| 摘要 |
An apparatus and method for the delivery of electrostatically charged toner particles to an image receiving member using a traveling electrostatic wave toner conveyor. The traveling electrostatic wave toner conveyor is overlaid with barrier electrodes that divide the conveyor into parallel columns, forming isolated potential wells to receive pixel packets of toner. An ejector electrode in registry with each conveyor column modulates the quantity of toner in pixel packets that travel along the parallel conveyor columns. The quantity in the packets is responsive to the modulated voltage applied to the ejector electrode. Focusing electrodes transfer pixel packets from the traveling wave conveyor as toner jets focused onto the image receiving member. A repulsive dc bias is applied to the barrier electrodes to confine toner within the conveyor columns.Another embodiment includes an image transfer conveyor similarly overlaid with barrier electrodes. A toner supply conveyor (or four such conveyors for CMYK toners) supplies pixel packets to the transfer conveyor. An ejector electrode on the supply conveyor in registry with each conveyor column ejects toner from the supply conveyor to the transfer conveyor in response to modulated voltage. A corresponding attraction electrode on the transfer conveyor, in registry with each ejector electrode on the supply conveyor and subjected to voltage of opposite polarity, attracts toner from the supply conveyor to the transfer conveyor.CMYK toners are of equivalent particle size small enough to reduce the granularity of continuous tone images below the threshold of visibility.Multiplexing is accomplished by four ejector electrodes, positioned one ahead of another by one-fourth the transfer conveyor wavelength and energized together through a common bus electrode.
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