Eastman-kodak Company

Nexpress Solutions, Inc.

Robert Michael Peffer

Donald Calvin Buch

Michael T Regan

Christopher B Liston

Patrick Metzler

John R Thompson

Karlheinz Walter Peter

Heiko Hunold

Brian J Joseph

Carl Wilson Roy

Robert A Bovenzi

Robert J Kindt

Jeffrey R Ulreich

Paul H Tam

Charles H Braun

Gregory P Mahoney

Robert H Shea

Carl R Bothner

Ingo Klaus Dreher

Ralph Petersen

Frank Pierel

Curtis Lee Vernon

Charles D Odum

Rex S Titus

Albert H Rehn

Zacharie Grose

Allison S Cooper

Michael Bidmon

Paul Hong Ping Tam

Michael Mordhorst

Stephan Walter Pareigis

G&uuml;nther Voss

Michael Kowalczyk

Allison A Cooper

A method and apparatus for controlling conditions in a printer that includes a print engine that is operative upon an article to print marks upon the article. Sensors are provided for detecting relative humidity and temperature within a moving air stream in the printer. A controller in the printer determines if the detected relative humidity within the apparatus falls within a range of acceptable relative humidities and the detected temperature within the apparatus falls within a range of acceptable temperatures. The range of acceptable relative humidities and acceptable temperatures defines a predetermined target area. When outside the range of the predetermined target area a determination is made of needed minimal adjustments to bring the temperature and humidity within the target area. Subject to such a determination, mist and/or heating of the air stream are provided to implement the needed adjustments.

Printing apparatus and method with improved control of humidity and temperature

A printing apparatus includes one or more recording components which are operative upon a recording member for use in recording an image upon the recording member. The recording member is moved in a process path during recording and operated upon by the one or more recording components used in recording. An access door cover is openable for providing access to a serviceperson to the one or more recording components and/or the recording member. A blower establishes an air path of air within the apparatus to control temperature and humidity of the recording components. The air path has a substantial current flowing in a direction transverse to the process path and over or about the recording member and/or the one or more recording components towards the access door cover. The blower, upon opening of the access door cover, establishes a substantial airflow path of air from directly outside the access door cover into the apparatus so as to reduce flow of contaminated air from the apparatus towards the serviceperson.

Printing apparatus and method with improved control of airflow

A photoconductive drum assembly and an optical writer used in an electrophotographic printer/copier share the same mechanical fiducials for positioning these subsystems within the printer/copier frame or housing. Preferably, a pair of mounting pins used to position and support the drum assembly in a printer frame is also used to position the optical writer. As a result of this mounting scheme, a tolerance stacking problem is reduced and each subsystem can be removed from the printer housing without disturbing the position of the other. Further, the need for a mechanism to retract the optical writer from the vicinity of the drum surface to facilitate drum removal is eliminated, thereby lowering cost and increasing reliability.

Pin mount for optical writer/image-recording element in a document printer/copier

Correcting register faults in a multicolor printing machine having a number of items of equipment for the digital production of color separations, wherein correction values are determined and assigned to angular positions of at least one image cylinder and, as a result, taken into account for the control of the production of the color separations on the image cylinder. Correction values are to be made available for the correction of register faults, which, with a fine graduation, make it possible to assign them to angular positions of machine elements in a repeatable way. This is achieved by determining circularity errors of machine elements which have an influence on the register, assigned to their angular positions and, from these, the correction values for the control of the production of the color separations on the at least one image cylinder being determined.

Method and apparatus for correcting register faults in a printing machine

A method and apparatus for setting register on a multicolor printing machine ( ) having color printing units ( ) allocated to various printing inks and having image cylinders ( ), equipment ( ) for producing images, in particular electrostatic latent images, on the image cylinders ( ), a carrier ( ) for printing substrates ( ) and image transfer points ( ) for the transfer of the color separations ( ) from the color printing units ( ) to the printing substrates ( ), an allocation of the image productions ( ) on the image cylinders ( ) to the printing substrates ( ) being carried out in order to achieve coincidence of register of the color separations ( ) in the print. This is achieved by a time-independent allocation of the positions of the image productions ( ) on the image cylinders ( ) to the printing substrates ( ) being carried out for at least one defined area ( ) of all the color separations ( ).

Method and apparatus for setting register on a multicolor printing machine by time independent allocation of positions of image productions to printing substrates

Apparatus for precisely positioning the various work stations (e.g., image-forming, cleaning and image-transfer stations) of an electrophotographic printer/copier relative to the outer surface of a rotating drum, e.g., an image-forming drum or an image-transfer drum. Such apparatus comprises a pair of drum-support members, each having associated reference surface features adapted to mate with complimentary reference surface features on the individual work stations. Preferably, the placement of the reference surface features of the drum-support members are factory set to account for any idiosyncrasies (e.g., run-out) of a drum supported by such members.

Apparatus for positioning work stations in a document printer/copier

An electrophotographic printer/copier comprises a photoconductive drum assembly and an optical writer for projecting a rectilinear line of image information onto the drum's photoconductive surface. Both subsystems share the same pair of mechanical fiducials for precisely positioning these subsystems in the printer frame. According to the invention, the optical writer is movably mounted on the fiducials to adjust the skew of an image line projected onto the drum.

Skew adjustment for optical writer in a document printer/copier

Image-forming apparatus includes a finite length image member such as a seamed photoconductive loop. Images are formed on the image member in one of three different sized image frames, the first image frame being 1/2 the in-track length of the third image frame and the second image frame having an intermediate length. Relatively small size images, for example letter size images are formed in the first size frames while relatively large sized images, for example, ledger sized images are formed in the third size frames. Intermediate sized images, for example images for B-4 receiving sheets are formed in the second or intermediate size image frames. Receiving sheets in duplex are passed through a finite length duplex path which has a speed profile which is substantially the same for receiving sheets bearing images formed in the first and third frame lengths but is different, for example faster, for images formed in the second size image frame while use of the same duplex path for the three frame sizes. Sheets are fed into an inverter in the duplex path at a faster speed than is used for most of the rest of the duplex path. After a delay in the inverter, sheets are fed out of the inverter at a substantially reduced speed more easily handled by the downstream portion of the duplex path.

Image forming apparatus having a duplex path and/or an inverter

A sheet transporting apparatus for transporting document sheets, wherein passive gripper gates, of simplified construction, selectively attach a sheet to the transport belt of the sheet transporting apparatus. The sheet transporting apparatus comprises a transport belt having a passive mechanism for selectively clamping a document sheet thereto. The transport belt is moved along a path, and a sheet is delivered into association with the passive clamping mechanism. The passive clamping mechanism is selectively actuated to clamp a sheet delivered into association therewith to the transport belt for movement with the transport belt. A mechanism, located downstream in direction of movement of the transport belt, selectively deactuates the passive clamping mechanism to release a sheet from the clamping mechanism of the transport belt. Thereafter, the sheet is separated from the transport belt.

Sheet transporting apparatus with a transport belt to which sheets are

Apparatus for cleaning particulate matter from a moving web, such apparatus being held in effective cleaning contact therewith. The apparatus includes a member, which is at least partially formed of magnetically attractable material, for engaging the surface of a moving web to be cleaned. Such member is held in cleaning contact with such web by a magnet which is located adjacent to the surface of the web opposite to the surface to be cleaned, and which induces a magnetic field which attracts the member to the web.

Apparatus for cleaning particulate matter from a moving web

A transfer roller apparatus for use for example in an electrographic copier including a dielectric member adapted to carry electrostatically developed marking particle images, and the mechanism for applying an electrical bias thereto. The transfer roller apparatus, employing a mechanism for accurately locating a receiver member on the periphery of the roller, dielectric member of the copier. Such apparatus includes a conductive core, mounted for rotation about its longitudinal axis and located such that its peripheral surface is in operative relation with the dielectric member. An electrical bias is applied to the roller to establish a transfer field between the roller and the dielectric member to effect transfer of marking particle images from the dielectric member to a receiver member accurately located on the peripheral surface of the roller. The bias is applied by connecting an electrical potential source to the roller through the conductive core. A discontinuity in the transfer field is created in the area of the roller surface over which located and tacking of a receiver member are effected.

Roller transfer apparatus

A transfer roller apparatus for use for example in an electrographic copier including a dielectric member adapted to carry electrostatically developed marking particle images on successive image receiving areas. The transfer roller apparatus, is driven to synchronize transfer roller rotation with dielectric member movement for accurate transfer of marking particle images to a receiver member on such roller peripheral surface. The roller transfer apparatus includes a gear train having a first gear coupled to a rotational motive source and a last gear coaxially coupled to the transfer roller. The transfer roller is articulatable to a first position in operative relation with the dielectric member, a second position in operative relation with a cleaning mechanism for the peripheral surface of the roller, and a third rest position intermdiate the first and second positions. Articulation of the transfer roller is effective about an axis which is coincident with an intermediate gear in the gear train whereby the gears in the gear train remain in mesh during articulation of the roller to maintain the synchronous relationship between the roller and the dielectric member.

Articulating roller transfer apparatus

Apparatus for electrostatically transferring a transferable image of electroscopic marking particles from an image-carrying member to a receiver member. The apparatus comprises an electrically conductive member, such as a roller, selectively coupled to a source of electrical image-transferring potential. Such conductive member is adapted to have a receiver member attached to its surface, and includes a mechanism for registering an image-carrying member relative to an attached receiver member. A compliant member, such as a back-up roller having a resilient deformable peripheral surface, engages the conductive member to define an extended nip. An image-carrying member is guided into engagement with the registration mechanism of the conductive member and then through the nip, where a transferable image on such image-carrying member is transferred to such attached receiver member when image-transferring potential is coupled to the conductive member.

In an electrographic copier, a buffer station for storing discrete sheets, adapted to have transferable images formed respectively thereon, and for distribution of such sheets into a track assembly where such sheets are transported into operative relation with electrographic process stations of such copier. The buffer station safely stores a plurality of sheets in spaced relation to prevent contact between adjacent sheets. The buffer station is indexable relative to the track assembly for alignment with such track assembly so as to receive a sheet from or distribute a sheet to the track assembly. The stored sheets are selectively released from the buffer station when respectively aligned with the track assembly.

Sheet film buffer station

For use in an electrographic copier having a track assembly with multiple tracks defining a path associated with the copier process stations through which discrete image carrier sheets are moved to form developed images on such sheets, apparatus for mounting such sheets for movement along selected tracks of such track assembly. Supports, such as rigid rectangular frames, hold discrete image carrier sheets respectively in a substantially planar condition. The sheet supports include mechanisms for engaging selected tracks of the track assembly. The mechanisms movably mount supported sheets, when moving along a portion of the track assembly path, in the same plane relative to that portion of the path regardless of the selected track with which they are engaged.

Growing community of inventors

Penfield, NY, United States of America

Robert Michael Peffer