CPC B41J 2/16552 (2013.01) [B41J 2/04563 (2013.01); B41J 2/1652 (2013.01); B41J 2/16532 (2013.01); B41J 2/16535 (2013.01); B41J 2002/16558 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |
1. A printhead maintenance system comprising:
an elongate inkjet printhead having a nozzle face containing a plurality of inkjet nozzles;
a carriage movable longitudinally along the printhead in a cleaning direction, the carriage including a maintenance member comprising: a fluid bath having a mouth opposing the nozzle face of the printhead, a primary fluid inlet at an upstream end of the fluid bath relative to the cleaning direction and a fluid outlet at a downstream end of the fluid bath relative to the cleaning direction; and
a traversing mechanism for traversing the carriage longitudinally along the printhead in the cleaning direction,
wherein:
the maintenance member does not contact inkjet nozzles of the printhead; and
the fluid bath is configured to provide a greater fluid velocity at the downstream end relative to the upstream end.
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