Recoated toner regulating member

Abstract

Methods of recoating a developing member such as the doctor blade, developing member bar or a developing sleeve, of an electro-photographic image forming apparatus, such as a laser printer toner cartridge, methods of re-using the original components by re-coating them, to cut the cost of using new aftermarket parts and to reduce waste, which methods include close quality control and “tailoring” of formulations to a specific developing system, thus achieving better print quality in terms of density, page yield, and uniformity for the repaired or remanufactured toner cartridge.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A used and recoated toner regulating member for a toner cartridge, the toner regulating member comprising:
 a surface that has had a first, partially worn coating material at least partially stripped therefrom; and   a second coating material disposed above the surface, wherein the second coating material comprises a mixture of a conductive powder and a binder powder, the mixture having a ratio of conductive powder to binder powder in the range of 30:70 to 70:30 by weight.   
     
     
         2 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the conductive powder is carbon powder. 
     
     
         3 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the conductive powder has a mean particle diameter of 17 microns. 
     
     
         4 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the binder powder is an organic resin. 
     
     
         5 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the binder powder is an epoxy resin powder. 
     
     
         6 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the binder powder is a urethane resin powder. 
     
     
         7 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the binder powder is a polyester resin powder. 
     
     
         8 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the toner regulating member is a doctor bar. 
     
     
         9 . The toner regulating member of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of conductive powder to binder powder is in the range of 30:70 to 44.4:55.6 by weight.