Abstract: An apparatus for developing a latent image recorded on a surface, the apparatus includes a housing defining a chamber storing a supply of developer material including toner; a toner donor member spaced from the surface and being adapted to transport toner to a region opposed from the surface; a magnetic brush for conveying the developer material in the chamber of the housing onto the donor member; and a rigid planar porous electrode member spaced near the surface of a donor roll, the electrode member being electrically biased to detach toner from the donor member as to form a toner cloud for developing the latent image.

Abstract: In a development unit for electrostatographic printing, where toner particles are conveyed by a rotating roll to a charge-retentive surface, a groove is defined in the interior surface of the housing which retains the toner particles, the groove extending along a portion of the circumference of the roll. The groove facilitates redistribution of toner particles which accumulate at the bottom of the housing near an end of the roll.

Abstract: This invention relates to a laser array which can produce monolithic, closely-spaced, independently-addressable lasing elements. More specifically, this invention simplifies the formation of solid state laser arrays through the use of as-grown buried lateral waveguiding structures.

Abstract: There is disclosed a coating composition including water, a solvent, a grafted elastomer composed of a polyorganosiloxane bonded to a fluoroelastomer, and a liquid which forms an azeotropic mixture with the water, wherein the azeotropic mixture of the water and the liquid restrains a viscosity increase in the coating composition over time.

Abstract: Systems and methods for managing a plurality of electronically stored documents in an open document repository employ a one-way hash function to compute a hash for the stored documents as an indexing link. A document management index maps an attribute of an original document stored in the repository to the hash and the document. A hash-to-location index maps the hash to an address location of the document in a file system of the repository. The attribute points to the hash which then points to the location for linking the attribute to the location.

Abstract: An edge quantity is determined from a lightness signal of image signals on a uniform perception color space. A chroma is determined from chroma signals of the uniform perception color image signals. A black/color edge degree is calculated from the edge quantity and the chroma thus determined. The chroma signals are converted for color deviation correction in accordance with the black/color edge degree.

Abstract: A copier/printer includes a micro sized ion generating device that includes an insulated support substrate having an edge portion. An AC coronode covered by an insulated member is mounted on the edge portion of the support substrate, and a DC biased screen is on top of the insulated member, completes the device.

Abstract: An imager using an array of photodiodes that does not require non-standard voltages nor multiphase clocking schemes and retains good linearity with low fixed pattern and random noise generation while requiring a minimum of silicon area is described.

Abstract: A system and process prints a high resolution image on a high addressable image output terminal by converting an image at one resolution to an image having a lower resolution in a fast-scan direction and a higher resolution in a pixel depth direction. The converted image is then processed and binarized prior to being printed on a high addressable printer. The system or process utilizes a conversion circuit which includes a two-bit per pixel packing circuit, a scanline buffer circuit, a logic circuit, and a look-up table. The conversion circuit initially converts the image into an image having a lower resolution in the fast-scan direction and a higher pixel depth resolution. Thereafter, the image is further converted to an image having a lower resolution in the slow-scan direction and a higher pixel depth resolution. This conversion of a high resolution image to a lower resolution is carried without any substantial lost to the image content data.

Abstract: The present invention is a method and apparatus for resolution enhancement of gray-scale input images including text and line art, and more particularly to a filtering method and image processing apparatus for enhancement of high contrast line edges found in continuous tone (gray-scale) images without requiring that the input image data include predetermined tag bits to identify region types (e.g., continuous tone or text and line art).

Abstract: A commutating connector which electrically connects conductive paths of a rotating electroded donor roll to a voltage source. The connector includes a housing made of an electrically insulating material. The housing defines a chamber to receive the donor roll. An electrically conductive brush is disposed in the chamber. The brush is mounted in pressing engagement against the conductive paths on the electroded donor roll to electrically connect the voltage source to the conductive paths on the electroded donor roll. The chamber is divided by a partition into a commutating and a non-commutating area. The housing has ports for receiving air to prevent particulate matter from accumulating between the brush and donor roll.

Abstract: An apparatus for developing a latent image recorded on a surface including a housing defining a chamber storing a supply of toner. A toner donor member is spaced from the image bearing surface and adapted to transport toner to a region opposed from the surface. A charging device is disposed in the chamber for ion charging the toner. A vibrational driver fluidizes the toner in the chamber. The vibrational driver and a transport member cooperate with one another to define a region wherein a substantially constant quantity of toner having a substantially constant ion charge is deposited on the transport member. The toner is electrostatically transferred from the transport member to the donor member which contains an AC biased self spaced electrode structure so as to form a toner cloud for developing the latent image in an image on image process.

Abstract: A segmented flexible heater disposed adjacently to a paper path in a printing machine for heating a recording medium before printing and during printing. The segmented flexible heater includes a curved first portion for preheating the paper and a substantially planar second portion for heating the paper in a print zone wherein the second portion generates heat energy having a temperature greater than the heat energy generated by the first portion. The first portion includes apertures for accommodating drive rollers for moving the recording medium into the print zone area heated by the second portion. The apertures in the flexible heater provide for continuous heating of the recording medium before and during heating. The second portion is preferably at least two printing swaths wide to prevent thermal shock to the portion of the printing medium being printed on.

Abstract: A one-block extracting section extracts a pixel block from an input image signal. An area judging section calculates characteristic quantities such as variance information, histogram information and dynamic range information, and judges whether the pixel block is photographic or text-like based on the characteristic quantities. A photographic pixel block is coded by a transform coding section, and a text-like pixel block is coded by a block truncation coding section.

Abstract: To print an image having a 300 x 600 dpi effective resolution with an ink jet printer that has a 300 dpi resolution, the method increases a resolution or density of the pixel image along the raster scan axis. The pixel image is thinned and raster scanned with the ink jet printer to visibly reproduce the pixel image at the 300 x 600 dpi resolution. The pixel image may be thinned based on a checkerboard pattern while maintaining and enhancing edges.

Abstract: In brief, a method of reducing an M X N input binary image (M rows of N pixels each) by a factor of m vertically and n horizontally includes the steps of performing at least one logical operation between bits in consecutive groups of m adjacent rows to provide a resultant single row for each group of m rows, and performing at least one logical operation between bits in consecutive groups of n adjacent columns to provide a resultant single column for each groups of n columns. For certain types of reductions, the resulting reduced image will be the desired output image, while for other types, the resultant image will be one of a required plurality of intermediate images, which are then combined to provide the desired output image.

Abstract: Diagnosis of servo motor driven drive train problems based upon changes in the rotational velocity of the servo motor as electrically operable drive line components are selectively engaged. The unloaded (unloaded) rotational velocity of a servo motor is determined, a drive train component that couples a load to the servo motor is energized, the change in the rotational velocity of the servo motor caused by engaging the drive train component is determined, and, if the servo motor rotational velocity falls outside of a predetermined limit the drive line fault that causes that rotational velocity to fall outside of that limit is identified. Beneficially, the status of the drive train is sent to a remote location using a data link.

Abstract: A method in which several high voltage chips may be packaged within a single, typically low voltage plastic package. The high voltage chips are packaged to remain electrically isolated from each other to avoid undesirable side effects such as arcing between the chips but able to share electronic data and communicate with each other electronically through their input and ouput nodes. Due to the unique packaging method, the typically low voltage plastic packaging can be made to withstand operating voltages up to 35 times greater than previously attained by such low voltage plastic packaging.

Abstract: Individual printheads are joined together in a manner to provide improved alignment and registration. The multiple printhead assembly is then installed and removed from the printer as a single unit. According to a preferred method of forming the assembly, individual printheads are temporarily mounted on a holddown plate. The location and position of the printheads is monitored and a fast-cure adhesive used to monolithically join the individual printheads together as a unitary assembly. Once the adhesive is cured, the temporary securing of the individual printheads is removed and the entire assembly removed as a single unit from the holddown plate.

Abstract: A multithreshold electrical twisting ball display device. The device is composed of electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal balls of at least two different rotation thresholds, disposed in an elastomer substrate, together with an addressing electrode assembly. The addressing electrode assembly allows a preferred region of the substrate to be selected in which at least one ball of the first set and at least one ball of the second set are disposed, and first and second electric field to be applied to the preferred region thus selected, each of the first and second electric fields extending throughout the preferred region. The first field facilitates a contemporaneous rotation of balls of both the first and second sets rotatably disposed in the preferred region. The second electric field facilitates a rotation of balls of the second set rotatably disposed in the preferred region, without facilitating a rotation of any ball of the first set rotatably disposed in the preferred region.