US3910459A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for monitoring and replenishing toner concentrations
Assignee: Hoechst AG
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Filing: 1972-09-25
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Granted: 1975-10-07
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Expires: 1992-09-25
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for measuring or measuring and replacing the amount of toner consumed in an electrophotographic reproduction machine wherein the method involves measuring an electrical value corresponding to the charge transferred in a copying operation by the toner to the photoconductor. The electrical value measured is the voltage at a high-resistance resistor through which current flows to the ground from an element charged with a charge corresponding to the transferred charge or the voltage at a capacitor charged from an element that is itself charged with a charge corresponding to the transferred charge or the charge flow from or to the conductive carrier material of the photoconductor. The corresponding charge is the residual charge of carrier material from which toner has been withdrawn by the photoconductor. In response to the measurement an amount of toner is dispensed to the machine which may be intermittent after and in accordance with integration of the charge transferred during the interval between dispensing operations. The apparatus includes an insulated electrically conductive element to receive a charge of the same magnitude as the charge passed to the photoconductor and a measuring instrument which is connected to a toner dispensing device dependent for delivery of toner on the measurement. The conductive element is composed of one or more well insulated deflector sheets fitted in a cascade developing unit wherein the sheets are positioned below the developing zone of the unit so that the spent developer trickles over the sheets beyond the developing zone. The apparatus may also include two toner dispensing devices one of which is dependent upon the number of copies and the other is dependent upon the charge on a capacitor.
Inventors
- 👤 Hartmut Bock
- 👤 Helmut Stieger
- 👤 Helmut Jahn
- 👤 Detlef Winkelmann
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 14:52
CPC Classifications
G; G01; G01N; G01N27/00; G01N27/60; G03; G03G; G03G15/00; G03G15/06; G03G15/08; G03G15/0822; G03G15/0848; G03G15/0849; G03G15/0851; G03G15/0887; G03G15/0891; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S222/00; Y10S222/01
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim
206 words
A TONER DISPENSING AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR USE IN AN ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION APPARATUS HAVING A PHOTOCONDUCTOR, A CONTAINER FOR THE TONER, A CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS CONSISTING OF A DEVELOPER ZONE, A DEVELOPER CONTAINER, AND A BUCKET CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR REPLENISHING THE DEVELOPER ZONE WITH TONER, FIRST MEANS FOR DISPENSING TONER FROM THE CONTAINER INTO SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS, AN ACTUATOR DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAID FIRST DISPENSING MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE INTRDUCTION OF THE TONER INTO SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS, MEANS FOR SENSING THE ELECTRICAL CHARGING RATE OF THE MATERIAL IN SAID CASCADE DEVELOPING MEANS COMPRISING THE SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS ARRANGED AS A WHOLE AS AN INSULATED ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ELEMENT TO RECEIVE A STEADY STREAM OF CARRIER MATERIAL, WHICH IS CHARGED OPPOSITE TO THE TONER DEPOSITEED ON SAID PHOTOCONDUCTOR, IMAGE-WISE CHARGED AND OVER WHICH THE DEVELOPER IS CASCADED, SAID SENSING MEANS INCLUDING MEASURING MEANS AND MEANS TO BE CHARGED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARGE FLOW OF THE CARRIER MATERIAL RECEIVED BY SAID CASCADE DEVELOPING MEANS, SAID MEANS TO BE CHARGED HAVING ONE END CONNECTED TO BE DEVELOPER CONTAINER AND THE OTHER END CONNECTED TO GROUND, SAID ACTUATOR DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FIRST DISPENSING MEANS BEING ACTUATED, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FLOW OF A CHARGE CUR-
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
206 words
A TONER DISPENSING AND CONTROL SYSTEM FOR USE IN AN ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHIC REPRODUCTION APPARATUS HAVING A PHOTOCONDUCTOR, A CONTAINER FOR THE TONER, A CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS CONSISTING OF A DEVELOPER ZONE, A DEVELOPER CONTAINER, AND A BUCKET CONVEYOR SYSTEM FOR REPLENISHING THE DEVELOPER ZONE WITH TONER, FIRST MEANS FOR DISPENSING TONER FROM THE CONTAINER INTO SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS, AN ACTUATOR DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAID FIRST DISPENSING MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE INTRDUCTION OF THE TONER INTO SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS, MEANS FOR SENSING THE ELECTRICAL CHARGING RATE OF THE MATERIAL IN SAID CASCADE DEVELOPING MEANS COMPRISING THE SAID CASCADE DEVELOPER MEANS ARRANGED AS A WHOLE AS AN INSULATED ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ELEMENT TO RECEIVE A STEADY STREAM OF CARRIER MATERIAL, WHICH IS CHARGED OPPOSITE TO THE TONER DEPOSITEED ON SAID PHOTOCONDUCTOR, IMAGE-WISE CHARGED AND OVER WHICH THE DEVELOPER IS CASCADED, SAID SENSING MEANS INCLUDING MEASURING MEANS AND MEANS TO BE CHARGED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CHARGE FLOW OF THE CARRIER MATERIAL RECEIVED BY SAID CASCADE DEVELOPING MEANS, SAID MEANS TO BE CHARGED HAVING ONE END CONNECTED TO BE DEVELOPER CONTAINER AND THE OTHER END CONNECTED TO GROUND, SAID ACTUATOR DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH SAID FIRST DISPENSING MEANS BEING ACTUATED, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE FLOW OF A CHARGE CUR-
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
39 words
A toner dispensing and control system according to claim 1, wherein said means to be charged includes a capacitor, the voltage at said capacitor being proportional to the charge transmitted by the carrier material received by the developer container.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
65 words
A toner dispensing and control system according to claim 1, wherein said means to be charged includes a high-resistance resistor, the electrical voltage occurring at said resistor being in accordance with the charge flow of the developer material depleted of toner received by the developer container after cascading over the photoconductor and proportional to the charge of the toner adhering to the image-wise charged photoconductor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
162 words
A toner dispensing and control system according to claim 1, in which the cascade developing means is fully insulated within the electrophotographic reproduction machine and is connected through a high-resistance resistor to ground, an amplifier is connected to the resistor for amplifying the voltage occurring at said resistor, which is proportional to the electric charge transmitted by the developer material depleted of toner, after cascading over the photoconductor, to the developer container, the output of the amplifier is connected to a first electric motor which drives a cam disc connected to the drive shaft of the first electric motor through a reduction gear, the said cam disc is engaged with a switch once for each revolution to close said switch, said switch in its closed position actuates a timing element to connect, through a relay, a second electric motor to a voltage source during a specific constant length of time, and said second electric motor is arranged to drive a toner-dispensing device.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
316 words
A toner dispensing and control system for use in electrophotographic reproduction apparatus having a photoconductor, a first and second container for toner, a cascade developer means consisting of a developer zone, a developer container, and a bucket conveyor system for replenishing the developer zone with toner, first means for dispensing toner from the first container into said cascade developer means, an actuator device associated with the said first dispensing means for controlling the introduction of the toner into said cascade developer means, means for sensing the electrical charging Rate of the material in said cascade developer means comprising the said cascade developer means arranged as a whole as an insulated electrically conductive element to receive a steady stream of carrier material, which is charged opposite to the toner deposited on said photoconductor, image-wise charged and over which the developer is cascaded, said sensing means including measuring means and a capacitor to be charged in accordance with the charge flow of the carrier material received by said cascade developer means, said capacitor having one end connected to the developer container and the other end grounded, said actuator device associated with said first dispensing means being actuated, in accordance with the flow of a charge current due to the applied voltage across the capacitor, when the amount of the said charge current during the developing operation falls outside of the range of two limiting values, a second dispensing means for dispensing toner from the second container into said cascade developer means comprising a timing device controlling the actuation of the second dispensing means in accordance with a predetermined number of copies, and a switch device actuated by said timing device to connect an input reference voltage and the voltage at said capacitor to an electrical instrument for measuring the difference between both voltages and to convert the difference voltage into a signal for controlling said first dispensing device.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
316 words
A toner dispensing and control system for use in electrophotographic reproduction apparatus having a photoconductor, a first and second container for toner, a cascade developer means consisting of a developer zone, a developer container, and a bucket conveyor system for replenishing the developer zone with toner, first means for dispensing toner from the first container into said cascade developer means, an actuator device associated with the said first dispensing means for controlling the introduction of the toner into said cascade developer means, means for sensing the electrical charging Rate of the material in said cascade developer means comprising the said cascade developer means arranged as a whole as an insulated electrically conductive element to receive a steady stream of carrier material, which is charged opposite to the toner deposited on said photoconductor, image-wise charged and over which the developer is cascaded, said sensing means including measuring means and a capacitor to be charged in accordance with the charge flow of the carrier material received by said cascade developer means, said capacitor having one end connected to the developer container and the other end grounded, said actuator device associated with said first dispensing means being actuated, in accordance with the flow of a charge current due to the applied voltage across the capacitor, when the amount of the said charge current during the developing operation falls outside of the range of two limiting values, a second dispensing means for dispensing toner from the second container into said cascade developer means comprising a timing device controlling the actuation of the second dispensing means in accordance with a predetermined number of copies, and a switch device actuated by said timing device to connect an input reference voltage and the voltage at said capacitor to an electrical instrument for measuring the difference between both voltages and to convert the difference voltage into a signal for controlling said first dispensing device.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
43 words
A toner dispensing and control system according to claim 5, including a discharge resistor and a measuring instrument which are connected in parallel with said capacitor and are rated to completely discharge said capacitor during the period in which said switch is closed.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-10-06 | 1979-04-07 | 1979-10-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-10-06 | 1983-04-07 | 1983-10-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-10-06 | 1987-04-07 | 1987-10-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |