US 4,503,625 AGranted

Tank system for cold fixing a toner powder

AssigneeSiemens Aktiengesellschaft

InventorHans Manzer

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A tank system for cold fixing a toner powder on a paper as it is conducted through a fixing station of a non-mechanical high speed printing and copying device characterized by the printed paper being conducted through an atmosphere enriched with the vapor of a fixing agent. The tank system includes an injection tank which is connected to a replaceable feed container containing the agent with the injection tank being controlled to inject the agent into the fixing station to maintain the desired concentration of the vapor. The system also includes a recovery device including a water separator which separates condensed fixing agent from the water of the condensate. The system also includes a buffer tank which receives the recovered fixing agent, a pressure tank which is coupled to the buffer tank and has an outlet with a valve connected to the supply system, and an air pump to supply compressed air to the pressure tank to return any agent in the tank into the feed container and/or into the injection tank.

Claims10

Dependent claims

In a tank system for cold fixing a toner powder on a paper as it is conducted through a fixing station of a non-mechanical high speed printing and copying device by exposing the printed paper to an atmosphere enriched with vapors of a fixing agent, said tank system including a fixing station having an injection tank containing the fixing agent and having means for creating a vapor of the agent in the fixing station, means for collecting a condensate of the vapor of the fixing agent and delivering the condensate to recovery means for separating the fixing agent from the collected condensate, and supply means for providing an agent to the injection tank including an exchangeable feed container the improvements comprising the system including a pressure tank having an outlet connected to the supply means, a buffer tank for receiving the agent from the recovery means and being connected to the pressure tank by a valve controlled conduit, pump means for applying an air pressure in the pressure tank to cause a flow of the agent into the supply means and the feed container, and control means for actuating the pump means in response to a sensed low level of the agent in the injection tank.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.