The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 27, 1998
Filed:
Mar. 04, 1997
Brian P Teschendorf, St. Paul, MN (US);
Joseph T Brophy, St. Paul, MN (US);
W Blake Kolb, St. Paul, MN (US);
Alberto Goenaga, St. Paul, MN (US);
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, MN (US);
Abstract
An apparatus and method for removing excess developer liquid from an imaging substrate make use of a squeegee roller, and a mechanism for loading the squeegee roller against the imaging substrate. The squeegee roller removes the excess developer liquid from the imaging substrate at an upstream side of the squeegee roller relative to a direction of movement of the imaging substrate. A portion of the excess developer liquid can pass to a downstream side of the squeegee roller, however, and be transferred from the squeegee roller to the imaging substrate. A second developer liquid removal mechanism is provided to remove from the imaging substrate the portion of the excess developer liquid transferred from the squeegee roller. The second developer liquid removal mechanism may include a second squeegee roller mounted at a position adjacent the downstream side of the first squeegee roller. The second squeegee roller can include first and second squeegee sections that contact the imaging substrate at positions outside of the imaging region. The second squeegee roller can be driven in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the imaging substrate to effectively remove the excess developer liquid.