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:
Sep. 25, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 04, 1997
Takeyoshi Sekine, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroshi Yamasita, Shizudka, JP;
Hiroyuki Fushimi, Touma, JP;
Makoto Ohsaki, Yokohama, JP;
Kouta Fujimdri, Minamimachi, JP;
Yasunori Kawaishi, Chiba, JP;
Jun Okamoto, Tokyo, JP;
Ricoh Co., Ltd., Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
The current methods and systems for cleaning residual ultra-fine spherical toner from an image forming surface discloses the application of aspherical toner to a cleaning blade. The aspherical toner is generally larger than the ultra-fine spherical toner which provides a superior image on an image-carrying medium. According to one preferred embodiment of the current invention, the aspherical black toner is placed in a predetermined area outside of a desired image area where the ultra-fine spherical toner in multiple colors is placed. The aspherical toner is transported to the cleaning blade before the multi-color toner reaches the cleaning blade. Since the aspherical toner applied at a contacting edge of the cleaning blade provide an effective seal or trap between the cleaning blade and the image forming surface, the ultra-fine spherical toner is effectively removed from the image forming surface.