(57) An ink solvent dispenser system (100; 120) is provided for cleaning a printhead (70,
72, 74, 76) in an inkjet printing mechanism (20). The dispenser (100; 120) has an
enclosure shell (102; 122) defining a reservoir (104; 124) filled with an ink solvent
(110), such as polyethylene glycol ("PEG"). A back-pressure device (105; 125), such
as a porous body (106) or a spring-bag structure (126, 128), is located inside the
reservoir (104; 124) to prevent ink solvent leakage. The dispenser (100; 120) has
a sintered, high density polyethylene plastic applicator (108; 135) in fluid communication
with the ink solvent (110) stored within the reservoir (104; 124) in a space-efficient
manner. The applicator (108; 135) uses capillary forces to extract the ink solvent
(110) from the reservoir (104; 124) for application to a printhead wiper (90, 92,
94, 96) contacting the applicator (108; 135). The wiper (90, 92, 94, 96) wipes across
the printhead (70, 72, 74, 76), after which ink residue (112) is scraped (114) from
the wiper (90, 92, 94, 96) prior to receiving the next dose of solvent (110). A method
is also provided of dispensing ink solvent (110), along with an inkjet printing mechanism
(20) having provisions for replaceably receiving the ink solvent dispenser system
(100; 120).
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