Developing liquid recovery device in a copying machine

Claim 1

A developing liquid recovery device comprising: a drying chamber which includes an inlet and an outlet for a copy medium and which is of substantially hermetically sealed construction, said drying chamber accommodating heating means for heating the copy medium bearing an image formed with a liquid developer to dry the copy medium, wherein a developing liquid vapor is produced from the copy medium; a condenser chamber having a passage interconnecting said drying chamber therewith, wherein said condenser chamber is for accommodating means for cooling and liquefying the developing liquid vapor produced in said drying chamber; means for circulating an air flow from said drying chamber through said passage to said condenser chamber and back to said drying chamber; discharging means disposed downstream of said condenser chamber and upstream of said drying chamber with respect to said circulating air flow, said discharging means discharging a part of the air flow to maintain the pressure in said drying chamber at a lower value than that of the ambient pressure; and a separating container disposed with respect to said condenser chamber for receiving the developing liquid which has been liquefied by said cooling and liquefying means, said separating container including first discharging means for discharging a part of the liquefied developer of relatively high specific gravity and second discharging means for discharging a part of the liquefied developer of relatively low specific gravity.