Patent ID: 7537410

Claim:
A reprographic device including a coupling arrangement for connecting a replaceable or refillable material supply to said reprographic device, comprising: a rotatable drive shaft connected to and an integral part of said reprographic device, said drive shaft including an alignment pin and complementary recesses around a periphery of said alignment pin; and a replaceable material supply module adapted for coupling to said rotatable drive shaft of said reprographic device, said replaceable material supply module including a driven shaft cylinder as an integral part thereof, said driven shaft cylinder including a flange with a concentric shaft extending longitudinally outwardly therefrom, said concentric shaft including a front surface thereof and a plurality of radially collapsible cam lobes extending longitudinally outwardly beyond said front surface of said concentric shaft with said collapsible cam lobes having inner radial surfaces that define an axial alignment hole along an axis of rotation of said driven shaft cylinder, said collapsible cam lobes are adapted to fit over said alignment pin of said rotatable drive shaft and into said complementary recesses around the periphery of said alignment pin during coupling to said rotatable drive shaft while simultaneously creating a cavity between an outer surface of said alignment pin and said inner radial surfaces of said collapsible cam lobes, so that rotation of said rotatable drive shaft forces said alignment pin into said axial alignment hole of said driven shaft cylinder due to torque applied to said collapsible cam lobes during rotation of said rotatable drive shaft, and thereby causing said collapsible cam lobes to radially compress toward the center of said axial alignment hole and occupy said cavity between said outer surface of said alignment pin and said inner radial surfaces of said collapsible cam lobes, thereby creating a tighter fit between said driven shaft cylinder and said rotatable drive shaft to reduce torque induced failures.