Xerox Corporation

Douglas P Connolly

Roger M Swanson

Stephen M Borostyan

John E Forward

Robert J Tannascoli

Alan F McCarroll

George A Muller

Robert John Yax

Barry G Rickett

Gregory B Swistak

Alan D Friske

Customer billing system for electrostatographic reproducing machines in which a replaceable copy cartridge provides a guaranteed number of copies or prints, each cartridge having an integral copy counter which, on reaching a predetermined copy count, is disabled, rendering the cartridge dead and activating an additional copy counting mechanism for counting a limited number of grace copies that can be made using the dead cartridge, after which further operation of the machine is prevented until a new cartridge is installed.

Copy cartridge warranty and billing system

An imaging process having reduced toner contamination of the printing machine and copies produced therefrom is provided where successive developed toner images are formed on successive registered areas of an endless imaging member movable through a path past a plurality of processing stations by creating an electrostatic fringe field across the width of the imaging member in advance of the lead edge of developed toner image in a registered area of the image member of sufficient magnitude to attract otherwise contaminating toner thereto as it traverses the path whereby contaminating toner is not attracted to successive registered areas of the imaging member. In a preferred embodiment the fringe scavenger filed has a gradient more than 15 volts per millimeter.

Scavenging field for electrostatographic printing machine

An apparatus and method for developing an electrostatic latent image on an imaging member wherein a development nip is formed between a rotatably mounted cylindrical developer roll and the imaging member. The nip is initially supplied with a wedge shaped layer of developer material to develop the electrostatic latent image on the imaging member. Periodically at stated intervals the developer material is collected from the developer roll and development nip and the same measured amount of developer material is resupplied to the development nip. The apparatus includes a developer material supply means comprising a developer material hopper having a dispensing aperture at the bottommost portion thereof adjacent the developer roll, a movable dispensing slide in operative association with the developer material hopper, the slide having in succession a solid portion for sealing association with the aperture in the hopper, an aperture for dispensing association with the aperture in the hopper and the cleaning doctor blade for cleaning engagement with the developer roll to collect developer material in the pile as the slide is movable back and forth from sealing association with the hopper aperture and for cleaning the developer roll.

Closed loop mechanical development control system

A toner dispenser having a rotatable cylindrical dispenser roll and an automatic low toner level indicator comprising a lamp and photocell mounted in opposed walls of the dispenser adjacent the bottom of the dispenser housing. The lamp and photocell are separated from the toner in the dispenser by transparent windows. A wiping arrangement is provided inside the dispenser to periodically clean the windows including wiper pads biased into contact with the windows and movable periodically back and forth across the surface of the windows in response to rotation of the dispenser roll.

Wiper arrangement for toner level sensor

In an electrostatographic copier in which imaging material is transferred from an image support surface to an overlying copy sheet in a transfer station, by electrical transfer charges, the variable leakage conduction of these transfer charges by the copy sheet away from the transfer area (to contacting conductive members) changes the available transfer field strength, thus affecting transfer efficiency and quality. Here the conductive members contacting the copy sheet while it is in the transfer station are electrically isolated from ground and connected to feed back the sheet leakage currents to circuitry providing a compensatory change in the applied transfer charges.

Transfer charge control system

Applicator structure for applying toner offset preventing liquid to a heated fuser roll structure for fusing toner images to copy sheets. The applicator structure comprises a wick member and support therefor wherein the support is characterized by having a plurality of concave surfaces each of which can cooperate with the fuser roll structure to retain a different portion of said wick member in engagement with said fuser roll structure. The support is adapted to be manually repositioned relative to the fuser roll so that each of the concave surfaces can be disposed opposite the fuser roll structure.

Release agent application system for a heated fuser roll

An electrostatographic machine is provided with a manually operable switch for changing the output of a pre-transfer corona discharge device depending upon the contrast characteristic of an original document to be copied. If the pre-transfer device is energized by an A.C. signal biased to a preselected D.C. level, this D.C. bias level may be changed in accordance with contrast quality of the original document to vary the image density at which transition from transfer suppression to transfer enhancement takes place. Alternatively, the A.C. excitation level may be varied to change the point at which transition from transfer enhancement to transfer suppression occurs.

Growing community of inventors

Webster, NY, United States of America

Douglas P Connolly