US 12,461,468 B2
Toner cartridge having feeding member and pump for discharging toner
Naoya Asanuma, Shizuoka (JP); Takatoshi Hamada, Shizuoka (JP); Masato Tanabe, Shizuoka (JP); Tomofumi Kawamura, Shizuoka (JP); and Yusuke Atsu, Shizuoka (JP)
Assigned to Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by CANON KABUSHIKI KAISHA, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 24, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/225,206.
Application 18/225,206 is a division of application No. 17/470,235, filed on Sep. 9, 2021, granted, now 11,982,952.
Application 17/470,235 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2020/035885, filed on Sep. 15, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-168214 (JP), filed on Sep. 17, 2019; and application No. 2020-093285 (JP), filed on May 28, 2020.
Prior Publication US 2023/0367239 A1, Nov. 16, 2023
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. G03G 15/08 (2006.01); G03G 21/16 (2006.01); G03G 21/20 (2006.01)
CPC G03G 15/0865 (2013.01) [G03G 15/0875 (2013.01); G03G 15/0877 (2013.01); G03G 15/0889 (2013.01); G03G 21/1647 (2013.01); G03G 21/206 (2013.01); G03G 2221/1657 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A toner cartridge comprising:
(i) a toner accommodation chamber containing toner;
(ii) a toner discharging chamber in fluid communication with a discharge opening such that toner in the toner discharging chamber can move to the discharge opening;
(iii) a passage for fluid communication between the toner accommodation chamber and the toner discharging chamber such that toner can move from the toner accommodation chamber to the toner discharging chamber;
(iv) a screw configured to feed the toner from the toner accommodation chamber through the passage into the toner discharging chamber, with at least a part of the screw being positioned in the passage; and
(v) a pump configured to provide air for discharging the toner through the discharge opening,
(vi) a coupling member configured to receive a rotational force for driving the screw and the pump,
wherein the screw is rotatable relative to the passage,
wherein, (a) in a first cross-sectional plane perpendicular to a toner feeding direction of the screw, a minimum cross-sectional area of the passage is Asmin, and (b) in a second cross-sectional plane perpendicular to the toner feeding direction, the toner accommodation chamber has a cross-sectional area Cs that is larger than Asmin, and
wherein the coupling member is provided with a projection projecting toward an axis of the coupling member, and the coupling member is configured to transmit the rotational force from the projection toward the pump and the screw.