Xerox Corporation

Alvin D Kromm, Jr

Rabin Moser

Paul Michael Fromm

Che C Chow

Robert M Jacobs

Anthony Salvatore Condello

Edul N Dalal

Steven Matthew Russel

James J Spence

Robert S Pawlik

Kim M Thomas

Karl J Mueller

Tricia A Bhattacharya

Jeffrey B Levy

Dewey H Haumann, Jr

A sheet transport system with improved sheet contacting thermal uniformity for transporting thermally sensitive imaged print media sheets in a sheet path of a printer, in which multiple sheet feeding rollers are spaced along sheet feeding path, with each said sheet feeding roller having a substantially uniform diameter extending transversely fully across the sheet feeding path for uniform sheet contact, with uniform baffles between the rollers also extending transversely fully across the sheet feeding path, for uniform sheet contact, and with vacuum sheet holddown provided by airflow slots on oppose sides of each sheet feeding roller extending transversely across the sheet feeding path.

Thermally uniform sheet transport for printers

A heat and pressure fuser and RAM system therefor. The RAM system includes a metering roll, thin film and a metering blade supported for effecting intimate contact between the metering roll and the thin film. The thin film is supported for movement from a supply reel to a take-up reel for periodic movement of a new portion of the film into contact with the metering roll. In this manner, contamination in the area of contact between the metering roll and the thin film is minimized. Moreover, the thin film which has a high surface tension, minimizes blade wear.

Renewable thin film oil metering blade

An apparatus for developing a latent image recorded on a surface with toner. The apparatus includes a housing having a supply of toner therein; a donor member arranged in said housing to transport toner to a development zone adjacent the surface; a electrode member is provided for detaching toner from said donor member and produce a toner cloud in the development zone; and an air handling system, associated with said housing, for collecting stray toner particles emitted from said housing, said air handling system including a separator for separating toner by size. The air handling system includes a blower, a particle chamber and a valve assembly.

Air handling system for a development housing

A heat and pressure fuser and RAM system therefor. A rotating wick is provided in one disclosed embodiment which cooperates with a metering roll to apply silicone oil release agent to the surface of a heated fuser roll. To this end the rotating wick contacts silicone oil contained in a sump and through its rotation conveys the oil to the metering roll which in turn applies a metered quantity of oil to the surface of the heated fuser roll. In another embodiment, a rotating wick together with a metering roll and a donor roll serve to convey silicone oil from a supply of oil to the surface of the fuser roll.

Single roll RAM system w/rotating wick

A release agent management system including a metering roll supported for contact with release agent material contained in a sump. The metering roll also contacts a donor brush structure which, in turn, contacts a heated fuser roll member. The ends of the brush structure are provided with a pair of friction devices which contact the surface of the heated fuser roll member and do not contact the metering roll. Thus, the donor brush structure and the heated fuser roll member are frictionally coupled so that positive rotation of the heated fuser roll member imparts rotation to the donor brush structure.

Donor brush

A fusing system, method of fusing with a fuser member having a thermally stable FKM hydrofluoroelastomer surface for fusing thermoplastic resin toners to a substrate in an electrostatographic printing apparatus has a polyorgano T-type amino functional oil release agent, the oil having predominantly monoamino functionality per active molecule to interact with the hydrofluoroelastomer surface to provide a substantially uniform interfacial barrier layer to the toner and a low surface energy film to release the toner from the surface.

Fusing system with T-type amino functional silicone release agent

An apparatus for fusing toner images to a substrate. A Release Agent Management (RAM) system for applying silicone oil to a metering roll utilizes a pair of metering blades to improve oil uniformity on the metering roll. Thus, streaks or localized areas of excess silicone oil as the result of blade defects and/or dirt accumulation associated with a first blade, ARE metered or smoothed to a more uniform thickness by the second blade. To this end, the first metering blade serves to meter silicone oil to a first predetermined thickness while the second blade serves to meter oil streaks to a second predetermined thickness which is greater than the first predetermined thickness.

Dual metering blade for fusing color toner images

A release agent management (RAM) system for a heat an pressure fuser. The RAM system includes a metering roll and donor brush or equivalent structure for providing a low friction nip between it and a pressure or fuser rolls and also between the it and the metering roll. The low friction nip allows rolls contacting the donor brush or its equivalent to operated at different speeds. Thus, the metering roll can be rotated at different speeds for delivering different quantities of release agent material in accordance with different operating conditions of the imaging apparatus in which the RAM system is used.

Donor brush ram system

Release Agent Management (RAM) system for a heat and pressure fuser. The open pool of oil associated with prior art RAM systems is replaced with an oil saturated wick the lower end of which is immersed in oil. The oil is held in a container with a sealed lid that has a slot through which the wick passes allowing the wick to transport oil from the container to a metering roll outside of the container. A depression in the container lid that cradles the wick under the metering roll allows oil to collect in the portion of the wick laying on the container lid. The shape of the depression prevents oil from flowing back into the container through the slot and from flowing to some lower part of the container lid. The wick is compressed approximately 50% between the metering roll and container lid. A removable seal is provided which is attached to the lid such that the RAM can be shipped without oil spillage.

Oil handling around a metering roll

A heat and pressure roll fusing apparatus for fixing toner images to copy substrates. The apparatus includes a release agent management system (RAM) for applying release agent such as functional silicone oil to a heated roll of the apparatus. The RAM comprises a donor roll, a metering roll and a metering blade which cooperate to convey silicone oil from a sump to the surface of the heated roll. The metering roll which is contacted by the metering blade is provided with a helical groove which acts to scrape the tip of the metering blade as the metering roll rotates and move paper related residue dislodged therefrom to the end of the metering roll where it is collected for subsequent disposal.

Heat pressure fuser apparatus

Fuser apparatus for utilization in a xerographic reproducing apparatus for fixing toner images adhered to substrates wherein the fuser apparatus comprises a heated fuser roll and a backup roll cooperating therewith to form a nip through which the substrates pass with the toner images contacting the heated fuser roll. A non-contact silicone oil applicator is provided together with a metering blade for applying a uniformly thick coating on the surface of the fuser roll which coating serves to minimize effect of toner.

Growing community of inventors

Webster, NY, United States of America

Alvin D Kromm, Jr