1. A toner removal apparatus for cleaning particulate material from a moving surface in an electrographic printer, the apparatus adapted to contact the surface to remove particles from the surface comprising:
a. two or more releasable wiper blades comprising at least one profiled metal blade wherein a first blade is closest to a first cleaning contact point and a second blade is farther from a first cleaning contact;
b. a holder comprising one or more placement devices to cooperate with the profiled metal blade to hold said blade in place proximate a surface at a working angle of 40-75 degrees for cleaning particulate material from a moving a surface; and
c. a cover assembly to facilitate the removal of debris material from the sump without removing the wiper blades.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the profiled metal blade comprises a stepped thickness profile.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the stepped profile thickness ranges between 0.002\u2033 to 0.003\u2033 and the stepped down thickness extends 0.180\u2033 to 0.325\u2033 horn the contact edge.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the stepped profile thickness comprising an etched profile is on both sides of the profiled metal blade.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein the stepped profile comprises a width narrower than the blade free extension for varying the stiffnesslength ratio for the blade.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the profiled metal blade cleans a movable web surface having a Rz, roughness between 1 to 4 microns as well as a coated Gamma-Aluminum web having abrasive particles size of 0.5 microns or less.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein one or more of the profiled metal blades comprise one or more rounded corners with a radius of 1-5 mm.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprises two or more blade holders so that the holders enable a free extension of 0.200\u2033-0.350\u2033 and an engagement in the range of 0.010\u2033 to 0.035\u2033.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 such that the profiled blade has a stepped thickness profile held at a thickest portion of the blade and a thinner thickness profile extending beyond the free extension to reduce the blade stiffness.
10. The apparatus of claim 8 such that the profiled blade has a stepped thickness profile held at a thickest portion of the blade and a thinner thickness profile shorter than the free extension to increase the blade stiffness.
11. The apparatus of claim 1, the blades comprise one or more polyurethane blades having a stiffnessunit length from 2-5 psi and one or more metallic blades having a stiffnessunit length from 2-16 psi, having an uniform thickness profile between 0.002-0.0035\u2033.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, the polyurethane wiper blade comprising a hardness of between 60 and 85 Shore A, an initial modulus of between 500 and 1500 psi, a Bayshore resiliency above 30%, and a compression set lower than 25%.
13. The apparatus of claim 11, the two cleaner blades comprising a first metallic blade closest to a first cleaning contact having a higher stiffness than a second metallic blade.
14. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising blade holders for the blades of different thickness so that the placement enables easy installation for an operator having a metallic blade which seats in a first position farther from the first cleaning contact and has the required properties to maintain good cleaning performance.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the blades further comprise from the cleaning point comprises a first stiffer blade having a stiffnessunit length, KL of 2-32 psi.
16. A toner removal apparatus for cleaning particulate material from a moving surface in an electrographic printer, the apparatus adapted to contact the surface to remove particles from the surface comprising:
a. two or more releasable wiper blades comprising at least one profiled metal blade;
b. a holder comprising one or more placement devices to cooperate with the profiled metal blade to hold said blade in place proximate a surface for cleaning particulate material from a moving a surface; and
c. a cover assembly to facilitate the removal of debris material from the sump without removing the wiper blades wherein the profiled metal blade comprises a stepped thickness profile.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the profiled metal blade comprises a stepped thickness profile.
18. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the stepped profile thickness, comprising an etched profile, ranges between 0.002\u2033 to 0.003\u2033 on a contact edge, the free extension for the etched profile is 0.250\u2033 and the stepped down thickness extends 0.180\u2033 to 0.325\u2033 from the contact edge.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein the stepped profile thickness is on either the contact edged or the other edge or both.
20. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the profiled metal blade cleans a movable web surface having a Rz, roughness between 1 to 4 microns as well as a coated Gamma-Aluminum web having abrasive particles size of 0.5 microns or less.
21. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprises two or more blade holders so that the holders enable a free extension of 0.200\u2033-0.350\u2033 and an engagement in the range of 0.010\u2033 to 0.035\u2033.
22. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein one or more of the profiled metal blades comprise one or more rounded corners with a radius of 1-5 mm.
23. The apparatus of claim 16 wherein the blades further comprise from the cleaning point comprises a first stiffer blade having a stiffnessunit length, KL of 2-32 psi.
24. The method of fabricating a stepped thickness profile blade comprising:
a. fabricating a first metallic blade comprising shearing, grinding and polishing to generate square edges before electropolishing to round the edges to create a radius of less than 10 u, preferably less than 5 u;
b. fabricating a second metallic blade comprising shearing, grinding and polishing to generate square edges before electropolishing to round the edges to create a radius of less than 10 u, preferably less than 5 u; and
c. calculating the KL of each blade to assure that the first and second metallic blacks comprises a KL ratio that reduces the loading effect and wear on a coated web surface comprising a higher roughness measurement term in terms of Rz, where the roughness measurement term estimates the height from the peak to valley of the surface of the coated web or a higher abrasive nature of a coating or for removal of paper contaminants that are hard to remove from these surfaces.
25. The method of claim 24 further comprising calculating the engagement depth of each blade relative to the desired stiffness and wear characteristic desired.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A gaming machine comprising:
a display that displays plural symbols with a matrix shape of N rows and M columns, the N being a natural number and more than 2, the M being a natural number and more than 2, the plural symbols including predetermined symbols;
a memory that stores a reel having the plural symbols;
a processor that controls the display and a gaming session, the gaming session including a first game and a second game;
wherein at least N of the predetermined symbols are consecutively displayed on the each of the reels, and
wherein the processor
(a) change the gaming session from the first game to the second game if the predetermined symbols are displayed on the display with a predetermined number and above,
(b) variably displays the reels on the display in the second game,
(c) determines the plural symbols to be displayed on the display in the second game,
(d) determines whether N of the predetermined symbols are displayed on each of the columns, and
(e) holds the column on which N of the predetermined symbols are displayed in a next second game.
2. The gaming machine according to claim 1,
wherein N is 4 and M is 5.
3. A gaming machine comprising:
a display that displays plural symbols with a matrix shape of N rows and M columns, the N being a natural number and more than 2, the M being a natural number and more than 2, the plural symbols including predetermined symbols;
a memory that stores a reel having the plural symbols and M of flags;
a processor that controls the display and a gaming session, the gaming session including a first game and a second game;
wherein at least N of the predetermined symbols are consecutively displayed on the each of the reels, and
wherein each of M of the flags corresponds to each of M of the columns respectively,
wherein the processor
(a) change the gaming session from the first game to the second game if the predetermined symbols are displayed on the display with a predetermined number and above,
(b) sets each of M of the flags to a first state,
(c) variably displays the reels on the display in the second game,
(d) determines the plural symbols to be displayed on the display in the second game,
(e) determines whether N of the predetermined symbols are displayed on each of the columns,
(f) sets the flag corresponding to the column on which N of the predetermined symbols are displayed to a second state, and
(h) holds the column on which N of the predetermined symbols are displayed in a next second game
4. The gaming machine according to claim 3,
wherein N is 4 and M is 5.
5. A method comprising:
(a) changing a gaming session from a first game to a second game if the predetermined symbols are displayed on the display with a predetermined number and above,
(b) variably displaying reels on a display in the second game, each of the reels having plural symbols, the display displaying plural symbols with a matrix shape of N rows and M columns, the N being a natural number and more than 2, the M being a natural number and more than 2, the plural symbols including predetermined symbols,
(c) determining the plural symbols to be displayed on the display in the second game,
(d) determining whether N of the predetermined symbols are displayed on each of columns of displayed symbols, and
(e) holding the column on which N of the predetermined symbols are displayed in a next second game.
6. The method according to claim 5,
wherein N is 4 and M is 5.