Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, L.L.P.
Toner cartridge with a toner-discharging mechanism and printer to which the toner cartridge is removably attachable
A toner cartridge is removably attached to a printer and discharges toner into a hopper of the printer. When the toner is to be discharged into the hopper for a first time after the toner cartridge has been attached to the printer, the toner cartridge discharges a certain amount of toner for immediate printing operations. Thereafter, a toner-discharging mechanism operates to discharge fractions of the toner held in the toner cartridge in succession into the hopper. The printer has a controller and a detector. The detector detects an amount of toner remaining in the hopper. The controller controls the toner-discharging mechanism in accordance with the detection signal of the detector such that the toner in the hopper is replenished depending on the amount of toner consumed. The controller controls the toner-discharging mechanism only when the toner remaining in the hopper is below a threshold.
Oki Data Corporation
G G G G G G
G03G G03G G03G G03G G03G G03G
inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional inventional
Yukio Hiroshi
Ota Kikuchi