Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Reference is made to commonly-assigned copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 96405/NAB), filed herewith, entitled A METHOD FOR COLLECTING ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC WASTE, by Pitas et al.; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    This invention relates in general to electrophotography and in particular to collection of electrophotographic waste. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The electrophotographic process is used as a means of creating an image on paper or other suitable printing media. The electrophotographic process uses various components assembled into a print engine to enable printing. The primary material used for printing purposes is toner. 
         [0004]    During the printing process only a portion of the toner transfers to the print media. Some of this toner may be unsuitable for transfer, but is present in the toner supply, or some of the toner may be discarded as part of the normal printing process. Considering the quantity of waste toner produced by the print engine and the life of the print engine, it may be impractical to store this material for a long period of time within the print engine. Therefore a practical means of elimination of waste toner is needed, while minimizing maintenance required by the end user. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    Briefly, according to one aspect of the present invention an apparatus for collecting electrophotographic waste includes a toner bottle containing fresh toner; an auger for transferring waste toner to the toner bottle; and a member for separating waste toner in the toner bottle from fresh toner. 
         [0006]    The invention and its objects and advantages will become more apparent in the detailed description of the preferred embodiment presented below. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a schematic of an electrophotographic printer. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a schematic of a replacement cartridge for an electrophotographic printer. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a schematic of a toner waste collection system. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    The present invention will be directed in particular to elements forming part of, or in cooperation more directly with the apparatus in accordance with the present invention. It is to be understood that elements not specifically shown or described may take various forms well known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0011]    Referring now to  FIG. 1  an electrophotographic printer includes all components necessary to accomplish the task of printing an image on paper. A printer is comprised of various sub-assemblies which perform specific functions. 
         [0012]    An imaging module in the printer consists of components to enable printing of a single color image. Multiple modules may be assembled to enable the printing of multiple color images.  FIG. 1  shows details of a typical printing module  31 , which may be assembled with other imaging modules to enable the printing of multiple colors. 
         [0013]    Primary charging subsystem  210  uniformly electrostatically charges photoreceptor  206  of photoreceptive member  111 , shown in the form of an imaging cylinder. Charging subsystem  210  may include a grid  213  having a selected voltage, or may be in the form of a roller with conductive properties. 
         [0014]    Additional necessary components provided for control may be assembled around the various process elements of the respective printing modules. Meter  211  measures the uniform electrostatic charge provided by charging subsystem  210  and meter  212  measures the post-exposure surface potential within a patch area of a latent image formed from time to time in a non-image area on photoreceptive member  206 . 
         [0015]    Image writer  220  is used to expose photoreceptor  206  and may be a light emitting diode (LED) array or other similar mechanisms or a laser. Toning unit  225  includes elements  226  and  227  and is used to develop the latent image created by image writer  220  on photoreceptive member  206 . Cleaning unit  230 , shown in  FIG. 2 , removes residual or waste toner from photoreceptive member  206  after transfer of the image to a secondary receiver  216 . Other meters and components may be included. 
         [0016]    Within the printing module  31 , periodic replacement of critical components is necessary to ensure proper function. It may be desirable to cluster multiple components to enable simultaneous replacement. Referring to  FIG. 2 , one such cluster, referred to as a replacement cartridge  200 , consists of a photoreceptive member  206 , cleaning unit  230 , and charger  210 . These components are assembled into a cartridge and held in place with a plastic housing  233 . 
         [0017]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , two embodiments are shown for printing modules  31  with an interface to toner supply cartridge  240 . The toner supply cartridge may be located either above, below, or in a remote location from the printing module  31 . The toner supply cartridge  240 , sometimes referred to as a toner bottle, is divided into two sections. The supply section  241  and the waste section  242  which contains waster toner  243 . The supply section  241  contains toner  248  suitable for use. Waste section  242  is a receptacle for electrophotographic toner waste from the same module which supplies the toner. 
         [0018]    Toner supply cartridge  240  has supply connection to toning unit  225  within printing module  31  via toner supply duct  236 . Waste ducts  235  transport residual waste toner from the electrophotographic process scavenged by cleaning unit  230  within replacement cartridge  200  to the toner supply cartridge  240 . These waste ducts  235  may contain mechanisms for pumping toner, either in the form of an auger or lift mechanism, if necessary, depending upon the location of the toner supply cartridge  240 . If necessary, waste collection duct  235  and waste section  242  may also receive depleted toner byproduct from the toning process produced in toning unit  225 . 
         [0019]    Typically the ratio of toner waste to toner supply for electrophotographic print modules is very small, therefore the volumes of sections dedicated for supply should be large when compared to waste section. The supply sections  241  and waste section  242  within the toner supply cartridge  240  may be separated by a fixed wall  244  thereby providing for a fixed volume of space, or a moveable wall or the separation may be a membrane  246 . The use of a moveable wall or membrane allows maximum volume for toner supply. As toner is consumed, the moveable wall or membrane increase waste section  242  volume, allowing space for toner waste. In the case of a membrane, the unfilled space occupied is the volume of the membrane material. As toner is augured into the waste section  242 , the chamber volume increases by expanding the membrane. 
         [0020]    Similarly, a moveable wall could be used. In this case the wall could be dovetailed or hinged within the toner supply bottle  240 . The initial waste section  242  volume is very small. As waste toner is transported into waste section  242 , the wall moves, expanding the volume to occupy the required space. An advantage of a moveable wall or membrane is that in the event of a malfunction, where non-typical volumes of waste are produced within the module, the toner supply cartridge  240  adapts to the higher waste volume without causing additional malfunction. Further if the waste section  242  volume is located above the toner section, the weight of the waste toner aids expansion of the waste section  242  and aids feeding of the fresh toner supply from toner supply section  241 . 
         [0021]    Because the waste collected is from the module where the toner is consumed, the waste section can not become overfilled. An additional advantage of a combined waste collection and toner supply bottle with membrane is that no waste bottle full sensing is required, which reduce the complexity of the machine and reduces manufacturing cost. 
         [0022]    The invention has been described in detail with particular reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the scope of the invention. 
       PARTS LIST 
       [0000]    
       
           31  printing module 
           111  photoreceptive member 
           200  replacement cartridge 
           206  photoreceptor 
           210  primary charging subsystems 
           211  meter 
           212  meter 
           213  grid 
           220  image writer 
           225  toning unit 
           226  element 
           227  element 
           230  cleaning unit 
           233  plastic housing 
           235  waste duct 
           236  toner supply duct 
           240  toner supply cartridge (bottle) 
           241  supply section 
           242  waste section 
           243  waste toner 
           244  fixed wall 
           246  membrane 
           248  toner

Technology Category: 3