1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a toner cartridge and more specifically, to a container for a toner cartridge, which is easy to make and hard to deform.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional toner cartridge for an image forming apparatus, such as photocopier or printer, is horizontally installed in the image forming apparatus. The toner cartridge generally includes an elongated hollow container for accommodation of toner, and a toner-guiding member mounted on a front end of the container and provided with an outlet for output of the toner. In order to discharge the toner from the container to the image forming apparatus through the outlet, the container is provided at an inner circumference thereof with a plurality of spiral ribs. When the toner cartridge is rotated, the toner in the container will be forced by the spiral ribs to move from the inside of the container to the outside of the container through the outlet of the toner-guiding member.
Because the toner is forced to move by the ribs, the ribs need to be lined on the whole inner circumference of the container, such that a mold for the container can be difficulty made, resulting in high production costs. Further, since the ribs extend to a position close to the front end of the container, the front end of the container may easily deform due to the shrinkage of the plastics after the container is formed with plastic injection molding. In this situation, the toner-guiding member cannot be closely coupled to the container. Thus, it is a need to provide an improved container for the toner cartridge.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above noted circumstances. It is therefore one objective of the present invention to provide a container for a toner cartridge, which is easy to make.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a container for a toner cartridge, which is hard to deform after it is made by plastic injection molding.
To achieve these objectives of the present invention, the container comprises a hollow main body defining a central axis. The main body has a closed rear end, a front end having an opening, a fist section near the rear end, a second section near the front end, a connecting section between the first section and the second section, and a guiding rib protruding from an inner circumference of the main body. The first section is provided at the inner circumference with a first guiding surface defining with the central axis a distance gradually increasing toward the opening of the front end. The second section is provided at the inner circumference with a second guiding surface defining the central axis a distance gradually increasing toward the opening of the front end. The guiding rib extends from the first section to the second section via the connecting section and is unparallel to the central axis.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The disclosed exemplary embodiments 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:
As shown in
The elongated main body 22 extends along a central axis A thereof and defines along the axis A three sections, namely a first section 30 near the rear end 24, a second section 32 near the front end 26 and a connecting section 34 integrally connected between the first section 30 and the second section 32. The main body 22 has two guiding ribs 36 equiangularly protruding from an inner circumference thereof and suspending inside the main body 22.
As shown in
The connecting section 34 has a truncated conoid profile with its radius gradually decreasing toward the front end. That is, the crosssection area of the connecting section 34 gradually decreases from one end connected with the first section 30 to the other end connected with the second section 32. The two ribs 36 respectively extend from the first section 30 to the second section 32 via the connecting section 34. As shown in
When the toner cartridge 10 is horizontally installed in an image forming apparatus and rotated about the axis A, the toner (not shown) in the container 20 will naturally move by gravity from a rear end of the first section 30 toward a front end of the first section 30, which is lower in elevation than the rear end thereof, and then the toner will be forced by the guiding ribs 36, which are rotated in a direction denoted by the arrow in
The container 20 of the present invention has a simple shape, so that a mold for the container 20 is easy to make, resulting in cost reduction. Moreover, because the ribs 36 are located at about a middle of the container 20, the shape around the opening 28 of the container 20 is simple, so that the front end 26 of the container 20 is hard to deform when the plastic materials are shrunk after the container 20 is formed with plastic injection molding. Thus, the toner-guiding member 12 can be closely coupled to the undeformed container 20, thereby improving the defect of the prior art and achieving the objectives of the present invention.
In this embodiment, the outer circumference of the main body 22 is partially inwardly depressed so as to form the two embossed guiding ribs 36 suspending inside the main body 22. However, in actual fabrication, the guiding ribs 36 can be made directly protruding from the inner circumference of the main body 22. In addition, the number of the guiding ribs is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment and the included angle between each guiding rib 36 and the axis A is changeable subject to the actual need as long as the guiding rib 36 is not parallel to the axis A.
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.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5991584 | Meyer et al. | Nov 1999 | A |
6038422 | Loewel | Mar 2000 | A |
20010008593 | Tsuji et al. | Jul 2001 | A1 |
20040052553 | Isomura et al. | Mar 2004 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20080138119 A1 | Jun 2008 | US |