Slug flow air stream apparatus for drying liquid toned images
US4870462A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 15, 1988 |
| Grant date | Sep 26, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Sep 15, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G15/11
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A drying apparatus for printers and copiers using liquid developers or toners having an air bar which is resiliently biased into contact with a supported surface having a developed image. The air bar has an air-release side that includes a bearing surface and a wedge edge spaced apart from the bearing surface by a plenum slit. The release of pressurized gas, preferably air, through the plenum slit overcomes the bias of the air bar against the surface until an equilibrium position is reached wherein the air bar is spaced apart from the tensioned surface by a predetermined slight distance. Gas escaping between the bearing surface and tensioned surface acts as an air bearing, while the portion of the gas which escapes between the wedge edge and tensioned surface provides a high velocity shearing stress in a slug flow fluid low mode which removes the excess liquid from the tensioned surface. The escaping pressurized gas is then captured and recycled for return to the air bar.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.