Agfa-Gevaert Ag

Ottmar Wolf

Walter Franke

Gunther Schnall

Fritz Rau

Peter Lischinski

Wolfgang Ebner

Johann Horvat

A positively heated fusing roller and a not positively heated counterpressure roller define a roller nip through which copy paper bearing toner images to be fused is transported, with the toner images in contact with the peripheral surface of the heated fusing roller. The two rollers are driven by a drive mechanism during copying operations but not driven by that drive mechanism during the intermediate ready intervals during which the copying machine is awaiting a copying command from the operator. Because the fusing roller radiates heat to the counterpressure roller during the ready intervals, there is a tendency for the peripheral surface of the counterpressure roller to become non-uniformly heated, which can result in non-uniform fusing of toner along the length of the transported copy paper. In accordance with the present invention, at least the not positively heated counterpressure roller is automatically rotated during the ready intervals, preferably at a speed lower than the speed at which the rollers rotate during copying and fusing.

Toner fusing arrangement

An electrostatic copier of the type wherein an electrostatic image pattern is formed on the photoconductive surface of a travelling endless carrier, to which pattern toner particles are attracted to form a visible image which is then transferred to an image carrier, has a toner removing apparatus for removing residual toner particles from the photoconductive surface. The apparatus has a roller adjacent the surface and a doctor blade above the roller which strips toner particles from the surface so that they fall onto the roller. During rotation of the roller these particles are stripped off the roller and enter through a slot into a tube in which a polygonal cross-section member rotates which entrains the particles and conveys them to another slot of the tube to eject them from this other slot into a storage chamber.

Toner removing apparatus

Growing community of inventors

Grunwald, Germany

Ottmar Wolf