Supply item for laser printer including keying structure

• US 20070223941A1
• Filed: 03/24/2006
• Published: 09/27/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lexmark International Incorporated (Ninestar Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lexmark International Incorporated (Ninestar Corporation)
• Inventors: Dawson, Jedediah
• Granted Patent: US 7,813,656 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 399/12
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0855 the concentration being measured by optical means
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0865 Arrangements for supplying new developer
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0875 cartridges having a box like shape
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/0886 by mechanical means, e.g. shutter, plug
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/0678 Bottle shaped container having a bottle neck for toner discharge

Abstract

Supply items, such as toner bottles for laser printers, include substantially identical housings amongst the many different colors of toners. To distinguish the items and prevent improper installation, a keying structure attaches per each bottle and is indexed relative to adjacent items. In one aspect, indexing includes rotating a knob of the keying structure about a central axis to provide different keying orientations to an imaging unit in the printer. During installation, users mate the knob with variously arranged channels in a wall defining a slot for receiving the bottles. A lengthy flange on the bottle mates with a lengthy slit of the wall to provide installation stability. Other embodiments contemplate delaying engagement of a shutter on the bottle that prevents the toner from communicating with the imaging unit until the mating of the keying structure is assuredly made relatively proper. This prevents inadvertent mixing of toner colors

Claims

1. A laser printer, comprising:

a plurality of bottles of toner each with a housing substantially identical to the other bottles; and

a keying structure attached per said each bottle, each keying structure substantially identical to the other keying structures and indexed relative to the keying structure of an adjacent one of said bottles.

2. The laser printer of claim 1, wherein the each keying structure includes a knob rotated relative to a knob of the keying structure of the adjacent one of said bottles.

3. The laser printer of claim 2, wherein the knob of the each keying structure is rotated about 120 degrees about a central axis from the knob of the keying structure of the adjacent one of said bottles.

4. The laser printer of claim 1, further including an imaging unit with a plurality of slots, said each bottle being seated one per each of said slots.

5. The laser printer of claim 4, further including a plurality of walls defining said slots, many of the walls including both a longitudinally extending channel and a longitudinally extending slit longer than said channel.

6. The laser printer of claim 5, wherein a knob of one of the keying structures fits in the channel and a flange of one of said bottles fits in the slit.

7. The laser printer of claim 1, further including a shutter per said each bottle.

8. A laser printer, comprising:

an imaging unit including a plurality of walls defining a plurality of slots;

a plurality of bottles of toner each with a housing substantially similar to the other bottles, said each bottle being seated one per each of said slots; and

a keying structure attached per said each bottle, each keying structure indexed relative to the keying structure of an adjacent one of said bottles.

9. The laser printer of claim 8, wherein the each keying structure includes a knob rotated relative to a knob of the keying structure of the adjacent one of said bottles.

10. The laser printer of claim 9, wherein the knob of the each keying structure is rotated about 120 degrees about a central axis from the knob of the keying structure of the adjacent one of said bottles.

11. The laser printer of claim 8, wherein many of the walls include both a longitudinally extending channel and a longitudinally extending slit longer than said channel.

12. The laser printer of claim 11, wherein a knob of one of the keying structures fits in the channel and a flange of one of said bottles fits in the slit.

13. The laser printer of claim 8, further including a shutter per said each bottle to retain toner in a housing thereof.

14. A supply item, comprising:

a housing for containing a colored toner for placement with an imaging unit in a laser printer; and

a keying structure attached to said housing, the keying structure capable of being rotated about a central axis to provide different keying orientations to the imaging unit.

15. The supply item of claim 14, further including a reference indicia on the housing to align the keying structure during manufacturing.

16. The supply item of claim 14, wherein the keying structure includes a knob rotatable about the central axis including at least three different positions of the knob being about 120 degrees apart when providing the different keying orientations.

17. The supply item of claim 14, wherein the keying structure includes three lobes with a mechanical fastener hole at the central axis for the attaching to the housing, one of the three lobes including a knob.

18. A method of placing toner in a laser printer, comprising:

inserting a bottle having the toner into the printer;

mating a keying structure of the bottle to one of many slots of an attendant imaging unit of the printer; and

delaying substantial engagement of a shutter of the bottle that prevents the toner from communicating with the imaging unit until the mating of the keying structure and the one slot is assuredly relatively proper.

19. The method of claim 18, further including engaging a flange of the bottle with a slit of a wall bounding the one slot before the mating the keying structure.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the mating the keying structure further includes sliding a knob attached to the bottle into a channel of a wall bounding the one slot.

21. The method of claim 18, further including indexing the keying structure during manufacturing of the bottle to relatively ensure mating the bottle to another of the many slots of the attendant imaging unit.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the indexing the keying structure further includes aligning a knob to a reference indicia and attaching the knob to the bottle.

23. A method of making a supply item for a laser printer, comprising:

providing a bottle for toner for use in the laser printer; and

indexing a keying structure attached to the housing from one rotatable orientation to another depending upon a desired placement of the bottle in the laser printer during use.

24. The method of claim 23, further including filling the bottle with the toner.

25. A method of making a supply item for a laser printer, comprising:

filling a housing with toner;

attaching a keying structure to the housing; and

indexing the keying structure from one orientation to another depending upon a desired placement of the housing in the laser printer during use.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the indexing the keying structure further includes rotating the keying structure about a central axis.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the rotating further includes rotating a knob of the keying structure to one of three positions about 120 degrees apart.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the attaching the keying structure further includes aligning a knob of the keying structure to a reference indicia and attaching the knob to the housing.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the attaching the keying structure further includes attaching a mechanical fastener to the housing along the central axis of the keying structure.