Patent Document

BACKGROUND 
     The present invention generally relates to manufacturing, remanufacturing or repairing replaceable imaging components, and more particularly to apparatus and techniques for modifying a replaceable imaging cartridge to operate with a replacement electronic circuit. 
     In the imaging industry, there is a growing market for the remanufacture and refurbishing of various types of replaceable imaging cartridges such as toner cartridges, drum cartridges, inkjet cartridges, and the like. These imaging cartridges are used in imaging devices such as laser printers, xerographic copiers, inkjet printers, facsimile machines and the like, for example. Imaging cartridges, once spent, are unusable for their originally intended purpose. Without a refurbishing process these cartridges would simply be discarded, even though the cartridge itself may still have potential life. As a result, techniques have been developed specifically to address this issue. These processes may entail, for example, the disassembly of the various structures of the cartridge, replacing toner or ink, cleaning, adjusting or replacing any worn components and reassembling the imaging cartridge. 
     Some toner cartridges may include a chip having a memory device which is used to store data related to the cartridge or the imaging device, such as a printer, for example. The imaging device may communicate with the chip using a direct contact method or a broadcast technique utilizing radio frequency (RF) communication. This chip is typically mounted in a location, such as a slot, on the cartridge to allow for proper communication between the printer and the toner cartridge when the cartridge is installed in the printer. When the toner cartridge is being remanufactured, as described above, the chip provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM), such as Hewlett-Packard or Lexmark, may need to be replaced by a compatible chip developed by a third party. Such a replacement chip may be larger and not have the same physical form factor as the OEM chip and thus may not fit into the slot on the toner cartridge. Thus, it would be desirable to provide techniques for solving this problem and allowing a replacement chip having a different form factor be installed on the toner cartridge by, for example, modifying the toner cartridge to accept the replacement chip. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect of the present invention a method of modifying an imaging cartridge includes providing the imaging cartridge comprising a body including a circuit holding structure sized to hold an electronic circuit and forming a modified circuit holding structure, with the modified circuit holding structure sized to hold a replacement electronic circuit. At least one dimension of the replacement electronic circuit may be greater than a corresponding dimension of the electronic circuit. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a method of modifying an imaging cartridge includes providing the imaging cartridge comprising a body including a circuit holding structure sized to hold an electronic circuit, removing the circuit holding structure, and attaching a new circuit holding structure to the body of the imaging, with the new circuit holding structure sized to hold a replacement electronic circuit. At least one dimension of the replacement electronic circuit may be larger than a corresponding dimension of the electronic circuit. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a method of modifying an imaging cartridge includes providing the imaging cartridge comprising a body including a circuit holding structure sized to hold an electronic circuit, disposing at least one conductive element in the circuit holding structure, attaching a replacement electronic circuit to the body of the imaging cartridge, with circuit holding structure not holding the replacement electronic circuit, and electrically connecting the replacement electronic circuit to the contact element. 
     A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the drive side end of a prior art toner cartridge; 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the non-drive side end view of a prior art toner cartridge; 
         FIGS. 3 and 4  show perspective views of a waste bin assembly; 
         FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of a chip holding structure of a prior art toner cartridge; 
         FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of a modified chip holding structure in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 6A  shows a cross-sectional view of a modified chip holding structure in accordance with another aspect of the present invention 
         FIG. 7  shows a cross-sectional view of a new chip holding structure in accordance with the present invention; and 
         FIG. 8  shows a cross-sectional view of a chip holding structure holding a replacement contact element in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following detailed description of preferred embodiments refers to the accompanying drawings which illustrate specific embodiments of the invention. In the discussion that follows, specific systems and techniques for repairing, manufacturing or remanufacturing a toner cartridge, such as an HP 2600 toner cartridge, are disclosed. Other embodiments having different structures and operations for the repair, remanufacture and operation of other types of replaceable imaging components and for various types of imaging devices, such as laser printers, inkjet printers, copiers, facsimile machines and the like, do not depart from the scope of the present invention. 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show perspective views of a prior art toner cartridge  100 . The toner cartridge  100  includes, among other components, a toner hopper assembly  102  and a waste bin assembly  104 .  FIGS. 3 and 4  show perspective views of the waste bin assembly  104  after separation from the toner cartridge  100 . The waste bin assembly  104  includes a waste bin  106 , an organic photo conductor (OPC) drum  108 , and a chip holding structure  140 , described in greater detail below. The OPC drum  108  comprises a cylindrical aluminum tube having first and second hubs  110  and  112 , with each hub  110  and  112  extending from an end of the OPC drum  108 . The OPC drum  108  is held in place by a drive side end cap  114  and a non-drive side end cap  116  which include OPC retaining members  118  and  120 , respectively. The OPC retaining members  118  and  120  each include cylindrical openings which engage and hold the ends of the hubs  110  and  112  during the rotation of the OPC drum  108 . The cylindrical opening of the OPC retaining member  120  is narrowed at the end by a flange  122 . 
       FIG. 5  shows a cross-sectional view of a chip holding structure  500  of a prior art toner cartridge holding an OEM chip  502 . The OEM chip  502  may include electrical contacts  504  on one side of a printed circuit board (PCB)  506  for engagement with the printer and circuitry  508  including a memory element on the opposing side. Plastic flanges  510  and  512  hold the OEM chip from the top and the sides while support member  514  supports the bottom of the chip  502 . The support member  514  and the flanges  510  and  512  form a slot in which the chip  502  is inserted for attachment to the toner cartridge. 
     A replacement chip may be physically larger than the OEM chip  502  due to the inclusion of a microcontroller unit (MCU) or a system on a chip (SOC) and thus not fit into the slot housing the OEM chip. The present invention provides techniques for solving this problem and allowing a replacement chip having a different form factor be installed on the toner cartridge by, for example, modifying the toner cartridge to accept the replacement chip. 
       FIG. 6  shows a cross-sectional view of a modified chip holding structure  600  holding a replacement chip  602  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. The replacement chip  602  may comprise contacts  604  on one side of a PCB  606  communicatively connected to a processing unit  608 , such as a microcontroller, for example. Due to the size of the processing unit  608  or other components, the replacement chip  602  has a greater thickness than the chip  502  and will not fit in the chip holding structure  500 . As shown in  FIG. 6 , the support member  514  (shown in  FIG. 5 ) has been removed to allow the larger replacement chip  602  to be installed in the slot on the toner cartridge. The support member  514  may be removed by cutting, filing or some other suitable technique. The replacement chip  602  may be held in place by an adhesive which adheres the PCB  606  to the flanges  510  and  512 , or some other suitable technique. Optionally, the replacement chip may be held in place by a replacement support member  620  (smaller than the support member  514 ) shaped to the appropriate size for supporting the larger replacement chip  602  and attached to the toner cartridge in the general area where support member  514  was removed. The support member  620  may comprise many suitable materials, including plastic and adhesive, for example. In another aspect of the present invention, as shown in the modified chip holding structure  600 ′ of  FIG. 6A , only a portion of the support member  514  is removed to form a supporting structure  614  sized to support the bottom of the replacement chip  602 . Other techniques may also be utilized to hold the replacement chip in the slot of the modified toner cartridge. 
       FIG. 7  shows a cross-sectional view of a new chip holding structure  700  holding a replacement chip  702  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. The replacement chip  702  may comprise contacts  704  on one side of a PCB  706  communicatively connected to a processing unit  708 , such as a microcontroller, for example. Due to the size of the processing unit  708  or other components, the replacement chip  702  has a greater thickness and/or greater width than the chip  502  and will not fit in the chip holding structure  500 . As shown in  FIG. 7 , the support member  514  and the flanges  510  and  512  have been removed to allow the larger replacement chip  702  to be installed in the toner cartridge. The support member  514  and the flanges  510  and  512  may be removed by cutting, filing or some other suitable technique. The replacement chip  702  may be held in place by one or more attachment members, such as member  720 , shaped to the appropriate size for supporting the larger replacement chip  702  and attached to the toner cartridge, or some other suitable technique. The one or more attachment members  720  form the new chip holding structure  700 . The member  720  may comprise many suitable materials, including plastic and adhesive, for example. The PCB  706  may include holes  730  and  732  for printer posts to pass through when the toner cartridge is installed in the printer. In another aspect of the present invention, only a portion of the support member  514  and the flanges  510  and  512  are removed to form a supporting structure sized to support the bottom of the replacement chip  702 . Other techniques may also be utilized to hold the replacement chip in the slot of the modified toner cartridge. The processing circuitry  708  may be attached to either side of the PCB  706 . 
     In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, a replacement chip may be installed in the toner cartridge without making modifications to the chip holding structure  500 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , a replacement contact element  802  may be installed in the chip holding structure  500 . The replacement contact element  802  may comprise contacts  804  and  805  on one side of a PCB  806  communicatively connected to wires  807  and  809 , respectively. This replacement contact element  802  preferably does not include a processing unit  808 . The processing unit  808  may be attached to the toner cartridge in another location and connected to the contacts  804  and  805  through the wires  807  and  809 . These wires  807  and  809  may be secured to the toner cartridge with tape or other appropriate means. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, either a portion of the waste bin assembly or the entire waste bin assembly may be replaced with a new waste bin assembly having the appropriate sized slot for the replacement chip. In one aspect of the present invention, the modifications to the toner cartridge may be accomplished with conventional cutting tools and a jig. 
     Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, those of ordinary skill in the art appreciate that any arrangement that is calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown and that the invention has other applications in other environments. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention. The following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention to the specific embodiments described herein.

Technology Category: 3