# US 2010/0166452 A1 · Reinforced Doctor Blade Assembly Seal and Printer Cartridge Employing the Reinforced Seal > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2010/0166452 A1 - Document ID: US20100166452A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 12/344,912 - Filed: 2008-12-29 - Published: 2010-07-01 - Earliest claimed: 2008-12-29 - Assignees: Lexmark International, Inc. - Inventors: James Richard Leemhuis; Benjamin Keith Newman - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20100166452A1 ## CPC - G03G 15/0812: {characterised by the developer regulating means, e.g. structure of doctor blade} - G03G 21/1832: {Shielding members, shutter, e.g. light, heat shielding, prevention of toner scattering} - G03G: ELECTROGRAPHY; ELECTROPHOTOGRAPHY; MAGNETOGRAPHY ## Abstract A reinforced doctor blade assembly seal includes a base strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness, a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges, and a foldable region extending length-wise between one pair of the multiple edges and spaced from and located intermediately between another pair of the multiple edges. The seal also includes a supplemental strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness and a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges. The supplemental strip is laminated on the base strip offset from and along one side of the foldable region on the base strip such that the base strip has adjacent laminated and non-laminated portions along opposite sides of the foldable region with the laminated portion having a greater thickness than the non-laminated portion. The seal has an attaching mechanism in the form of an adhesive coating on the non-laminated portion of the base strip. The seal is employed in a printer cartridge. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A reinforced doctor blade assembly seal, comprising: a base strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness, a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges, and a foldable region extending length-wise of said base strip between one pair of said multiple edges and spaced from and located intermediately between another pair of said multiple edges; a supplemental strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness and a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges and being laminated onto said flexible plastic film of said base strip offset from and along one side of said foldable region on said base strip such that said base strip has laminated and non-laminated portions along opposite sides of said fold region with the thickness of the laminated portion being greater than the thickness of the non-laminated portion; and an attaching mechanism on at least a section of said non-laminated portion of said base strip extending between said one pair of multiple edges of said base strip. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said attaching mechanism is an adhesive layer on said section of said non-laminated portion of said base strip. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said thickness of said supplemental strip is within a range of from three to four times greater than said thickness of said base strip. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said flexible plastic film of said supplemental strip is a bi-axially-oriented PET polyester. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said flexible plastic film of said base strip is a bi-axially-oriented PET polyester. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said predetermined area of said surface of said base strip is larger than said predetermined area of said surface of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein one of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip is substantially aligned along one of said multiple edges of said base strip. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The seal of claim 1 wherein said multiple edges of said base strip that correspond to said multiple edges of said supplemental strip are greater in length respectively than said multiple edges of said supplemental strip such that said surface of said base strip is substantially U-shaped and borders said supplemental strip along a plurality of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The seal of claim 8 wherein said U-shaped surface on said base strip has a U-shaped outer portion and a U-shaped inner portion such that said U-shaped inner portion bounds said plurality of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The seal of claim 9 wherein said U-shaped outer portion is spaced from said plurality of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 11 (depends on 9) The seal of claim 9 wherein said U-shaped outer portion has said attaching mechanism in the form of an adhesive coating thereon. ### Claim 12 (depends on 9) The seal of claim 9 wherein said U-shaped surface of said base strip has said foldable region in said U-shaped outer portion thereof and spaced from said U-shaped inner portion thereof. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The seal of claim 12 wherein said U-shaped outer portion of said U-shaped surface on said base strip has said attaching mechanism in the form of an adhesive coating thereon. ### Claim 14 A printer cartridge, comprising: a housing having a reservoir for holding toner; a developer roll supported by said housing and operable to receive toner from said reservoir and transfer the toner to a photoconductive drum; a doctor blade assembly supported by said housing adjacent to said developer roll and having a doctor blade and a bracket for positioning said doctor blade to form a nip with said developer roll to control the amount of toner metered onto said developer roll, said bracket also disposed adjacent a portion of said housing such that a gap is defined between said bracket and said housing portion; and a reinforced seal disposed through said gap to provide sealing of said gap between said bracket and said housing portion to prevent potential leakage of toner in a predetermined direction of flow through said gap and from said printer cartridge, said reinforced seal including: a base strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness, a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges, and a foldable region extending length-wise of said base strip between one pair of said multiple edges and spaced from and located intermediately between another pair of said multiple edges, a supplemental strip of a flexible plastic film having a thickness and a surface of predetermined area bounded by multiple edges and being laminated onto said flexible plastic film of said base strip offset from and along one side of said foldable region on said base strip such that said base strip has adjacent laminated and non-laminated portions along opposite sides of said fold region with said laminated portion having a greater thickness than said adjacent non-laminated portion and with said laminated portion being located upstream of said gap relative to the direction of potential toner leakage flow and said non-laminated portion being located through said gap and downstream of said gap relative to the direction of potential toner leakage flow, and an attaching mechanism on at least a portion of said surface on said non-laminated portion of said base strip adapting attachment of said reinforced seal at said non-laminated portion of said base strip to said housing at least downstream of said gap. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The cartridge of claim 14 wherein said thickness of said supplemental strip is within a range of from three to four times greater than said thickness of said base strip. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The cartridge of claim 14 wherein said flexible plastic film of said supplemental strip is a bi-axially-oriented PET polyester. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The cartridge of claim 14 wherein said flexible plastic film of said base strip is a bi-axially-oriented PET polyester. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The cartridge of claim 14 wherein said multiple edges of said base strip that correspond to said multiple edges of said supplemental strip are greater in length respectively than said multiple edges of said supplemental strip such that said surface of said base strip is substantially U-shaped and borders said supplemental strip along a plurality of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The cartridge of claim 18 wherein said U-shaped surface on said base strip has a U-shaped outer portion and a U-shaped inner portion such that said U-shaped inner portion bounds said plurality of said multiple edges of said supplemental strip. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The cartridge of claim 19 wherein said U-shaped surface of said base strip has said foldable region aligned with said gap and defined in said U-shaped outer portion of said base strip and spaced from said U-shaped inner portion thereof and said attaching mechanism in the form of an adhesive layer is on said U-shaped outer portion of said base strip.