US 11,947,303 B1
Cleaner assembly with fabric seal for removing waste toner within an image forming device
Richard Louis Goin, Lexington, KY (US)
Assigned to Lexmark International, Inc., Lexington, KY (US)
Filed by LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL, INC., Lexington, KY (US)
Filed on Jan. 11, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/095,584.
Int. Cl. G03G 21/00 (2006.01)
CPC G03G 21/0011 (2013.01) [G03G 2221/0005 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A cleaner assembly for an image forming device, comprising:
a rotatable photoconductive drum;
a cleaner blade having a cleaning edge in contact with an outer surface of the photoconductive drum along a longitudinal dimension of the photoconductive drum for removing toner from the outer surface of the photoconductive drum;
an elongated seal disposed adjacent to the cleaner blade and extending along a length of the cleaner blade such that an opening for capturing toner removed from the outer surface of the photoconductive drum is formed between the cleaning edge of the cleaner blade and the elongated seal, the elongated seal includes a tab projecting across a longitudinal end section of the cleaner blade such that the tab is positioned between the cleaning edge of the cleaner blade and the outer surface of the photoconductive drum at the longitudinal end section of the cleaner blade preventing contact between the cleaning edge of the cleaner blade and the outer surface of the photoconductive drum at the longitudinal end section of the cleaner blade; and
a fabric seal positioned in a portion of the opening formed between the cleaning edge of the cleaner blade and the elongated seal at the longitudinal end section of the cleaner blade, at least a portion of the fabric seal is positioned inboard of the tab of the elongated seal along the length of the cleaner blade,
wherein the fabric seal has an edge that abuts the cleaning edge of the cleaner blade at the longitudinal end section of the cleaner blade with at least a portion of the edge of the fabric seal extending toward the opening from an inboard edge of the tab along the length of the cleaner blade.