Blade brush cleaner

Abstract

There is disclosed a system for cleaning marking material from a surface portion of a movable photoconductive member. The system includes a first rotatable brush, a blade and a second rotatable brush arranged in sequential order along the movable photoconductive member. The first rotatable brush is for removing a first amount of marking material from the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member as the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member moves past said first rotatable electrostatic brush. The blade, in engaging contact with the movable photoconductive member, is for removing a second amount of marking material from the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member. The second rotatable brush, positioned in interference contact with the movable photoconductive member, is for removing substantially all residual marking material that was not removed by the first rotatable brush and the blade.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a planar view illustrating a first embodiment of a cleaning system herein described.

FIG. 2 is a planar view illustrating a second embodiment of the cleaning system herein described.

FIG. 3 is a planar view illustrating an embodiment of a movable cleaning blade as contacting a photoconductive belt.

FIG. 4 is a planar view illustrating further detailed aspects of the second embodiment of FIG. 2.

Claims

1. A system for cleaning marking material from a surface portion of a movable photoconductive member, the movable photoconductive member moving past a first location and then a second location, comprising: a first rotatable brush, positioned at the first location and adjacent the movable photoconductive member, for removing a first amount of marking material from the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member as the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member moves past said first rotatable electrostatic brush;a blade, in engaging contact with the movable photoconductive member, for removing a second amount of marking material from the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member, said blade being positioned intermediate of the first and second locations; anda second rotatable brush positioned at the second location and in interference contact with the movable photoconductive member, said second brush removing substantially all residual marking material that was not removed by said first rotatable brush and said blade.

2. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which the marking material possesses a first charge and said second rotatable brush possesses a second charge, wherein the difference in the first charge and the second charge is great enough to cause at least some of the marking material not removed by said first rotatable brush and said blade to be attracted to said second rotatable brush.

3. The cleaning system of claim 2, wherein the first charge is substantially opposite the second charge.

4. The cleaning system of claim 1, wherein said second rotatable brush operatively follows said blade to remove substantially all marking material not removed by said first rotatable brush and said blade.

5. The cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising a vacuum system, operatively associated with said blade and said second rotatable brush, for removing any marking material loosened by said blade or said second rotatable brush.

6. The cleaning system of claim 5, wherein said vacuum system includes a first air flow channel and a second air flow channel, and wherein said first air flow channel is in operative vacuuming air flow relationship with said blade and said second air flow channel is in operative vacuuming air flow relationship with said second rotatable brush.

7. The cleaning system of claim 5, wherein said vacuum system includes a first air flow channel and a second air flow channel, and wherein said first air flow channel is in operative vacuuming air flow relationship with said first rotatable brush and said second air flow channel in operative vacuuming air flow relationship with said second rotatable brush.

8. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which interference exists between said first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member, and in which the interference between said first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is adjustably settable, wherein the interference between said first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is set in such a way as to permit an amount of marking material sufficient to lubricate said blade to be provided to said blade.

9. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which interference between said second rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is adjustably settable, wherein the interference between said second rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is set in such a way that substantially all residual marking material is removed by said second rotatable brush and wear on the photoconductive member, resulting from said interference between said second rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is substantially minimized.

10. The cleaning system of claim 1, further comprising an entry shield, wherein said entry shield is operatively positioned, relative to said blade, to capture loose marking material falling from said blade.

11. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which the marking material corresponds with a settable charge, and in which the movable photoconductive member moves from a position upstream of the first location to a position downstream of the second location, further comprising an adjustable pre-clean corona positioned upstream of said first location and adjacent the movable photoconductive member, wherein said adjustable pre-clean corona is adjusted to set the settable charge of the marking material.

12. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which a settable bias signal is applied to said first rotatable brush, the settable bias signal being set in such a way as to assist in permitting an amount of marking material sufficient to lubricate said blade to be provided to said blade.

13. The cleaning system of claim 1, in which (a) the movable photoconductive member moves from a position upstream of the first location to a position downstream of the second location (b) a part of the movable photoconductive member surface portion is marked upstream of said first rotatable brush with a selected amount of marking material, and (c) a settable bias signal is applied to said first rotatable brush, wherein the settable bias signal is set as a function of said selected amount of marking material.

14. A photoconductive belt cleaning system comprising in an operative arrangement a PC belt movable from a location, a cleaning blade, a vacuum unit and two electrostatic cleaning brushes, a first of said cleaning brushes having a first charge with a first polarity and being operatively positioned adjacent said cleaning blade, a second of said cleaning brushes having a second charge with a second polarity and positioned sequentially after the location of said first cleaning brush and said cleaning blade, said first cleaning brush having the first charge with the first polarity being enabled to remove toner having the second charge with the second polarity from said PC belt, said second cleaning brush having the second charge with the second polarity being enabled to remove toner having the first charge with the first polarity from said PC belt, said PC belt enabled to lubricate said cleaning blade by contacting said cleaning blade with lubricating toner carried by said PC belt and wherein said vacuum unit is operatively connected to said first and second cleaning brushes by air flow vacuum channels adapted to transport loosened toner from said first and second brushes to a toner disposal point.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein said first cleaning brush is positively charged and said second cleaning brush is negatively charged.

16. The system of claim 14 further comprising a first flicker bar and a second flicker bar, wherein said first and second cleaning brushes are detoned respectively by first and second flicker bars located in operative contact therewith.

17. The system of claim 14 further comprising an entry shield, wherein said entry shield is positioned near said first cleaning brush for capturing loose toner falling from said cleaning blade.

18. A method for cleaning marking material from a surface portion of a movable photoconductive member, the movable photoconductive member moving past a first location and then a second location, comprising: (A) using a first rotatable brush to remove a first amount of marking material remaining on the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member as the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member moves past said first rotatable electrostatic brush;(B) using a blade to remove a second amount of marking material from the surface portion of the movable photoconductive member, said blade being positioned intermediate of the first and second locations; and(C) using a second rotatable brush, in interference contact with the movable photoconductive member, for removing substantially all residual marking material that was not removed pursuant to (A) and (B).

19. The method of claim 18, in which interference exists between the first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member, and in which the interference between the first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member is adjustably settable, further comprising: (D) setting the interference between the first rotatable brush and the movable photoconductive member in such a way as to permit an amount of marking material sufficient to lubricate the blade to be provided to said blade.

20. The method of claim 18, in which (1) the movable photoconductive member moves from a position upstream of the first location to a position downstream of the second location (2) a part of the movable photoconductive member surface portion is marked upstream of the first rotatable brush with a selected amount of marking material, and (3) a settable bias signal is applied to said the rotatable brush, further comprising: (D) setting the settable bias signal as a function of the selected amount of marking material.