# US 10,310,446 B2 · Method for converting a toner cartridge printer to a sublimation toner printer

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- Number: US 10,310,446 B2
- Document ID: US10310446B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 15/800,482
- Filed: 2017-11-01
- Published: 2018-02-22
- Granted: 2019-06-04
- Earliest claimed: 2015-06-05
- Assignees: UI Technologies, Inc.
- Applicants: UI Technologies, Inc.
- Inventors: Michael Raymond Josiah; Joseph Dovi
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US10310446B2

## CPC

- G03G 21/1676: {for the developer unit}
- G03G 15/0121: {for developing}
- G03G 15/0178: {using more than one reusable electrographic recording member, e.g. one for every monocolour image}
- G03G 15/0863: {provided with identifying means or means for storing process- or use parameters, e.g. an electronic memory}
- G03G 15/0894: {Reconditioning of the developer unit, i.e. reusing or recycling parts of the unit, e.g. resealing of the unit before refilling with toner}
- G03G 15/6585: {by using non-standard toners, e.g. transparent toner, gloss adding devices}
- G03G 15/0867: {cylindrical developer cartridges, e.g. toner bottles for the developer replenishing opening}
- G03G 2215/00987: Remanufacturing, i.e. reusing or recycling parts of the image forming apparatus
- G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY

## Abstract

A method of converting a standard CMYK color toner printer to a CMYK or CMYW sublimation color toner printer. Providing a standard CMYK color toner printer, comprising four toner printing cartridges: a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, and a black toner printing cartridge. Removing the four toner printing cartridges, such that four empty toner cartridge slots are created. Providing four sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a black sublimation toner printing cartridge, or a white sublimation toner printer cartridge. Installing the four sublimation toner printing cartridges into the four empty toner cartridge slots.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of converting a standard CMYK color toner printer to a CMYK sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYK color toner printer, comprising four toner printing cartridges:
a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, and a black toner printing cartridge;
removing said four toner printing cartridges, such that four empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, and a black toner cartridge slot;
providing four sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a black sublimation toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot; and
installing said black sublimation toner printing cartridge into said black toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job to a final print surface via a heat transfer.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein providing said four sublimation toner printing cartridges comprises the steps:
disassembling said four removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said four removed toner printing cartridges, such that four empty printing cartridges are created;
filling said four empty printing cartridges with four sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, a yellow sublimation toner, and a black sublimation toner.

### Claim 4

A method of converting a standard CMYK color toner printer to a CMYW sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYK color toner printer, comprising four toner printing cartridges:
a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, and a black toner printing cartridge;
removing said four toner printing cartridges, such that four empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, and a black toner cartridge slot;
wherein said black toner cartridge slot is a first or fourth toner cartridge slot;
providing at least three sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge;
providing a white replacement toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot; and
installing said white replacement toner printing cartridge into said first or fourth toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps:
providing raster image processor (RIP) software for printing cartridge remapping.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job to a final print surface via a heat transfer;
wherein said white replacement toner printing cartridge prints in a same pass as said at least three sublimation toner printing cartridges.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein providing said at least three sublimation toner printing cartridges and said white replacement toner printing cartridge comprises the steps:
disassembling said four removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said four removed toner printing cartridges, such that four empty printing cartridges are created;
filling three of said four empty printing cartridges with at least three sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, and a yellow sublimation toner;
filling said fourth empty printing cartridge with a white replacement toner.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein said white replacement toner printing cartridge is a regular, non-sublimation specific white toner printing cartridge.

### Claim 9 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein said white replacement toner printing cartridge is a sublimation white toner printing cartridge.

### Claim 10 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein said white replacement toner printing cartridge is a regular, non-sublimation specific white toner printing cartridge.

### Claim 11 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein said white replacement toner printing cartridge is a sublimation white toner printing cartridge.

### Claim 12

A method of converting a standard CMYK color toner printer to a CMYX sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYK color toner printer, comprising four toner printing cartridges:
a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, and a black toner printing cartridge;
removing said four toner printing cartridges, such that four empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, and a black toner cartridge slot;
wherein said black toner cartridge slot is a fourth toner cartridge slot;
providing at least three sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge;
providing a non-standard toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot; and
installing said non-standard toner printing cartridge into said fourth toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps:
providing raster image processor (RIP) software for printing cartridge remapping.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job to a final print surface via a heat transfer
wherein said non-standard toner printing cartridge prints in a same pass as said at least three sublimation toner printing cartridges.

### Claim 15 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein providing said three sublimation toner printing cartridges comprises the steps:
disassembling said three removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said three removed toner printing cartridges, such that three empty printing cartridges are created;
filling said three empty printing cartridges with three sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, and a yellow sublimation toner.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps: wherein providing said non-standard toner printing cartridge comprises the steps:
disassembling said black removed toner printing cartridge;
emptying and cleaning said black toner printing cartridge, such that an empty printing cartridge is created; and
filling said empty printing cartridge with a non-standard toner.

### Claim 17 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein said non-standard toner is selected from the group of non-standard toners consisting of: white, metallic, fluorescent, light, clear, clear fluorescent, ceramic, and sublimation.

### Claim 18

A method of converting a standard CMYKW color toner printer to a CMYKW sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYKW color toner printer, comprising five toner printing cartridges: a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, a black toner printing cartridge; and a white toner printing cartridge;
removing said five toner printing cartridges, such that five empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, a black toner cartridge slot, and a white toner cartridge slot;
providing five sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge, a black sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a white sublimation toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot;
installing said black sublimation toner printing cartridge into said black toner cartridge slot; and
installing said white sublimation toner printing cartridge into said white toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising the steps:
providing raster image processor (RIP) software for printing cartridge remapping.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job from said transfer material to a final print surface via a heat transfer;
wherein said white sublimation toner printing cartridge prints in a same pass as said other four sublimation toner printing cartridges.

### Claim 21 (depends on 19)

The method of claim 19, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material;
wherein a layer of white is overprinted on said print job in a single pass;
transferring said print job from said transfer material to a final print surface via a heat transfer, such that said layer of white is under said print job on said final print surface.

### Claim 22 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the step of providing said five sublimation toner printing cartridges comprises said steps:
disassembling said five removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said five removed toner printing cartridges, such that five empty printing cartridges are created;
filling said five empty printing cartridges with five sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, a yellow sublimation toner, a black sublimation toner, and a white sublimation toner.

### Claim 23

A method of converting a standard CMYKX color toner printer to a CMYKX sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYKX color toner printer, comprising five toner printing cartridges: a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, a black toner printing cartridge; and a non-standard toner printing cartridge;
removing said five toner printing cartridges, such that five empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, a black toner cartridge slot, and a non-standard toner cartridge slot;
providing at least five sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge, a black sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a non-standard sublimation toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot;
installing said black sublimation toner printing cartridge into said black toner cartridge slot; and
installing said non-standard toner printing cartridge into said non-standard toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 24 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps:
providing raster image processor (RIP) software for printing cartridge remapping.

### Claim 25 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job from said transfer material to a final print surface via a heat transfer
wherein said non-standard sublimation toner printing cartridge prints in a same pass as said other four sublimation toner printing cartridges.

### Claim 26 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, wherein the step of providing said five sublimation toner printing cartridges comprises said steps:
disassembling said five removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said five removed toner printing cartridges, such that five empty printing cartridges are created;
filling said five empty printing cartridges with five sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, a yellow sublimation toner, a black sublimation toner, and a non-standard sublimation toner printing cartridge.

### Claim 27 (depends on 23)

The method of claim 23, wherein said non-standard toner is selected from the group of non-standard toners consisting of: white, metallic, fluorescent, light, clear, clear fluorescent, ceramic, and sublimation.

### Claim 28

A method of converting a standard CMYKW color toner printer to a CMYKW sublimation color toner printer, comprising the steps:
providing a standard CMYKW color toner printer, comprising five toner printing cartridges: a cyan toner printing cartridge, a magenta toner printing cartridge, a yellow toner printing cartridge, a black toner printing cartridge; and a white toner printing cartridge;
removing at least four toner printing cartridges, such that four empty toner cartridge slots are created: a cyan toner cartridge slot, a magenta toner cartridge slot, a yellow toner cartridge slot, and a black toner cartridge slot;
providing at least four sublimation toner printing cartridges: a cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge, a magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge, a yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge, and a black sublimation toner printing cartridge;
installing said cyan sublimation toner printing cartridge into said cyan toner cartridge slot;
installing said magenta sublimation toner printing cartridge into said magenta toner cartridge slot;
installing said yellow sublimation toner printing cartridge into said yellow toner cartridge slot; and
installing said black sublimation toner printing cartridge into said black toner cartridge slot.

### Claim 29 (depends on 28)

The method of claim 28, further comprising the steps:
providing raster image processor (RIP) software for printing cartridge remapping.

### Claim 30 (depends on 29)

The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material; and
transferring said print job from said transfer material to a final print surface via a heat transfer;
wherein said white toner printing cartridge prints in a same pass as said at least four sublimation toner printing cartridges.

### Claim 31 (depends on 29)

The method of claim 29, further comprising the steps:
printing a print job onto a transfer material;
wherein a layer of white is overprinted on said print job in a single pass;
transferring said print job from said transfer material to a final print surface via a heat transfer, such that said layer of white is under said print job on said final print surface.

### Claim 32 (depends on 28)

The method of claim 28, wherein the step of providing said four sublimation toner printing cartridges comprises said steps:
disassembling said four removed toner printing cartridges;
emptying and cleaning said four removed toner printing cartridges, such that four empty printing cartridges are created;
filling said four empty printing cartridges with four sublimation toners: a cyan sublimation toner, a magenta sublimation toner, a yellow sublimation toner, and a black sublimation toner.