US Patent 7506958 Printhead maintenance station

A printhead maintenance station for maintaining a printhead in an operable condition is provided. The maintenance station comprises an elastically deformable pad having a contact surface for sealing engagement with an ink ejection face of the printhead. The maintenance station also comprises an engagement mechanism for moving the pad between a first position in which the contact surface is sealingly engaged with the face, and a second position in which the contact surface is disengaged from the face. The maintenance station is configured such that the contact surface is progressively contacted with the face during sealing engagement and peeled away from the face during disengagement.