Liquid developer system for electrostatic copier

Claim 1

In a liquid developer system for subjecting a length of copy material to the action of a liquid developer in a developing zone through which said length passes along a path, the improvement comprising: a. substantially imperforate lower guide means curved in the direction of said path and extending transversely thereof for a distance greater than the width of such copy material; b. substantially imperforate upper guide means curved generally complementarily with said lower guide means and extending transversely of said path for a distance greater than the width of such copy material; c. substantially imperforate end wall means connected with respective opposite ends of said lower and upper guide means for holding the same in closely spaced relation and thereby defining a confined, arcuate space with an inlet slot and an outlet slot constituted by longitudinal edges of said upper and lower guide means extending transversely of said path, the lowermost portion of said arcuate space being disposed between said slots; d. liquid developer distribution outlet means within said arcuate space adjacent said inlet slot, said outlet means including first elongated wall means defining an elongated chamber having aperture means therealong which open into said arcuate space adjacent to and inwardly of said inlet slot and second elongated wall means adjacent to and inwardly of said first elongated wall means defining a recess, which recess extends transversely of said path in substantial parallel relation with said aperture means for distributing a flow of developer fluid in a pattern extending transversely of said path for a distance substantially the same as the width of such copy material, said first elongated wall means having an inlet communicating with said chamber; e. pump means and conduit means connected to said inlet for forcing developer fluid under pressure through said aperture means and into said arcuate space thereby causing in cooperation with said recess a turbulent flow of developer fluid throughout substantially all of said arcuate space; and f. advancing means for advancing a length of copy material along said path through said arcuate space from the inlet slot to the outlet slot thereof.