Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 6
Claim 1
Independent Claim
121 words
A magnetic brush developing and cleaning process, comprising the steps of: providing a magnet roll which includes a rotatable, non-magnetic cylindrical shell and a rotatable permanent magnet disposed within said shell, said rotatable permanent magnet having a plurality of adjacent magnetic poles in proximity to said shell; forming a magnetic brush of a developer powder on said shell of said magnet roll; developing electrostatic latent images by rotating at least said permanent magnet and softly rubbing said magnetic brush against electrostatic latent images on an image bearing surface; transferring the developed images to a sheet; and cleaning said image bearing surface by rotating said sleeve and said permanent magnet in opposite directions, and strongly rubbing said magnetic brush against said surface.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
121 words
A magnetic brush developing and cleaning process, comprising the steps of: providing a magnet roll which includes a rotatable, non-magnetic cylindrical shell and a rotatable permanent magnet disposed within said shell, said rotatable permanent magnet having a plurality of adjacent magnetic poles in proximity to said shell; forming a magnetic brush of a developer powder on said shell of said magnet roll; developing electrostatic latent images by rotating at least said permanent magnet and softly rubbing said magnetic brush against electrostatic latent images on an image bearing surface; transferring the developed images to a sheet; and cleaning said image bearing surface by rotating said sleeve and said permanent magnet in opposite directions, and strongly rubbing said magnetic brush against said surface.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The magnetic brush developing and cleaning process as set forth in claim 1, wherein during the developing step, tip portions of said magnetic brush rub the image bearing surface.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
67 words
The magnetic brush developing and cleaning process as set forth in claim 2 or 1, having a developing gap in a range of d+0.05 (mm) to d+0.20 (mm), the developing gap being defined as the distance the image bearing surface is separated from the surface of the magnet roll and d being the height of the magnetic brush of developer powder above the surface of said shell.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
43 words
The magnetic brush developing and cleaning process as set forth in claim 2 or 1, wherein during the developing step, the shell is also rotated, the surface speed of the shell being less than 0.2 times the surface speed of the permanent magnet.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The magnetic brush developing and cleaning process as set forth in claim 4, wherein the surface speed of the permanent magnet is 5 to 20 times the surface speed of the image bearing surface.