Process for manufacturing a xerographic toner cartridge

A process for manufacturing a xerographic toner cartridge, comprising the steps of:

• providing a toner container having a bottom, two side walls, two end walls and an elongated surface opening therein opposite said bottom, with a peripheral lip surrounding said opening;
• filling said container with a heat-fusible xerographic toner powder;
• positioning an elongated smooth-surfaced flexible tongue comprising a tear-resistant material having non-directional shear strength characteristics adjacent said lip so that said tongue covers said opening, said material comprising a sheet structure including a multiplicity of randomly oriented and bonded fibers, the length of said tongue being greater than twice the length of said opening, said tongue having a sealing portion covering said opening and an adjacent tab portion having a length greater than that of said sealing portion, said tongue having a thickness on the order of 1 to 10 mils;
• disposing a heat-activatable thermoplastic adhesive layer between said peripheral lip and the sealing portion of said tongue, said adhesive when activated being more strongly adherent to said peripheral lip than to the sealing portion of said tongue, so that both surfaces of any part of said sealing portion later peeled from said lip will be free of said adhesive, said layer having a thickness on the order of 0.05 to 2 mils;
• providing a platen having a circumferential ridge dimensioned to conform to the size and shape of the peripheral lip of said toner container;
• heating said platen to, and maintaining said platen at a predetermined operating temperature;
• contacting said tongue with the circumferential ridge of said heated platen to press said tongue against said lip for a time sufficiently long to soften said thermoplastic adhesive so that upon rehardening the thermoplastic adhesive forms a secure ashesive bond between said lip and the adjacent part of the sealing portion of said tongue to prevent the escape of toner powder from said container,
• the temperature and time associated with said contacting step providing insufficient heat transfer to cause fusing deterioration of the toner powder within said container;
• and
• folding said tongue at the junction of the sealing and tab portions thereof to dispose said tab portion adjacent said sealing portion with the free end of said tab portion protruding beyond said lip adjacent one of said container walls, the shear strength of said tongue along said fold being at least 85 percent of the shear strength of portions of said tongue remote from said fold,
• said tongue comprising a material having a shear strength in any direction substantially greater than the peel strength of said activated adhesive bond between said sealing portion of said tongue and said peripheral lip.