Patents by Inventor Michael A. Hopper
Michael A. Hopper has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Patent number: 5514763Abstract: A toner composition includes a styrene/butadiene resin having a weight average molecular weight of less than about 70,000 and a number average molecular weight of from about 8,000 to about 12,000, has a glass transition temperature of from about 50.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C. and provides excellent gloss and high fix properties at a low fusing temperature. The styrene/butadiene resin is produced by an emulsion polymerization process that includes forming an emulsion of a surfactant, styrene monomer, butadiene monomer and a water-soluble monomer in water, and then polymerizing the monomers in the presence of a water-soluble initiator.Type: GrantFiled: September 26, 1994Date of Patent: May 7, 1996Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, T. Brian McAneney, Raj D. Patel, Michael A. Hopper, David J. Sanders
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Patent number: 5501935Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions consisting essentially of(i) preparing a pigment dispersion, which dispersion is comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant, and optionally a charge control agent;(ii) shearing said pigment dispersion with a latex or emulsion blend comprised of resin, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant, and a nonionic surfactant;(iii) heating the above sheared blend below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin to form electrostatically bound toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution;(iv) subsequently adding further anionic or nonionic surfactant solution to minimize further growth in the coalescence (v); and(v) heating said bound aggregates above about the Tg of the resin and wherein said heating is from a temperature of about 103.degree. to about 120.degree. C., and wherein said toner compositions are spherical in shape.Type: GrantFiled: January 17, 1995Date of Patent: March 26, 1996Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Michael A. Hopper, Paul J. Gerroir, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz
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Patent number: 5496676Abstract: A process comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion comprised of pigment, ionic surfactant, and optional charge control agent;(ii) mixing at least two resins in the form of latexes, each latex comprising a resin, ionic and nonionic surfactants and optionally a charge control agent, and wherein the ionic surfactant has a countercharge to the ionic surfactant of (i) to obtain a latex blend;(iii) shearing said pigment dispersion with the latex blend of (ii) comprised of resins, counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant;(iv) heating the above sheared blends of (iii) below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin, to form electrostatically bound toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution; and(v) subsequently adding further anionic surfactant solution to minimize further growth of the bound aggregates (vi);(vi) heating said bound aggregates above about the glass transition temperature Tg of the rType: GrantFiled: March 27, 1995Date of Patent: March 5, 1996Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Melvin D. Croucher, Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper, Bernard Grushkin
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Patent number: 5482812Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions or toner particles comprising:(i) providing an aqueous pigment dispersion comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant, and optionally a charge control agent;(ii) providing a wax dispersion comprised of wax, a dispersant comprised of nonionic surfactant, ionic surfactant or mixtures thereof;(iii) shearing a mixture of the wax dispersion and the pigment dispersion with a latex or emulsion blend comprised of resin, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant;(iv) heating the above sheared blend below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin to form electrostatically bound toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution;(v) adding additional ionic surfactant to the aggregated suspension of (iv) to ensure that no, or minimal additional particle growth of the electrostatically bound toner size aggregates occurs on further increasing the temperature to coType: GrantFiled: November 23, 1994Date of Patent: January 9, 1996Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Michael A. Hopper, Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Stephan V. Drappel, Paul J. Gerroir
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Patent number: 5405728Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions comprising(i) preparing a pigment dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant and optionally a charge control agent;(ii) shearing the pigment dispersion with a latex containing a controlled solid contents of from about 50 weight percent to about 20 percent of polymer or resin, counterionic surfactant and nonionic surfactant in water, counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant thereby causing a flocculation or heterocoagulation of the formed particles of pigment, resin and charge control agent to form a dispersion of solids of from about 30 weight percent to 2 percent comprised of resin, pigment and optionally charge control agent in the mixture of nonionic, anionic and cationic surfactants;(iii) heating the above sheared blend at a temperature of from about 5.degree. to about 25.degree. C.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 1993Date of Patent: April 11, 1995Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Michael A. Hopper, Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz
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Patent number: 5403693Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions with controlled particle size comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant in amounts of from about 0.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 1993Date of Patent: April 4, 1995Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper
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Patent number: 5391456Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions comprising:(i) forming a dispersion of resin in an aqueous ionic surfactant solution;(ii) preparing pigment dispersions in water of three different pigments each of a dissimilar color, each dispersion being comprised of a pigment dispersed in water and which preparation utilizes nonionic dispersants, and optionally an ionic surfactant;(iii) blending the prepared resin dispersed as a latex with two, or optionally three of the different color pigment dispersions of step (ii);(iv) adding an aqueous solution of counterionic surfactant as a coagulant to the formed resin-pigment blends, while continuously subjecting the mixture to high shear, to induce a homogeneous gel of the flocculated resin-pigments blend;(v) heating the above sheared gel at temperatures between about 20.degree. C. and about 5.degree. C.Type: GrantFiled: February 28, 1994Date of Patent: February 21, 1995Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper, Melvin D. Croucher
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Patent number: 5370963Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions with controlled particle size comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of pigment, an ionic surfactant, and an optional charge control agent;(ii) shearing at high speeds the pigment dispersion with a polymeric latex comprised of resin, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant thereby forming a uniform homogeneous blend dispersion comprised of resin, pigment, and optional charge agent;(iii) heating the above sheared homogeneous blend below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin while continuously stirring to form electrostatically bounded toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution;(iv) heating the statically bound aggregated particles above about the Tg of the resin particles to provide coalesced toner comprised of resin, pigment, and optional charge control agent, and subsequently optionally acType: GrantFiled: June 25, 1993Date of Patent: December 6, 1994Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper
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Patent number: 5370964Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of pigment, an ionic surfactant, and an optional charge control agent;(ii) shearing the pigment dispersion with a polymeric latex comprised of resin, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant, and which latex contains a nonionic surfactant thereby forming a homogeneous or a uniform blend;(iii) heating the above sheared homogeneous blend below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin to form electrostatically bound toner size aggregates;(iv) reshearing the above electrostatically bound toner aggregates (iii) to fragment or break down said toner aggregates of (iii) into smaller average diameter particle size;(v) heating the resulting formed sheared homogeneous blend (iv) comprised of resin, pigment particles, and the ionic, counterionic and nonionic surfactants in water below about the glass transition temperature (TType: GrantFiled: November 29, 1993Date of Patent: December 6, 1994Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper, Melvin D. Croucher, T. Hwee Ng, William J. Dale
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Patent number: 5366841Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant and optionally a charge control agent;(ii) shearing the pigment dispersion with a latex blend comprised of resin particles, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant thereby causing a flocculation or heterocoagulation of the formed particles of pigment, resin and charge control agent to form a uniform dispersion of solids in the water, and surfactant;(iii) heating the above sheared blend at a critical temperature region about equal to or above the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin, while continuously stirring, to form electrostatically bounded toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution and wherein said critical temperature is from about 0.degree. C. to about 10.degree. C.Type: GrantFiled: September 30, 1993Date of Patent: November 22, 1994Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Raj D. Patel, Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Michael A. Hopper, Melvin D. Croucher
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Patent number: 5364729Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions comprising:(i) preparing a pigment dispersion, which dispersion is comprised of a pigment, an ionic surfactant, and optionally a charge control agent;(ii) shearing said pigment dispersion with a latex or emulsion blend comprised of resin, a counterionic surfactant with a charge polarity of opposite sign to that of said ionic surfactant and a nonionic surfactant;(iii) heating the above sheared blend below about the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the resin, to form electrostatically bound toner size aggregates with a narrow particle size distribution; and(iv) heating said bound aggregates above about the Tg of the resin.Type: GrantFiled: June 25, 1993Date of Patent: November 15, 1994Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Raj D. Patel, Michael A. Hopper
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Patent number: 5344738Abstract: A process for the preparation of toner compositions with a volume median particle size of from about 1 to about 25 microns, which process comprises:(i) preparing by emulsion polymerization an anionic charged polymeric latex of submicron particle size, and comprised of resin particles and anionic surfactant;(ii) preparing a dispersion in water, which dispersion is comprised of optional pigment, an effective amount of cationic flocculant surfactant, and optionally a charge control agent;(iii) shearing the dispersion (ii) with the polymeric latex thereby causing a flocculation or heterocoagulation of the formed particles of optional pigment, resin and charge control agent to form a high viscosity gel in which solid particles are uniformly dispersed;(iv) stirring the above gel comprised of latex particles, and oppositely charged dispersion particles for an effective period of time to form electrostatically bound relatively stable toner size aggregates with narrow particle size distribution; and(v) heating the eleType: GrantFiled: June 25, 1993Date of Patent: September 6, 1994Assignee: Xerox CorporationInventors: Grazyna E. Kmiecik-Lawrynowicz, Raj D. Patel, Michael A. Hopper