Sheet sticking caused by charge flow in a buried conducting layer

Electrostatic charge causes sheets to misfeed from the input stacks in inkjet and laser printers. Conductive layers within sheets that suppress discharges and reduce particulate contamination also aggravate sheet sticking. The surface potential of sheet media is a direct measure of the charge in the buried conducting layer. Our experiments find that the times characterizing the voltage transients range from 10 to 1000 s for conductive layers with sheet resistivities in the range from 10⁺⁹ to 10⁺¹¹ Ω/□. Our models predict that charge flowing in the conducting layer increases the electrostatic sticking force. Model predictions are in agreement with our experimental measurements.