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:
Oct. 23, 2001
Filed:
Sep. 19, 2000
Scott D. Weber, Canandaigua, NY (US);
Kenneth W. Pietrowski, Penfield, NY (US);
Joseph D. LaRussa, Rochester, NY (US);
John S. Facci, Webster, NY (US);
Heiko Rommelmann, Penfield, NY (US);
Alberto Rodriguez, Webster, NY (US);
Christopher Snelling, Rochester, NY (US);
Xerox Corporation, Stamford, CT (US);
Abstract
A rotatable charging apparatus includes a length extending between a first end and a second end, with the rotatable charging apparatus centered about an axis parallel to the length. The rotatable charging apparatus outer periphery forms N apparatus positions. One charging device is fixed to each of N−1 apparatus positions. The remaining (Nth) apparatus position is devoid of a charging device, thus forming an “empty” charging device position. A host printing machine selectively causes the rotatable charging apparatus to rotate about its axis thereby selectively position any of its N−1 charging devices to face a proximately-located photosensitive element. When a problem exists with the current charging device, or when the total number of operating hours of the current charging device exceeds a fixed threshold, the printing machine causes the rotatable charging apparatus to rotate from its current charging device to position a new charging device facing the photosensitive element. Also, the printing machine causes the rotatable charging apparatus to rotate from its current charging device to the empty charging device position facing the photosensitive element when a power-down or hard-stop condition exists in the printing machine.