Seals for an image forming apparatus
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to seals which may be used in an image forming apparatus. The seals may prevent the leakage of image forming materials, e.g. as between a blade and an image forming apparatus housing.
1. An article used to seal in an image forming apparatus including a housing and a roller, comprising:
a blade having a length and contacting said roller at a contact location, wherein said blade is of a checkmark configuration including a first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location, and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with a sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 ;
wherein said sealing member is located between said blade and said housing.
2. The article of claim 1 wherein said contact location comprises a tangent point location.
3. The article of claim 1 wherein said sealing member comprises non-woven material.
4. The article of claim 3 wherein said non-woven material has denier of 0.01-0.2, a basis weight of greater than about 100 g/m 2 and an abrasion resistance of greater than 100 (ASTM D3886 P800).
5. The article of claim 1 wherein said roller comprises a developer roller in an electrophotographic device.
6. The article of claim 1 wherein said blade comprises a cantilevered doctor blade.
7. The article of claim 1 wherein said sealing member comprises a first layer of polymer material with a flex modulus of less than about 200,000 psi and a second layer of non-woven material.
8. An article used to seal in an image forming apparatus including a housing, a roller, a blade having a checkmark configuration and having an end location, a first seal portion positioned between said housing and said roller and a second seal portion extending along a length of said blade, said article comprising a sealing member positioned between said first seal portion and said second seal portion;
wherein said blade includes a first upstanding flange portion that extends from a contact location with said roller and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with a sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 .
9. The article of claim 8 wherein said sealing member partially overlaps said end location of said blade.
10. The article of claim 8 wherein said first seal portion comprises a rotary seal portion which seals a space as between said roller and housing.
11. The article of claim 8 wherein said sealing member contacts said roller.
12. The article of claim 8 wherein said sealing member comprises a non-woven material.
13. The article of claim 12 wherein said non-woven material has denier of 0.01-0.2, a basis weight of greater than about 100 g/m 2 and an abrasion resistance of greater than 100 (ASTM D3886 P800).
14. The article of claim 8 wherein said roller comprises a developer roller in an eleoctrophotagraphic device.
15. The article of claim 8 wherein said blade comprises a cantilevered doctor blade.
16. The article of claim 8 wherein said sealing member comprises a first layer of polymer material with a flex modulus of less than about 200,000 psi and a second layer of non-woven material.
17. A sealing member for an image forming apparatus including a housing, a roller and a blade, comprising a sealing member positioned between said blade and said housing, said sealing member comprising a first layer of non-woven material and a second layer of material with a flex modulus of less than about 200,000 psi;
wherein said blade is of a checkmark configuration including a first upstanding flange portion that extends from a contact location and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with said sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 .
18. The sealing member of claim 17 wherein said non-woven material has a basis weight of greater than about 100 g/m 2 and an abrasion resistance of greater than 100 (ASTM D3886 P800).
19. A cartridge detachably mounted to an image forming apparatus comprising:
a housing, a roller, a blade having a length wherein said blade is of a checkmark configuration, wherein said blade contacts said roller at a contact location;
said blade including a first upstanding flange portion that extends beyond said contact location, and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with a sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 ; and
wherein said sealing member is located between said blade and said housing.
20. A cartridge detachably mounted to an image forming apparatus comprising a housing, a roller, a blade having an end, a first seal portion positioned between said housing and said roller and a second seal portion extending along a length of said blade, and a sealing member positioned between said first seal portion and said second seal portion;
wherein said blade is of a checkmark configuration including a first upstanding flange portion that extends from a contact location and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with said sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 .
21. A cartridge detachable mounted to an image forming apparatus comprising a housing, a roller, a blade and a sealing member positioned between said blade and said housing, said sealing member comprising a layer of non-woven material and a layer of a material with a flex modulus of less than about 200,000 psi;
wherein said blade is of a checkmark configuration including a first upstanding flange portion that extends from a contact location and a second upstanding flange sealing portion;
wherein said first upstanding flange portion that extends from said contact location extends a first distance (D 1 ) along the length of said blade from said contact location and said second upstanding flange sealing portion comprises a second portion that engages with said sealing member and extends a second distance (D 2 ) from said contact location, where D 2 <D 1 .