Transfer device and system for an electrophotographic device comprising multiple electrodes

摘要

A device for transferring images from an image donating member to an image receiving medium comprises a substrate, at least two electrodes disposed on the substrate, and at least one layer of coating disposed on the substrate having an outer surface for forming a nip region with the image donating member. The at least two electrodes are controllable to produce an electric field and control a position thereof at the nip region to allow transfer of an image from the image donating member to the image receiving medium in an image transfer operation.

主权项

1. A device for transferring images from an image donating member to an image receiving medium, comprising:
a substrate; at least three electrodes disposed on the substrate, including a center electrode and at least two guard electrodes disposed at opposed sides of the center electrode; and at least one coating layer disposed on the at least three electrodes and having an outer surface for forming a nip region with the image donating member; wherein the at least two guard electrodes comprise a first guard electrode and a second guard electrode, and wherein a distance between the first guard electrode and the center electrode is greater than a distance between the center electrode and the second guard electrode, wherein the substrate, the at least three electrodes and the at least one coating layer form a transfer member of the device, the transfer member forming the nip region with the image donating member, and the device further comprises voltage supply circuitry for supplying bias voltages to the at least three electrodes so as to produce an electric field and control a position thereof at the nip region in order to allow the electric field to act upon and cause toner to transfer from the image donating member to the image receiving medium, and wherein a slope of the electric field on an output side of the nip region has a magnitude that is at least two times greater than a magnitude of a slope of the electric field on an input side of the nip region.