Printer for reusable electrically printable medium

摘要

A printer for printing to electrically printable media is described. During printing, a drum surface having first and second portions is charged to a first voltage, and the second portions of the surface are selectively discharged. A transfer electrode has a uniform voltage applied thereon. A first erase electrode and a second erase electrode have a fixed voltage differential between them. The printer receives the electrically printable medium between the first erase electrode and the second erase electrode to expose the electrically printable medium to the fixed voltage differential, and to move the electrically printable medium proximal to the drum and the transfer electrode to expose the electrically printable medium to a first voltage differential that results from the first voltage of the first portions and the uniform voltage, and a second voltage differential that results from the second voltage of the second portions and the uniform voltage.

主权项

1. A printer comprising:
a rotatable drum having an organic photoconductor (OPC) material on a surface of the rotatable drum, wherein portions of the surface of the rotatable drum are selectively discharged by selective application of light on the OPC material on the surface of the rotatable drum, the selective application of light on the OPC material causing a first set of the portions of the surface of the rotatable drum to be at a first voltage and a second set of the portions of the surface of the rotatable drum to be at a second voltage; a transfer roller configured to have a uniform voltage applied thereon by a printer controller; a first discharge roller and a second discharge roller each configured to have a ground voltage applied thereon by the printer controller; and a first erase roller and a second erase roller configured to have a fixed voltage differential applied between them by the printer controller, wherein the printer apparatus is configured to print to an electrically printable medium by moving the electrically printable medium:
between the first erase roller and the second erase roller such that the fixed voltage differential applied between them causes charged colored particles in the electrically printable medium to be distributed in a way that erases a residual visible content from a top surface of the electrically printable medium,between the rotatable drum and the transfer roller such that the first voltage on the first set of the portions of the surface of the rotatable drum, and the second voltage on the second set of the portions of the surface of the rotatable drum, cause the charged colored particles in the electrically printable medium to be redistributed to produce new visible content on the top surface of the electrically printable medium; and wherein the printer is configured to cause the electrically printable medium to move between the first discharge roller and the second discharge roller such that a residual charge is removed from the electrically printable medium to prevent the new visible content from being corrupted by the residual charge.