U.S. patent number 3,914,043 [Application Number 05/456,090] was granted by the patent office on 1975-10-21 for color accenting copying machine.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Xerox Corporation. Invention is credited to James H. McVeigh.
United States Patent |
3,914,043 |
McVeigh |
October 21, 1975 |
Color accenting copying machine
Abstract
An apparatus in which copies of an original document are formed
having selected portions thereof color highlighted. The original
document is disposed on the apparatus and portions thereof are
selected for color highlighting. Copies are then produced from the
original document with the selected portions in differing
colors.
Inventors: |
McVeigh; James H. (Rochester,
NY) |
Assignee: |
Xerox Corporation (Stamford,
CT)
|
Family
ID: |
23811373 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/456,090 |
Filed: |
March 29, 1974 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
399/184; 399/194;
430/43.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03G
15/01 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G03G
15/01 (20060101); G03G 015/01 () |
Field of
Search: |
;355/4,17 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Horan; John M.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fleischer; H. Ralabate; J. J.
Green; C. A.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for forming at least a two color copy from a single
color original document, including:
a support member arranged to hold the original document
thereon;
means for adjustably indicating a portion of the original document
to be copied in a first color and a portion of the original
document to be copied in a second color;
circuit means coupled to said indicating means for producing a
signal defining the portions of the original document to be copied
in the first color and the second color; and
means, responsive to the signal from said circuit means, for
reproducing the original document with the portions of the copy
corresponding to the indicated portions of the original document
being formed in the first and second colors.
2. An apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein said reproducing
means includes an electrophotographic printing machine.
3. An apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein said
electrophotographic printing machine includes:
a photoconductive member;
means for charging said photoconductive member to a substantially
uniform potential;
exposure means for projecting at least two light images of the
original document onto said charged photoconductive member
recording at least two electrostatic latent images thereon
corresponding to the original document;
means for erasing the portion of the first latent image to be
reproduced in the second color and for erasing the portion of the
second latent image to be reproduced in the first color;
means for developing the unerased portion of the first latent image
with toner particles of the first color and the unerased portion of
the second latent image with toner particles of the second
color;
means for transferring the first color toner particles and the
second color toner particles to a common copy sheet; and
means for affixing substantially permanently the first and second
color toner particles to the copy sheet forming a two color copy
from a single color original document.
4. An apparatus as recited in claim 3, wherein said indicating
means includes:
a plurality of tab members mounted slidably on said support member
closely adjacent to the side edge of the original document, a pair
of said tab members being positioned to indicate the portion of the
original document being reproduced in the first color; and
a plurality of magnetic members, each of said magnetic members
being secured to each of said tab members.
5. An apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein said circuit means
includes:
a voltage source; and
a switch coupling said voltage source to said erasing means, said
switch being responsive to said magnetic member to connect
electrically said voltage source to said erasing means, thereby
energizing said erasing means.
6. An apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein said erasing means
includes a light source to illuminate and discharge the portion of
the latent image being erased.
Description
The foregoing abstract is neither intended to define the invention
disclosed in the specification, nor is it intended to be limiting
as to the scope of the invention in any way.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electrostatographic printing machine,
and more particularly concerns an apparatus for forming copies of
an original document wherein selected portions of the copy are
highlighted in a color other than the remainder thereof.
In electrostatographic printing, an electrostatic latent image is
created and reproduced in viewable form. The process of
electrostatographic printing includes electrophotographic and
electrographic printing. Electrophotographic printing employs a
photosensitive medium to form, with the aid of electromagnetic
radiation, an electrostatic latent image. Contrawise,
electrographic printing employs an insulating medium to form,
without the aid of electromagnetic radiation, an electrostatic
latent image. Hereinafter, an electrophotographic printing machine
will be described as an illustrative embodiment of the inventive
concept described in the present application.
Electrophotographic printing, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.
2,297,691 issued to Carlson in 1942, describes exposing a charged
photoconductive member to a light image of an original document.
The irradiated areas of the photoconductive surface are discharged
to record thereon an electrostatic latent image corresponding to
the original document. Development of the electrostatic latent
image is achieved by bringing a developer mix into contact
therewith. A typical developer mix employs colored heat settable
plastic particles known generally as toner particles, which are
mixed with ferromagnetic granules, i.e. carrier granules. The
developer mix is selected such that the toner particles acquire the
appropriate charge relative to the electrostatic latent image
recorded on the photoconductive surface. As the developer mix is
moved into contact with the photoconductive surface, the greater
attractive force of the electrostatic latent image causes the toner
particles to be separated from the carrier granules and to adhere
to the electrostatic latent image. The toner powder image adhering
to the electrostatic latent image is, then, transferred to the
sheet of support material. A suitable sheet of support material is
paper, or a thermoplastic sheet, amongst others. Subsequently, the
toner powder image is permanently affixed to the sheet of support
material or copy sheet.
Essentially, multi-color printing repeats the fore-going process a
plurality of cycles. For examples, U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,195 issued
to Tanaka, et al. in 1970 discloses a multi-color
electrophotographic printing machine. As recited therein, the light
image is filtered to record an electrostatic latent image on the
photoconductive surface corresponding thereto. The electrostatic
latent image is then developed with toner particles complimentary
in color to the filtered light image. The toner powder image is
then transferred to the sheet of support material. The foregoing
process is repeated for successively differently colored light
images. As described in Tanaka, each toner powder image is fused
after being transferred to the sheet of support material. However,
one skilled in the art will realize that all of the toner powder
images may be fused after being transferred to the sheet of support
material rather than being successively fused.
With the advent of multi-color electrophotographic printing, it has
become desirable to create copies having portions thereof color
highlighted. For example, portions of the original document may be
selected and reproduced on the copy in a color different than the
remainder thereof. In this manner, the copy will have portions in
one color and the remainder thereof in another color. An
arrangement of this type would be highly useful for emphasizing
selected paragraphs or portions of a letter. In this case, a
selected paragraph or line could be highlighted in red or blue and
the remainder thereof would be reproduced in black. Thus, the
apparatus of the present invention is directed to producing a copy
having portions thereof color accented.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to
improve electrophotographic printing so as to create copies having
portions thereof color highlighted.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, and in accordance with the present invention, there
is provided an apparatus for forming a copy of an original document
with portions of the copy being highlighted in a color other than
the remainder thereof.
Pursuant to the present invention, means, in communication with the
original document, select portions thereof to be reproduced in at
least a first color. The remainder of the copy is reproduced in a
second color. Reproducing means is provided for copying the
original document. The reproducing means is operatively associated
with the selecting means so as to produce copies having the
selected portions in at least the first color with the remainder
thereof being in the second color.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become
apparent upon reading the following detailed description and upon
reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an electrophotographic
printing machine incorporating the features of the present
invention therein;
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the color highlighting selector
for the FIG. 1 printing machine;
FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partially in section and
fragmentary, of the FIG. 1 printing machine exposure system;
and
FIG. 4 is an elevational view, partially fragmentary, illustrating
the development system and the control panel associated therewith
for selecting the highlighting colors.
While the present invention will hereinafter be described in
connection with a preferred embodiment, it will be understood that
it is not intended to limit the invention to that embodiment. On
the contrary, it is intended to cover all alternatives,
modifications and equivalents as may be included within the spirit
and the scope of the invention as defined by the appended
claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An electrophotographic printing machine incorporating the features
of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1. In the drawings, like
reference numerals have been used throughout to designate like
elements. The electrophotographic printing machine described
hereinafter has the capability of producing black and white copies
as well as color highlighted copies. Although the present invention
is depicted as being incorporated in an electrophotographic
printing machine, it is obvious to one skilled in the art that the
present invention is not necessarily limited to that particular
embodiment and the present invention may be employed in various
other types of printing machines.
As depicted in FIG. 1, the electrophotographic printing machine
employs a photoconductive member having a drum 10 mounted rotatably
within the machine frame (not shown). Photoconductive surface 12 is
mounted on the exterior circumferential surface of drum 10 and
entrained thereabout. One type of suitable photoconductive material
is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,377 issued to Sechak in 1972. A
series of processing stations are positioned about drum 10 such
that as drum 10 rotates in the direction of arrow 14 it passes
sequentially therethrough. Drum 10 is driven at a predetermined
speed relative to the other machine operating mechanisms by a drive
motor (not shown). A timing disc (not shown) mounted in the region
of one end of the shaft of drum 10 cooperates with the machine
logic to synchronize the various operations with the rotation of
drum 10. In this manner, the proper sequence of events is produced
at the respective processing stations.
Drum 10 initially rotates photoconductive surface 12 through
charging station A. At charging station A, a corona generating
device, indicated generally at 16, extends longitudinally in a
transverse direction across photoconductive surface 12. Corona
generating device 16 generates a spray of ions which are deposited
on photoconductive surface 12 producing a relatively high,
substantially uniform charge thereon. Corona generating device 16
is described in greater detail in co-pending application Ser. No.
307,250 filed in 1972, the disclosure of which is hereby
incorporated into the present application.
After photoconductive surface 12 is charged to a substantially
uniform potential, drum 10 is rotated to exposure station B. At
exposure station B, a light image of an original document is
projected onto charged photoconductive surface 12. Exposure station
B includes a moving lens system generally designated by the
reference numeral 18. Original document 22, such as a sheet of
paper, book or the like is placed face down upon selecting means
24. Selecting means 24 includes a generally planar substantially
transparent support member and indicator members (FIGS. 2 and 3).
Circuit means couples the indicator members to the exposure system.
Selecting means 24 will be described hereinafter in greater detail
with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 1, lamps 26 are
adapted to move in a timed relationship with lens 18 to scan
successive incremental areas of original document 22. In this
manner, a flowing light image of original document 22 is projected
onto photoconductive surface 12 forming an electrostatic latent
image thereon corresponding to the original document. Those
portions of the electrostatic latent image being reproduced in
black are erased therefrom leaving an electrostatic latent image on
photoconductive surface 12 corresponding to the portions of the
original document being reproduced in a color. Thereafter, the
appropriate developer unit is actuated so as to deposit toner
particles of the corresponding color on the latent image. The next
successive light image is also of the entire original document.
However, at this time, those portions of the original document
hereinbefore developed in the first color are erased leaving only
the portions being reproduced in black. The electrostatic latent
image remaining on photoconductive surface 12 is then developed
with black toner particles. The successive toner powder images are
then transferred to a sheet of support material in registration
with one another.
In the present invention, a flowing light image of the original
document is projected onto photoconductive surface 12. Selecting
means 24 actuates electroluminescent panel 28. Electroluminescent
panel 28 projects light rays onto the electrostatic latent image
recorded on photoconductive surface 12. The light rays from
electroluminescent panel 28 erase those portions being reproduced
in black. Thereafter, a flowing light image of the original
document is again created. Selecting means 24, cooperating with the
machine logic, energizes electroluminescent panel 28 so as to erase
those portions hereinbefore reproduced in a highlighting color. The
first-mentioned electrostatic latent image is then developed with
the appropriately colored toner particles; and the second-mentioned
latent image is developed with black toner particles.
After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on photoconductive
surface 12, drum 10 rotates to development station C. At
development station C, three individual developer units, generally
indicated by the reference numerals 30, 32 and 34, respectively,
are arranged to render visible the electrostatic latent image
recorded on photoconductive surface 12. Preferably, the developer
units are of a type generally referred to in the art as "magnetic
brush developer units". A typical magnetic brush system employs a
magnetized developer mix which includes carrier granules and toner
particles. Generally, the toner particles are heat settable. In
operation, the developer mix is continually brought through a
directional flux field to form a brush thereof. The electrostatic
latent image recorded on photoconductive surface 12 is brought into
contact with the brush of developer mix. Toner particles are
attracted from the developer mix to the latent image. Each of the
developer units contain appropriately colored toner particles. For
example, the electrostatic latent image corresponding to the color
highlighted portions of the copy may be reproduced with red or cyan
toner particles. The next successive latent image corresponding to
the black portions of the copy are reproduced with black toner
particles. Thus, resultant copy will have portions thereof in black
and other portions thereof in red or cyan or, in lieu thereof, all
three colors. While the present invention has been described as
color highlighting a black and white copy with cyan or red, it is
obvious to one skilled in the art that any colors may be employed
for color highlighting. The development system employed in the FIG.
1 printing machine will be described in greater detail with
reference to FIG. 4.
Drum 10 is next rotated to transfer station D where the powder
image adhering electrostatically to photoconductive surface 12 is
transferred to a sheet of final support material 36. Support
material 36 may be plain paper or a sheet of thermoplastic
material, amongst others. Transfer station D includes a transfer
roll 38 which is electrically biased to a potential of sufficient
magnitude and polarity to attract electrostatically the toner
particles from the latent image recorded on photoconductive surface
12 to support material 36. Transfer roll 38 rotates in the
direction of arrow 40 in synchronism with drum 10 to maintain the
electrostatic latent image recorded on photoconductive surface 12
in registration with support material 36 secured releasably to
transfer roll 38.
Successive toner powder images are transferred thereto in
registration with one another. In this regard, the first toner
powder image, i.e. red or cyan toner particles, are transferred to
support material 36. Thereafter, the next toner powder image, i.e.
black toner particles, are transferred to support material 36 in
registration with the red or cyan toner particles previously
transferred thereto. Thus, two toner powder images are deposited on
support material 36, one corresponding to a portion of the original
document being reproduced in black, and the other corresponding to
the selected portion of the original document being color
highlighted, i.e. in red or cyan. Prior to proceeding with the
remainder of the electrophotographic printing process, the sheet
feeding process will be briefly discussed.
Support material 36 is advanced from a stack 42 of sheet, mounted
on tray 44. Feed roll 46, in operative communication with retard
roll 48, advances and separates the uppermost sheet from stack 42.
The advancing sheet moves into chute 50 which directs and guides it
between register rolls 52. Thereafter, gripper fingers 54 mounted
on transfer roll 38, secure releasably support material 36 thereto
for movement therewith in a recirculating path. After the requisite
number of toner powder images (two in the case of a single color
highlight, three in the case of two highlights) have been
transferred to support material 36, gripper fingers 54 release
support material 36 and space it from transfer roll 38. Stripper
bar 56 is then interposed between support material 36 and transfer
roll 38 to separate support material 36 from transfer roll 38.
Endless belt conveyor 58 then advances support material 36 to
fixing station E.
At fixing station E, a fuser, indicated generally at 60,
permanently affixes the transferred powder image to support
material 36. Fuser 60 is described in greater detail in co-pending
application Ser. No. 300,531, filed in 1972, the disclosure of
which is hereby incorporated into the present application. After
the fusing process, support material 36 is advanced by endless belt
conveyors 62 and 64 to catch tray 66 permitting subsequent removal
therefrom by the machine operator.
Although a preponderance of the toner particles are transferred to
support material 34, invariably some residual toner particles
remain on photoconductive surface 12 after the transfer of the
powder image therefrom. Residual toner particles are removed from
photoconductive surface 12 as it passes through cleaning station F.
Here, the residual toner particles are first brought under the
influence of a cleaning corona generating device (not shown)
adapted to neutralize the electrostatic charge remaining on the
residual toner particles and photoconductive surface 12. The
neutralized toner particles are then cleaned from photoconductive
surface 12 by a rotatably mounted fibrous brush in contact
therewith. A suitable brush cleaning device is described in U.S.
Pat. No. 3,590,412 issued to Gerbasi in 1971.
The electrophotographic printing machine hereinbefore described,
has been described in greater detail in co-pending application Ser.
No. 398,342, filed in September, 1973, the disclosure of which is
hereby incorporated into the present application. It is believed
that the foregoing description is sufficient for purposes of the
present application to depict the general operation of an
electrophotographic printing machine embodying the features of the
present invention therein. The remainder of the discussion will be
directed to the specific subject matter of the various of
assemblies of the present invention.
Turning now to FIG. 2, selecting means 24 is disclosed therein in
greater detail. Selecting means 24 includes a substantially
transparent, planar support member 70 having a plurality of
indicator members 72 mounted slidably thereon. Indicator member 72a
is adjusted so as to indicate the start of the first color
highlighting portion. Indicator member 72b is adjusted so as to
indicate the stop of the first color highlighting portion.
Similarly, indicator members 72c and 72d are adjusted to indicate
the start and stop, respectively, of the second color highlighting
portion. In order to slidably adjust indicator members 72, support
member 70 has a plurality of substantially parallel equally spaced
slots 74 therein. In operation, original document 22 is disposed on
support member 70 between locator marks 75 and 76, respectively.
Thereafter, indicator member 72a is moved in slot 74a so as to
locate the start of the first color highlighted portion on the
copy. Indicator member 72b is also moved in slot 74b so as to
locate the end of the first color highlighted portion. Similarly,
indicator members 72c and 72 d are moved in slot 74c and 74d,
respectively, so as to locate the start and stop of the next color
highlighting portion.
In the embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2, only four indicator
members are shown for creating two color highlighting portions. It
will be obvious to one skilled in the art that any number of
indicator members may be employed so as to create any number of
color highlighting portions. However, one should note that a
corresponding number of developer units would be required, each
developer unit being associated with its corresponding color
highlighting portion. The structure by which the indicator members
actuate the electroluminescent panel will be described hereinafter
with reference to FIG. 3.
Referring now to FIG. 3, each indicator member 72 has a magnet 80
disposed beneath support member 70. Magnet 80 actuates reed switch
82 mounted on lamp carriage 84 of lamp assembly 26. Reed switch 82
is connected to electrical circuitry 86 adapted to actuate power
supply 88 at the appropriate time. Power supply 88 excites
electroluminescent panel 28. Circuit 86 may be suitable timing
circuit so as to actuate power supply 88 at the appropriate time.
Circuit 86 will also contain two channels. The first channel is
adapted to excite power supply 88 such that electroluminescent
panel 28 or erase lamp 28 is actuated to project light rays onto
photoconductive surface 12 to erase those portions of the
electrostatic latent image corresponding to the black portions
thereof. For example, erase lamp 28 will be actuated so as to
project light rays onto photoconductive surface 12 after the
electrostatic latent image corresponding to the entire original
document is recorded thereon. Erase lamp 28 will be actuated at the
appropriate time and only remain on a sufficient time so as to
erase those portions of the electrostatic latent image encompassed
by the start and stop indicator members. For example, if the
original document contains thrity lines the electrostatic latent
image formed on photoconductive surface 12 will also contain 30
lines. However, if the first 10 lines are to be reproduced in
color, the start indicator member 72a will be disposed at line one
and the stop indicator member 72b will be disposed at line 10.
Erase lamp 28 will only be actuated so as to erase lines 10 through
30 of the electrostatic latent image. Thus, the electrostatic
latent image formed on photoconductive surface 12 will correspond
to lines one through 10. The foregoing is controlled by circuitry
86. A second electrostatic latent image of the original document is
then recorded on photoconductive surface 12. However, at this time,
the second channel of circuitry 86 is actuated. This channel
actuates electroluminescent panel 28 so as to erase those portions
of the original document corresponding to the color highlighted
portions of the copy. For example, if the original document once
again has 30 lines, and the first 10 lines are to be color
highlighted, erase lamp 28 will be actuated so as to erase lines
one through ten. Thus, the second electrostatic latent image will
correspond to those portions of the original document being
reproduced in black, i.e. lines 10 through 30, inclusive. The
foregoing may be achieved by controlling the speed of drum 10 and
precisely locating panel 28 relative to the lead edge of the
electrostatic latent image formed on drum 10. By controlling the
angular velocity of drum 10 and preselecting the position of the
lead edge of the electrostatic latent image, electroluminescent
panel 28 may be actuated at the appropriate time to erase those
portions of the electrostatic latent image desired. While the
present invention has been described such that the black portions
are initially erased from the electrostatic latent image of the
original document and, thereafter, the color highlighted portions,
one skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention
is not necessarily so limited and the reverse may also be true.
Referring now to FIG. 4, the development system of the FIG. 1
electrophotographic printing machine and the color highlighting
procedure will be described with reference thereto. In the
formation of black portions of the copy, only developer unit 30 is
positioned in contact with the electrostatic latent image. Thus,
after the color highlighted portions of the electrostatic latent
image are erased from the electrostatic latent image by
electroluminescent panel 28, developer unit 30 deposits black toner
particles onto the electrostatic latent image. Developer unit 30
pivots from a non-operative position wherein developer roll 90 is
spaced from photoconductive surface 12 to an operative position
wherein the brush of developer mix is in contact with the
electrostatic latent image. In this manner, black toner particles
are deposited on the electrostatic latent image. Thereafter, the
next electrostatic latent image of the color highlighted portions
is developed with the appropriately colored toner particles. The
actuation of developer unit 32 having red particles therein or
developer unit 34 having cyano toner particles therein is
controlled by control panel 96. For example, if the first highlight
selected is red, developer unit 32 will pivot into position so that
developer roll 92 is positioned such that the developer mix thereof
contacts the second electrostatic latent image or the color
highlighting electrostatic latent image. Contrawise, if the blue
highlight is selected, developer unit 34 is pivoted such that
developer roll 94 with the developer mix thereon is positioned
adjacent to photoconductive surface 12 so as to enable the second
electrostatic latent image to be developed with cyan toner
particles. The selection of the appropriate color highlighting
developer unit, i.e. red or cyan, is actuated by electrical
circuitry 98. Circuitry 98 contains two channels and the associate
logic therefor. One channel actuates the red developer unit, i.e.
developer unit 32, and the other channel actuates the cyan
developer unit, i.e. developer unit 34, at the appropriate time.
Thus, if the first highlight selected is red, developer unit 32
will initially be actuated. Contrawise, if the first highlight is
blue, developer unit 34 will be actuated. Similarly, if two
highlights are actuated one being in red and the other being in
blue, initially developer unit 32 will be actuated to develop the
first color highlighting electrostatic latent image in red, and
thereafter developer unit 34 will be actuated so as to develop the
second color highlighting electrostatic latent image in cyan. The
reverse may also be true, if the circuitry is wired in that
manner.
In recapitulation, the apparatus of the present invention permits
an electrophotographic printing machine to color highlight selected
portions of a copy. In this process, the operator selects those
portions of the original document to be color highlighted. A first
electrostatic latent image is formed of the selected portions of
the original document. The selected electrostatic latent image is
developed with suitably colored toner particles and transferred to
a sheet of support material. A second electrostatic latent image is
recorded on the photoconductive surface 12 corresponding to the
non-selected portions of the original document. This electrostatic
latent image is developed with black toner particles. These toner
particles are then transferred to the support sheet in registration
with the previously transferred color toner particles. This forms a
toner powder image on the copy sheet in black with portions color
highlighted. Thereafter, the powder image is permanently affixed to
the sheet of support material by the application of suitable heat
thereto. The resultant copy then corresponds to the original
document with the exception that selected portions thereof are
color highlighted in a preselected color. Hence, in the
electrophotographic printing machine described heretofore a black
and white copy may be created having portions thereof color
highlighted in a plurality of selected colors.
Thus, it is apparent that it has been provided in accordance with
the present invention, an electrophotographic printing machine that
fully satisfies the objects, aims and advantages set forth above.
While this invention has been disclosed in conjunction with
specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives,
modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in
the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is
intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and
variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the
appended claims.
* * * * *