Electrical contact material for flexible doctor blade
AssigneeLexmark International, Inc.
InventorsPeter W. Bracken, Jeffery R. Brener, Martin V. DiGirolamo, Sam E. Mullinix, Jr., Donald W. Stafford, Peter E. Wallin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A conductive paste comprising a flexible elastomer, an electrically conductive particulate material and, optionally, a solvent is disclosed. This paste is used for providing flexible, electrically conductive bonding between materials. In a preferred embodiment, conductive paste of the present invention is used in a flexible doctor blade to provide bonding and an electrical connection between the support member and the portion of the blade which contacts the developer roller.
Claims26
An electrically energized doctor blade for metering charged electrophotographic toner held on a developer roller by physically contacting a sector of said roller with a surface of said blade which is electrically charged, said blade comprising
- a flexible backing member,
- a support bar to position said blade adjacent to said roller, and
- a layer on said flexible backing member comprising means for conducting electrical charge from said layer to said support bar and a solid binder having grit particles dispersed throughout said solid binder,
- said layer being attached and electrically connected to said support bar by a conducting paste comprising
- from about 70% to about 96% of an elastomer which has a hardness of less than about 50 Shore A when dry, and
- from about 4% to about 30% of a particulate electrically conductive material dispersed in said elastomer,
- said flexible backing member being bendable to extend under said support bar to contact said layer with grit particles and said means for conducting with said sector of said developer roller during use.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.