U.S. patent number 3,713,819 [Application Number 05/093,847] was granted by the patent office on 1973-01-30 for xerographic imaging and development using metal oxide carrier particles.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Xerox Corporation. Invention is credited to Robert J. Hagenbach, Myron J. Lenhard.
United States Patent |
3,713,819 |
Hagenbach , et al. |
January 30, 1973 |
XEROGRAPHIC IMAGING AND DEVELOPMENT USING METAL OXIDE CARRIER
PARTICLES
Abstract
A xerographic carrier bead material for use in developing
electrostatic latent images comprising a glass composition of from
about 10 to about 40 parts oxides of silicon, from about 5 to about
50 parts oxides of barium, and oxides of metals selected from the
group consisting of titanium, lead and mixtures thereof.
Inventors: |
Hagenbach; Robert J.
(Rochester, NY), Lenhard; Myron J. (Rochester, NY) |
Assignee: |
Xerox Corporation (Rochester,
NY)
|
Family
ID: |
26787961 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/093,847 |
Filed: |
November 30, 1970 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
|
631192 |
Apr 17, 1967 |
3591503 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
430/123.58;
430/104; 501/60; 430/111.2; 501/33; 501/72 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03G
9/10 (20130101); G03G 13/08 (20130101); Y10T
428/2998 (20150115); Y10T 428/2996 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
G03G
13/06 (20060101); G03G 13/08 (20060101); G03G
9/10 (20060101); G03g 009/00 (); G03g 013/08 () |
Field of
Search: |
;96/1 ;252/62.1
;117/17.5 ;106/52,53 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Van Horn; Charles E.
Assistant Examiner: Wittenberg; M. B.
Parent Case Text
This is a division of application Ser. No. 631,192, filed in the
United States on April 17, 1967, now U.S. Pat. No. 3591503.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of forming a visible image comprising the steps of:
a. forming an electrostatic latent image on a surface;
b. contacting said electrostatic latent image with an
electrostatographic developer mixture comprising finely divided
electroscopic toner particles having an average particle size less
than about 30 microns electrostatically adhering to the surface of
substantially homogeneous glass carrier particles having an average
particle size between about 30 microns and about 1,000 microns,
each of said toner particles comprising a resin and a colorant
selected from the group consisting of dyes and pigments and each of
said homogeneous glass carrier particles having a specific gravity
between about 3 and about 6 and consisting essentially of from
about 10 percent to about 40 percent by weight of oxides of
silicon, from about 4 percent to about 50 percent by weight of
oxides of barium, from about 15 percent to about 40 percent by
weight of oxides of titanium, less than about 45 percent by weight
of oxides of lead, less than about 4.5 percent by weight of oxides
of calcium and less than about 5 percent by weight of oxides of
metals selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium,
lithium and mixtures thereof;
c. until at least a portion of said finely divided toner particles
are attracted to and held on said surface in conformance to said
electrostatic latent image.
2. A method of forming a visible image according to claim 1 wherein
said glass carrier particles comprise from about 11 percent to
about 13 percent by weight of oxides of silicon, from about 43
percent to about 48 percent by weight of oxides of barium, from
about 34 percent to about 37 percent by weight of oxides of
titanium, less than about 45 percent by weight of oxides of lead,
less than about 4.5 percent by weight of oxides of calcium, from
about 0.5 percent to about 1.5 percent by weight of oxides of boron
and less than about 5 percent by weight of oxides of metals
selected from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, lithium
and mixtures thereof.
3. A method of forming a visible image according to claim 1 wherein
said glass carrier particles comprise from about 30 percent to
about 32 percent by weight of oxides of silicon, from about 4
percent to about 6 percent by weight of oxides of barium from about
16 to about 20 percent by weight of oxides of titanium, less than
about 45 percent by weight of oxides of calcium, from about 2
percent from about 4 percent by weight of oxides of zirconium and
less than about 5 percent by weight of oxides of metals selected
from the group consisting of sodium, potassium, lithium and
mixtures thereof.
4. A method of forming a visible image according to claim 1 wherein
said toner particles comprise colored styrene copolymer particles.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates in general to an imaging system and, more
particularly, to an electrostatographic material.
Electrostatography is best exemplified by the process of xerography
as first described in U. S. Pat. No. 2,297,691 to C. F. Carlson. In
this process a photoconductor is first provided with a uniform
electrostatic charge over its surface and is then exposed to an
image of activating electromagnetic radiation which selectively
dissipates the charge in illuminated areas of the photoconductor
while the charge in the non-illuminated areas is retained thereby
forming a latent electrostatic image. This latent electrostatic
latent image is then developed or made visible by the deposition of
finely-divided electroscopic marking particles referred to in the
art as "toner". The toner will normally be attracted to those areas
of the layer which retain a charge, thereby forming a toner image
corresponding to the latent electroscopic image. This powdered
image may then be transferred to a support surface such as paper.
The transferred image may subsequently be permanently affixed to
the support surface as by fusing. Instead of forming latent images
by uniformly charging a photoconductive layer and then exposing the
layer to a light and shadow image, an image may be formed by
directly charging the layer or an insulating member in image
configuration. The powder image may be fixed to the imaging layer
if elimination of the powder image transfer step is desired. Other
suitable means such as solvent or overcoating treatment may be
substituted for the foregoing heat fixing steps.
Several methods are known for applying the electroscopic particles
to the latent electrostatic image to be developed. One well-known
commercial method for developing electrostatic images is the
"cascade" process disclosed by L. E. Walkup in U. S. Pat. No.
2,618,551 and E. N. Wise in U. S. Pat. No. 2,618,552. In this
method a developer material comprising relatively large carrier
beads having fine toner particles electrostatically coated thereon
is conveyed to or rolled or cascaded across the electrostatic image
bearing surface. The composition of the carrier particles is so
chosen as to triboelectrically charge the toner particles to the
desired polarity. As the image cascades or rolls across the image
bearing surface, the toner particles are electrostatically
deposited and secured to the charged portion of a latent image and
are not deposited on the uncharged or background portion of the
image. Most of the toner particles accidentally deposited in the
background areas are removed by the rolling carrier, due apparently
to the greater electrostatic attraction between the toner and
carrier than between the toner and the discharge background. The
carrier and excess toner are then recycled.
In most commercial processes the cascade technique is carried out
in automatic machines. In these machines small buckets on an
endless conveyor scoop the developer mixture comprising relatively
large carrier beads and smaller toner particles and convey it to a
point above an electrostatic image bearing surface where the
developer mixture is allowed to fall and roll by gravity across the
image bearing surface. The carrier beads along with any unused
toner particles are then returned to the sump for recycling through
the developing system. Small quantities of toner material are
periodically added to the developer mixture to compensate for the
toner depleted during the development process. This process is
repeated for each copy produced in the machine and is ordinarily
repeated many thousands of times during the usable life of the
developer mixture. It is apparent that in this process, as well as
in other development techniques, the developer mixture is subjected
to a great deal of mechanical attrition which tends to degrade both
the toner and carrier particles. This degradation, of course,
occurs primarily as a result of shear and impact forces due to the
tumbling of the developer mixture on the image bearing plate and
the movement of the bucket conveyor through the developer material
in the sump.
In prior art processes both coated and uncoated carrier beads were
employed with varying degrees of success. Coated carrier beads are
subject to deterioration or degradation characterized by the
separation of portions of or the entire carrier coating from the
carrier core. The separation may be in the form of chips, flakes,
or entire layers and is primarily caused by poorly adhering coating
materials which fail upon impact and abrasive contact with machine
parts and other carrier particles. Carriers having coatings tend to
chip and otherwise separate from the carrier core and must be
frequently replaced, thereby increasing expense and consuming time.
Print deletion and poor print quality occur when carrier particles
having damaged coatings are not replaced. Fines and grit formed by
the carrier coating disintegration tend to drift and form unwanted
deposits on critical machine parts. In addition, the triboelectric
properties of the carrier material varies with deterioration of the
coating resulting in poor print quality.
Uncoated carrier beads on the other hand have three main
deficiencies. First, often they lack the weight required to insure
against adherence of the granular carrier material to the charged
plate. Desirably, the specific gravity of the carrier material
should be between about 3 and about 8. Heavier carrier bead
materials cause impact damage to the surface of the image bearing
layer. Secondly, the prior art uncoated carrier materials lacked
the triboelectric qualities required of an electrostatographic
material. Problems encountered when carrier materials lack these
properties are set out in the following discussion. In the
reproduction of high contrast copies such as letters, tracings and
the like, it is desirable to select the electroscopic powder and
carrier materials so that their mutual electrification is
relatively large; the degree of such electrification being
determined in most cases by the distance between their relative
positions in the triboelectric series. However, when otherwise
compatible electroscopic powder and carrier materials are removed
from each other in the triboelectric series by too great a
distance, the resulting images are very faint because the
attractive forces between the carrier and toner particles compete
with the attractive forces between the latent electrostatic image
and the toner particles. Although the image density described in
the immediately preceding sentence may be improved by increasing
the toner concentration in the developer mixture, undesirably high
background toner deposition as well as increased toner impaction
and agglomeration is encountered when the developer mixture is
overtoned. The initial electrostatographic plate charge may be
increased to improve the density of the deposited powdered image
but the plate charge would ordinarily have to be excessively high
in order to attract the electroscopic powder away from the carrier
particle. Excessively high electrostatographic plate charges are
not only undesirable because of the high power consumption
necessary to maintain the electrostatographic plate at high
potentials but also because a high potential causes the carrier
particles to adhere to the electrostatographic plate surface rather
than merely roll across and off the electrostatographic plate
surface. Print deletion and massive carryover of carrier particles
often occur when carrier particles adhere to reusable
electrostatographic imaging surfaces. Massive carrier carryover
problems are particularly acute when the developer is employed in
solid area coverage machines where excessive quantities of toner
particles are removed from carrier particles thereby leaving many
carrier particles substantially bare of toner particles. Further,
adherence of carrier particles to reusable electrostatographic
imaging surfaces promotes the formation of undesirable scratches on
the surfaces during image transfer and surface cleaning operations.
It is, therefore, apparent that many materials which otherwise have
suitable properties for employment as carrier particles are
unsuitable because they possess too high a triboelectric value.
Desirably, the triboelectric value for conventional
electrostatography measured in micro-coulombs per gram of toner
should be between 8 and 30.
Finally, the triboelectric value of a carrier material should not
be significantly affected by ambient humidity conditions since such
affect would destroy print quality at higher humidities and
complicate machine design and operation, prior art uncoated glass
materials were never commercially successful because of their great
humidity sensitivity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a system
for developing electrostatic latent images which overcome the above
noted deficiencies.
It is another object of this invention to provide a system for
developing electrostatic latent images which is relatively
insensitive to humidity conditions.
It is another object of this invention to provide a carrier
material, which is relatively resistant to abrasion.
It is another object of this invention to provide a homogeneous
carrier material which has relatively improved triboelectric
properties.
It is another object of this invention to provide a homogeneous
carrier material which has a relatively high density.
The foregoing objects and others are accomplished in accordance
with this invention by an electrostatic latent image developing
system wherein an electrostatic latent image is formed on an
imaging surface and the electrostatic image is then contacted with
a developer mixture comprising finely-divided particles of toner
electrostatically adhering to the surface of uncoated glass carrier
beads. The carrier beads, in general, are a homogeneous mixture of
a glass composition comprising from about 10 to about 40 parts
oxides of silicon, from about five to about 50 parts oxides of
barium, and oxides of metals selected from the group consisting of
titanium, lead and mixtures thereof. A portion of the toner
particles are attracted to and held on the surface of the image
bearing member in accordance with the electrostatic latent image
forming a visible image.
For electrostatographic purposes the preferred composition
comprises about 16 to 20 parts oxides of titanium, four to six
parts oxides of barium, 30 to 32 parts oxides of silicon, 40 to 44
parts oxides of lead, and about two to four parts oxides of
zirconium. For economic reasons, however, the preferred composition
comprises about 34 to 37 parts oxides of titanium, 43 to 48 parts
oxides of barium, 11 to 13 parts oxides of silicon, and 3.5 to 4.5
parts oxides of calcium.
The uncoated carrier beads of this invention have a specific
gravity of from about 3.0 to about 6.0 and produce high quality
images over a wide range of ambient humidity conditions.
Although other components may be present to aid in manufacture of
the glass beads or as natural impurities resulting from the
manufacture of the beads, it has been found that the presence of
over about 5 percent by weight, either singularly or in
combination, of the oxides of sodium, potassium and lithium cause
the carrier bead material to be sensitive to high ambient humidity.
That is, the presence of these materials impart to the carrier
beads humidity sensitivity which prevents the use of such beads in
electrostatographic processes which are exposed to high ambient
humidity.
A carrier bead diameter of from about 30 microns to about 1,000
microns is preferred for electrostatographic use because the bead
then possess sufficient inertia to avoid adherence to the latent
electrostatic images.
Any suitable pigmented or dyed electroscopic toner material may be
employed with the uncoated carriers of this invention. Typical
toner materials include: gum copal; gum sandarac; rosin;
cumaromeindene resin; asphaltum; uintaite; phenol formaldehyde
resins; rosin modified phenol formaldehyde resins; methacrylic
resins; polystyrene resins; polypropylene resins; epoxy resins;
polyethylene resins and mixtures thereof. The particular toner
material to be employed depends upon the separation of the toner
particles from the treated carrier beads in the triboelectric
series and whether a negatively or positively charged image is to
be developed. Among the patents describing electroscopic toner
compositions are U. S. Pat. No 2,659,670 to Copley; U. S. Pat. No.
2,753,308 to Landrigan; U. S. Pat. No. 3,079,342 to Insalaco; U. S.
Pat. No. Re. 25,136 to Carlson, and U. S. Pat. No. 2,788,288 to
Rheinfrank et al. These toners generally have an average particle
diameter between about 1 and 30 microns. A toner comprising a
styrene-N-butyl methacrylate copolymer, polyvinylbutyral and carbon
black produced by the method disclosed by M. A. Insalaco in Example
1 of U. S. Pat. No. 3,079,342 is preferred because of its excellent
triboelectric qualities and its deep black color.
In conventional xerography a uniform positive charge is placed on
the surface of a photoconductive member. Subsequent exposure to a
light image discharges the exposed areas of the plate. A powder
material is then chosen which is triboelectrically negative in
respect to the carrier bead material of this invention. However,
the advantages of this invention apply equally to the development
of latent electrostatic images which are negative. In the case
where the latent image is comprised of negative electrostatic
charges, an electroscopic powder and carrier combination should be
selected in which the powder is triboelectrically positive to the
carrier material. The selection of suitable toner materials can be
made by anyone skilled in the art from the many materials that have
been tested and occupy recognized positions in the triboelectric
series. The dimension of the charge acquired by any particular
toner through triboelectric contact with any designated carrier
material is easily and readily determined by the test method
described more fully herein.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The following examples further specifically illustrate the present
invention. The examples below are intended to illustrate the
various preferred embodiments of the improved carrier materials.
The parts and percentages are by weight unless otherwise
indicated.
In the following examples the triboelectric values are determined
as follows: The relative triboelectric values generated by contact
of carrier beads with toner particles are measured by means of a
Faraday Cage. The device comprises a brass cylinder having a
diameter of 1 inch and a length of 1 inch. A 100 mesh screen is
positioned at each end of the cylinder. The cylinder is weighted,
charged with 2 grams of a mixture of carrier and toner particles
and connected to ground through a capacitor and an electrometer
connected in parallel. Dry compressed air is then blown through the
brass cylinder to drive all the toner from the carrier. The charge
on the capacitor is then read on the electrometer. Next, the
chamber is reweighed to determine the weight loss. The resulting
data is used to calculate the toner concentration and the charge in
micro-coulombs per gram of toner. Since triboelectric measurements
are relative, the measurements should for comparative purposes be
conducted under substantially identical conditions. Thus, a toner
comprising a styrene-n-butyl methacrylate copolymer,
polyvinylbutyral and carbon black produced by the method disclosed
by M. A. Insalaco in Example I of U. S. Pat. No. 3,079,342 is used
as a contact triboelectrification standard and as toner in all of
the examples. Obviously, other suitable toners such as those listed
above may be substituted for the toner used in the examples.
EXAMPLE I
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles having an average particle size of about
10 to about 20 microns with about 100 parts glass carrier bead
particles having an average particle size of about 600 microns. The
glass bead composition comprises about 71% SiO.sub.2, about 2%
Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, about 13% CaO and about 14% Na.sub.2 O and has a
specific gravity of about 2.4.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 40
percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 9 micro-coulombs per gram of toner. The
developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing a
positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting image is dense and
substantially free of background toner deposits.
EXAMPLE II
The experiment of Example I is repeated except that the tests are
performed in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 80 percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 3 micro-coulombs per gram of toner. The
resulting fused image prepared as in Example I is characterized by
a faded, washed out appearance and has high background toner
deposits.
EXAMPLE III
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 100
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 600 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 71 % SiO.sub.2, about
10% Na.sub.2 O, about 7% K.sub.2 O, and about 12% PbO and has a
specific gravity of about 2.8.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 40
percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 10 micro-coulombs per gram of toner. The
developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing a
positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting image is dense and is
substantially free of background toner deposits.
EXAMPLE IV
The experiment of Example III is repeated except that the tests are
performed in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 80 percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 4 micro-coulombs per gram of toner. The
resulting fused image prepared as in Example II is dense but
possesses a relatively high background toner deposition.
EXAMPLE V
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 75
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 600 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 50% SiO.sub.2, about 13%
Na.sub.2 O, about 30% BaO and about 7% TiO.sub.2 and has a specific
gravity of about 3.5.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 40
percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 4.8 micro-coulombs per gram of toner.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred to a sheet of paper whereon it is fused by
heat. The resulting fused image is characterized by very high
background and poor resolution.
EXAMPLE VI
The experiment of Example V is repeated except that the tests are
performed in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
80.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example V is characterized
by extremely poor resolution and very high background.
EXAMPLE VII
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 150
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 400 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 12% SiO.sub.2, about 1%
NaO, about 4% CaO, about 1% B.sub.2 O.sub.3, about 45.5% BaO, and
about 36.5% TiO.sub.2 and having a specific gravity of about
4.2.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and about 50 percent ambient relative humidity.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 19.2 micro-coulombs per gram of toner.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred to a sheet of paper whereon it is fused by
heat. The resulting fused image has excellent resolution, excellent
density and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE VIII
The experiment of Example VII is repeated except that the images
are produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
80.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example VII has excellent
resolution, good density and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE IX
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 120
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 400 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 46% BaO, about 20 %
TiO.sub.2 and about 34% SiO.sub.2 and has a specific gravity of
about 4.5.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 50 percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 10.1 micro-coulombs per gram of toner.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting fused image is dense,
has good resolution and substantially no background.
Example X
The experiment of Example IX is repeated except that images are
produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
80.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example IX is dense, has
good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XI
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 100
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 400 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 46% BaO, about 14%
SiO.sub.2, about 33% TiO.sub.2 and about 7% ZrO.sub.2 and has a
specific gravity of about 3.7.
The following images are produced in the presence of an ambient
temperature of about 70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity
of about 50 percent.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting fused image is dense,
has good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XII
The experiment of Example XI is repeated except that images are
produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XI is dense, has
good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XIII
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 60
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 600 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 50% BaO, about 25%
SiO.sub.2 and about 25% TiO.sub.2 and has a specific gravity of
about 4.3.
The following images are produced in the presence of an ambient
temperature of about 70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity
of about 50 percent.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting fused image is dense,
has good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XIV
The experiment of Example XIII is repeated except that the images
are produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XIII is dense, has
good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XV
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 150
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 250 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 32% SiO.sub.2, about 42%
PbO, about 6% BaO, about 18% TiO.sub.2, and about 2% ZrO.sub.2 and
has a specific gravity of about 5.2.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 50
percent.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 23.5 micro-coulombs per gram of toner.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting fused image is dense,
has excellent resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XVI
The experiment of Example XV is repeated except that images are
produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XV is dense, has
excellent resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XVII
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 100
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 400 microns. The glass bead composition comprises about
12% SiO.sub.2, about 45% PbO, about 25% BaO, and about 18%
TiO.sub.2 and has a specific gravity of about 5.0.
The following images are produced in the presence of an ambient
temperature of about 70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity
of about 50 percent.
The developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing
a positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred by electrostatic means to a sheet of paper
whereon it is fused by heat. The resulting fused image is dense,
has good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XVIII
The experiment of Example XVII is repeated except that images are
produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XVII is dense, has
good resolution and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XIX
A developer mixture is produced by mixing one part colored styrene
copolymer toner particles described in Example I with about 100
parts glass carrier bead particles having an average particle size
of about 400 microns.
The glass bead composition comprises about 11% SiO.sub.2, about
0.5% NaO, about 3.5% CaO, about 48% BaO, about 36% TiO.sub.2, and
about 1% B.sub.2 O.sub.3 and having a specific gravity of about
4.2.
The following tests are run at an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and about 50 percent ambient relative humidity.
The relative triboelectric value of the carrier measured by means
of a Faraday Cage is about 19 micro-coulombs per gram of toner. The
developer mixture is cascaded across an imaging surface bearing a
positively charged electrostatic image. The resulting developed
image is transferred to a sheet of paper whereon it is fused by
heat. The resulting fused image has good resolution, good density
and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XX
The experiment of Example XIX is repeated except that the images
are produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
70.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XIX has good
resolution, good density and substantially no background.
EXAMPLE XXI
The experiment of Example XIX is repeated except that the images
are produced in the presence of an ambient temperature of about
90.degree. F. and an ambient relative humidity of about 85 percent.
The resulting fused image prepared as in Example XIX has good
resolution, good density and substantially no background.
Although specific components and proportions have been stated in
the above description of preferred embodiments of the invention,
other typical materials as listed above where suitable may be used
with similar results. In addition, other materials may be added to
the mixture to synergize, enhance, or otherwise modify the
properties of the carrier beads. For example, a material to improve
the sphericity of the beads may be incorporated during
manufacture.
Other modifications and ramifications of the present invention will
occur to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the disclosure.
These are intended to be included within the scope of this
invention.
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