US3769896A

US3769896A - Squeegee assembly for photo-copy machines

Info

Publication number: US3769896A
Application number: US00172043A
Authority: US
Inventors: A Samuels; R Wiggerman
Original assignee: Speed O Print Business Machines Corp
Current assignee: Speed O Print Business Machines Corp
Priority date: 1971-08-16
Filing date: 1971-08-16
Publication date: 1973-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-06

Abstract

A wringer assembly, embodying engaging rollers, for use in feeding paper through photocopy machines, and having a moisture impervious, flexible wiper blade in yieldable wiping contact with one of the rollers for removing moisture therefrom. One of the rollers has a durometer hardness greater than that of the other roller, and the wiper blade has a durometer hardness less than that of the roller it contacts.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Samuels et a1. Nov. 6, I973 [54] SQUEEGEE ASSEMBLY FOR PHOTO-COPY 3,453,138 7/1969 Chen et al 95/89 R X MACHNES 2,558,773 7/1951 Mulloy et a]... 3,626,833 12/1971 Koch 95/89 R [75] Inventors: Abe Samuels, Chicago; Roger A.

wiggerman, McHemy, both f L FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Assigneez p 0 P Business Machine 396,631 1/1966 Sw|tzerland 95/89 A t I. corpora Chicago Primary ExaminerFred L. Braun [22] Filed: Aug. 16, 1971 Att0rneyRo0t, OKeeffe [21] Appl. No.: 172,043

[57] ABSTRACT 52 us. c1 95/89 A, 118/104, 355/10 A Winger assembly, embodying engaging rollers, W 51 Int. Cl. G03d 3/10 use in feeding Paper through Photocopy machines and 1581 Field of Search 95/89 R, 89 A; having a moisture impervious, flexible Wiper blade in 118/104; 355/10 yieldable wiping contact with one of the rollers for removing moisture therefrom. One of the rollers has a du- 56] References Cited rometer hardness greater than that of the other roller, UNITED STATES PATENTS and the wiper blade has a durometer hardness less than that of the roller it contacts. 3,202,526 8/1965 Ostensen 95/89 R X 3,104,603 9/1963 Schwienbacher 95/89 R 6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 24 I 2 IO 3 I I 6 I i. 7 1]" I ll 9 PATENTEU NOV 6 ma INVENTORS. ABE SAMUELS ROGER A. WIGGERMAN SQUEEGEE ASSEMBLY FOR PHOTO-COPY MACHINES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to photocopy machines and, more particularly, to photocopy machines of the type wherein paper is passed through developer solution.

It is a primary object of the present invention to afford a novel wringer assembly for use in photocopy machines.

Troublesome problems in electrostatic copying machines where a developer solution is used have heretofore been the inability to produce a dry copy and the inability to prevent offsetting and what is known as tailing. One of the types of wringer assemblies heretofore used in such photocopying machines to feed copy sheets from developer solution has consisted of two relatively soft rollers, made of material such as, neoprene, which were intended to compress and squeeze the excess fluid from the copy sheet. However, it has heretofore been found that, commonly, such an assembly did not produce a copy sheet which was sufficiently dry, and, because moisture remained on the rollers as the copy paper passed therebetween, the image would tend to run and thereby produce the aforementioned tailing, and, in some instances, the image would be repeated across the sheet by an offset printing effect.

In an attempt to overcome the aforementioned problems, a wiper member made of such material as felt or foam rubber, which had moisture absorbent qualities, has heretofore been applied to the roller which engages the image on such a copy sheet. However, such constructions commonly have also had several inherent disadvantages, such as, for example, not drying the roller sufficiently, or scoring the roller, such scoring being reflected in the completed copy.

Heretofore, in order to prevent such scoring, the roller coming in contact with the image often has been made of metal, such as steel. However, such construction also has had several inherent disadvantages such as, for example, that such rollers did not compress and did not have good wringer characteristics; and the wipers heretofore known in the art did not sufficiently remove the moisture from the image-engaging roller to I prevent the aforementioned tailing and repeating of the image. As a result, heating elements commonly have been introduced into such metal rollers of wringer as semblies heretofore used in photocopy machines.

It is an important object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of wringer assemblies heretofore known in the art for use in photocopy machines.

Another object of the present invention is to eliminate the necessity for embodying heating elements in such wringer assemblies.

A further object of the present invention is to afford a novel wringer assembly for use in photocopying machinesof the type wherein a developer solution is used, which will produce a copy of the desired dryness.

Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel wringer assembly for use in photocopy machines which embodies a novel wiper member constituted and arranged in a novel and expeditious manner relative to rollers between which a copy sheet is passed for drying the same.

A further object is to afford a novel wringer assembly of the aforementioned which which embodies a novel roller mechanism therein.

Another object of the present invention is to afford a novel wringer assembly for use in photocopy machines which is practical and efficient in operation and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.

Other and further objects of the present invention will -be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what we now consider to be the best mode in which we have contemplated applying these principles. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view of a photocopy machine embodying a wringer assembly embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, detail sectional view taken substantially along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a detail end elevational view of a portion of the wringer assembly shown in FIG. 1, showing certain parts in different positions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENT SHOWN HEREIN A wringer assembly 1 embodying the principles of the present invention is shown in the drawings to illustrate the presently preferred embodiment of the present invention. p

The wringer assembly 1 embodies, in general, an elongated upper roller 2 and an elongated lower roller 3 disposed in substantially parallel, abutting engagement with each other, with a wiper unit 4 disposed in position to operatively engage the roller 2.

The wringer assembly 1 is shown in the drawings disposed in position in a housing 5 of an electrostatic photocopying machine, or the like, in position to withdraw paper, not shown, along a path of travel 6 from developer solution 7 in a tank 8, disposed in operative position in the housing 5. Suitable drive mechanism, not shown, maybe connected, in a manner well known in the art, to either one or both of the

rollers

2 and 3 to cause the roller 2 to rotate in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1, and the roller 3 to rotate in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 1.

Such positioning of the two wringer rollers in anelectrostatic photocopying machine for the purpose of withdrawing paper from developing solution therein has been heretofore known in the art. However, as will be discussed in greater detail presently, the parts of the wringer assembly 1 are constructed, and arranged relative to each other in a novel and expeditious manner heretofore unknown in the art.

Each of the

rollers

2 and 3 embodies an elongated, substantially cylindrical shaped body portion 9 mounted on and secured to an elongated core or shaft 10 for rotation therewith, the shafts 10 extending longitudinally through the respective body portions 9, FIG.

1. The shafts 10, like the shafts of rollers of wringer assemblies heretofore known in he art, may be made of any suitable material, but preferably, are made from a relative hard material, such as, for example, steel.

In the preferred form of the present invention, the body portion 9 of the roller 3 is made of a relatively soft, moisture-impervious material such as, for example, neoprene, having a durometer hardness of 25 to 40 and preferably of from 30 to 35; and the body portion 9 of the roller 2 is made of a substantially harder, but still compressible, moisture-impervious material such as, for example, neoprene or urethane, having a durometer hardness of 60 to 85 and preferably of from 70 to 75.

Heretofore, in wringer assemblies known in the art, the body portions of the'rollers thereof commonly have been constructed of such material that either both of them were relatively soft, such as, for example, having a durometer hardness of 30 to 35, or one or both were made of steel, or other similarly hard material, having a durometer hardness in the nature of 100 and being incompressible. It has been found that wringer assemblies having such heretofore known body portions have had several inherent disadvantages, such as, for example, not sufficiently drying the paper being fed there through, causing the aforementioned tailing or repeat printing, or being damaged by scoring, and the like.

The wiper unit 4 embodies a substantially U-shaped bracket 11, FIGS. 1 and 2, having two substantially parallel side flanges 12 and 13 disposed at opposite ends of an elongated body portion 14. The bracket 11 may be mounted in position in a photocopy machine by any suitable means, such as, for example, by securing the side flanges l2 and 13 thereof by rivets 15 to suitable supporting structure, such as oppositely disposed side walls 16 and 17, respectively, of the housing 5, as shown in FIG. 2. The body portion 14 of the bracket 1 1 embodies a top wall 18, which is disposed in substantially horizontally extending position in the housing 5, and a longitudinally extending flange 19 sloping downwardly and outwardly from one longitudinal edge of the top wall 18.

An elongated wiperblade 20 has one longitudinal edge portion 21 disposed on the outer face of the flange 19. A plate 22 is disposed in covering relation to the longitudinal edge portion 21, which is secured to the flange 18 by suitable fastening means, such as rivets 23 extending through the plate 22, the longitudinal edge portion 21 of the wiper blade 20,and the flange 19. The wiper blade 20 has a free longitudinal edge 24 remote from the longitudinal edge portion 21, which latter edge portion, in the completed assembly constitutes a fixed longitudinal edge portion of the blade 20.

In the practice of the present invention, the wiper blade 20 is made of a suitable, flexible, nonabsorbent, or moisture-impervious material, which preferably is tough, such as, for example, neoprene having a durometer hardness of between 25 and 40 and preferably between and 35.

In the assembled wringer assembly 1, the wiper unit 4 is so disposed in the housing 5 that it is disposed above and extends along the roller 2 in substantially parallel relation thereto. One face of an intermediate longitudinally extending portion 25 of the blade 20, which is disposed between the free edge 24 and the longitudinal edge portion 21 of the blade 20, is disposed in substantially tangential, wiping engagement with the body portion 9 of the roller 2, along the full length of the side thereof remote from the roller 3. The blade 20 engages the roller 2 with sufficient wiping force that the free end 24 thereof is flexed outwardly around the longitudinal edge portion 21 of the blade 20 in a direction away from the roller 2, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

1n the wringer assembly 1, the roller 2 constitutes the image-engaging roller thereof, and the roller 3 constitutes the roller disposed in engagement with the sides of the sheets of paper withdrawn from the tank 8 remote from the image-carrying surface thereof. The

rollers

2 and 3 and the wiper blade 20 are so disposed in the housing 5 that moisture wiped from the outer peripheral surface of the roller 2 by the blade 20 is caused to drop downwardly into the tank 8.

It has been found that with the roller 2 made of the aforementioned materials which are compressible, but have a relatively substantial hardness, and with the wiper blade 20 made of the aforementioned material, which is flexible and moisture-impervious, the

rollers

2 and 3 are effective, in the operation of a photocopy machine, to effectively dry and feed paper, withdrawn thereby from a developer solution, such as the solution 7, without causing the aforementioned tailing or repeat printing, and without scoring of the roller 2, which problems have heretofore been common in the art.

Also, although the broader aspects of the present invention are not limited thereto, in' the preferred form of the present invention we prefer to make the body portion 9 of the lower roller 3 of substantially softer material than that of the body portion 9 of the upper roller 2. For example, we prefer that the durometer hardness of the body portion 9 of the roller 3 be 35 to 45 points, and, preferably in the nature of 40 points, less than that of the body portion 9 of the roller 2.

It is believed that with the'body portion 9 of the roller 2 being compressible, while still having a relatively high durometer hardness, such as, for example, 60 to 85, and with the body portion 9 of the roller 3 being substantially softer, such as, for example, having the aforementioned durometer hardness of 25 to 40, improved operative engagement of the

rollers

2 and 3 with the sheet being fed therebetween is afforded, with resultant improved drying of the sheets fed by the wringer assembly l as compared to wringer assemblies wherein the upper roller 2 is incompressible, both of the

rollers

2 and 3 are relatively soft, or the body portion 9 of the roller 3 is of substantially the same hardness as the body portion 9 of the roller 2.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the resent invention affords a novel wringer assembly for use in photocopy machines, wherein the parts thereof are constructed, and are arranged in a novel and expeditious manner.

Also it will be seen that the present invention affords a novel wringer assembly which is practical and efficient in operation, and which may be readily and economically produced commercially.

Thus, while we have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and we therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail ourselves of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A wringer roller assembly for use in a photocopy machine for feding and drying a sheet of photocopy paper, comprising a. two elongated rollers rotatably mounted in a substantially horizontal plane and in substantially parallel contacting relation to each other for feeding the sheet therebetween,

b. the surfaces of both of said rollers being compressibie, with the surface of one of said rollers having a durometer hardness greater than that of the other said roller, and

c. a flexible, moisture impervious, elongated wiper blade extending substantially horizontally in wiping engagement with the surface of said one roller, the durometer hardness of said wiper blade being less than that of said one roller.

2. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said one roller is within the range of approximately 60 to 85.

3. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said other roller is within the range of approximately 25 to 40.

4. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said one roller is withing the range of approximately 60 to 85, and the durometer hardness of said other roller is within the range of approximately 25 to 40.

5. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said wiper blade is within the range of approximately 25 to 40.

6. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said one roller is within the range of approximately to 75, and the durometer hardness of said other roller is within the range of approximately 30 to 35.

Claims

1. A wringer roller assembly for use in a photocopy machine for feding and drying a sheet of photocopy paper, comprising a. two elongated rollers rotatably mounted in a substantially horizontal plane and in substantially parallel contacting relation to each other for feeding the sheet therebetween, b. the surfaces of both of said rollers being compressible, with the surface of one of said rollers having a durometer hardness greater than that of the other said roller, and c. a flexible, moisture impervious, elongated wiper blade extending substantially horizontally in wiping engagement with the surface of said one roller, the durometer hardness of said wiper blade being less than that of said one roller.

6. The combination of elements defined in claim 1, wherein the durometer hardness of said one roller is within the range of Approximately 70 to 75, and the durometer hardness of said other roller is within the range of approximately 30 to 35.