Hewlett-packard Company

Hewlett-packard Development Company, L.p.

Other

Kenneth Eugene Heath

Mark John Wibbels

B Mark Hirst

David J Arcaro

Joseph Clark Carls

Wayne E Foote

John A Thompson

Dennis D Anderson

Kristina J Wood

Judith A Garzolini

C S Chan

Jeffrey L Trask

Bartley Mark Hirst

George Bernhard Clifton

Victor D Loewen

There is provided a fusing system. The fusing system includes a fuser roller, a pressure roller arranged parallel to the fuser roller for providing pressure to a medium passing between the fuser roller and the pressure roller, and a heater external to the fuser roller and applying heat to the fuser roller when the heater is operated to apply heat. The fusing system also includes a control mechanism that the controls the heater to reduce heat provided by the heater when the temperature of the heater is determined to be above a predetermined maximum heater temperature.

Power control system for fusing system with external heater

The present disclosure relates to a fusing system for fusing toner to a recording medium. The system includes a fuser roller, a pressure roller in contact with the fuser roller, and an external heating roller. In addition, the disclosure relates to a method for heating a fuser roller of a fusing system. The method includes the steps of providing an external heating roller, contacting an outer surface of the fuser roller with the external heating roller, heating the external heating roller, and rotating the external heating roller and the fuser roller such that heat is transferred from the external heating roller to the fuser roller.

Fusing system including an external heater

A method of aligning and registering duplex images in the process direction using an imaging device, such as a printer including the steps of applying a first image to a first side of a media, modifying one or more imaging parameters of the imaging device after the first image is applied, and applying a second image to a second side of the media using the modified imaging parameters.

Duplex image registration

The present disclosure relates to a fusing system for fusing toner to a recording medium. The fusing system includes a fuser roller including a metal layer, a pressure roller in contact with the fuser roller, and an external induction heating element. In addition, the disclosure relates to a method for heating a fuser roller of a fusing system including the steps of positioning an external induction heating element in close proximity to the outer surface of the fuser roller, delivering high frequency current to a coil of the external induction heating element to create a magnetic flux, and directing the magnetic flux toward the fuser roller so as to induce eddy currents within a metal layer of the fuser roller that generate heat within the roller.

Fusing system having electromagnetic heating

The present disclosure relates to a fusing system for fusing toner to a recording medium. In one embodiment, the fusing system contains a fuser roller configured as a heat pipe including an inner tube and a coaxial outer tube that is mounted to the inner tube, the inner and outer tubes defining an interior space therebetween that is adapted to contain a liquid and to be evacuated so as be maintained in a vacuum, and a pressure roller in contact with the fuser roller. In another embodiment, the fusing system contains a fuser roller, a pressure roller in contact with the fuser roller, and an external heating roller in contact with the fuser roller, the external heating roller being configured as a heat pipe including an inner tube and a coaxial outer tube that is mounted to the inner tube, the inner and outer tubes defining an interior space therebetween that is adapted to contain a liquid and to be evacuated so as be maintained in a vacuum.

Fusing system including a heat distribution mechanism

The present disclosure relates to a fusing system for fusing toner to a recording medium. The fusing system includes a fuser roller including an elastomeric layer and a heat transport layer disposed around the elastomeric layer, the heat transport layer having high thermal capacity, and a pressure roller in contact with the fuser roller. The present disclosure also relates to a fusing method that helps reduce gloss variation of printed media fused to a recording medium with a fusing system. The method includes the steps of forming a heat transport layer having high thermal capacity at an outer surface of a fuser roller of the fusing system, heating the heat transport layer, and transferring heat from the heat transport layer to the recording medium as it passes through a nip of the fusing system.

Fusing system including a heat storage mechanism

The present disclosure relates to a fusing system for fusing toner to a recording medium. The fusing system comprises a fuser roller that does not have an internal heat source, a pressure roller that does not have an internal heat source, the pressure roller being in contact with the fuser roller, and an external heat source that heats at least one of the fuser and pressure rollers.

Simplified fusing system

A temperature differential over a length of a fuser can result from a thermal load applied to the fuser by media having a dimension, corresponding to a longitudinal axis of the fuser, less then the length of the fuser. The temperature on regions of the surface of the fuser contacting the media is lower than on regions of the surface not contacting the media. With feedback used to control the fuser surface temperature near its center, the fuser surface temperature in regions not contacting the media can become hot enough to damage the fuser. With a heat pipe included in the fuser, heat flows from the higher temperature regions on the surface of the fuser to the lower temperature regions on the surface of the fuser, thereby reducing the peak magnitude of the fuser surface temperature and the magnitude of the temperature differential over the length of the fuser.

Reducing a temperature differential in a fixing device

Hot offset of black toner is reduced or eliminated in a color electrophotographic imaging device, such as a laser printer, by applying a minimal layer of non-black toner in addition to the black toner on a print media. The non-black toner, such as cyan, magenta or yellow toner, acts as a release agent for reducing or eliminating hot offset of the black toner during fusing of the toner to the media. The non-black toner is applied as a thin layer just sufficient to reduce hot offset of the black toner and such that an appearance of a resultant image formed retains a visual perception of being a black toner only image. In an alternate embodiment, the thin layer of non-black toner is applied in response to coated media being processed, such as overhead transparencies, that are more susceptible to hot offset. In yet a further alternate embodiment, raster source image data is converted to output data using a process neutral axis color rendering table, and vector source image data is converted to output data using the same process neutral axis color rendering table only if coated media is being processed, thereby reducing hot offset of black toner. Otherwise, the vector source image data is converted to output data using a black only neutral axis color rendering table.

Reduced hot offset in color electrophotographic imaging

A method of aligning duplex images on an imaging device such as a printer or copier includes duplex imaging a test sheet having indicia on each side of the sheet that communicate, when observed in a single visual context, duplex imaging adjustment parameters for the imaging device. The method further includes modifying imaging parameters of the imaging device based on the duplex imaging adjustment parameters communicated. The indicia on each side of the sheet are seen in a single visual context by observing certain of the indicia through the media, as when the media is held up to a light source. In a preferred embodiment, the indicia on each side of the sheet includes respective portions of a vernier scale. The imaging parameters are modified by entering the adjustment parameters at a control panel of the imaging device. Imaging parameters modified include timing parameters associated with the process of writing data on the imaging device. In addition to the method, an imaging device includes components, data and executable instructions necessary for implementing the above described method.

Duplex image alignment

A single pass color printer employs a band drive to move media sheets through plural developer stations. The band drive also provides motive power to drive, in common (via frictional engagement with their respective peripheries), all of the organic photoconductor (OPC) rollers that are present in plural developer stations that are arrayed along the media movement path. The use of the common band drive assures that the surface speeds of the OPC drums and media sheets are synchronized at their respective points of contact, thus eliminating much of the station to station variations due to differences in diameters and runout of the plural OPC rollers.

Synchronous band drive for an inline color printer

An electrostatic imaging system includes a photoconductor which carries an image defined by a liquid toner. The liquid toner comprises a pigment binder system in a paraffinic solvent blend carrier liquid, the liquid carrier exhibiting a relatively high flash point temperature. The imaging system further includes a heating roll, and a film forming roll positioned between the photoconductor and the heating roll. The film forming roll includes at least first and second superposed layers, the first layer comprised of a material that is carrier liquid phillic and which exhibits a dimensional thickness which enables substantially all carrier liquid entrained therein to reach the liquid's flashpoint temperature when under influence of the heating roll. The second layer is carrier liquid phobic and exhibits a resiliency that enables the first layer to compliantly mate with the photoconductor surface. A further transfer roll comprises an outer, liquid carrier phobic layer and an inner compliant layer for enabling indirect transfer of an image from the photoconductor to a media sheet.

Liquid toner fusing/transfer system with a film-forming roller that is

A thermo-electric image transfer system (50) for transferring a toned image directly to a paper or transparency medium in the absence of a liquid toner carrier. The medium is fed over a pre-heating platen (52) which drives excess moisture out of the medium. The medium is fed into a nip between first and second transfer rollers (64, 62). The first transfer roller (64) is heated so as to heat the backside of the medium, and includes a thermally and electrically conductive elastomeric layer (64A). A guide element (66) guides the medium out of the nip between the transfer rollers, and into another nip between the first transfer roller (64) and the photoconductor drum (68), with pneumatic cylinders maintaining pressure between the roller and drum. An electrostatic bias voltage is applied to the first roller (64) of a polarity opposite to that of the toner defining the image on the drum (68), to provide an electrostatic attraction of toner to the medium. The heat, pressure and electrostatic fields causes a toner image to be transferred to the medium from the drum (68). The medium is allowed to remain against the drum (68) to allow for cooling and adhesion to the medium, and thereafter is detached from the drum, with the image separating at the toner/photoconductor interface.

Thermo-electric transfer system for liquid toner

A mechanism is described for automatically handling envelopes and paper sheets, the mechanism having an input window for receiving the envelopes and paper sheets. The mechanism comprises a first tray for holding a stack of paper sheets and is mountable in the window. A second tray is provided for holding a stack of envelopes and is also mountable in the window. A roller system is positioned to selectively engage the topmost sheet of the stack of sheets in the first tray or a bottommost envelope of the stack of envelopes in the second tray and to feed either the topmost sheet or the bottommost envelope, as the case may be.

Growing community of inventors

Boise, ID, United States of America

Kenneth Eugene Heath