Automatic Downtime Cleaning
Ink can thicken or dry around the nozzles if the print heads remains idle for a long time, especially at
low temperatures. This can affect the quality of printing. To prevent the drying or thickening of ink around
the nozzles, the machine will execute a maintenance cleaning cycle appropriate for the length of time
that the print heads have remained idle. This is done automatically without intervention by the operator.
The machine monitors two phases of downtime.
• Idle time 1: Starts after the last sheet exits and all the print heads are capped
• Idle time 2: Amount of time each head has remained idle
• Idle (or downtime) refers to the length of time that a print head has not been used. For example, If
the machine is used for extensive black-and-white copying and printing over a period of several
days, a count of idle time for the color print heads (C, YM) is maintained even though the machine
has not been turned off.
These idle time counts are used to execute these operations:
• Air purging (ink supply and purging, filling and cleaning, and air purging/filling together)
• Ink supply sequence
• Cleanings and flushing (refreshing) done by the operator manually
• Ink purging done after idle time
The type of maintenance operation is selected and executed automatically based on the time elapsed
from the start of downtime.
Maintenance Cycles Based on Idle Time
No. Downtime Try to Detect
Air?
If air is detected for a print
head*
1
If no air detected
1 < 10 h No --- ---
2 > 10 and < 24 h Yes Ink supply, air purge/ink
fill sequence
Small downtime ink purge
3 > 24 h and < 3
days
Yes Ink supply, air purge/ink
fill sequence
Large downtime ink purge
4 > 3 days, < 7
days
Yes Ink supply, air purge/ink
fill sequence
Large downtime ink purge
3 times
5 > 7 days and <
45 days
Yes Ink supply, air purge/ink
fill sequence > Downtime
cleaning
Downtime cleaning
7. Detailed Description
862
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