Agfa-Gevaert Ag

Peter Lischinski

Gunther Schnall

Erich Schlick

Hanns Blochl

Ludwig Mullritter

Walter Franke

Fritz Rau

Wolfgang Ebner

Ottmar Wolf

Johann Horvat

The cleaning arrangement of an electrophotographic copying machine scrapes off the machine's copying drum residual toner clinging to the surface of the copying drum subsequent to image transfer, and the residual toner is conveyed generally horizontally into a toner-collection compartment. The toner-collection compartment accommodates a generally rigid but collapsible fold-up cardboard toner-collection container which is thrown away after one use. The throw-away toner-collection container, when in collapsed condition, is flat so that a sizable number of such throw-away containers can be kept on hand without requiring an inconvenient amount of storage space. The bottom of the container projects forwards beyond the top, in the direction opposite to the generally horizontal direction of toner conveyance into the collection compartment, and is furthermore provided with an upright standing rim, the forwardly projecting bottom ledge and such rim preventing inadvertent spilling of toner from the collection container as the latter is in the process of being removed from the cleaning arrangement by the machine attendant, i.e., before the container can be tilted upwards to a position in which its inlet opening faces upwards.

Cleaning arrangement in an electrophotographic copying machine

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

Peter Lischinski