Toner dispensing apparatus

Abstract

Toner dispensing apparatus comprising a toner hopper the walls of which form an elongated opening from which toner is capable of being dispensed and a dispensing roll to dispense toner from the hopper through the elongated opening into the developer chamber. The dispensing roll is a cylindrical resiliently deformable foam roll having a plurality of depressions of predetermined size, shape and volume uniformly disposed on the roll and being capable of holding finely divided toner. The deformable foam roll including the depressions has a thin toner impermeable surface. In a preferred embodiment, the depressions are a plurality of longitudinal surface grooves parallel to the axis of the roll and uniformly spaced around the circumference of the roll. The roll is positioned relative to top and bottom lobe members in the toner hopper such that it provides a seal between the toner hopper and the developer chamber. The lobes also provide a way for expelling toner from the deformable foam roll into the developer chamber as the roll rotates from the toner hopper past the lobe members into the elongated opening. In a specific embodiment the toner impermeable surface and the foam are formed of the same materials, the impermeable surface being formed as the continuous skin of the foam.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.