Lexmark International, Inc.

John William Kietzman

Calvin Dale Murphy

William Paul Cook

Daniel Lee Carter

Gregory Lawrence Ream

Jerry Wayne Smith

Mark Kevin DeMoor

Gregory Hardin McClure

Ronald Willard Baker

Edward Alan Rush

Philip Jerome Heink

Hrishikesh Pramod Gogate

Edward Lawrence Kiely

Steven Jeffrey Harris

Claudia Alexandra Marin

Matthew Lee Rogers

Michael Craig Leemhuis

Gary Allen Denton

Kevin Dean Schoedinger

Benjamin Keith Newman

Jichang Cao

Donald Wayne Stafford

Benjamin Alan Askren

Michael David Maul

John Andrew Buchanan

James Douglas Gilmore

Ligia Aura Bejat

David Starling MacMillan

Tom E Stickler

Bhaskar Gopalanarayanan

Sean David Smith

Brian Anthony Reichert

Philip Scot Carter

Gerald Lee Fish

David Clay Blaine

Chris Anthony Burdette

Michael Lewis Pawley

Albert Munn Carter, Jr

William Alan Menk, Jr

Charles Jerome Cheek

Jason Edward Gordon

Samuel Carter Sipper

Emily J Camp

Lawrence G Teply

The present disclosure relates to a method, system and apparatus for calibrating toner measurement in an image forming device. A toner patch is deposited onto a control surface, the toner patch reflecting light in a plurality of wavelengths in the infrared spectrum. A toner patch sensor emits light at the plurality of wavelengths in the infrared spectrum onto the toner patch. The amount of incident light reflected from the toner patch at the plurality of wavelengths from the emitted light is measured, and used to generate measured signals indicative of the reflectivity of the toner patch. An operating parameter of the image forming device is adjusted based upon the measured signals.

Toner calibration in an image forming device

An image fixing assembly includes a heating unit having a heating element and a fusing member enclosing the heating element; a backup member; and a heat conducting member. The fusing member is configured to rotate around the heating element. Further, the fusing member is capable of being heated by the heating element. The backup member is abuttingly coupled to the fusing member for configuring a nip portion therebetween, and is capable of pressing media sheets against the fusing member, when the media sheets pass through the nip portion. The heat conducting member is capable of retractably coupling to one of the fusing member and the backup member for enabling flow of heat between the one of the fusing member and the backup member, and the heat conducting member, for reducing a thermal gradient. Further disclosed is a method for fixing images on the media sheets using the image fixing assembly.

Control of overheating in an image fixing assembly

A method is provided for operating an electrophotographic printer comprising providing an electrophotographic printer comprising a substrate transport assembly including a substrate transport member and a fuser assembly including a fuser member. The substrate transport assembly is operated such that the substrate transport member is driven at a substrate transport linear speed. The fuser assembly is operated such that an outer surface of the fuser member moves at a fuser assembly linear speed. The fuser assembly linear speed is a first fractional amount of the substrate transport linear speed for at least normal size substrates such that a bubble in a normal size substrate between the paper transport assembly and the fuser assembly is created, and the fuser assembly linear speed is a second fractional amount of the substrate transport linear speed for envelopes. The second fractional amount may be greater than the first fractional amount.

Electrophotographic printer and method of operation so as to minimize print defects

A power supply control system for a fuser assembly in an electrophotographic apparatus includes a power supply and a fuser assembly. The power supply includes a first electrical path designated for a fuser assembly that operates at a first voltage and a second electrical path designated for a fuser assembly that operates at a second voltage. The fuser assembly is configured to operate at a select one of the first voltage or the second voltage and is connected to the first electrical path if the fuser assembly operates at the first voltage, and the fuser assembly is connected to the second electrical path if the fuser assembly operates at the second voltage. The first and second electrical paths allow different device features including power limiting devices such as fuses, switches, relays, etc., to be placed in each path.

Electrophotographic power supply configuration for supplying power to a fuser

A helical auger member for transporting toner in an image forming apparatus. The auger member may be implemented as part of a waste toner removal system for removing toner from a photoconductive member of a toner cartridge. Toner that is removed by a cleaner member is transported through a cleaner housing with a helical member, such as a coil wire, having a pitch to outer diameter ratio from about 1.5 to 2.5.

Auger for use in an image forming device

A method of operating a fuser for duplex printing includes equilibrating the fuser roll surface temperatures by rotating the rolls at a speed faster than the process speed between fusing an image on a first side of the media and fusing an image on a second side of the media.

Fuser unit operation for gloss consistency

A resistive heater adapted for heating a fuser belt is provided. The heater comprises a substrate, a first resistive trace formed over the substrate, and a second resistive trace formed so as to at least partially overlap the first resistive trace.

Resistive heater comprising first and second resistive traces, a fuser subassembly including such a resistive heater and a universal heating apparatus including first and second resistive traces

A method of determining a relative speed between two separately driven members in an image forming apparatus, includes the steps of: transporting a print medium using a print media transport assembly including a first nip, the print media transport assembly operable at a first transport speed; driving a rotatable member associated with a second nip at a second transport speed which is independent from the first transport speed; printing a first image on the print medium when the print medium is in at least one of the first nip and the second nip; printing a second image on the print medium when the print medium is in each of the first nip and the second nip, the second image overlapping the first image; detecting a moir&#xe9; pattern caused by the first image and the second image; and determining a speed relationship between the first transport speed and the second transport speed, dependent upon the detected moir&#xe9; pattern.

Method of determining a relative speed between independently driven members in an image forming apparatus

A method of operating an electrophotographic printer includes the steps of: transporting a print medium at a first operating speed using a print medium transport assembly; transporting the print medium from the print medium transport assembly to a fuser assembly, the fuser assembly including a fuser roll; creating a bubble in the print medium between the paper transport assembly and the fuser assembly; determining a temperature associated with the fuser roll; and rotating the fuser roll at a second operating speed which is dependent upon the determined temperature.

Method of driving a fuser roll in an electrophotographic printer

A method of determining a relative speed between two separately driven members in an image forming apparatus, includes the steps of: transporting a print medium using a print media transport assembly including an exit nip, the print media transport assembly operable at a first transport speed; driving a rotatable member associated with an entrance nip using an electric motor at a second transport speed which is independent from the first transport speed; transferring the print medium from the exit nip to the entrance nip; detecting an electrical characteristic of the motor when the print medium is present in each of the exit nip and the entrance nip; and determining a relative speed between the first transport speed and the second transport speed.

A method of operating an image forming apparatus includes the steps of: storing information in a memory located in a fuser assembly; and changing at least one operating characteristic of the image forming apparatus based upon the stored information. In a more particular example of the present invention, a method of operating an electrophotographic printer includes the steps of: storing information in a memory located in a fuser assembly; installing the fuser assembly in the printer; and controlling operation of the fuser assembly using a controller in the printer, dependent upon the stored information.

Method of operating an image forming apparatus using information stored in a fuser memory

The present invention is directed to a device having an arm and a sensor that can differentiate two events. The arm is pivotally mounted to move in different directions upon the occurrence of different events. A section of the arm includes a trigger section having an unequal distribution of a sensed characteristic. A first event moves the arm in a first direction that is sensed by the sensor in a first manner. A second event moves the arm in a second direction that is sensed by the sensor in a second manner. The sensor signals a controller that oversees the image forming process. Methods of operating the arm and sensor are disclosed for detecting the two separate events, and signaling the controller accordingly.

Image forming device having a sensor with two separate distinguishable triggers

Fusing systems are provided that utilize a heated fusing roller in conjunction with a backup belt assembly to provide a large fusing region within a minimal amount of space. The heated fusing roller comprises a thin walled steel roll having an elastomeric inner layer and a non-resilient flouropolymer release layer. The thin wall steel core allows for relatively faster warm up times compared to conventional fusing systems. Moreover, the backup belt assembly allows for the varying of the pressure profile and the enhancement of media release. The utilization of this design minimizes the size of the system necessary to attain the adhesion of toner to the media, which in turn reduces the cost of the mechanism. Further, the use of the varying pressure nip minimizes the amount of friction between a belt support member and the belt itself, which may reduce friction, wear, and will reduce the risk of print quality defects. Overall, the various embodiments of the present invention contain functional flexibility, a relatively small functional envelope, and better performance at a lower cost compared to conventional fusing systems.

Backup belt assembly for use in a fusing system and fusing systems therewith

An apparatus for ink-jet printing including an ink-jet print head to jet ink, a coating solid, and a coating holder to support the coating solid, wherein the coating holder transfers a portion of the coating solid onto a medium to form a coating solid layer. The coating holder and coating solid may be combined in a removable cartridge. In addition, the medium may be an intermediate transfer medium, a media support medium, a transfer medium, or media, such as paper. A method for inkjet printing also includes applying a coating solid to a medium to form a layer of the coating solid, in a solid form, having predetermined thickness, and applying ink to the medium. The layer of coating solid may interact with the applied ink to destabilize colorant in the ink.

Apparatus and method for printing using a coating solid

An arm that directs media sheets along multiple paper paths of an image forming device. The arm is mounted to pivot when contacted by the media sheet to direct the sheets along the proper media paths, and divert the sheets from entering the improper media paths. A sensor positioned adjacent to the arm senses movement of the arm to determine the location and timing of the media sheets as they move along the paper paths. Sensor is operatively connected to a controller which tracks the movement of the media sheets through the image forming apparatus. The arm may further be positioned to determine the orientation of an internal part. The arm moves between first and second orientations depending upon the position of the internal part. The position of the arm is again determined by the sensor. The invention further includes methods of moving the position of the arm to determine the location of the media sheets and/or the orientation of the internal part.

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, KY, United States of America

John William Kietzman