Xerox Corporation

Ajay Kumar

Dhirendra C Damji

Daniel A Chiesa

Jerry W Bryant

Keith Allan Nau

David Antwone Reed

Steven C Hart

Jonathan David Sadik

Douglas W Shaffer

Hirotsugu Oba

Michael D Thompson

Rachael L McGrath

Richard L Kjar

Cory Joseph Winters

Palghat Srinivas Ramesh

John F Knapp

John Stephen Facci

James Michael Chappell

Karl Edwin Kurz

Patrick Jun Howe

Paul Windsor Morehouse, Jr

Kenneth W Pietrowski

Rasin Moser

Jennifer R Wagner

Porfirio J Perez

Fei Xiao

Steven Robert LeRoy

Paul W Morehouse

Song Feng Mo

Michael E Zona

Richard J Milton

Allen T Retzlaff

A bearing support for use in a process cartridge including a roll rotatably mounted to a housing is provided. The roll is used for transporting marking particles to a latent image to form a developed image. The bearing support supports the roll and provides an electrical path between the roll and a voltage source. The bearing support includes a body having a first feature for cooperation with the roll and a second feature for cooperation with the housing. At least one of the first feature and the second feature provides for rotatable motion between the housing and the roll. The bearing support further includes a third feature for providing an electrical path between the roll and the voltage source.

Development bias connector with integral bearing support

A magnetic roll having longitudinal grooves machined in its rotating sleeve enables a pair of rolls to be rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of a photoreceptor moving through a development zone and a trim blade to be mounted proximate one of the rolls at a trim gap of approximately 0.5 to 0.7 mm. The magnetic roll includes a stationary core with at least one magnet, and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that is mounted about the stationary core so that the sleeve rotates about the stationary core. The sleeve has a relatively smooth surface area between the grooves.

Xerographic developer unit having multiple magnetic brush rolls with a grooved surface

A development station that improves toner halftone dot development over a wide range of environmental conditions includes a developer housing for retaining semi-conductive carrier particles and toner particles, a first magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the first magnetic roll, a second magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the second magnetic roll, an environmental sensor for generating an environmental condition signal, a variable voltage supply coupled to the first magnetic roll and the second magnetic roll, and a control circuit for adjusting an output level for the variable voltage supply.

Environmental controls for operation of an electrostatographic developer unit having multiple magnetic brush rolls

A development station in an electrostatographic imaging machine supports longer operational life without undue variation in the mass of developer on roll parameter. The development station includes a developer housing, for retaining a quantity of developer having semi-conductive carrier particles and toner particles, a first magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the first magnetic roll to transport developer to a photoreceptor, a second magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the second magnetic roll to receive developer from the first magnetic roll and present the developer to the photoreceptor, the sleeve of the second magnetic roll being fabricated from a material that is softer than the sleeve of the first magnetic roll.

Electrostatographic developer unit having multiple magnetic brush rolls having dissimilar compositions

A development subsystem is used to develop developer having semiconductive carrier particles and toner particles. The development subsystem includes a developer housing, for retaining a quantity of developer having semiconductive carrier particles and toner particles, a first magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve that rotates about the stationary core of the first magnetic roll, a second magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve that rotates about the stationary core of the second magnetic roll, and a motor coupled to the first and the second magnetic rolls to drive the rotating sleeves of the first and the second magnetic rolls in a direction that is against the direction of a photoreceptor that rotates in proximity to the first and the second magnetic rolls. The first and the second magnetic rolls carry semiconductive carrier particles and toner particles through a development zone formed by the first and the second magnetic rolls.

Xerographic developer unit having multiple magnetic brush rolls rotating against the photoreceptor

A development station in an electrostatographic imaging machine impedes the flow of carrier particles out of the development station as the developer moves from an upper to a lower magnetic roll. The development station includes a developer housing, for retaining a quantity of developer having semi-conductive carrier particles and toner particles, a first magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the first magnetic roll to present developer on one side of the first magnetic roll to the photoreceptor, a second magnetic roll having a stationary core with at least one magnet and a sleeve having longitudinal grooves that rotates about the stationary core of the second magnetic roll to receive developer from the first magnetic roll and present developer on one side of the second magnetic roll to the photoreceptor, the second magnetic roll being vertically displaced from the first magnetic roll so that a gap exists between the first and the second magnetic rolls, and a magnetic seal located in the gap between the first and the second magnetic rolls to impede the outflow of carrier particles from the developer moving from the first magnetic roll to the second magnetic roll.

Electrostatographic developer unit having multiple magnetic brush rolls with a magnetic restrictor for carrier particle emission control

A developer system for developing an image in an electrophotographic printing machine, including: a developer housing having a toner sump containing developer material; a magnetic development member rotatably mounted in the housing for transferring toner particles to a latent image on the photoreceptive member in a development zone; a transport system for transporting developer material from the toner sump to the magnetic development member, the transport system includes: a mix/pump auger, disposed in a first auger channel, for mixing and circulating developer material along a first path within the first auger channel; a transport auger, adjacent to the mix/pump auger and disposed in a second auger channel, for circulating developer material along a second path within the second auger channel; a wall member disposed in between the mix/pump auger and the transport auger, the wall member having a first opening disposed near an inboard end of the housing and a second opening disposed near an outboard end of the housing, the first and second opening providing a recirculating path between the first and second paths; a pick up area define in the first path, the pick up area having a predefined developer material volume; and a third opening in the wall member, disposed adjacent to the pumping section associated with a pumping section of the mix/pump auger, for providing a spillway from the first path to the second path to allow excess developer material to be recirculated when the developer material volume of the pick up area is substantially full.

Developer housing design with improved sump mass variation latitude

A developer system, including: a developer housing having a sump containing developer material including toner particles; a developer member rotatably mounted in the housing for transferring toner particles to a latent image on the photoreceptive member in a development zone; a pickup auger, positioned in an auger channel, for transporting and delivering developer material to the developer member, along a path adjacent to the developer member, the pickup auger having a first end portion and a second end portion, and the pickup auger includes a plurality of blades extending along the length of thereof, the plurality of blades being mounted on a core having a core size, the core size being adapted and arranged in the auger channel to maintain a constant developer material distance from the developer member along the length the auger channel.

Xerographic developer unit having variable pitch auger

A developer system, including: a developer housing having a sump containing developer material including toner particles; a developer member rotatably mounted in the housing for transferring toner particles to a latent image on the photoreceptive member in a development zone; a pickup auger, positioned in an auger channel, for transporting and delivering developer material to the developer member, along a path adjacent to the developer member, the pickup auger having a first end portion and a second end portion, and the pickup auger includes a plurality of blades extending along the length of thereof, the plurality of blades being adapted and arranged in the auger channel to maintain a constant developer material distance from the developer member along the length the auger channel.

In a basic design of a developer unit for electrostatographic printing apparatus, an exit port is defined in the housing of the developer unit, for the passage of waste or surplus toner therethrough. An insert, defining a predetermined spillover barrier height and a predetermined exit angle, is associated with the exit port. Different types of inserts can be provided for operating the basic design of developer unit at different print output speeds, or with different compositions of developer material.

Xerographic developer unit with specialized exit port for developer material

In a xerographic printing apparatus, a scorotron places a uniform charge on a photoreceptor for forming electrostatic latent images. Two conductive pin arrays are disposed in a housing defined by sidewalls and a grid adjacent the photoreceptor. For each array, the distance to the adjacent sidewall is 1.0 to 1.5 the distance to the grid.

Xerographic charging device having two pin arrays

Method for producing a firm, motion-resistant connection between mating surfaces of a male member, such as a shaft or hub, and a female member such as a bore. One or more thin ribs of pressure-deformable composition, such as integral soft metal or plastic, are formed on one of the mating surfaces, which ribs deform and spread between the surfaces when the male member is forced into the bore to connect the members. According to a preferred embodiment, the shaft is the fixed core shaft of a xerographic toner developer roller within a toner cartridge and/or the hub of a bearing support member for the shaft, and the bore is a central core shaft-engaging bore in the hub and/or a hub-engaging bore in the cartridge housing, and the connection is an electroconducting connection providing near-zero capacitance.

Firm interlock between shaft and bore

A developer unit is arranged with a replenish port for adding developer compound to the developer pan. The replenish port is arranged so that developer compound added to the replenish port falls through the port to an inclined ramp at one end of the developer pan. Further, the inclined ramp's angle of incline is arranged to exceed the developer compound's angle of repose. As a result, the added developer compound flows down the ramp and towards the agitator. The agitator, in turn, propels the developer compound towards the donor roll.

Developer unit with a replenish port

A charging apparatus for applying a uniform electrostatic charge to a charge retentive surface is provided. There is also provided a housing; an array of pin electrodes supported by said housing and positioned adjacent said surface in a non-contact relationship; wherein each pin in said array being composed of austenitic stainless steel; a power supply operatively coupled to said pin electrodes for supplying a predetermined current to each of said pin electrode, wherein said predetermined current ranges from 5 &mgr;A/pin and which co-acts with a protruding distance of the pins from the housing so as to optimize the charge uniformity and to minimize the ozone generated within said charging apparatus.

Pin charge corotron for minimum ozone production

A supporting apparatus for supporting a photoconductive member within the housing of a printing cartridge for use in a printing machine is provided. The supporting apparatus includes a body, a connecting feature and a supporting feature. The connecting feature is connected to the body for quick and removable connection to the housing. The supporting feature is connected to the body cooperating with the body for rotatably supporting the photoconductive member within the housing.

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Fairport, NY, United States of America

Ajay Kumar