An oil supply device for supplying oil to a roll of an image reproduction machine, which includes an oil reservoir formed of an open-cell melamine foam; and a layer of oil permeation control material extending over the reservoir for controlling supply of oil from the reservoir to the roll. The oil permeation control material being formed of porous PTFE produced by fusing particles of grannular PTFE such as to form a porous integral network of interconnected particles.
A textile material whose fibers have been coated, at least in part, with fluorocarbon particles is usable in an electrophotographic printing machine to clean toner particles off a fuser roll, and to supply a toner release agent to the fuser roll. The textile material can include woven goods, as well as non-woven felts and the like. The resultant product has reduced friction and decreased fiber shedding.
An apparatus for evenly distributing a layer of release oil on the surface of a fuser roller so as to prevent paper from adhering to the fuser roller in an electrophotographic heated imaging apparatus such as a printer or copier, and method for using this apparatus, is provided which includes a tank roller having a reservoir capable of retaining and delivering a release oil, an oil distribution layer surrounding the tank roller which can evenly distribute a layer of release oil along the outer surface of the tank roller, and a liquid permeation control layer made of a material such as expanded porous polytetrafluoroethylene which surrounds the oil distribution layer and which further controls the delivery of a release oil onto the surface of the fuser roller. The present invention is advantageous in that an evenly distributed layer of release oil may be applied to the fuser roller without the problems of streaking and dumping associated with prior art methods, and the use of a tank roller allows for a substantially larger volume of oil to be used and is more simply and efficiently recycled and/or refilled when compared to prior art devices of similar dimensions. The oil metering supply device of the present invention is thus able to provide more oil in a smaller space and increase the overall life and cost-effectiveness of the part.
The invention is a continuation of earlier applications aimed at providing affordable methods and apparatus for inputting position, attitude(orientation) or other object characteristic data to computers for the purpose of controlling the display thereof. Preferred embodiments utilize electro-optical sensors such as TV cameras, to input data from objects and fingers, and/or other body parts of the user, to laptop, hand held and other computers used for Computer Aided learning, Gaming, 3D graphics, internet commerce and other applications.
