Patents by Inventor Peter B. Pickett

Peter B. Pickett 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).

  • Patent number: 7587158
    Abstract: The present application is directed to second transfer areas and methods of transfer toner images from an intermediate member to a media sheet. The second transfer area comprises a second transfer nip formed between a second transfer roller and a back-up roller. The media path moves through this nip with the toner images on the intermediate member being transferred to the media sheets. The amount of force applied by the second transfer roller affects the transferability of the toner images to the media sheet. Further, the intermediate member may contact the second transfer roller at soft nip and hard nip locations. The lengths of these nips may also affect the transferability of the toner images.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2009
    Assignee: Lexmark International Inc.
    Inventors: Stacy Marie Pargett, Jennifer Marie Murphy, Peter B. Pickett, Franklin Joseph Palumbo
  • Publication number: 20090169239
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for removing contaminants from a belt in a printer. A blade is provided that contacts with the belt surface to form a nip where the belt is configured to either receive an image for transfer to a sheet of media or transport media within the printer for receipt of toner images. The blade surface is coated with a fluoropolymer resin in combination with a polymeric binder. The coated blade/belt provides a reduced coefficient of friction at the nip to reduce belt stall and/or belt flipping, which may lock the blade to the belt and prevent further printer operation. The coated blade/belt herein is particularly useful when applied to printing operations that utilize chemically processed toner.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 26, 2008
    Publication date: July 2, 2009
    Inventors: Paul Wesley Etter, Whitney April Greer, David Starling MacMillan, Edward A. Rush, Peter B. Pickett
  • Patent number: 7383016
    Abstract: An electrophotographic imaging device comprises generally, an image transfer station configured to transfer a toned image to a substrate, a fuser assembly configured to fuse the toned image to the substrate and a transport device configured to transfer the substrate from the image transfer station to the fuser assembly. The device further includes a controller for controlling a first process rate of the image transfer device and a second process rate of the transport device. The controller has a mode of operation wherein the first process rate is different from the second process rate when a hand off is performed to pass the substrate from the image transfer station to the transport device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 23, 2005
    Date of Patent: June 3, 2008
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Adrian J. Lee, Peter B. Pickett, David A. Schneider, John P. Spicer
  • Publication number: 20080080907
    Abstract: The present application is directed to second transfer areas and methods of transfer toner images from an intermediate member to a media sheet. The second transfer area comprises a second transfer nip formed between a second transfer roller and a back-up roller. The media path moves through this nip with the toner images on the intermediate member being transferred to the media sheets. The amount of force applied by the second transfer roller affects the transferability of the toner images to the media sheet. Further, the intermediate member may contact the second transfer roller at soft nip and hard nip locations. The lengths of these nips may also affect the transferability of the toner images.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 29, 2006
    Publication date: April 3, 2008
    Inventors: Stacy Marie Pargett, Jennifer Marie Murphy, Peter B. Pickett, Franklin Joseph Palumbo
  • Patent number: 7254351
    Abstract: A fuser assembly within an image forming apparatus having a paper path along which substrates travel through the image forming apparatus including a heating member and a backup member cooperating with the heating member to form a nip therebetween for fusing images onto substrates passing through the nip. Also provided is structure for conveying substrates along the paper path to the nip, and a processor. The processor determines a relative humidity, determines if the relative humidity is above a predefined value corresponding to undesirable substrate curl; sets an interpage gap between conveyed substrates to a nominal value if the relative humidity is below the predefined value; and determines if the interpage gap should be increased beyond the nominal value if the relative humidity is above the predefined value. A corresponding method is provided.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 2005
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignee: Lexmark International, Inc.
    Inventors: Jichang Cao, James D. Gilmore, Peter B. Pickett, Pramod K. Sharma