Removable toner cartridge
US6246841A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 10, 2000 |
| Grant date | Jun 12, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 10, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03G15/0858
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The weight of toner remaining at any time in a developer housing of a removable toner cartridge installed in a laser printer is determined by ascertaining the weight of the developer housing with the toner when printing is interrupted. The weight of the developer housing with the toner is ascertained through determining the magnitude of a rear reaction force on the side of the developer housing having the input for rotating a developer roll in the developer housing and then subtracting the weight of the developer housing from the weight of the developer housing with the toner. Next, the weight of the remaining toner is correlated to the determined rear reaction force. Then, the amount of the remaining toner is displayed to a user of the laser printer as a percentage of the initial total toner, either numerically or by a bar graph, for example. The developer housing is slidably received in a cleaner housing of the removable toner cartridge and is releasably connected thereto by a pair of biasing springs, which must be at different angles to a line passing through the centers of the developer roll and a photoconductive drum, which is rotatably mounted in the cleaner housing.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.