Patent ID: 8688016

Claim:
A paddle assembly for a toner cartridge of an imaging device, the paddle assembly comprising: a drive shaft rotatably mountable within a reservoir of the toner cartridge, the drive shaft having first and second ends; a frame mounted on the drive shaft having a first pair of aligned arms radially extending from the drive shaft, one of the first pair of arms positioned near each of the first and second ends, and the frame having a cross member connected to distal ends of the first pair of aligned arms, the cross member including a first segment along a first axial portion of the cross member and a second segment along a second axial portion of the cross member; a main scraper mounted in a cantilevered manner from the first segment of the cross member; a secondary scraper mounted in a cantilevered manner from the second segment of the cross member; and a side scraper mounted in a cantilevered manner on an arm of the first pair of aligned arms and, with the paddle assembly rotatably mounted in the reservoir, the side scraper having an interference contact with a side surface of the reservoir; wherein, with the paddle assembly rotatably mountable within the reservoir, the main scraper and the secondary scraper each have an interference contact with an interior circumferential wall of the reservoir with a portion of the main scraper positioned outwardly in front of a portion of the secondary scraper in an overlapping manner, and, during rotation of the paddle assembly in the toner cartridge, the main scraper and the secondary scraper scrape toner adhering to the interior circumferential wall, a distal portion of the main scraper directing toner from a first region of the reservoir positioned along a first axial portion of the reservoir into a trough for receiving toner from the reservoir, and a distal portion of the secondary scraper directing toner from a second region of the reservoir positioned along a second axial portion of the reservoir into the first region of the reservoir, wherein the main scraper includes a notch having a catch formed on an outer side edge of the main scraper and the side scraper has a notch in a bottom edge, wherein, during assembly of a top to a base of the toner cartridge, the catch of the main scraper receives the bottom edge of the side scraper, the catch holding the side scraper away from a weld area formed during attachment of the top to the base, and, during initial rotation of the paddle assembly, the notch in the side scraper aligns with the catch in the main scraper releasing the bottom edge of the side scraper from the main scraper and moving the bottom edge of the side scraper into the interference contact with the side surface of the reservoir.