Xerox Corporation

Lawrence Floyd, Jr

John F Knapp

Robert J Gruber

Michael D Thompson

Shu Chang

Robert E Trott

Santokh Singh Badesha

Paul J McConville

Palghat Srinivas Ramesh

Eric Michael Gross

Eric Scott Hamby

Bryan James Roof

James Edward Williams

Donald S Sypula

Jack Thomas Lestrange

Daniel M Bray

Steven B Bolte

Yongsoon Eun

Gregory Joseph Kovacs

Todd Kenneth Preston

Robert A Pictor

Peter Gordon Odell

Barkev Keoshkerian

Anthony Salvatore Condello

Jennifer Lynne Belelie

Bruce Earl Thayer

Steven E Ready

Christopher A Wagner

Joseph C Sheflin

James Michael Chappell

Michael G Swales

Ronald J Koch

Edward Blair Caruthers

Jason O'Neil

Stephen T Chai

Christine J Tarnawskyj

Joseph A Mastrandrea

Fusheng Xu

Jacques K Webster-Curley

Shawn R Rowan

Allen W Denham

Norman W Czubaj, Jr

James Fallon, Jr

A printer cleaning device cleans an image receiving surface with a surface preparation material, includes a roller having a perforated cylindrical wall surrounded by a foam material. The cylindrical wall has an interior volume for holding a fluid pumped into the interior volume by a pump. The pressurized fluid flows through the cylindrical wall into the foam material as the roller is moved into engagement with the image receiving surface. The roller is rotated in a direction opposition to a direction of movement of the image receiving surface to help the foam material to scrub the image receiving surface and apply the fluid to the surface. As the roller is moved away from the surface, the foam material expands to facilitate absorption of fluid and remove material from the image receiving surface. The foam material in one embodiment is hydrophobic.

System and method for cleaning an image receiving surface in an inkjet printer

An approach is provided for controlling ultraviolet-curable gel ink spread of a printed image. The approach involves causing, at least in part, one or more inks to be applied to a first substrate image area by one or more inkjets in a printing zone of a printer, the one or more inkjets being configured to form one or more first ink spots on the first substrate image area. The approach also involves determining a temperature of at least the first substrate image area in the printing zone. The approach further involves determining a first spot size of at least one of the one or more first ink spots. The approach additionally involves causing, at least in part, a temperature of at least a second substrate image area in the printing zone to be based, at least in part, on the determined first spot size.

Method and apparatus for controlling ultraviolet-curable gel ink spread of a printed image

An inkjet printer has been developed that reduces the effects of show-through by depositing ink onto a cooled print medium. The inkjet printer includes a printhead and a cooler. The printhead is configured to eject ink onto an ink receiving member as the ink receiving member is transported along a portion of a media path through the inkjet printer. The cooler is positioned proximate the media path to cool the ink receiving member prior to the printhead ejecting ink onto the ink receiving member.

Cooler for a printer

Methods and devices for forming, such as by printing, high quality, high throughput, ultraviolet curable gel ink images on flexible substrates for packaging applications are disclosed. The methods and devices have excellent image quality and do not require pinning of the ink during color printing or nitrogen inerting during curing.

Imaging on flexible packaging substrates

An apparatus for loading one or more donor rolls of a developer unit, comprising a developer housing having a reservoir for a developer material, a rotatable first donor roll that delivers the toner onto a moving photoconductive member, a trim roll that receives developer material from the reservoir and delivers the developer material to a first magnetic brush roller that delivers toner to the first donor roll, and a rotatable second magnetic brush roll that receives the developer material from the first magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner to the first donor roll. The apparatus may further comprise a rotatable second donor roll that receives the toner from the second magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner onto the photoconductive member, and a rotatable third magnetic brush roll that receives the developer material from the second magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner to the second donor roll. The apparatus may further comprise a trim blade for trimming excess developer material from the trim roll.

Apparatus and methods for loading a donor roll utilizing a slow speed trim roll

An apparatus for loading one or more donor rolls of a developer unit, comprising a developer housing having a reservoir for a developer material, a rotatable first donor roll that delivers the toner onto a moving photoconductive member, a rotatable first magnetic brush roll that receives the developer material from the reservoir and delivers the toner to the first donor roll, and a rotatable second magnetic brush roll that receives the developer material from the first magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner to the first donor roll. The apparatus may further comprise a rotatable second donor roll that receives the toner from the second magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner onto the photoconductive member, and a rotatable third magnetic brush roll that receives the developer material from the second magnetic brush roll and delivers the toner to the second donor roll.

Apparatus and methods for loading a donor roll

A closed-loop toner concentration adjustment system extends xerographic process control performance with a system and method including a first controller to adjust toner concentration (TC) in a developer of the imaging device to alter a DMA level of the imaging device, the TC being adjusted based on a TC target value; a second controller to adjust an electrostatic development field to alter the DMA level; and an adjustment logic device to adjust the TC target value based on adjustments made to the electrostatic development field. The first controller outputs a dispense amount to the developer based on a difference between a measurement of the actual TC and the TC target value, thereby adjusting the TC based on the dispense amount to the developer. The second controller adjusts the electrostatic development field based on a difference between a measurement of the actual DMA level and a DMA target value. The adjustment logic monitors the adjustments made to the electrostatic development field to determine a trend, and adjusts the TC target value based on the trend.

System for active toner concentration target adjustments and method to maintain development performance

The exemplary embodiments are directed to a control system and method of predicting how a machine will respond to occasional or periodic maintenance or service, and adjusting the machine accordingly to account for the change in machine behavior due to the maintenance or service action. More specifically, in a machine under closed-loop control subject to occasional maintenance or service, the maintenance or service results in transient in machine performance. To mitigate transients in machine performance due to maintenance or service, a prediction of the maintenance or service effect is fed forward the existing control system just prior to the occurrence of maintenance or service in order to compensate for the maintenance or service effect. This prediction is continually updated and refined using subsequent measurements of the effect of maintenance or service on machine performance.

Control system and method for mitigating transients in a machine due to occasional maintenance or service

A system for removing residual contaminants from an image conditioning apparatus that removes excess liquid from a developed image made up of toner particles immersed in a liquid carrier medium on an image bearing member. The system includes a vacuum blotting device that contacts the liquid developed image and absorbs a portion of the liquid carrier and residual contaminants remain thereon. A contact member adapted to be shifted from a non-operative position spaced from the vacuum blotting device, to an operative position in contact with the vacuum blotting device operates to transfer the contaminants therefrom. A scraper removes the transferred contaminants from the contact member. The contact member is pivotally mounted about the pivot point to effect shifting of the contact member between the non-operative and the operative position.

System for cleaning contaminants from a vacuum assisted image

A system for removing excess carrier liquid from an electrostatic image developed with liquid developing material made up of toner particles immersed in a liquid carrier medium on an image bearing member. The system includes an absorbent contact roller for absorbing at least a portion of the liquid carrier off of the liquid image, and vacuum source coupled to the contact roller for generating both negative pressure at the surface of the roller to draw the absorbed liquid through the contact roller, and positive air pressure for pushing contaminated liquid out of the roller.

System for purging contaminants from a vacuum assisted image

An image protecting conditioning roll for conditioning developed images in a liquid immersion development reproduction machine. The image protecting conditioning roll includes a rigid, conductive and porous core; an absorbent intermediate layer formed over the rigid core; and an inelastic image protecting top, outer layer formed over the absorbent intermediate layer, for contacting and protecting an image being conditioned, by preventing undesirable image offset and image smearing.

Liquid toner image conditioning roll having image protection surface

An electrostatographic liquid immersion development (LID) reproduction machine having an image bearing member and a multifunction image developer and conditioning apparatus that significantly reduces the number of components, size, costs, and shear-force related image defects of such machines. The multifunction apparatus includes a housing defining a sump portion, a recovery chamber, and an opening into the recovery chamber; liquid developer material contained in the sump portion for developing a latent image on the image bearing member; and a rotatable multifunction roller assembly for processing a developed image on the image bearing member. This roller assembly includes a rotatable roll having a porous metal core defining an inner surface, and a foam layer formed over the metal core defining a skin or outer surface. The rotatable roller is mounted partially within the recovery chamber and partially through the opening and into contact with the image bearing member to form an image processing nip therewith. The rotatable roller functions to transport liquid developer material into the image processing nip for developing a latent image on the image bearing member, and to apply a mechanical force against the image bearing member for compacting and stabilizing a developed image thereon. The roller assembly also includes a vacuuming device mounted inside the rotatable roller against the inner surface thereof for applying a liquid carrier removing vacuum to a portion of the inner surface of the rotatable roller within the image processing nip.

Liquid immersion development machine having an image non-shearing

A roller for improved conditioning of an image formed from a liquid developer comprised of toner particles and liquid carrier. A wire mesh uniformly covering an inner layer of the roller uniformly distributes an electrical bias closer to the surface of the roller and to the adjacent image bearing surface. The electrical bias has the same sign polarity as that of the toner particles of the image, to electrostatically repel and prevent the toner particles from entering the roller, and for compacting the toner particles to the image. The wire mesh reduces the electrical requirements of the materials used for the roller.

Apparatus and method for improved liquid developer image conditioning

An electrophotographic apparatus in which toner particles are moved from the toner hopper or dispenser cartridge to the developer housing and onto the donor roller in a single component development system for use in color reprographic systems. A rotating holey tube toner agitator is modified to incorporate structure or grooves on the outer peripheral surface. Further, by placing a shrouded toner dispense auger inside the holey tube, the development system architecture stays compact and improved toner powder pushing through the pre-load of toner on the donor roller results, thereby insuring delivery of fresh toner evenly across the length of the developer housing. With more efficient pre-load, agitator rotational speed and bias can be reduced, leading to less toner effluents emanating from the developer housing without adversely affecting the cycle to cycle donor roller toner reload.

Compact single component development system with modified toner agitator

An apparatus for developing an electrostatic latent image on an image support surface. A rotating advancing member advances single component developer material from a toner supply sump in a chamber to an intermediate donor roll. The intermediate donor roll transports a metered amount of developer material to a down roll adjacent to the latent image where the developer material is attracted to the latent image for development thereof. The intermediate donor roll is provided in configuration with the donor roll for preventing escape of developer material from the chamber to increase the life of mechanical components and to decrease background.

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Rochester, NY, United States of America

Lawrence Floyd, Jr