Patent Grant
8175493
The present invention generally relates to a laser toner cartridge and in particular, a laser toner cartridge having magnetically coupled toner stirring and shifting members.
The present invention provides a solution to one of the major problems in the design of laser toner cartridges. Fabricating toner cartridges that do not leak toners between areas that should be isolated are very difficult tasks for engineers. Special seals designed to prohibit the migration of toner within and out of the cartridge are costly to fabricate and difficult to assemble. These costly seals are designed to work with specially contoured plastics to insure leak free joints and couplings. The present invention solves this problem by providing a magnetically coupled drive apparatus that needs no costly seals or specially designed plastic components but, does prohibit the migration of toner across the necessary areas of isolation.
Briefly, the present invention provides a toner cartridge that has a magnetic coupling for use in a xerographic device. The cartridge includes a first toner holding member that houses toner therein, a second toner holding member that is adjacent to the first member which also houses toner therein, a dividing wall that separates the first toner holding member from the second toner holding member, a toner shifting component that shifts the toner housed in the first toner holding member, a toner stirring component that stirs the toner housed in the second toner holding member. The toner shifting component and toner stirring component are magnetically coupled through the dividing wall so that when the toner stirring component rotates the toner shifting component also rotates. The magnetic coupling between the toner shifting component and toner stirring component engages without an opening through the dividing wall.
In another aspect, the toner shifting component has a first magnet that is disposed thereon and the toner stirring component has a second magnet that is disposed thereon. The first and second magnets are oriented and positioned to attract one another.
In another aspect, one of the toner shifting component or toner stirring component has a magnet disposed thereon and the other has a ferrous material disposed thereon. The magnet and ferrous material are oriented and positioned to attract one another.
In another aspect, the toner shifting component provides a first plurality of magnets disposed within and the toner stirring component provides a second plurality of magnets disposed within. The first and second plurality of magnets are oriented and positioned to attract one another.
In another aspect, the toner shifting component has an annular recess and the toner stirring component has an annular recess. The dividing wall has a first protrusion on a first side that corresponds to the annular recess on the toner shifting component and a second protrusion on a second side that corresponds to the annular recess on the toner stirring component. Here, the annular recesses of the toner shifting component and toner stirring component are free to rotate about the first and second dividing wall protrusions.
In another aspect, the toner shifting component has an annular post and the toner stirring component has an annular post. The dividing wall has a first annular hub on a first side that corresponds to the annular post on the toner shifting component and a second annular hub on a second side that corresponds to the annular post on the toner stirring component. Here, the toner shifting component and toner stirring component are free to rotate about the first and second annular hubs.
In another aspect, the cartridge includes a first toner holding member that houses toner therein, a second toner holding member that is adjacent to the first member which also houses toner therein, a dividing wall that separates the first toner holding member from the second toner holding member, a toner shifting component that shifts the toner housed in the first toner holding member, a toner stirring component that stirs the toner housed in the second toner holding member. The toner shifting component and toner stirring component are magnetically coupled through the dividing wall so that when the toner shifting component rotates the toner stirring component also rotates. The magnetic coupling between the toner shifting component and toner stirring component engages without an opening through the dividing wall.
The invention is further described in the detailed description that follows, by reference to the noted drawings by way of non-limiting illustrative embodiments of the invention, in which like reference numerals represent similar parts throughout the drawings. As should be understood, however, the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:
In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular toner cartridge housings, shifters, stirrers, dividing walls, magnetic couplings, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. Also, certain terminology is used in the following description for convenience only and is not limiting. The words “right,” “left,” “lower” and “upper” designate directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the designated parts thereof. The terminology includes the words above specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.
Basic Cartridge Design
There is shown in
The first toner holding member 10 is generally configured to provide an area for collecting waste toner. Conversely, the second toner holding member 50 is generally configured to provide a storage area for fresh toner. In the present embodiment, toner is generally fed out of the second toner holding member 50 and is processed through the printer or xerographic device (not shown). The untransferred or waste toner is then generally fed back into the waste toner holding member 10 through a drum unit (not shown) in the xerographic device for storage.
Now referring to
Cartridge assembly 100 further provides a toner stirring component 40 that stirs the toner housed in the second toner holding member 50. The toner stirring component 40 shown in
Cartridge assembly 100 further includes a dividing wall 30 that separates the first toner holding member 10 from the second toner holding member 50. The toner shifting component 20 and the toner stirring 40 component are magnetically coupled 60 together through the dividing wall 30 so that when the toner stirring component 40 is driven to rotate the toner shifting component 20 also rotates. The magnetic coupling 60 between the toner shifting component 20 and toner stirring component 40 engages without any opening through the dividing wall 30. This is very important and is at the heart of the instant invention because, preventing toner leakage in toner cartridges is very difficult to accomplish and every joint that requires a seal is a potential leak site. Consequently, since there is no opening in the dividing wall 30 to link the toner shifting 20 and toner stirring 40 components, then there can be no leakage.
Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) plastic is a preferred material to be used in the injection forming process for the first and second toner holding members 10 and 50 and toner shifting and stirring components 20 and 40. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that any type of injection moldable plastic could be used such as Delran, Teflon®, Nylon®, Polystyrene, Rayon, Polyethylene, Acrylic or blends thereof. The dividing wall 30 is also typically an injection molded component that is made from one of the above disclosed materials.
In an alternate embodiment, the first and second toner holding members 10 and 50 are reversed in orientation with respect to one another. In this embodiment, the first toner holding member acts as the fresh toner holding area and the second toner holding member acts as the waste toner area.
Referring now to
Neodymium magnets (chemical formula: Nd2Fe14B) or rare earth magnets are a preferred choice for this application because they exhibit extreme strength for their small size and are relatively inexpensive. Rare earth magnets are offered for sale by numerous companies. One exemplary company that sells Neodymium magnets is Amazing Magnets®, located at 3943 Irvine Blvd #92, Irvine, Calif. 92602 and may be contacted over the Internet at sales@amazingmagnets.com. Another example is Master Magnets, Inc. located at 747 South Gilbert Street, Castle Rock, Colo. and may be contacted over the Internet at weblead@magnetsource.com
In another embodiment, the magnet could be a ferrite type magnet. Ferrite magnets are offered for sale by Indigo® Instruments, 169 Lexington Court, Unit I, Waterloo, ON and may be contacted over the Internet at info@indigo.com.
In another embodiment, the magnet could be a steel bar type magnet. Steel bar type magnets are offered for sale by Ward's Natural Science Establishment, LLC 5100 West Henrietta Road, P.O. Box 92912, Rochester, N.Y. and may be contacted over the Internet at http://wardsci.com.
In another embodiment, one of the magnets or could be replaced by a ferrous material such as a piece of iron or steel. In this embodiment, the strength of the coupling would be reduced because only one side of the coupling is magnetic. However, a stronger magnet could be selected to compensate for the single magnet configuration and the combination would still produce a functional magnetic coupling.
The thickness and type of the material used in the dividing wall 30 impacts the magnetic strength of the coupling as well. The thickness of the material used for the dividing wall 30 should be as thin as possible. The strength of the magnetic coupling varies exponentially with the distance between the magnets. Consequently, the closer the magnets 26 and 46 are located with respect to one another the stronger the magnetic coupling will be. As the distance between the magnets increases, the strength of the coupling falls off dramatically. As such, it is important to configure the dividing wall 30 to be as thin as possible so that the magnets are disposed as close as possible with respect to each other. Also, the type of material used to fabricate the dividing wall 30 is critical to the performance of the magnetic coupling. As such, the dividing wall 30 should preferably be made from plastic or some other type of non-magnetic material that will not affect the coupling.
Now referring to
Now referring to
In an alternate embodiment of the magnetic coupling (not shown), the toner shifting component and toner stirring component may be configured through the dividing wall 30 such that when the toner shifting component 40 is driven to rotate the toner stirring component 20 also rotates. Hence, this embodiment's drive configuration is opposite to the embodiment of disclosed in
In a further embodiment, either one of the toner shifting or toner stirring components may be driven by an external gear.
There is shown in
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7272346 | Ito | Sep 2007 | B2 |
| 20030196294 | Conrad | Oct 2003 | A1 |
| 20060067735 | Sanada et al. | Mar 2006 | A1 |
| 20060210412 | Lawyer et al. | Sep 2006 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090238604 A1 | Sep 2009 | US |
