WO2019009901A1

WO2019009901A1 - Toner cartridge

Info

Publication number: WO2019009901A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/040870
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robin P. Yergenson; Dean Richtsmeier
Original assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Current assignee: Hewlett Packard Development Co LP
Priority date: 2017-07-06
Filing date: 2017-07-06
Publication date: 2019-01-10
Anticipated expiration: 2020-01-06

Abstract

In one example, a toner cartridge (10) includes: a housing (12) having a movable first part (12A) enclosing a toner supply reservoir and a stationary second part (12B) enclosing a waste toner reservoir (24); a photoconductor roller (16) supported in the second part of the housing; and a developer roller (20) supported in the first part of the housing near the photoconductor. The toner supply reservoir has a front chamber (30) over the developer roller and a rear chamber (32) over the waste toner reservoir with a floor (46) that slopes down toward the front chamber and the toner supply reservoir surrounds an upright imaging light path (26) that extends down through the housing to the photoconductor.

Description

TONER CARTRIDGE

BACKGROUND

[0001] The printing process in many laser printers involves forming a uniform surface charge on a photoconductor and then exposing the photoconductor to imaging light in select areas to define a latent electrostatic image on the photoconductor. The latent image is developed by presenting toner to the charged photoconductor. The toner adheres to the imaged areas of the photoconductor to form a developed image that is transferred to paper or another imaging substrate. The toner supply is sometimes contained in a replaceable cartridge that also houses the photoconductor and other image development components of the printer.

DRAWINGS

[0002] Figs. 1 and 2 are isometric exterior views showing one example of a toner cartridge viewed from the rear.

[0003] Fig. 3 is an isometric section view of the example cartridge of Figs. 1 and 2 taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 1 .

[0004] Fig. 4 is an isometric section view detail of one of part of the housing in the example cartridge of Figs. 1 and 2.

[0005] Fig. 5 is an isometric section view of the example cartridge of Figs. 1 and 2 taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 1 .

[0006] Fig. 6 is a top down exterior plan view of the example cartridge shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

[0007] Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate one example of a developer alienation/de- alienation sequence to increase toner agitation compared to routine alienation, in a toner cartridge such as the one shown in Figs. 1 -6. Fig. 7 is a section view showing a developer roller in a developing (engaged/de-alienated) position. Fig. 8 is a section view showing developer roller in an alienated

(disengaged/alienated) position.

[0008] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a printer implementing one example an alienation system to agitate toner in a toner cartridge. [0009] The same part numbers designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures. The figures are not necessarily to scale.

DESCRIPTION

[0010] A new toner cartridge has been developed to increase the toner supply capacity in some laser printers that have a vertical imaging light path, without also increasing the size of the printer. It has been discovered that the supply volume of the toner cartridge can be expanded into otherwise unoccupied space in the printer surrounding the imaging light path over the waste toner reservoir. The periodic developer alienation sequence can be used to agitate toner in the expanded volume, thus allowing the toner to slide down into the original supply volume over the developer roller. Also, it may be possible to use other sources of agitation to move toner from the expanded volume into the original supply volume. While the amount of expanded volume will vary depending on the particular printer architecture, volumetric modeling suggests that increases of more than 50% are possible in some printer architectures compared to current toner supply volumes.

[0011] In one example, the new toner cartridge includes a housing, a photoconductor supported in the housing, and a developer roller supported in the housing near the photoconductor. The housing encloses a toner supply reservoir and surrounds a vertical or near vertical imaging light path that extends down through the housing to the photoconductor. The supply reservoir extends from side to side in a direction parallel to the long axis of

photoconductor and from front to rear in a direction perpendicular to the long axis of the photoconductor. The developer roller is supported in the housing along the lower part of a front chamber of the supply reservoir. The expanded volume resides in a rear chamber that intersects the upper part of the front chamber and extends rearward along and behind the light path. The floor of the rear chamber slopes down along each side of the light path toward the front chamber. The floor also slopes down from side to side from a peak at the middle part of the rear chamber behind the light path down toward each side. Thus, toner behind the light path can move to the sides and then down to the front chamber. [0012] The examples shown and described illustrate but do not limit the scope of the patent, which is defined in the Claims following this Description.

[0013] As used in this document, a "printer" means any printing device including but not limited to "printers", "copiers", MFPs (multi-function printers), and AiOs (all-in-one printers).

[0014] Figs. 1 -6 illustrate one example of a toner cartridge 10 with a housing 12 enclosing an inverted-L shaped toner supply reservoir 14. Figs. 1 and 2 are isometric views showing the exterior of cartridge 10 viewed from the rear. Figs. 3 and 5 are isometric sections taken along the lines 3-3 and 5-5 in Fig. 1 . Fig. 4 is an isometric section detail showing part of housing 12. Fig. 6 is a top down exterior plan view of cartridge 10.

[0015] Referring to Figs. 1 -6, cartridge 10 includes a photoconductor roller 16 on which the latent image is formed and the toner image is developed, a charging roller 18 to form a uniform surface charge on photoconductor 16, a developer roller 20 to present toner 21 to photoconductor 16, and a supply roller 22 to supply toner to developer roller 20. Unused or excess toner 23 removed from photoconductor roller 16 is collected in a "waste" reservoir 24 behind photoconductor roller 16. Toners 21 and 23 are shown in Fig. 3 and omitted from the other figures.

[0016] Cartridge 10 is configured for use in a printer with an "upright", vertical or near vertical, imaging light path 26 to photoconductor roller 16. "Upright" as used in this document means within 30° of vertical. Photoconductor roller 16 and developer roller 20 are supported in housing 12 along a lower part 28 of supply reservoir 14. Toner supply reservoir 14 includes a front, vertically oriented chamber 30 and a rear, horizontally oriented chamber 32 intersecting front chamber 30. Directional terms used this document are taken with reference to the axis 34 of developer roller 20. Thus, supply reservoir 14 extends from side to side in a direction parallel to axis 34 and from front to rear in a direction perpendicular to axis 34.

[0017] An upper part 36 of toner supply reservoir 14 completely surrounds light path 26. Cartridge housing 12 forms an opening 38 surrounding light path 26 through which imaging light may pass unobstructed to photoconductor 16. Rear chamber 32 includes side regions 40, 42 on each side of opening 38 and light path 26. Rear chamber 32 also includes a rear region 44 behind opening 38 and light path 26 between side regions 40, 42. Housing 12 forms a floor 46 under rear chamber 32. Floor 46 slopes down from rear to front along each side 40, 42 of chamber 32. Floor 46 also slopes down along rear region 44 from a raised part 48 down to sides 40, 42. In this example, raised part 48 is configured as a peak at the center of rear region 44. Other suitable raised configurations are possible. For example, floor 46 could be domed along rear region 44 to help move toner toward sides 40, 42.

[0018] Although the slope of floor 46 may vary depending on the particular printer application for a cartridge 10, it is expected that a slope angle Θ of 5° to 15° along each side 40, 42 and a slope angle 0 of 5° to 15° along rear region 44 will be sufficient to allow toner to move from rear chamber 32 to front chamber 30 under the influence of gravity alone, or with the aid of periodic agitation, for example from the "alienation" and "de-alienation" of developer roller 20. Slope angles 0 and Θ are called out in Fig. 4 and are measured with respect to a horizontal plane. Also, it may be possible to use other sources of agitation to help move toner down floor 46. For example, vibration of housing 12 induced during printing may be sufficient to allow toner to move down floor 46 for slope angles 0 and Θ greater than 15°. For another example, manually agitating toner cartridge 10 periodically may be sufficient to allow toner to move down floor 46 with slope angles 0 and Θ as low as 5°.

[0019] Developer "alienation" refers to the periodic disengaging of developer roller 20 from photoconductor 16 to reduce wear on the rollers. In this document, the developer alienation sequence is characterized as having an alienation action in which the developer roller is disengaged from the

photoconductor, and a de-alienation action in which the developer roller is reengaged with the photoconductor.

[0020] In this example, housing 12 also includes a handle 50 located immediately behind light path 26.

[0021] Figs. 7-9 illustrate one example of a developer alienation system 52 (Fig. 9) adapted to increase toner agitation compared to routine alienation. Fig. 7 is a section view showing developer roller 22 in a de-alienated, develop position to present toner to photoconductor 16 during printing. Fig. 8 is a section view showing developer roller 22 in an alienated position, away from photoconductor 16 when the printer is idle. Referring to Figs. 7 and 8, housing 12 includes a rotatable part 12A that supports developer roller 22 and a stationary part 12B that supports photoconductor roller 16. Cartridge 10 usually will include a leveling blade 51 to level toner presented to developer roller 22 by supply roller 24 and a cleaning blade 53 to clean excess toner from

photoconductor roller 16. Blades 51 and 53 are omitted from the section views of Figs. 3 and 5 to not obscure other features of cartridge 10.

[0022] Developer roller 22 rotates with housing part 12A on an axis 54, as best seen by comparing the position of roller 22 and housing part 12A in Figs. 7 and 8. Housing part 12A is operatively connected to housing part 12B along axis 54 on pivot pins 55 or another suitable connection that allows part 12A to pivot with respect to part 12B. Rotating housing part 12A faster from an alienated position in Fig. 8 to a develop position in Fig. 7 and with an abrupt stop at the develop position, helps move toner down the sloped floor 46 in rear chamber 32. Faster rotation and more abrupt stopping urges toner more forcefully down the slopes toward front chamber 30. Conversely, rotating housing part 12A slower from a develop position in Fig. 7 to an alienated position in Fig. 8 and with a gentle stop, helps keep toner from moving rearward. A damper 56 between housing parts 12A and 12B may be used to cushion housing 12A as it reaches the alienated position in Fig. 8.

[0023] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a printer 58 implementing an alienation system 52 to periodically engage and disengage the developer roller with the photoconductor and to agitate toner in the rear chamber of the toner supply reservoir. Referring to Fig. 9, printer 10 includes multiple toner cartridges 10 positioned over a paper or other print substrate 60 transported past cartridges 10 with a substrate transport mechanism 62. Cartridges 10 and transport mechanism operate at the direction of a printer controller 64.

Controller 64 in Fig. 9 represents the programming, processing and memory resources, and the electronic circuitry and components needed to control the operative elements of a printer 58. In particular, in this example, controller 64 includes a processor 65 and a processor readable medium 66 with agitation instructions 68 to periodically rotate housing part 12A in each toner cartridge 10 for toner agitation, as describe above with reference to Figs. 7 and 8.

[0024] Referring to Figs. 7-9, developer alienation system 52 includes a rotary actuator 70 to rotate cartridge housing 12A and thus developer roller 20 toward and away from photoconductor roller 16. Actuator 70 may include, for example, a reversible, variable speed motor and a drive train connected between the motor and housing part 12A. Agitation instructions 68 modify or supplement the usual developer alienation routine to more vigorously agitate toner in rear chamber 32, for example by rotating housing 12A faster and stopping it abruptly from the alienated position of Fig. 8 to the develop position of Fig. 7, compared to routine de-alienation, and by rotating housing 12A slower and stopping it gently from the develop position to the alienated position, compared to routine alienation. The abruptness of the stop may be controlled, for example, with the motor or with a physical stop - a hard stop at

photoconductor roller 16 and a soft stop at damper 56.

[0025] The examples shown in the figures and described above illustrate but do not limit the patent, which is defined in the following Claims.

[0026] "A", "an" and "the" used in the claims means one or more.

Claims

1. A toner cartridge, comprising:

a housing;

a photoconductor supported in the housing;

a developer roller supported in the housing near the photoconductor; the housing enclosing a toner supply reservoir and surrounding an upright imaging light path that extends down through the housing to the photoconductor;

the toner supply reservoir extending from side to side in a direction parallel to an axis of the developer roller and from front to rear in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the developer roller;

the toner supply reservoir having a front chamber and a rear chamber; the developer roller supported in the housing along a lower part of the front chamber;

the rear chamber intersecting the front chamber along an upper part of the front chamber and extending rearward along each side and behind the light path; and

the housing forming a floor of the rear chamber, the floor sloping down from rear to front along each side of the light path.

2. The toner cartridge of Claim 1 , where the floor also slopes down from side to side from a raised middle part behind the light path toward each side of the light path.

3. The toner cartridge of Claim 2, where the housing encloses a waste toner reservoir behind the photoconductor under the floor of the rear chamber.

4. The toner cartridge of Claim 1 , where the floor slopes from rear to front at an angle of 5° to 10° along each side of the light path.

5. The toner cartridge of Claim 2, where:

the floor slopes from rear to front at an angle of 5° to 15° along each side of the light path; and

the floor slopes down from the raised middle part behind the light path toward each side of the light path at an angle of 5° to 15°.

6. The toner cartridge of Claim 1 , comprising toner in the toner supply reservoir.

7. A toner cartridge, comprising:

a housing having a movable first part enclosing a toner supply reservoir and a stationary second part enclosing a waste toner reservoir;

a photoconductor roller supported in the second part of the housing; a developer roller supported in the first part of the housing near the photoconductor;

the toner supply reservoir having a front chamber over the developer roller and a rear chamber over the waste toner reservoir with a floor that slopes down toward the front chamber, the toner supply reservoir surrounding an upright imaging light path that extends down through the housing to the photoconductor.

8. The toner cartridge of Claim 7, where:

the rear chamber intersects an upper part of the front chamber and extends rearward along each side of the light path and behind the light path; and

the first part of the housing forms a floor of the rear chamber, the floor sloping down from rear to front along each side of the light path and from side to side from a raised middle part behind the light path toward each side of the light path.

9. The toner cartridge of Claim 8, where the floor slopes from rear to front at an angle of at least 5° along each side of the light path and from the raised middle behind the light path toward each side of the light path.

10. A printer, comprising:

a toner cartridge including a housing having a movable first part enclosing a toner supply reservoir and a stationary second part enclosing a waste toner reservoir;

the toner supply reservoir having a front chamber over the developer roller and a rear chamber with a floor that slopes down toward the front chamber, the toner supply reservoir surrounding an upright imaging light path that extends down through the housing to the photoconductor; and

an alienation system to periodically rotate the first part of the housing to disengage the developer roller from photoconductor roller and to re-engage the developer roller to photoconductor roller and to agitate toner in the rear chamber of the toner supply reservoir.

1 1. The printer of Claim 10, where the alienation system includes: a rotary actuator operatively connected to the first part of the housing to rotate the first part of the housing with respect to the second part of the housing, to move the developer roller way from the photoconductor roller and to move the developer roller toward the photoconductor roller; and

a controller operatively connected to the rotary actuator, the controller including a processor readable medium with agitation instructions that when executed cause the rotatory actuator to rotate the first part of the housing to move the developer roller toward the photoconductor faster than during a routine de-alienation.

12. The printer of Claim 1 1 , where the agitation instructions include instructions that when executed cause the rotary actuator to rotate the first part of the housing to move the developer roller toward the photoconductor faster and stop it more abruptly than during a routine de-alienation.

13. The printer of Claim 10, comprising toner in the toner supply reservoir.