The present invention relates generally to an electronic image-forming apparatus and more particularly, to a toner cartridge for being used in an electronic image-forming apparatus.
A conventional electronic image-forming apparatus, such as photocopier or printer, is equipped with an image-forming cartridge having a photosensitive drum, and a toner cartridge connected with the image-forming cartridge. The image-forming cartridge is provided with a toner inlet. The toner cartridge is adapted for supplying toners to the image-forming cartridge to enable operation of the image-forming cartridge. The conventional toner cartridge has a housing, a toner outlet provided at the housing and communicated with the toner inlet, a switch moveably disposed on the housing, a foamed sponge mounted to the switch, and a spring disposed between the housing and the switch. The switch is moveable relative to the housing between a closed position where the switch seals the toner outlet with the assistance of the foamed sponge, and an open position where the switch does not seal the toner outlet. The spring imparts a biasing force exerting on the switch toward the closed position. However, if the toner cartridge is inaccurately positioned to result in that an exceeding gap exists between the toner outlet and the toner inlet when the toner cartridge is assembled with the image-forming cartridge, a problem of leaking toners may easily occur.
In another aspect, the thickness of the foamed sponge and the spring are the potential factors that may cause toner leaking. If the foamed sponge is too thin, the toner outlet may not be positively sealed. If the foamed sponge is too thick, the switch may be hardly pushed to move to a correct position when the toner cartridge is installed with the image-forming cartridge. Further, the switch may be returned to an inaccurate position due to fatigue of elasticity of the spring, resulting in that the switch may not seal the toner outlet properly. These leaking problems cause not only the waste of toners but also toner contamination to the whole apparatus. Therefore, how to ensure that the toner cartridge can be positively and accurately positioned when it is assembled with the image-forming cartridge and to avoid toner leaking before installation and after dismantlement of the toner cartridge are issues that the manufacturers in this industry field need to solve.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above-noted circumstances. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge, which can be positively positioned in desired position after it is connected to an image-forming cartridge.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a toner cartridge, the toner outlet of which can be positively sealed to avoid toner leaking before installation and after dismantlement of the toner cartridge.
To attain the above-mentioned objectives, the present invention provides a toner cartridge for being connected with an image-forming cartridge of an electronic image-forming apparatus. The image-forming cartridge comprises a toner inlet and a step portion located by the toner inlet. The toner cartridge comprises a housing having an internal accommodation for storage of toners, a toner outlet communicated with the internal accommodation and an outside of the housing, and a position-limiting hook located by the toner outlet. When the toner cartridge is connected with the image-forming cartridge, the position-limiting hook is engaged with the step portion such that the toner outlet is communicated with the toner inlet. As a result, the toner cartridge can be positively positioned with the image-forming cartridge, and the toner outlet can be positively sealed to avoid the problem of toner leaking before installation and after dismantlement of the toner cartridge.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
Hereunder one embodiment will be detailedly described with accompanying drawings for illustrating technical features and structure of the present invention.
As shown in
Referring to
Referring to
The seal member 40 is disposed between the upper slider 30 and the housing 20, and has a though hole 42 corresponding in location to the toner outlet 23. In this embodiment, the seal member 40 is realized as a foamed sponge and fixed to the housing 20. The seal member 40 is compressed by the upper slider 30 to slightly deform, thereby providing good sealing effect.
When the toner cartridge 10 has riot been connected with the image-forming cartridge 1, the upper slider 30 of the toner cartridge 10 is located at the closed position P1, as shown in
When the toner cartridge 10 continuously moves in the installation direction D1, the upper slider 30 cannot move relative to the lower slider 7 because the second stop portion 32 is stopped by the first stop portion 9, but can move relative to the housing 20 from the closed position P1 to the open position P2. In other words, the housing 20 continuously moves relative to the upper slider 30 in the installation direction D1. When the upper slider 30 is located at the open position P2, the opening 31 is aimed at the toner outlet 23, such that the toner outlet 23 is communicated with the toner inlet 4 to enable the toners contained inside the housing 20 to enter into the image-foe sting cartridge 1. In the process that the upper slider 30 slidably moves relative to the housing 20, the guiding groove 34 is guided by the guiding portion 27 in such a way that the terminal end 35 of the resilient arm 33 moves downwardly from the initial position P3 to the engagement position P4 where the terminal end 35 of the resilient arm 33 is abutted against the abutment portion 6, as shown in
When the toner cartridge 10 runs out of toner and the user dismantles the empty toner cartridge 10 along the dismantlement direction D2 from the image-forming cartridge 1, because the terminal end 35 of the resilient arm 33 is stopped by the abutment portion 6, as shown in
Since the position-limiting hook 25 of the toner cartridge 10 is engaged with the step portion 5 of the image-forming cartridge 1 when the toner cartridge 10 is connected with the image-forming cartridge 1, the toner cartridge 10 can not only be accurately and positively positioned with the image-forming cartridge I but also be firmly connected with the image-forming cartridge 1 so as to minimize the gap between the toner outlet 23 and the toner inlet 4, thereby ensuring that the toner cartridge 10 can be installed in the image-forming cartridge 1 without the problem of toner leaking. In another aspect, when the toner cartridge 10 is dismantled, the toner cartridge 10 will be able to be taken out of the image-forming cartridge 1 after the upper slider 30 has positively sealed the toner outlet 23. As a result, the problem of toner leaking can be avoided before or after the toner cartridge 10 is installed with the image-firming cartridge 1 or after the toner cartridge 10 is dismantled from the image-forming cartridge 1, thereby achieving the objectives of the present invention.
It is to be mentioned that the structure of the image-forming cartridge 1 is not the primary feature of the present invention as long as the image-forming cartridge 1 has a toner inlet 4 that is able to be communicated with the toner outlet 23, and a step portion 5 engageable with the position-limiting hook 25. The other structural features of the image-forming cartridge I may be modified. For example, the lower slider 7 may be omitted, and the image-forming cartridge I may be provided with no abutment portion 6.
Based on the above-mentioned technical features, various modifications to the structure of the toner cartridge 10 may be made. For example, the upper slider 30 or the seal member 40 may be replaced by other structure that can seal the toner outlet 23. Further, the positions of the guiding portion 27 and the guiding groove 34 can be exchanged with each other. The resilient arm 33 and the guiding portion 27 may be modified with other structures as long as the resilient arm 33 can be guided by the guiding portion 27 to change its position.
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.