Appeal No. 96-1380
Application 08/219,189
charged negative and has a positive electrical bias applied
thereto in order to attract the negatively charged toner
particles (col. 4, lines 27-37). During the recirculation
mode, when the relay is in the second state, erase lamp 23 is
turned off and the photoconductor on drum 7 is charged
positively by corona wire 22 (col. 4, lines 37-42). A
negative bias is then applied to cleaner unit 3, causing the
negatively charged toner particles to be deposited on the
photoconductor on drum 7, which carried them to developer unit
1, which is biased sufficiently negative to attract them
(col. 4, lines 43-58). Although Davidge's disclosed apparatus
includes a transfer station 11 having two (unnumbered)
rollers, Davidge does not suggest collecting residual toner at
that station, let alone recirculating residual toner collected
at that station.
The examiner, characterizing Davidge as teaching "the
basic concept of transferring the removed toner particles from
one location to another at the appropriate time in the copy
cycle" (Answer at 3-4), argues that Davidge would have been
understood as suggesting a way to avoid having to manually
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