Patent ID: 7879523

Claim:
A method for producing a toner composition, said toner composition comprising toner particles that are fused, and wherein the method is selected from the group consisting of: A) a first method comprising: kneading toner constituents, comprising at least a binder resin and a colorant, upon application of heat, to prepare a toner constituent mixture; dissolving the toner constituent mixture in an organic solvent capable of dissolving at least the binder resin to prepare an oil phase liquid; emulsifying the oil phase liquid in an aqueous liquid to prepare an emulsion; coagulating the emulsion to form an aggregation of particles; heating the coagulated emulsion to fuse the aggregated particles; and isolating the fused toner particles; B) a second method comprising: kneading toner constituents, comprising at least a binder resin and a colorant, upon application of heat, to prepare a toner constituent mixture; swelling the toner constituent mixture in an organic solvent capable of swelling at least the binder resin to prepare an oil phase liquid; emulsifying the oil phase liquid in an aqueous liquid to prepare an emulsion; coagulating the emulsion to form an aggregation of particles; heating the coagulated emulsion to fuse the particles; and isolating the fused toner particles; and C) a third method comprising: kneading, upon application of heat, at least a colorant and a binder resin to prepare a master batch colorant; dispersing toner constituents, comprising at least the master batch colorant and a resin, in an organic solvent capable of dissolving the binder resin and the resin to prepare an oil phase liquid, wherein the resin is the same as the binder resin, or different from the binder resin; emulsifying the oil phase liquid in an aqueous liquid to prepare an emulsion; coagulating the emulsion to form an aggregation of particles; heating the coagulated emulsion to fuse the aggregated particles; and isolating the fused toner particles; wherein a kneader in each of A), B) and C) is selected from the group consisting of single axis continuous kneaders, double-axis continuous kneaders and roll mills.