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US 10,416,580 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for reducing contamination in liquid electrophotographic printing
AssigneeHP Indigo B.V.
InventorsKobi Shkuri, Sasi Moalem, Reut Diamant, Yossi Cohen, Shahar Tal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In an example of a method for reducing contamination, a purified imaging oil is formed by filtering an imaging oil through an imaging oil filter, and then filtering the imaging oil through a polar absorbent filter. A surface of an amorphous silicon photoconductor of a liquid electrophotographic printing apparatus is maintained by periodically applying the purified imaging oil to the amorphous silicon photoconductor.
Claims15
A liquid electrophotographic printing apparatus, comprising:
- an amorphous silicon photoconductor;
- a cleaning station to selectively periodically apply a purified imaging oil to the amorphous silicon photoconductor and to remove contaminated imaging oil from the amorphous silicon photoconductor;
- and
- a recycling unit in fluid communication with the cleaning station, the recycling unit including:
- a first compartment to receive the contaminated imaging oil from the cleaning station, the contaminated imaging oil including printing fluid particles and polar molecules;
- an imaging oil filter to receive the contaminated imaging oil from the first compartment and to remove at least some of the printing fluid particles to form a filtered imaging oil;
- a second compartment to receive the filtered imaging oil from the imaging oil filter;
- a density sensor disposed in the second compartment to detect an optical density of the filtered imaging oil in the second compartment;
- a first conduit in fluid communication with the first compartment to selectably convey the filtered imaging oil from the second compartment to the first compartment wherein the selectable conveyance is based on the optical density of the filtered imaging oil detected by the density sensor;
- a polar absorbent filter to receive the filtered imaging oil from the second compartment and to remove the polar molecules to form the purified imaging oil;
- a third compartment to receive the purified imaging oil from the polar absorbent filter, wherein the cleaning station is to receive the purified imaging oil from the third compartment;
- and
- a conductivity meter positioned in the third compartment, the conductivity meter to detect a conductivity corresponding to a contamination level of the purified imaging oil, wherein the selective periodic application of the purified imaging oil by the cleaning station is in response to a detection of the conductivity corresponding to the contamination level of the purified imaging oil being less than a threshold value.
10 more elements
A liquid electrophotographic printing apparatus, comprising:
- an amorphous silicon photoconductor;
- a cleaning station to selectively periodically apply a purified imaging oil to the amorphous silicon photoconductor and to remove contaminated imaging oil from the amorphous silicon photoconductor;
- and
- a recycling unit in fluid communication with the cleaning station, the recycling unit including:
- a first compartment to receive the contaminated imaging oil from the cleaning station, the contaminated imaging oil including printing fluid particles and polar molecules;
- an imaging oil filter to receive the contaminated imaging oil from the first compartment and to remove at least some of the printing fluid particles to form a filtered imaging oil;
- a second compartment to receive the filtered imaging oil from the imaging oil filter;
- a density sensor disposed in the second compartment to detect an optical density of the filtered imaging oil in the second compartment, wherein the density sensor is to inform a user of the liquid electrophotographic printing apparatus that the imaging oil filter requires service when the optical density of the filtered imaging oil in the second compartment detected by the density sensor is in a predetermined range;
- a polar absorbent filter to receive the filtered imaging oil from the second compartment and to remove the polar molecules to form the purified imaging oil;
- a third compartment to receive the purified imaging oil from the polar absorbent filter, wherein the cleaning station is to receive the purified imaging oil from the third compartment;
- and
- a conductivity meter positioned in the third compartment, the conductivity meter to detect a conductivity corresponding to a contamination level of the purified imaging oil, wherein the selective periodic application of the purified imaging oil by the cleaning station is in response to a detection of the conductivity corresponding to the contamination level of the purified imaging oil being less than a threshold value.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.