Electrostatic developing system

Claim 2

The liquid developing system of claim 1 including means for collecting excess liquid developer from the continuous band in a developer tank below the flexible belt, means for maintaining a predetermined amount of liquid developer above the flexible belt between the foraminous surface and the image-bearing surface.

Claim 3

The liquid developer system of claim 1 wherein the foraminous surface consists essentially of a electrically conductive structure having electrically interconnected land areas with discrete openings to provide liquid reservoirs in the interstitial areas between the land areas.

Claim 4

The liquid developer system of claim 4 wherein the superficial ratio of land area to open area is about 1:9 to 9:1.

Claim 5

The liquid developer system of claim 4 wherein the foraminous surface consists essentially of a woven metal-containing cloth fabric of about 40 to 400 mesh.

Claim 6

An electroprinting process comprising the steps of: a. providing a flexible belt of porous material having a uniform pattern of small openings; b. introducing a liquid developer composition comprising a high-resistivity carrier with toner particles dispersed therein onto the flexible belt; c. feeding copy sheet having an electrostatically charged surface along the flexible belt with the charged surface in direct contact with liquid developer carried on the flexible belt; d. rotating the flexible belt substantially codirectionally with the copy sheet surface at a speed at least as great as the copy surface; e. removing excess liquid developer between the charged surface and flexible belt to create a Thin film of liquid developer and maintaining a reservoir of liquid developer in the small openings of the flexible belt in liquid contact with the thin film; f. migrating particles through the thin film and electrophoretically depositing the particles on the charged surface; g. controlling an electrostatic field shape during particle deposition with an electrically conductive intensifier; and h. separating the developed copy sheet from the flexible belt and liquid developer.

Claim 7

In a liquid developing system wherein latent electrostatic images are developed by contacting a latent image-bearing surface with a liquid developer composition having developer particles suspended in a liquid carrier, the improvement which comprises: a continuous flexible belt liquid contact means having a substantially uniform foraminous surface with openings of about 35 to 450 microns average size forming reservoirs for carrying liquid developer, said flexible belt comprising a woven fabric of non-conductive fibers; means for advancing the image-bearing surface into direct contact with liquid developer carried on the foraminous surface; means for moving the flexible belt co-directionally with the advance of the image-bearing surface; means for distributing liquid developer on the flexible belt to provide developer particles suspended in the reservoirs adjacent the image-bearing surface; a conductive intensifier in electrical contact with developer closely adjacent to the image-bearing surface and substantially co-extensive with the effective area of contact between the image-bearing surface and developer liquid distributed in the reservoirs of the foraminous surface, said intensifier contacting the interior portion of the belt along a flat area opposite the image-bearing surface during development; and means for separating the developed image-bearing surface from the flexible belt and removing excess liquid.

Claim 8

The liquid developing system of claim 8 wherein liquid developer is applied directly into reservoirs on the moving belt immediately before the image-bearing surface contacts the liquid developer at the surface of the moving belt.