Patents by Inventor Matthew Russell Smither

Matthew Russell Smither 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).

  • Publication number: 20230060882
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: March 2, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Publication number: 20230058033
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Publication number: 20230055807
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Publication number: 20230060102
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Publication number: 20230055873
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 11, 2021
    Publication date: February 23, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Publication number: 20230051626
    Abstract: An improved overcoat layer for an organic photoconductor drum of an electrophotographic image forming device is provided. The overcoat layer is prepared from a curable composition including a crosslinkable siloxane, an acrylic polymer with pigment affinic groups, nano metal oxide particles sized less than 400 nm in combination with a urethane acrylate resin having at least 6 functional groups. The outermost layer of an organic photoconductors is coated with the overcoat formulation of the present invention then cured. The resulting cured overcoated organic photoconductor has improved wear resistance and importantly does not negatively altering the electrophotographic properties of the organic photoconductor.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 22, 2022
    Publication date: February 16, 2023
    Inventors: MATTHEW RUSSELL SMITHER, WEIMEI LUO, LAURA LEE KIERSTEIN, MATTHEW DAVID HEID, MARK THOMAS BELLINO
  • Patent number: 10579003
    Abstract: An imaging device includes a photoconductive drum charged by a charge roll and opposed by a transfer roll to transfer an image from the drum. The drum becomes biased to a negative voltage by setting charges of negative voltage on both the charge roll and transfer roll. A controller switches the bias of the transfer roll to a positive voltage from the negative voltage and a delta or difference in a charge of the drum is determined from before and after the switching. Based on the delta, the voltage on the charge roll is boosted by a boost voltage to improve the charge on the drum. In this way, deteriorating or defective charge rolls can be still used to charge the drum to a proper voltage for imaging. Techniques for determining the delta, the boost and the magnitude of voltage charges are further embodiments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 3, 2020
    Assignee: LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    Inventors: Michael Brian Bacelieri, Douglas Anthony Able, Andrew Pryse Dale, Jared Kuohui Lin, Robert Watson McAlpine, Matthew Russell Smither
  • Patent number: 10488780
    Abstract: An imaging device includes a photoconductive drum charged by a charge roll and opposed by a transfer roll to transfer an image from the drum. The drum becomes biased to a negative voltage by setting charges of negative voltage on both the charge roll and transfer roll. A controller switches the bias of the transfer roll to a positive voltage from the negative voltage and a delta or difference in a charge of the drum is determined from before and after the switching. Based on the delta, the voltage on the charge roll is boosted by a boost voltage to improve the charge on the drum. In this way, deteriorating or defective charge rolls can be still used to charge the drum to a proper voltage for imaging. Techniques for determining the delta, the boost and the magnitude of voltage charges are further embodiments.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 21, 2019
    Date of Patent: November 26, 2019
    Assignee: LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    Inventors: Michael Brian Bacelieri, Douglas Anthony Able, Andrew Pryse Dale, Jared Kuohui Lin, Robert Watson McAlpine, Matthew Russell Smither
  • Patent number: 9740157
    Abstract: A photoconductor unit for an electrophotographic image forming device according to one example embodiment includes a housing and a photoconductive drum rotatably mounted on the housing. The photoconductive drum includes a drive coupler that is positioned to mate with a corresponding drive coupler of the image forming device to receive rotational and axial force therefrom for rotating and axially biasing the photoconductive drum when the photoconductor unit is installed in the image forming device. A wear member is positioned to receive frictional contact from a portion of the photoconductive drum in a direction of the axial bias on the photoconductive drum such that as the photoconductive drum rotates, the frictional contact on the wear member gradually wears away the wear member in the direction of the axial bias on the photoconductive drum thereby gradually shifting the photoconductive drum axially in the direction of the axial bias.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Gregory Alan Cavill, Michael Alan Gist, Christopher Hayden Noffsinger, Matthew Russell Smither, Daniel Lee Thomas
  • Patent number: 9500994
    Abstract: A removable unit for an electrophotographic imaging device includes a housing having an opening, a rotatable roll disposed near the opening and adjacent to a bottom of the housing and a blade assembly coupled to the housing. The blade assembly includes a support bracket secured to a wall defining at least a part of the opening of the housing, and a blade member coupled to the support bracket and being positioned in the removable unit so that a distal end portion of the blade member engages with the rotatable roll. The housing, the blade assembly, and a portion of a surface of the rotatable roll define a substantially sealed enclosure for containing toner therein.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2016
    Assignee: LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL, INC.
    Inventors: Stephen Andrew Brown, James Anthany Carter, Gregory Alan Cavill, Matthew David Heid, Benjamin Keith Newman, Joshua Carl Poterjoy, Matthew Russell Smither, Christopher G. Vowels
  • Publication number: 20130170876
    Abstract: A removable unit for an electrophotographic imaging device includes a housing having an opening, a rotatable roll disposed near the opening and adjacent to a bottom of the housing and a blade assembly coupled to the housing. The blade assembly includes a support bracket secured to a wall defining at least a part of the opening of the housing, and a blade member coupled to the support bracket and being positioned in the removable unit so that a distal end portion of the blade member engages with the rotatable roll. The housing, the blade assembly, and a portion of a surface of the rotatable roll define a substantially sealed enclosure for containing toner therein.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 10, 2012
    Publication date: July 4, 2013
    Inventors: Stephen Andrew Brown, James Anthany Carter, Gregory Alan Cavill, Matthew David Heid, Benjamin Keith Newman, Joshua Carl Poterjoy, Matthew Russell Smither, Christopher G. Vowels