Toner refill cartridge with automatic refilling structure

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2022057729-A1
Application number	US-202017309516-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 4, 2020
Priority date	Sep 24, 2019
Publication date	Feb 24, 2022
Grant date	—

Abstract

An example toner refill cartridge includes a body to accommodate toner and having a toner discharge hole, a shutter being rotatable between a first position at which the toner discharge hole is closed and a second position at which the toner discharge hole is opened, a coupler to rotate by receiving an external rotational force, an agitation member to rotate and agitate the toner by receiving a rotational force from the coupler, and a connection member to selectively transmit a rotational force of the coupler to the shutter.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A toner refill cartridge comprising:
a body to accommodate toner and having a toner discharge hole; a shutter being rotatable between a first position at which the toner discharge hole is closed and a second position at which the toner discharge hole is opened; a coupler to rotate by receiving an external rotational force; an agitation member to rotate and agitate the toner by receiving a rotational force from the coupler; and a connection member to selectively transmit a rotational force of the coupler to the shutter.

2 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the shutter, the coupler, and the agitation member are to rotate around a same rotation axis.

3 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 2 ,
wherein the connection member is to transmit the rotational force of the coupler in a first direction to the shutter, and wherein the shutter is to rotate in the first direction to be moved between the first position and the second position.

4 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 3 , wherein the connection member comprises:
a link member connected to the shutter and having a latch portion and a guide portion in a form of a slot; a sun gear provided in the coupler; and a planet gear provided in the guide portion to be rotated by engaging with the sun gear, and to engage with the latch portion to allow the link member to rotate with the coupler when the coupler is rotated in the first direction and to separate from the latch portion to prevent the link member from rotating when the coupler is rotated in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction.

5 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 1 ,
wherein a rotation axis of the coupler is parallel to a rotation axis of the shutter and displaced from the rotation axis of the shutter, and wherein the shutter and the agitation member are to rotate around a same rotation axis.

6 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 5 , wherein the shutter is to rotate to switch between the first position and the second position along a rotation direction of the coupler.

7 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 6 , further comprising a stopper to prevent the shutter from rotating beyond the first position and the second position.

8 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 7 , wherein the connection member comprises:
a driven gear; a rotation member supported by the driven gear to coaxially rotate with the driven gear, and including a partial gear portion corresponding to a rotation angle between the first position and the second position of the shutter; a friction providing member to provide a rotational frictional force to the rotation member and the driven gear; a link member connected to the shutter to rotate with the rotation member by being connected to the rotation member in an axial direction; and a drive gear portion provided in the coupler to engage with the driven gear and the partial gear portion.

9 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 8 , wherein the agitation member is connected to the driven gear.

10 . A toner refill cartridge comprising:
a body to accommodate toner and having a toner discharge hole; a shutter being rotatable between a first position at which the toner discharge hole is closed and a second position at which the toner discharge hole is opened; a coupler to rotate in a first direction and a second direction by receiving an external rotational force; and a connection member to selectively transmit a rotational force of the coupler to the shutter.

11 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 10 , further comprising an agitation member provided in the body, connected to the coupler, to agitate the toner by rotating in the first direction and the second direction,
wherein the connection member is to transmit the rotational force of the coupler in the first direction to the shutter, and wherein the shutter is to rotate in the first direction to be sequentially switched from the first position to the second position.

12 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 11 , wherein the connection member comprises:
a link member connected to the shutter and having a latch portion and a guide portion in a form of a slot; a sun gear provided in the coupler; and a planet gear provided in the guide portion to be rotated by engaging with the sun gear, and to engage with the latch portion to allow the link member to rotate with the coupler when the coupler is rotated in the first direction and to separate from the latch portion to prevent the link member from rotating when the coupler is rotated in the second direction that is opposite to the first direction.

13 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 10 ,
wherein the shutter is to rotate to switch between the first position and the second position according to a rotation direction of the coupler, and wherein the cartridge comprises a stopper to prevent the shutter from rotating beyond the first position and the second position.

14 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 13 , wherein the connection member comprises:
a driven gear; a rotation member supported by the driven gear to coaxially rotate with the driven gear, and including a partial gear portion corresponding to a rotation angle between the first position and the second position of the shutter; a friction to provide member providing a rotational frictional force to the rotation member and the driven gear; a link member connected to the shutter to engage with the rotation member in an axial direction to be rotated with the rotation member; and a drive gear portion provided in the coupler to engage with the driven gear and the partial gear portion.

15 . The toner refill cartridge of claim 14 , further comprising an agitation member provided in the body to agitate the toner by being rotated in the first direction and in the second direction,
wherein the agitation member is connected to the driven gear.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Choi Woongyong
• Shim Yunkyu
• Lee Seunggweon

Classifications

• G03G2215/0673

  Generally vertically mounting of said toner cartridge parallel to its longitudinal rotational axis · CPC title

• G03G2215/0668

  Toner discharging opening at one axial end · CPC title

• G03G2215/0805

  Cleaning blade adjacent to the donor member · CPC title

• G03G15/0886 Primary

  by mechanical means, e.g. shutter, plug · CPC title

• G03G15/0872

  the developer cartridges being generally horizontally mounted parallel to its longitudinal rotational axis · CPC title