US3566076A - Toner fixing apparatus - Google Patents

Toner fixing apparatus Download PDF

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Publication number
US3566076A
US3566076A US838777A US3566076DA US3566076A US 3566076 A US3566076 A US 3566076A US 838777 A US838777 A US 838777A US 3566076D A US3566076D A US 3566076DA US 3566076 A US3566076 A US 3566076A
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United States
Prior art keywords
support material
feed path
rollers
toner
material feed
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Expired - Lifetime
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US838777A
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English (en)
Inventor
Joseph Fantuzzo
Thomas L Thourson
John A Mcinally
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Xerox Corp
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Xerox Corp
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Publication of US3566076A publication Critical patent/US3566076A/en
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03G—ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY
    • G03G15/00—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern
    • G03G15/20—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for fixing, e.g. by using heat
    • G03G15/2003—Apparatus for electrographic processes using a charge pattern for fixing, e.g. by using heat using heat

Definitions

  • ABSTRACT Apparatus for fixing toner images to a support material during movement through first and second stations.
  • the first station is a cold roll fixer to partially fix the image to the support material.
  • the second is a radiant energy source to complete the fix.
  • ATTORNEY Tours rrxmc APPARATUS This case relates to the fixing of toner images to a support material and more particularly to the fixing of toner images to a backing sheet by a primary partial roll fix of the image followed by the exposing of the image to radiant energy source sufficient to permanently bond the toner to the support material.
  • a xerographic surface including a layer of photoconductive insulating material affixed to a conductive backing is used to support electrostatic images.
  • this xerographic surface is electrostatically charged uniformly over its surface and then exposed to a light pattern of the image being reproduced to thereby discharge the charge in the areas where the light strikes the layer.
  • the undischarged layer thus forms an electrostatic charge pattern in conformity with the configuration of the original light pattern.
  • the latent electrostatic image can then be developed by contacting it with a finely divided electrostatically attractable material such as a powder.
  • the powder is held in image areas by the electrostatic charges on the layer. Where the charge field is greatest, the greatest amount of material is deposited. Where the charge field is least, little or no material is deposited. Thus a powder image is produced in conformity with the light image being reproduced.
  • the powder is subsequently transferred to a sheet of paper or other final backing member and suitably affixed thereto to form a permanent print
  • the final backing surface may be provided with a photoconductive layer. In such case the final backing sheet would be charged, exposed, developed and directly fused without the transfer step.
  • Imaging-fixing techniques are known today. The most prevalent include vapor fixing, heat fixing, heatpressure rolling and radiation fixing. Each of these techniques suffers from difficiencies which make its use impractical or difficult for specific applications in xerography. In general, it has been found difficult to construct the universal fuser which would be characterized by high efficiency, reliability, a short warm up time, and overall ease of control. Fixing techniques relying on the application of pressure and heat have inherent problems with the toner image partially offsetting to the roll due to fluid nature of the toner thus resulting in poor resolution of the copy and subsequent copies fused thereby. Vapor fixing, which typically employs a toxic solvent, is commercially undesirable due to its odor. And apparatus relying on oven type fusing requires heat insulation of the fuser from the surrounding ambient air to attain good efficiency. This last type of system is often accompanied by burning and scorching of the support material.
  • a further object of this invention is to fuse toner images absent the above-noted difficiencies.
  • Another object of this invention is to improve the efficiency of apparatus for fusing an image to a backing material.
  • a further object of this invention is to fuse toner images by a radiant fuser after precompaction.
  • a further object of this invention is to precompact toner images by roller means prior to completely fixing them by radiant energy.
  • FIG. I is a schematic illustration of a continuous and automatic xerographic reproducing machine employing the fixing apparatus of the instant invention
  • FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fuser assembly with parts broken away to show internal constructions thereof.
  • FIG. 1 there is shown schematically in FIG. 1 an embodiment of the subject invention in a suitable environment such as a xerographic reproducing machine adapted for continuous and automatic operation.
  • the machine includes a xerographic plate or surface 10 formed in the shape of a drum.
  • the plate has a photoconductive or light responsive layer on a conductive backing, journaled in a frame to rotate in the direction indicated by the arrow. The rotation will cause the plate to sequentially pass a series of xerographic processing stations.
  • the several xerographic processing stations in the path of movement of the plate surface may be described functionally as follows:
  • the xerographic machine is also provided with fixing apparatus to permanently bond the toner image to the backing sheet and which forms the basis of the in stant invention.
  • the sheet material preferably paper, which is to form the final support for the permanent toner image is shown in FIG. 1 as a web of material 12 wound about a support role 14 at a backing material supply station and takeup roll 16 at a backing material-receiving station.
  • the web is directed along a feed path to pass the transfer station D and the fusing or fixing station 18.
  • Idler rolls 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 are provided for guiding the sheet material along this feed path.
  • the takeup roll 16 is driven by a power source MOT-l schematically shown in FIG. 1 to rotate the takeup roll so that the sheet material moves at a constant rate of speed, the same as that of the xerographic drum which is driven by power source MOT- 2.
  • the support roll 14 is preferably mounted with suitable braking means to keep the web material in a state of slight tension as it moves through its path of movement. While the feeding means for the support material is shown as moving a web of paper, any other suitable support material could be used in the illustrated web form or even in a cut sheet form. If a cut sheet were to be used, suitable support means for moving the sheet through the paper feed path would be required as of the objects and further features thereof, reference is had to the following invention to be read in conjunction with the drawings wherein:
  • the fixing apparatus 18 has a primary fixing station 30 including rollers 32 and 34 coupled to each other through gears 36 and 38 to rotate at a common linear speed, by power source MOT-3, at the same speed as that of the sup port material and xerographic plate.
  • the upper roller 32 is adjustable toward and away from the lower roller 34 due to the mounting of its support shaft 40 on side support members 42 and 44.
  • Setscrews 46 and 48 adjustably hold the support members 42 and 44 on fixed.
  • rod 50 fixedly mounted onthe side frames 52 of the'machine.
  • the adjustable mounting of the upper roll 32 permits the operator to selectively vary the pressure exerted by the rolls on the sheet material moving therebetween. Since the thicknesses of the sheet material as well as the material thereof may vary, this adjustability is desirable. Furthermore, separating these rolls during machine nonuse extend their life.
  • rollers function to precondition the toner image on the support material prior to its moving into the secondary or final fixing station 54 which is in the form of a radiant fuser.
  • a preferred radiant fuser shown is a xenon flash tube 56 adapted to be energized through a capacitor bank to discharge radiant energy at an electromagnetic wave length such that theenergy will be absorbed by the toner particles but not by the support material.
  • the cavity 58 in which the flash tube 56 is supported is adapted to shield the surrounding environment from its discharge and includes entrance and egress ports 60 and 62 through which the sheet material may pass.
  • the entire inner surface 64 of the cavity is completely formed of a reflective material such that all of the emitted energy will be reflected and rerefiected until it is absorbed by the toner particles of the image.
  • This type of fusing device is disclosed in pending application Ser. No. 707,612 filed Feb. 23, 1968 in the name of 1D. Rees.
  • This type of radiant fuser is easily energized and controlled and can function with virtually no warm up time.
  • Another suitable radiation type fuser is dis closed in pending application Ser. No. 85,971 filed Oct. H, 1966 in the name of G.A. Aser et al. According to that disclosure, the radiation discharge is effected by a quartz lamp, electrically energized in a steady radiant or nonflashing state.
  • Radiant fusers have the ability to fuse the toner particles by passing energy thereto such that when the energy is received by the toner particle only the toner'particles will receive the energy and dissipate it to the surrounding thermoplastic mass thereof to cause its liquification and, consequently, its adhesion to the backing material.
  • Radiant energy for fusing is received by only the toner particle to cause the'fixing thereof to the backing material to form the permanent copy since the radiant emissions are at a wavelength whereat they are not absorbed by the copy sheet itself.
  • Fusers of the radiant type are characterized by the fact that improperly deposited toner particles in background areas of the copy will not be fused thereto by the radiant energy. This is because the surface area to volume ratio of a single toner particle, or a few random toner particles in the background, is too great to receive sufi'icient radiant energy to cause it to be liquified for adhesion to the support material. Such is not the case with clusters of toner particles in image areas of the copy. It is for this reason that it has been found desirable to use a cleaning brush 66 after the fusing station for the removing of this background toner with no ill effects to the fused toner image.
  • rollers 32 and 34 in advance of the radiant fuser has been found to increase the efficiency of the radiant fuser and, in tandem therewith, constitutes a highly efficient fusing system.
  • rollers having stainless steel exteriors and exerting between 50 and 200 pounds per linear inch pressure were found excellent for preconditioning the image prior to radiant fusing for high fusing quality.
  • This partial roll fixing reduced the peaks of remove air gaps between the toner particles, causing some cohesion between the toner particles of the image while pushing the toner mass into the paper with slight adhesion therebetween.
  • This partial fix was caused by the energy imparted to the toner through the pressure of the rollers.
  • the toner height across the image areas was substantially unifiedand, perhaps of more significance, the surface area to volume ratio in the images was decreased to permit the irradiation to be more effective.
  • the precompaction thus reduced the heat loss due to the radiant fusing to render the total system more'efficient.
  • fixing means including:
  • a radiant energy power source located along the support material feed path to fix the toner images to the support material moved therepast;
  • roller means located adjacent the support material feed path in advance of said radiant energy power source, said roller means providing at least 50 pounds pressure per linear inch and extending generally transversly of said support material feed path and of such length as to precompact the effective toner image on said support material.
  • roller means are unheated stainless steel rollers adapted to apply between 50 and 200 pounds pressure per linear inch to the toner images.
  • a xerographic reproducing machine including means to electrostatically adhere a toner image to a support material, a receiving station to receive the support material with the toner image, means to move the support material along a support material feed path from said image-adhering means to said receiving station and fusing means located along the support material feed path, said fusing means including:
  • roller means providing at least 50 pounds pressure per linear inch and extending generally transversely of said support material feed path and of such length as to partially fix the efiective toner image on said support materimeans to rotate said rollers at a linear speed equal to that of the movement of the paper; and radiant fusing means positioned between said rollers and said receiving station to complete the fix of the toner image to the support material.
  • said radiant energy source is a xenon flash tube capable of emitting energy at a wavelength whereat it is absorbed by the toner image but not the support material.
  • roller means are stainless steel and are adjustably mounted with respect to each other to apply between 50 and 200 pounds pressure per linear inch to the toner images and support material passed therebetween.
  • Fusing apparatus for a xerographic reproducing machine of the type wherein a support material is fed along a support material feed path from a supply station to a receiving station, a transfer means located along the support material feed path between the supply and receiving station whereat toner images are electrostatically transferred to the support materi- 6 al, said fusing apparatus including:
  • roller means located on opposite sides of the support material sheet feed path between the transfer means and the receiving station said roller means extending generally transversely of said support material feed path and of such length as to partially fix the efiective toner image on said support material;
  • rollers means to adjustably support said rollers so as to apply between 50 and 200 pounds pressure per linear inch to support material and toner images passed therebetween;
  • a xenon flash tube located in a reflective cavity along the support material feed path between said rollers and said receiving station and adapted to emit radiant energy at a wavelength whereby it will be absorbed by toner images but not absorbed by support material moved therepast to complete the fix;

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Fixing For Electrophotography (AREA)
US838777A 1969-07-03 1969-07-03 Toner fixing apparatus Expired - Lifetime US3566076A (en)

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US83877769A 1969-07-03 1969-07-03

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US (1) US3566076A (de)
JP (1) JPS5332261B1 (de)
DE (1) DE2033127A1 (de)
GB (1) GB1256471A (de)

Cited By (14)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3765828A (en) * 1972-05-05 1973-10-16 Xerox Corp Fusing apparatus
US3883292A (en) * 1973-05-29 1975-05-13 Xerox Corp Sleeveless pressure roll cleaner
US3903320A (en) * 1974-01-03 1975-09-02 Xerox Corp Electrostatographic development method for pressure fixable toners
JPS5144935U (de) * 1974-09-30 1976-04-02
JPS52119232A (en) * 1976-02-25 1977-10-06 Canon Inc Thermal fixing means
JPS54130032A (en) * 1978-03-31 1979-10-09 Hitachi Ltd Electrostatic recorder
US4897691A (en) * 1986-05-01 1990-01-30 Xerox Corporation Apparatus for drying and fusing a liquid image to a copy sheet
US5053828A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-10-01 Eastman Kodak Company Electrostatographic equipment having a multiple function fusing and image transfer roller
US5055884A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-10-08 Eastman Kodak Company Electrostatographic equipment with multiplex fuser
US5092235A (en) * 1989-05-24 1992-03-03 Tektronix, Inc. Pressure fixing and developing apparatus
US5521688A (en) * 1995-03-27 1996-05-28 Xerox Corporation Hybrid color fuser
US5761597A (en) * 1996-09-12 1998-06-02 Tektronix, Inc. Fusing apparatus for a printer
US5983048A (en) * 1998-07-10 1999-11-09 Xerox Corporation Droop compensated fuser
US20020094219A1 (en) * 2000-12-22 2002-07-18 Hauptmann Gerald Erik Process and device for heating at least one material layer, toner for a printing or copying device and image receiver substrate

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE2951802A1 (de) * 1979-12-21 1981-07-09 Agfa-Gevaert Ag, 5090 Leverkusen Vorrichtung und verfahren zum vollautomatischen lackieren von bandfoermigen materialien
JPS6158755U (de) * 1984-09-25 1986-04-19

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2894744A (en) * 1956-12-18 1959-07-14 Bruning Charles Co Inc Feed rollers for photo-conductive insulating material
US3003462A (en) * 1957-01-18 1961-10-10 Bruning Charles Co Inc Apparatus for applying developer powder to photo-conductive insulating sheets
US3132047A (en) * 1961-06-29 1964-05-05 Xerox Corp Xerographic fixing apparatus
US3145122A (en) * 1962-08-13 1964-08-18 Addressograph Multigraph Apparatus for applying developer powder to photo-conductive insulating material
US3390634A (en) * 1966-06-08 1968-07-02 Addressograph Multigraph Direct lithography master making
US3445626A (en) * 1966-05-02 1969-05-20 Xerox Corp Fusing apparatus with flashlamp circuit

Patent Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2894744A (en) * 1956-12-18 1959-07-14 Bruning Charles Co Inc Feed rollers for photo-conductive insulating material
US3003462A (en) * 1957-01-18 1961-10-10 Bruning Charles Co Inc Apparatus for applying developer powder to photo-conductive insulating sheets
US3132047A (en) * 1961-06-29 1964-05-05 Xerox Corp Xerographic fixing apparatus
US3145122A (en) * 1962-08-13 1964-08-18 Addressograph Multigraph Apparatus for applying developer powder to photo-conductive insulating material
US3445626A (en) * 1966-05-02 1969-05-20 Xerox Corp Fusing apparatus with flashlamp circuit
US3390634A (en) * 1966-06-08 1968-07-02 Addressograph Multigraph Direct lithography master making

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3765828A (en) * 1972-05-05 1973-10-16 Xerox Corp Fusing apparatus
US3883292A (en) * 1973-05-29 1975-05-13 Xerox Corp Sleeveless pressure roll cleaner
US3903320A (en) * 1974-01-03 1975-09-02 Xerox Corp Electrostatographic development method for pressure fixable toners
JPS5144935U (de) * 1974-09-30 1976-04-02
JPS52119232A (en) * 1976-02-25 1977-10-06 Canon Inc Thermal fixing means
JPS54130032A (en) * 1978-03-31 1979-10-09 Hitachi Ltd Electrostatic recorder
US4897691A (en) * 1986-05-01 1990-01-30 Xerox Corporation Apparatus for drying and fusing a liquid image to a copy sheet
US5092235A (en) * 1989-05-24 1992-03-03 Tektronix, Inc. Pressure fixing and developing apparatus
US5053828A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-10-01 Eastman Kodak Company Electrostatographic equipment having a multiple function fusing and image transfer roller
US5055884A (en) * 1989-12-20 1991-10-08 Eastman Kodak Company Electrostatographic equipment with multiplex fuser
US5521688A (en) * 1995-03-27 1996-05-28 Xerox Corporation Hybrid color fuser
US5761597A (en) * 1996-09-12 1998-06-02 Tektronix, Inc. Fusing apparatus for a printer
US5983048A (en) * 1998-07-10 1999-11-09 Xerox Corporation Droop compensated fuser
US20020094219A1 (en) * 2000-12-22 2002-07-18 Hauptmann Gerald Erik Process and device for heating at least one material layer, toner for a printing or copying device and image receiver substrate
US6697598B2 (en) * 2000-12-22 2004-02-24 Nexpress Solutions Llc Heating at least one material layer, with electromagnetic and/or acoustic waves at an angle of incedence so that heating takes place at least predominantly via the quantum tunnel effect

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS5332261B1 (de) 1978-09-07
DE2033127A1 (de) 1971-02-18
GB1256471A (de) 1971-12-08

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