Color electrophotographic process

Abstract

An overcoated photoconductive material is uniformly illuminated in the presence of an electric field to create persistent internal polarization. Minute, translucent toner particles are then applied onto the surface of the photoconductive member, and a colored light image is projected onto the surface of the photoconductive member through the toner particles. Equal numbers of the toner particles are colored in three primary colors respectively to form a tri-color mosaic pattern on the surface of the photoconductive member. Each particle absorbs light of its complementary color during the imaging step so that the internal polarization is dissipated in a pattern corresponding to a colored positive of the light image as quantized by the colored mosaic of toner particles. The particles which absorbed light, constituting a colored negative of the light image, are then selectively frictionally removed from the surface of the photoconductive member since the charge holding them to the surface is weak. The remaining particles, constituting a quantized positive of the light image, are then electrostatically transferred to a sheet of recording paper and fixed thereto to provide a positive colored copy. The particles which absorbed light may also be electrostatically transferred to a sheet or film of recording medium as a negative colored copy.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.