in the movement plane (13.1, 13.2) away from the straight line (14.1, 14.2) in a bending direction being oriented opposite to the self-stability direction.

A liquid discharge apparatus includes a head including a nozzle surface having nozzles, the head configured to discharge a liquid from the nozzles, a head plate holding the head, and a wiping device including a wiper configured to wipe the nozzle surface of the head, a wiper support plate holding the wiper, the wiper support plate vertically movable with respect to the head plate, a cover between the head plate and the wiper support plate, the cover configured to cover the wiper, a lifting device configured to vertically move the wiper support plate and the cover toward the head plate until the cover contacts the head plate, and an adjuster between the wiper support plate and the cover, the adjuster configured to adjust a position of the wiper support plate with respect to the cover.

A liquid discharge apparatus is provided, which comprises a head, a maintenance mechanism which has a cap and which is movable to a maintenance position and a waiting position, a first support mechanism which supports the maintenance mechanism disposed at the maintenance position, and a second support mechanism which supports the maintenance mechanism disposed at the waiting position. One of the first and second support mechanisms is relatively movable to a first position and a second position with respect to the other. When the one of them is disposed at the first position, both of them is configured to support the maintenance mechanism simultaneously. When the one of them is disposed at the second position, the other of them is separated away from the maintenance mechanism.

A liquid discharge device includes a liquid discharge head including nozzles configured to discharge a liquid, a carriage mounting the liquid discharge head and movable, a wiper configured to wipe a nozzle surface of the liquid discharge head, and a wiper mover configured to hold and move the wiper between a facing position at which the wiper faces the nozzle surface and a standby position at which the wiper does not face the nozzle surface. The carriage movably holds the liquid discharge head and the wiper mover as a single unit.

A recording apparatus includes a recording head having an ejection port surface and a step portion, a blade to wipe the ejection port surface, and a moving unit. A plurality of ink ejection ports is arranged on the ejection port surface. The moving unit performs relative movement of the blade and the recording head by moving the blade or the recording head in a first direction to cause the blade to wipe a wiped surface including the ejection port surface, from the step portion to an area in which the plurality of ink ejection ports is arranged. The moving unit performs the relative movement so that a first relative velocity of the relative movement when the blade passes the step portion is higher than a second relative velocity of the relative movement when the blade, that has been in contact with the wiped surface, is separated from the wiped surface.

There is provided a liquid discharge apparatus including a head configured to eject a liquid from nozzles being open in a nozzle surface, a liquid absorbing wiper, and a support supporting the liquid absorbing wiper. The supporter is movable relative to the head, between a first position where the liquid absorbing wiper is in contact with the nozzle surface, and a second position where the liquid absorbing wiper is away from the nozzle surface, the supporter has a flow channel for a liquid cleaner to flow therethrough, and the liquid absorbing wiper sucks in the liquid cleaner from below by way of contact with the liquid cleaner flowing in the flow channel.

Provided is a liquid ejection apparatus which, in a case of performing wiping operations at a plurality of different wiping pressures, can perform each wiping operation at a suitable wiping pressure and a suitable angle. To achieve this object, a liquid ejection apparatus is configured such that the angle of the wiping surface of a wiper to an ejection port surface can be changed while the wiper is out of contact with the ejection port surface and is not performing wiping, and the ejection port surface can be wiped with the wiper after the wiping surface angle is changed.