The present invention generally relates to toner containers, seals, and the like, and more particularly to techniques for storing and shipping a toner container which holds toner in a printer toner cartridge or the like.
In the imaging industry, there is a growing market for the remanufacture and refurbishing of various types of replaceable imaging cartridges such as toner cartridges, drum cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and the like. These imaging cartridges are used in imaging devices such as laser printers, xerographic copiers, inkjet printers, and facsimile machines, for example. Imaging cartridges, once spent, are unusable for their originally intended purpose. Without a refurbishing process these cartridges would simply be discarded, even though the cartridge itself may still have potential life. As a result, techniques have been developed specifically to address this issue. These processes may entail, for example, the disassembly of the various structures of the cartridge, replacing toner or ink, cleaning, adjusting or replacing any worn components and reassembling the imaging cartridge.
Imaging cartridges include one or more compartments holding the marking material which is deposited on a surface, such as paper. For a laser toner cartridge, this compartment may be referred to as the toner hopper. Some printers include a sealed bag filled with toner disposed in the hopper. The seal is attached to the bag is removed prior to installation or by the printer after installation. When remanufacturing such an imaging cartridge it is desirable to replace the toner bag.
This replacement toner bag must be shipped to a customer for installation in the toner cartridge. The toner bag may include a breathable backing material, such as a polyester micro-fiber blend, which allows toner to bleed through after some handling. Also, the seal may be applied with low force by design and could be easily ruptured. Due to the mechanical aspects of the toner bag, shipping the toner bag may create problems. Therefore, a viable shipping method must be developed in order to ship a toner bag successfully without damage.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method of packaging a flexible toner bag holding toner includes placing the toner bag in a reduced pressure bag; removing at least a portion of the air inside the reduced pressure bag; and sealing an opening of the reduced pressure bag to form a reduced pressure bag assembly.
A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
The embodiments set forth below represent the necessary information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure and the accompanying claims.
The following detailed description of preferred embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. In the discussion that follows, specific systems and techniques for repairing, manufacturing, or remanufacturing an imaging cartridge, such as a toner cartridge, are described. Other embodiments having different structures and operations for the repair, remanufacture, and operation of other types of replaceable imaging components and for various types of imaging devices, such as laser printers, inkjet printers, copiers, facsimile machines and the like, do not depart from the scope of the present invention.
In one aspect of the present invention, a new toner bag assembly 100 is packed in a reduced pressure bag assembly 200, as shown in
The reduced pressure bag 202 may comprise any suitable material which can be sealed and maintain the reduced pressure within the reduced pressure bag 202. For example, the reduced pressure bag 202 may comprise a vacuum packaging bag used in the food industry, such as Vacmaster's (product number 947152) roll of vacuum packaging bag material made from polyethene and nylon, having a thickness of 3 mils. A Vollrath vacuum sealer model no. 40858 can be used to remove air from the bag 202 and heat seal the opening. Preferably, the sealed reduced pressure bag 202 results in an internal pressure of 25-0 inches Hg, and even more preferably 25-18 inches Hg, but any suitable reduced pressure can be used to seal the toner within the cartridge
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement which is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that the invention has other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific embodiments described herein.
The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/317,889, filed Apr. 4, 2016, entitled “Method for Storing and Shipping Toner Bags”, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62317869 | Apr 2016 | US |