Xerox Corporation

Richard C Benton

Paul Michael Fromm

Donald E Johnston

Bruce A Winship

Kenneth R Rasch

Erwin Ruiz

David R Kamprath

Gregory P Miller

Stephen D Cipolla

A plurality of stripper fingers in a fuser assembly are provided to assist in preventing damage to the fuser roll caused by prior art fingers. In the present invention, skiis are positioned away back from the tip of the stripper finger. These skiis extend beyond the lower surface of the stripper finger and are enabled to lift the tip away from the fuser surface during a paper jam or hard stripping situation.

Self adjusting metal stripper fingers

Washers are used for a pressure roll in a fusing system of an electrophotographic system that improve the functionality and durability of the pressure roll. These washers are made up of a rigid ring section having flexible (less rigid) fingers projecting from the inner periphery of the ring. This provides a more uniform pressure to be exerted in the pressure roll and, consequently, a more uniform nip for better handling and fusing.

Pressure roll for fusing operation

An assembly has a frame that defines at least one opening and a subsystem that is movable relative to the frame. At least one slide connects the subsystem to the frame such that the weight of the subsystem transmits a force to the slide. The slide includes at least one projection that extends through the at least one opening in the frame. At least one urging member biases the projection to at least partially counter the force transmitted to the slide by the weight of the subsystem. At least one docketing pin slides into at least one docking hole with minimal vertical load on the docking hole.

Apparatus and methods for connecting a movable subsystem to a frame

Media removal apparatus having a stripper finger structure for separating the lead edge of an imaging media such as plain paper from a heated fuser roll and a stripper baffle for separating the portion of the imaging media beyond the lead edge of the imaging media from the heated fuser roll. The stripper finger structure is supported for movement between a home or standby position and an active position, with the finger tips in constant contact with the heated fuser roll, for effecting separation of the media's lead edge from the heated fuser roll. Likewise, the stripper baffle structure is supported for movement between home or standby positions to its active position where it effects separation of a portion of the imaging media beyond its lead edge.

Intermittent stripper fingers and baffle for stripping copy media from a heated fuser roll

In an apparatus, such as a fuser for xerographic printing, wherein sheets pass through a nip formed by two moving rollers, a substantially enclosed, effectively funnel-shaped path is defined to direct sheets from the nip to a subsequent processing station. When a jam condition occurs in the path, a movable surface defining the path moves to increase a size of the path. The increase in size prevents impaction of subsequent sheets entering the path, and also facilitates manual jam clearance.

Apparatus for facilitating jam clearance in a printer

In a fuser for xerographic printing, stripper fingers remove the print sheet from a fuser roll. Each stripper finger is a thin member which is urged against the fuser roll with a spring force caused by deformation of the stripper finger against the roll. Each stripper finger is mounted on a mount which is itself springably urged against a stop, so that the spring force of the stripper finger is largely independent of the spring force associated with the mount. The arrangement enables design latitude in choosing spring forces associated with the stripper finger and the mount, and also enables the stripper fingers to be moved away from damaging contact with a mis-stripped sheet.

Stripper fingers and associated mounts for a fuser in a printing apparatus

A high capacity portable sheet cassette tray assembly for supporting and positioning a stack of sheets for feeding reliably, one at a time, in a sheet using machine. The high capacity cassette tray assembly includes a cassette frame for removing and reinstalling into a sheet supply station of the sheet using machine. The cassette frame has a front end over which sheets are fed into the machine, and forward feed corner snubbers that are mounted to the front end of the cassette frame. The high capacity cassette tray assembly also includes a liftable base plate mounted within the cassette frame for supporting a high capacity stack of sheets having a topmost sheet. Further, the high capacity cassette tray includes a constant angle parallelogram lifting assembly that has a rear end connected to the cassette frame, and a front end connected to the liftable base plate for lifting and supporting the base plate and a topmost sheet of a stack of sheets on the base plate. The base plate and a topmost sheet of a stack of sheets, as lifted and supported regardless of a number of sheets in the stack of sheets, have a continuously constant sheet feeding angle relative to a horizontal plane through the forward feed corner snubbers of the cassette frame.

Reproduction machine having a high capacity cassette tray assembly

A retard assembly for use in a friction retard separator feeder has a retard member, a support member for supporting the retard member, the retard assembly being mountingly engageable with a pivoting support frame for supporting the retard assembly at a first end of the pivot support frame and having a pivot point at its opposite end and substantially remote from the first end, the retard member support member having at least one mounting hub for mounting a locating pivot pin, which is engageable with the first end of the pivoting support frame, the retard member support member including at least one energy absorbing damping pad on the at least one mounting hub to absorb vibration of the retard pad between the retard member support member and the pivoting support frame when they are engaged, the energy absorbing damping pad being of a hardness sufficient to maintain an interference fit between the at least one mounting hub and the pivoting support frame to resist a permanent set.

Friction retard sheet separator and feeder having reduced noise

A retard assembly for use in a friction retard separator and feeder comprising a support member for supporting a retard member and a sheet entrance guide at the incoming end of the retard assembly having a substantially vertical portion and a substantially horizontal portion overlying the incoming guide entrance portion of the retard member in advance of the retard portion of the retard member, said sheet guide being vertically compliant and movable in said support member to enable a reduction in the spring rate in the entrance guide portion of the retard member to a level substantially below the level in the retard portion.

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Ontario, NY, United States of America

Richard C Benton