Universal housing for microchips used in printer cartridges
The invention discloses a universal housing ( 413 ) for microchips used in imaging cartridges of printer machines with radially extended breakable part(s) ( 414, 415, 416 ) molded with said housing that breaks at one or more breakable joints, wherein said housing is sized to fit into the slot of a first imaging cartridge by retaining the extended molded part intact and to fit into the slot of one or more imaging cartridges with slot size(s) smaller in dimension compared to the slot size of said first imaging cartridge to hold the chip by breaking the extended molded part at said breakable joints to match the slot.
1 . A universal housing for microchips used in imaging cartridges of printer machines with radially extended breakable part(s) molded with said housing that breaks at one or more breakable joints, wherein said housing is sized to fit into the slot of a first imaging cartridge by retaining the extended molded part intact and to fit into the slot of one or more imaging cartridges with slot size(s) smaller in dimension compared to the slot size of said first imaging cartridge to hold the chip by breaking the extended molded part at said breakable joints to match the slot.
2 . A universal housing for microchips used in process cartridges or toner tubes of laser printers adapted to fit into the slots of different dimensions in the cartridges or tubes for holding the chip comprising:
a top plate and
a bottom plate that press fits with the top plate to securely house the chip,
wherein said top or bottom plate has a core with a core diameter matching the inside diameter of the slot for holding the chip in a first process cartridge or toner tube having the least slot size or inside diameter compared to slots of other cartridges and/or tubes for which the housing is designed, said core of the top or bottom plate having an extended part molded with it extending radially from the core and adapted to break manually through breakable joints just on the core periphery and at pre-determined radial distance(s) away from the core through one or more sets of breakable joints,
such that the effective outside diameter of the housing assembly with top and bottom plates including the breakable extended part(s) in one of the plates at different points away from the core matches the inside diameter(s) of the slot(s) for holding the chip in process cartridge(s) or toner tube(s) having slot(s) larger than the corresponding slot in the first process cartridge or toner tube and the effective outside diameter of the housing assembly with top and bottom plates matches the inside diameter of the slot of first process cartridge or toner tube when the breakable extended part is entirely removed from the top or bottom plate, as the case may be.
3 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the breakable extensions are in the form of radially extending fins or annular disc(s) molded with the core of the top or bottom plate with notches at the breaking points to facilitate manual breaking of the fins or disc(s) at different radial distance(s) away from the core.
4 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 2 , wherein said housing is for two process cartridges or toner tubes with slots having internal diameters (IDs) of d 1 and d 2 (d 2 >d 1 ) for mounting the chips wherein the top or bottom plate has a core diameter of d 1 with fins or an annular disc radially extending from the core up to a radial distance d 2 /2 from the center of the top or bottom plate, as the case may be, with manually breakable joints to break the fins or disc from the core.
5 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said housing is for the chips of process cartridges of a first printer with a slot ID of 1.178″ to hold the chip and of a second printer with a slot ID of 1.335″.
6 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 4 , wherein said housing is for the chips of toner tubes of a color printer with a slot ID of 0.907″ to hold the chip and a process cartridge of a second printer with a slot ID of 1.178″.
7 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the notches are provided at an angle of 55° at the breakable joints.
8 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the notches are provided at an angle of 55° at the breakable joints.
9 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the notches are provided at an angle of 55° at the breakable joints.
10 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 1 , wherein said housing is for three process cartridges or toner tubes with slots having internal diameters (IDs) of d 1 , d 2 and d 3 respectively (d 3 >d 2 >d 1 ) for mounting the chips wherein the top or bottom plate has a core diameter of d 1 with fins or annular disc(s) radially extending from the core up to a radial distance d 3 /2 from the center of the top or bottom plate, as the case may be, with manually breakable joints to break the fins or disc(s) from the core and away from the core at a radial distance of d 2 /2 from the center of said plate.
11 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the angular notches are provided with a progressively higher depth at said predetermined breaking points away from the core.
12 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the notches which are just on the core periphery and those which are at a radial distance of d 2 /2 from the center of the top or bottom plate are provided at an angle of 53° and 45°, respectively.
13 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the assembly has an universal top plate and a bottom plate with breakable extended part(s) to match the slots of different dimensions in a plurality of process cartridges and/or toner tubes.
14 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the assembly has an universal bottom plate and a top plate with breakable extended part(s) to match the slots of different dimensions in a plurality of process cartridges and/or toner tubes.
15 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the breakable extensions are in the form of fins with at least three radially extending fins.
16 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the effective outside diameters of the housing assembly are made marginally shorter than the inside diameters of the slots which hold them so as to have a minimum but necessary play for mounting the chip into the process cartridge or toner tube.
17 . The universal housing as claimed in claim 16 , wherein said play is about 0.006″ to about 0.007″.
18 . A universal housing for holding a chip used in imaging cartridges comprising:
the universal housing adapted for holding the chip and sized for attachment to a first type of imaging cartridge, wherein a portion of the housing is removable to form a modified universal housing sized for attachment to a second type of imaging cartridge.
19 . A method comprising:
providing a universal chip housing for holding a chip used in imaging cartridges, the universal chip housing sized for attachment to a first type of imaging cartridge and not sized for attachment to a second type of imaging cartridge;
removing a portion of the chip housing to form a modified chip housing sized for attachment to the second type of imaging cartridge.