Xerox Corporation

Edward A Domm

Satchidanand Mishra

Edward F Grabowski

Robert C U Yu

Anthony M Horgan

Richard L Post

Dennis J Prosser

Zoran D Popovic

Bing R Hsieh

Donald C VonHoene

Steven P Nonkes

Denis C Thomas

Kathleen M Carmichael

Markus Rudolf Silvestri

Surendar Jeyadev

Jin Wu

Yuhua Tong

Damodar M Pai

Joseph C Mammino

Kent J Evans

George Liebermann

Geoffrey M T Foley

Nancy Lynn Belknap

Johann Junginger

Stephen T Avery

Scott J Griffin

Merlin E Scharfe

Min-Hong Fu

James M Markovics

Satish R Parikh

Michael E Zak

Shyshung S Hwang

M John Hinckel

Mario Errico

Surendar Jevadev

Charles Hubert Henry Howes

Martin John Hinckel

Samy A Mesbah

Described herein is a device that generates a beam of light with uniform intensity. The device includes an array of light sources. The light generated passes through a beam splitter. One beam is used for feedback to maintain uniform intensity. The other beam passes through a barrel which is used to mold the beam with uniform intensity into the desired shape and to reduce divergence. The device can be used as part of a quality control system for testing a photoreceptor drum.

Device for uniform light intensity generation

Described herein is a method of forming a seamless transfer member suitable for use with an image forming system. The method includes spray coating a UV curable polymer and conductive particles onto an inner surface of a rotating cylindrical mandrel. The UV curable polymer is cured with ultra violet energy. The cured UV polymer is removed from the cylindrical rotatable mandrel.

Seamless intermediate transfer member process

An imaging member includes a charge generating layer and a charge transport layer. The charge transport layer includes a first surface in contact with the charge generating layer and a second surface. The charge transport layer includes a film forming polymer binder and a charge transport component dispersed therein. The concentration of the charge transport component in the charge transport layer is at a peak in a region of the charge transport intermediate the first and second surfaces of the charge transport layer.

Imaging member

An imaging member comprising a barrier or under-layer intermediate a photogenerating layer and charge transport layer to reduce charge deficiency spots. The barrier under-layer comprises a film forming polymer binder selected from a conductive polymer binder, a non-conductive polymer binder, or mixtures thereof. Optionally, the barrier layer can include a small amount of a charge transport material.

The amount of lateral charge migration (LCM) on a photoreceptor is quantified by measuring the average potential of a latent image formed on the photoreceptor surface. The surface is first uniformly charged, then exposed a first time to an image. After a waiting period during which LCM may occur, the surface is exposed a second time to the image. After another waiting period, the average potential is measured. The amount of LCM may be quantified by varying the waiting periods.

Method for detecting lateral surface charge migration through double exposure averaging

By varying corona producing element height/projection, a more uniform charge potential is achieved. Elements, such as pins or teeth, are shorter at the edges of an element array and grow longer as one moves toward the center of the array. Such variation in height/projection overcomes shielding from adjacent teeth, as well as other effects, to yield the more uniform charging potential.

Uniform charge device with reduced edge effects

Apparatus comprising a support member having a flat surface adapted to receive and support a seam region of a flexible belt comprising thermoplastic polymer material having a predetermined glass transition temperature, a heatable member having a smooth heatable flat surface for compressing at least a portion of the seam region of a flexible belt placed on the smooth flat surface of the support member to heat the portion to at least the glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic polymer material, the smooth surface of the heatable member having a profile which is parallel to the smooth flat surface of the support member, and wherein the heatable flat surface comprises a low surface energy or abhesive material.

Flexible imaging member belt seam smoothing method

A belt loading apparatus has been provided for loading a flimsy continuous belt onto a belt support and drive assembly including a vertical front end having a first shape and without damage to the belt. The belt loading apparatus includes a wall member defining a sleeve including an outer surface having a total outer surface area, a first edge and a second and opposite edge. The second edge has a vertical profile having a second shape such that the second shape of the second edge is a mirror image of the first shape of the belt support and drive assembly. The belt loading apparatus then includes friction reducing members formed on the outer surface of the sleeve for temporarily supporting and spacing a flimsy continuous belt to be loaded onto the belt support and drive assembly. The friction reducing members each have a belt contact area such that a sum total of belt contact areas of all the friction reducing members is significantly less than the total outer surface area of the sleeve.

Continuous flexible belt loading device

A process for providing an improved imaging member belt having a welded seam which exhibits greater resistance to dynamic fatigue induced seam cracking and delamination. An apparatus for achieving stress relaxation and eliminating protrusions in the seam region is also disclosed.

Seam stress release and protrusion elimination process

Process for post treatment of a flexible imaging member belt

A contactless process for detecting electrical patterns on the outer surface of a member comprising providing a member having a charge pattern on an outer surface, repetitively measuring the charge pattern on the outer surface of the member with an electrostatic voltmeter probe maintained at a substantially constant distance from the surface, the distance between the probe and the imaging member being slightly greater than the minimum distance at which Paschen breakdown will occur to form a parallel plate capacitor with a gas between the probe and the surface, the frequency of repetition being selected to cause all time dependent signals to fall out of phase by a predetermined amount, and averaging the out of phase time dependent signals over a sufficient number of measuring repetitions to eliminate the time dependent signals. In one embodiment, the contactless process detects surface potential charge patterns in an electrostatographic imaging member. Apparatus for carrying out these processes are also described.

Contactless system for detecting subtle surface potential charge patterns

A flexible imaging sheet and a method of constructing a flexible imaging sheet is disclosed. The method of constructing a flexible imaging sheet comprises a step of overlapping, a step of joining, and a step of shaping. In the step of overlapping, a first marginal end region and a second marginal end region of a sheet are overlapped to form an overlap region and a non-overlap region. In the step of joining, the first marginal end region and the second marginal end region of the sheet are joined to one another by a seam in the overlap region. In the step of shaping, the overlap region is shaped to form a generally planar surface co-planar with a surface of the non-overlap region. The flexible imaging sheet comprises a first marginal end region and a second marginal end region The first marginal end region and the second marginal end region are secured by a seam to one another in the overlap region. The first marginal end region and the second marginal end region are substantially co-planar to minimize stress on the flexible imaging sheet. Minimization of stress concentration, resulting from dynamic bending of the flexible imaging sheet during cycling over a roller within an electrophotographic imaging apparatus, is particularly accomplished in the present invention.

Method of constructing a seamed flexible imaging sheet

The present invention is an apparatus for tuning or altering the charge potential limiting effect that a scorotron grid has upon an adjacent charge receiving surface. The scorotron charging apparatus utilizes corona producing means, spaced above the charge retentive surface, for emitting corona ions in response to a high voltage potential applied thereto, and a flexible grid, suspended between said corona producing means and the charge retentive surface in a nonplanar fashion, such that the spacing between said grid and the charge retentive surface is variable along at least one region of said grid.

Tunable scorotron for depositing uniform charge potential

The present invention is a charging apparatus capable of electrically tuning or altering, on a relatively local scale, the corona ion current passing between a corona producing device and a charge retentive surface. The charging apparatus, which may be either a corotron or a scorotron, is specifically adapted to apply a uniform charge to a charge retentive surface which characteristically exhibits non-uniform charging behavior. More specifically, the charging apparatus comprises corona producing devices, spaced apart from the charge retentive surface, for emitting a corona ion current, and device, responsive to a bias voltage, for locally altering the corona ion current passing between said corona producing device and the charge retentive surface. In the described embodiments, the ion current altering device includes segmented grids, segmented shields and segmented electrodes, all of which may be maintained at variable bias voltages to produce local variation in the ion current passing to the charge retentive surface.

Electrically tunable charging device for depositing uniform charge

Growing community of inventors

Hilton, NY, United States of America

Edward A Domm