Eyelid with mechanically driven service position override

摘要

A technique for sealing a printhead (10) of an ink jet printer system on startup, opening the seal (20) to print, and opening further on an arbitrary path for service, is provided for by the present invention. The ink jet printhead (10) has an ink drop generator (16), a catcher (18) located adjacent to the ink drop generator (16), and a catcher pan located below the catcher (18). An eyelid seals ink within the printhead on startup of the printer system. An actuator mechanism transmits movement to the eyelid along a predetermined path, having multiple positions for the eyelid. The eyelid is moved between open and closed positions by means of a dc motor (26). The open position is defined by the actuator means contacting a print position stop (32). Shifting the position of the print position stop (32) allows the eyelid to open to a service position.