Lexmark International, Inc.

Richard Andrew Seman, Jr

Harald Portig

Daniel George Mlejnek

Henry Marshall Brooks

Kevin Dean Schoedinger

Paul Douglas Horrall

Gregory Lawrence Ream

David Lee Merrifield

Phillip Byron Wright

Steven Alan Curry

James J Molloy

Hassan Bahrami

A plastic gear is rotatably supported on at least one plastic fixed support stud, which is preferably formed of plastic and molded on a metal support plate. The fixed support stud has three equiangularly spaced lobes extending from its outer surface without any nominal clearance with an inner surface of a hub of a plastic gear defining a bore in the gear hub to receive the fixed support stud. The lobes cause deformation of portions of the gear hub between the adjacent lobes. By increasing the clearance between the outer surface of the fixed support stud and the inner surface of the gear hub, spaces are provided between the adjacent lobes to allow portions of the inner surface of the gear hub to extend thereinto due to the deformation of the plastic. This reduces the vibration or jitter of the plastic gear, which is the output gear of a gear train for driving a photoconductive drum of a laser printer to improve its print quality.

Gear arrangement

A toner cartridge (1) contains a photoconductive drum (49) having a central shaft (47). Gear (145) turns with the drum and has a stud (602). A coil spring (604) is mounted on the stud to form a spring clutch which is unwound by the rotation of the drum during imaging. Alternatively, a flat frictional surface is pressed against the side wall (600b) of the gear. Both contact areas have a light grease. The drag forces provide accurate, smooth operation during imaging.

Control of photosensitive roller movement

A gearbox (1) is formed by two steel plates (3,5) which support molded elements (such as 13b and combined 35e, 33e). A separate molding operation is performed on each plate, in which a plurality of individual molded parts are molded. The precise positioning is from the mold, not the plate. The liquid plastic is bound to the plate by entering a plurality of holes (such as 66 and 66a) for each part. The plates are then populated and then held together by screws (72a-72d). A bevel gear (31) is mounted on the outside by molded supports (29a, 29b) and by contact with gear (36) with which it meshes.

Method of manufacturing a frame with molded features

Frame with molded features

Modules, such a paper tray 21, are stacked under a printer (3). Power to drive the paper feed originates from the printer. A housing (9, 27) carries a shaft (17, 35) which is keyed to turn with the housing. The shafts have abutment surfaces (47a) which mesh with abutment surfaces on the housing (29a, 29b). A thrust bearing (51) supporting the housing has a configured bottom to permit limited adjustment by rotation of the housing around the gear (35) at the opposite end of the housing. The top of the modules under the printer extend past their general frame and have a conical guide surface (23) to direct an entering shaft. The bottom of the modules has an opening (19e) to receive the extended part from a module on which it is stacked.

Modules with linking drive shafts

A staging assembly for use in an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus includes a paper feed assembly having a plurality of rollers for feeding a transfer sheet to an electrophotographic assembly. A removable idler gear is interposed between the paper feed assembly and the electrophotographic assembly, and drives the paper feed assembly when installed. A staging assembly drives the paper feed assembly when the idler gear is removed and includes a rotatable drive element for connection to and rotation of one of the rollers; a drive unit for rotatably driving the rotatable drive element; and an electrical connector for electrically connecting the staging assembly to the electrophotographic assembly. The staging assembly is a modular assembly which is connectable to and removable from the paper feed assembly.

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, KY, United States of America

Richard Andrew Seman, Jr