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AssigneeXerox Corporation
InventorsTab A. Tress, Brian J. Gills, Allen J. Thompson, Michael A. Fayette
Estimating the term…
A fuser includes a fuser roll and a pressure roll that forms a nip between the rolls through which a sheet is conveyed to permanently fuse an image onto the sheet. The fuser roll includes a heater element having a single resistive trace, a common trace tapped to a first side of the resistive trace continuous across the resistive trace, and first and second conductive traces tapped to ends of the resistive trace at a second side of the resistive trace opposite the first side. The first and second conductive traces are physically separated and conductively segmented by a conductive gap between the conductive traces. The resistive trace includes a separation gap extending through the resistive trace continuously from the second side of the resistive trace at the conductive gap towards the first side of the resistive trace to prevent current flow between the segmented conductive traces.
A heater element useable in a fuser roll, the fuser roll configured to form a nip between the fuser roll and a pressure roll through which a sheet is conveyed to permanently fuse an image onto the sheet, the heater element comprising a resistive trace, a common trace tapped to a first side of the resistive trace continuous across the resistive trace, and first and second conductive traces tapped to ends of the resistive trace at a second side of the resistive trace opposite the first side, the first and second conductive traces conductively segmented by a conductive gap between the conductive traces, the resistive trace including a separation gap extending through the resistive trace from the second side of the resistive trace at the conductive gap towards the first side of the resistive trace to prevent current flow between the segmented conductive traces.
A fuser roll usable in an electrophotographic printing machine, the fuser roll configured to form a nip between the fuser roll and a pressure roll through which a sheet is conveyed to permanently fuse an image onto the sheet, the fuser roll comprising a heater element having a resistive trace, a common trace tapped to a first side of the resistive trace continuous across the resistive trace, and first and second conductive traces tapped to ends of the resistive trace at a second side of the resistive trace opposite the first side, the first and second conductive traces conductively segmented by a conductive gap between the conductive traces, the resistive trace including a separation gap extending through the resistive trace from the second side of the resistive trace at the conductive gap towards the first side of the resistive trace to prevent current flow between the segmented conductive traces.
A method of making a heater element useable in a fuser roll, the fuser roll configured to form a nip between the fuser roll and a pressure roll through which a sheet is conveyed to permanently fuse an image onto the sheet, the method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.