Electricity: electrical systems and devices – Discharging or preventing accumulation of electric charge – Specific conduction means or dissipator
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-23
2001-06-26
Fleming, Fritz (Department: 2836)
Electricity: electrical systems and devices
Discharging or preventing accumulation of electric charge
Specific conduction means or dissipator
C361S220000, C300S021000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06252757
ABSTRACT:
DESCRIPTION
The present invention relates to static brushes and methods of making same. The static brushes provided by the invention are especially suitable for use in web and film handling equipment such as xerographic copiers and in printers, where they may be used in static electricity control, for example to discharge static electricity from the moving web.
Static brushes which have been proposed are made up of bristles of conductive fabric which may be formed from conductive thread such as yam and filament material. Such thread is commercially available and may for example be acrylic material which is soaked in a copper emulsion. Examples of such conductive thread are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents: Okoniewski et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,618, Jan. 14, 1997; Tomibe et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,226, Mar. 29, 1983; Takahashi, U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,116, Jun. 13, 1995; and Tomibe et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,854, Sep. 1, 1987.
Fibers coated for conductivity are also shown in Swift, U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,791, Nov. 18, 1997 which also exemplifies the conventional static brush structures wherein pile of conductive fibers is attached to a base or core member. The bristles may also be in loops which are clamped at one end thereof as shown in VanZantwyk, U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,875, Nov. 7, 1978; Lindsay, U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,817, Oct. 28, 1975 and Asano et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,386, Sept. 14, 1993. Tufts of conductive fiber may also be stitched together to form static brush. Such stitched brushes are commercially available. Such known brushes, and especially carbon tufted brushes with clamp backing members, have a limited useful life and must often be replaced.
It is the principal object of the invention to provide an improved static brush which is reliable over a commercially practicable lifetime.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved brush having means for preventing the loss of conductive brush segments, such as threads which make up the bristles of the brush.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved method for fabricating static brushes rapidly, in a continuous fabrication operation.
Briefly described, a static brush embodying the invention is made up of a helical winding of conductive thread in successive loops having open ends and also sides which extend around a closed bottom of the loops, strips, preferably of adhesive material extend along the sides of the loops and hold the loops in assembled relationship. The strips may be pressure-sensitive adhesive tape and particularly double-sided tape, one side of which is adhered to the loops and the other side of which is covered by release material which may be removed to facilitate the installation of the brush as and where required. In order to prevent removal of the brush bristle, made up of the loops of thread, a continuous element, such as a wire of conductive material may be placed within the loops, in the process of helically winding the thread. The element lies adjacent the closed bottom of the loops and resist removal of the threads constituting the loops. These static brushes may be fabricated by winding the thread around an endless mandrel, along which the continuous element may be placed. The pressure-sensitive strips may be unwound from reels and adhered to the sides of the loops. The loops may be slit to form a brush or a pair of brushes.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from a reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings which are briefly described as follows:
REFERENCES:
patent: 2449668 (1948-09-01), Peterson
patent: 3352604 (1967-11-01), Melcher
patent: 3689117 (1972-09-01), Hules
patent: 3914817 (1975-10-01), Lindsay
patent: 4124875 (1978-11-01), Van Zantwyk
patent: 4330349 (1982-05-01), Swift et al.
patent: 4378226 (1983-03-01), Tomibe et al.
patent: 4690854 (1987-09-01), Tomibe et al.
patent: 4801270 (1989-01-01), Scarlata
patent: 5245386 (1993-09-01), Asano et al.
patent: 5338382 (1994-08-01), Johnson et al.
patent: 5424116 (1995-06-01), Takahashi
patent: 5593618 (1997-01-01), Okoniewski et al.
patent: 5689791 (1997-11-01), Swift
Loughney David H.
McKinney John L.
Norton Edward W.
Fleming Fritz
Lukacher Kenneth J.
Lukacher Martin
Ultrafab Inc.
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