Patent Application
20080008493
Further features and benefits of the present invention will be apparent from a detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the following drawings, wherein similar elements are referred to with similar reference numbers, and wherein:
The present invention is more particularly described-in the following examples that are intended to be illustrative only since numerous modifications and variations therein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Various embodiments of the invention are now described in detail. Referring to the drawings, like numbers indicate like parts throughout the views. As used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” includes plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, as used in the description herein and throughout the claims that follow, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
The description will be made as to the embodiments of the present invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In accordance with the purposes of this invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, this invention, in one aspect, relates to a toner supplying container detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus.
Referring in general to
In operation, still referring to
Referring now to
The body member 10, in one embodiment, has a bottom portion 12 and a sidewall portion 22. The bottom portion 12 has an inner surface 16 and an outer surface 18 and defines an opening 14. The sidewall portion 22 has an inner surface 26 and an outer surface 28.
The lug member 30, in one embodiment, has a substantially cylindrical body portion 36 that has a first (tip) end portion 32, and a second end portion 34.
The base member 50, in one embodiment, has a round base portion 52 that has a first surface 54 and an opposite, second surface 56. The base member 50 also has a cylindrical body portion 58 protruding away from the second surface 56. An opening 60 is defined with the base portion 52 of the base member 50.
The body portion 36 of the lug member 30 is sized to be received into the opening 14 of the bottom portion 12 of the body member 10 and into the opening 60 of the base member 50 to engage the body member 10 with the base member 50.
The base portion 52 of the base member 50 is formed such that when the body portion 36 of the lug member 30 is received into the opening 14 of the bottom portion 12 of the body member 10 and into the opening 60 of the base member 50, which is in communication with the opening 14 of the bottom portion 12 of the body member 10, the first end portion 32 of the body portion 36 of the lug member 30 snaggingly fits through the opening 60 of the base member 50. The base member 50 is formed with resilient material such as plastics.
Referring now to
In one embodiment, the sidewall portion 22 of the body member 10 is formed with two portions: a cylindrical portion 22a that has a first edge and an opposite, second edge, and a conical portion 22b that has a first edge with a smaller diameter, and an opposite, second edge with a larger diameter. The first edge of the conical portion 22b of the body member 10 with a smaller diameter adjoins the bottom portion 12. The second edge of the conical portion 22b of the body member 10 with a larger diameter adjoins to the second edge of the cylindrical portion 22a of the body member 10. Furthermore, an engaging portion 24 is formed around the opening 14 of the body member 10 and extending outwardly from the sidewall portion 22 of the body member 10 and sized to engage with the discharge mouth of a toner or developer container when the lid 100 plugs the discharge mouth. In another embodiment, the body member 10 may further have a plurality of optional annular ribs 29 formed on the outer surface 28 of the cylindrical portion 22a, which may help and facilitate the engagement between the body member 10 and the discharging mouth of a toner or developer container in operation.
Referring now to
Referring now back to
In one embodiment, the base member 50 further has a conical tip portion 62 corresponding to the first end portion 32 of the lug member 30 such that when the first end portion 32 of the body portion 36 of the lug member 30 snaggingly fits through the opening 60 of the base member 50, the conical tip portion 62 of the base member 50 is received at the step portion 42 of the first end portion 32 of the lug member 30.
In one embodiment, the base member 50 further has a plurality of ridges formed equiangularly apart from each other on the second surface 56 of the base portion 52 and joining the body portion 58 of the base member 50, which provides further integration between the base portion 52 and the body portion 58 of the base member 50 and allows force to be distributed more equally.
Thus, as disclosed herein, a lid 100 has at least three advantages over a lid in the art such as the lid 425 shown in
First, the lug member 30 does not protrude from any surfaces of the body member 10, but forms a snaggingly-fit-engagement with the base member 50. Therefore, even if a user accidentally nips the lug member 30 away from the lid 100 without using a corresponding collect chuck, the body member 10 is not compromised at all. The user can place the lug member 30 back to the lid 100, which can still be used.
Second, a lug member 30 of a lid 100 of the present invention can be replaced easily if it is broken or is accidentally nipped away so that a lid 100 with a replacement lug member 30 can still be used. In contrast, a current lid in the art such as the lid 425 shown in
Third, the snaggingly-fit-engagement of a lug member 30 and a base member 50 of a lid 100 of the present invention allows any pulling force, whether from a collect chuck or a user, to be distributed over the base portion 52 of the base member 50 and on the same time, and a full integration of the body member 10, the lug member 30 and the base member 50 to be achieved by sandwiching the bottom portion 12 of the body member 10 between the engagement portion 38 of the lug member 30 and the base portion 52 of the base member 50.
To enhance the strength of the lid, ultrasonic welding, heat welding, or molding can be utilized to form a lid 100 that has a configuration as disclosed herein and an integral structure with sufficient mechanical strength to perform properly.
In operation, either of the lid 100 or the lid with features described in various embodiments herein can be utilized in cooperation with a toner bottle such as one is shown in
The invention has been described herein in considerable detail, in order to comply with the Patent Statutes and to provide those skilled in the art with information needed to apply the novel principles, and to construct and use such specialized components as are required. However, it is to be understood that the invention can be carried out by specifically different equipment and devices, and that various modification, both as to equipment details and operating procedures can be effected without departing from the scope of the invention itself. Further, it should be understood that, although the present invention has been described with reference to specific details of certain embodiments thereof, it is not intended that such details should be regarded as limitations upon the scope of the invention except as and to the extent that they are included in the accompanying claims.
