Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 13
Claim 1
Independent Claim
94 words
Apparatus comprising a main frame (10), at least one unit (11) insertable into and removable from said main frame for cooperative association therewith and two electrical contact elements, one on each of said main frame and said removable unit, engagable with one another to establish an electrical connection to conduct electric current between the main frame and the removanle unit, one of the contacting elements comprising a plurality of resiliently flexible conductive fibers (69) arranged in a brush-like configuration (67) and the other element comprising a conductive surface (72) for engagement with said brush.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
94 words
Apparatus comprising a main frame (10), at least one unit (11) insertable into and removable from said main frame for cooperative association therewith and two electrical contact elements, one on each of said main frame and said removable unit, engagable with one another to establish an electrical connection to conduct electric current between the main frame and the removanle unit, one of the contacting elements comprising a plurality of resiliently flexible conductive fibers (69) arranged in a brush-like configuration (67) and the other element comprising a conductive surface (72) for engagement with said brush.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
32 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contact surface area of one of said contact elements is substantially greater than the contact surface area of the other of said contact elements.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, including a support holder (68) for said fibers to support them so that they extend generally parallel to one another and so that the distal ends of the fibers are positioned for electrical contact with said contact surface.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
18 words
Apparatus as climed in claim 3, including a conductive adhesive to hold said fibers in said support holder.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
23 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim3 or claim 4, wherein said support holder is an electrical terminal(68) which is crimped to an electrically-conductive wire.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said fibers have a diameter of from about 5 micrometers to about 50 micrometers.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said fibers have an electrical resistivity of from about 10⁻⁵ to about 10⁶ ohm-cm.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said conductive surface is a conductive pattern on an insulator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
80 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein said conductive surface is a surface of a pultruded composite member comprising a plurality of conductive fibers in a polymer matrix, said plurality of fibers being oriented in said matrix in a direction substantially parallel to the axial direction of said member and being continuous from one end of said member to the other to provide a plurality of potential electrical contacts at each end of said member.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
38 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said electrical connection between said contact elements is made in a direction parallel to the direction of insertion of said unit into said main frame (Figure 3).
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein said electrical connection between said contact elements is made in a direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion of said unit into said main frame (Figure 5).
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
44 words
Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the apparatus being an electrostatographic printing machine and said unit including at least one processing component which is used in co-operative association with components on the main frame of the machine to produce prints.