Cleaning sheet and method for cleaning paper path feed roller surfaces

A cleaning sheet for cleaning the feed surfaces of feed rollers lying serially along a path of travel extending in a given direction through an imaging machine of the type which produces images on paper sheets fed through the imaging machine along the path of travel, by removing particles of unwanted matter form the feed surfaces as the cleaning sheet is advanced along the path of travel by forces exerted on the cleaning sheet by the feed surfaces along lines of contact between the feed surfaces and the cleaning sheet, each line of contact extending transverse to the path of travel and perpendicular to the given direction, the cleaning sheet comprising:

• a substrate having mechanical properties which include a balance of stiffness and flexibility enabling advancement of the cleaning sheet by the feed rollers along the path of travel through the imaging machine, the substrate having opposite faces;
• and
• a coating of a synthetic polymeric material on an area of at least one of the opposite faces of the substrate, the area of the coating of synthetic polymeric material being less than the total area of the substrate of the cleaning sheet and providing a tack sufficient to pick off the particles of unwanted matter from the feed surface contacted by the coating and to capture the picked-off particles for movement with the cleaning sheet along the path of travel and out of the imaging machine, without referring deleterious amounts of synthetic polymeric material to the contacted feed surfaces, while enabling the feed surfaces to advance the cleaning sheet along the path of travel through the imaging machine;
• the coating being placed on the substrate in a pattern which assures that the forces exerted upon the cleaning sheet by the feed surfaces are balanced along each line of contact so as to essentially preclude skewing of the cleaning sheet as the cleaning sheet is advanced along the path of travel, the cleaning sheet including a longitudinal centerline for orientation longitudinally parallel with the path of travel when the cleaning sheet is advanced through the imaging machine, and the pattern being symmetrical about the centerline in directions laterally perpendicular to the centerline and establishing longitudinally spaced apart portions of the coating along the substrate so as to reduce drag on the feed rollers as the cleaning sheet is advanced along the path of travel through the imaging machine.