Electrophotography – Cleaning of imaging surface – Fibrous brush
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-28
2001-12-25
Chen, Sophia S. (Department: 2852)
Electrophotography
Cleaning of imaging surface
Fibrous brush
C015S256530, C399S357000, C430S125320
Reexamination Certificate
active
06334042
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates a cleaning apparatus of an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In current toner image forming apparatus, toner is used to produce an image on a copy sheet. After a copy has been made, any excess toner that remains on a photoreceptor drum or belt must be removed to prepare the photoreceptor drum or belt for the next copy. This is accomplished in part, by using one or more cleaning brushes mounted in the image forming apparatus. The cleaning brushes are removed and replaced periodically when excessive use causes the cleaning brushes to lose efficiency in removing toner from the photoreceptor drum or belt.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One of the primary failure modes of a cleaning brush is the excess build-up of toner in the brush. The excess build-up of toner is a result of concentrations of toner that remain on certain portions of the photoreceptor after transferring the developed image to a copy sheet.
The build-up of toner on the photoreceptor causes the cleaning brush to experience uneven wear and/or build-up of toner on the cleaning brush corresponding to the areas of the toner build-up on the photoreceptor. The uneven wear and/or build-up of toner on the cleaning brush reduces the useful life of the cleaning brush, in that the cleaning brush must be replaced even though the cleaning brush has only experienced excessive wear and/or build-up of toner on the cleaning brush over a small portion of the surface of the cleaning brush.
In addition, build-ups of toner in certain areas of the cleaning brush decrease the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning brush. As a result, excess toner remains on the photoreceptor, thus reducing the quality of subsequent copies.
This invention provides apparatus and methods for increasing the life of a cleaning brush in an image forming apparatus.
This invention provides apparatus and methods for increasing the efficiency of a cleaning brush in an image forming apparatus.
This invention provides apparatus and methods that reduce the rate at which a cleaning brush must be replaced in an image forming apparatus, further reducing the associated operating costs. In various exemplary embodiments, the useful life of the cleaning brush is increased by side shifting the cleaning brush laterally along the rotational axis of the photoreceptor drum or belt, either continuously during imaging, or incrementally at prescribed intervals. By shifting the cleaning brush laterally along the rotational axis of the photoreceptor drum or belt, the area of the cleaning brush that comes into contact with the portion of the photoreceptor drum or belt that experiences excessive toner build-up increases. As a result, the area of the surface of the brush that experiences greater wear and/or build-up of toner increases and the useful life of the brush is extended. The brush should be expected to fail when the entire designated sweep area has experienced wear, as opposed to the premature failure without the side shifting the brush.
By shifting the cleaning brush the instance of toner build up on the photoreceptor is reduced, thus improving the overall quality of copies made by the image forming apparatus.
In various exemplary embodiments, this invention provides a side shifting cleaning apparatus having a side shifting member that moves a cleaning member laterally.
In various exemplary embodiments, this invention provides a side shifting cleaning apparatus having a rack and pinion system that moves a cleaning member laterally.
In various exemplary embodiments, this invention provides a side shift cleaning apparatus having a planetary gear system that moves a cleaning member laterally.
In various exemplary embodiments, this invention provides a side shift cleaning apparatus having a cam-follower system that moves a cleaning member laterally.
In various exemplary embodiments, this invention provides a side shift cleaning apparatus having a barrel cam-follower system that moves a cleaning member laterally.
These and other features and advantages of this invention are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the systems and methods according to this invention.
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Chen Sophia S.
Oliff & Berridg,e PLC
Xerox Corporation
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