SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONVENTIONAL PARTICLE ROUNDING UTILIZING CONTINUOUS EMULSION-AGGREGATION (EA) TECHNOLOGY

摘要

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a continuous process for rounding conventional toner particles includes forming a conventional toner particle slurry by mixing a dispersant and/or a liquid with dry toner particles, heating the conventional toner particle slurry to a first temperature beyond its glass transition temperature to form a coalesced toner particle slurry, quenching the coalesced toner particle slurry to a second temperature below the glass transition temperature after a residence time has elapsed, and recovering the quenched particle slurry at an outlet wherein the circularity of the conventional toner particles in the quenched toner particle slurry is from approximately 0.940 to 0.999 and the time frame for the heating, quenching and recovering steps is less than 20 minutes. An apparatus for practicing the novel continuous coalescence of toner particles, includes an inlet passage, a first heat exchanger coupled to the inlet passage, a residence time coil coupled to the first heat exchanger, a cooling device coupled to the residence time coil; and an outlet passage coupled to the cooling device.

主权项

1. A continuous process for rounding conventional toner particles comprising;
forming a conventional toner particle slurry by mixing a dispersant and/or a liquid with dry toner particles; heating, in a first heat exchanger, the conventional toner particle slurry to a first temperature beyond its glass transition temperature to form a coalesced toner particle slurry; quenching the coalesced toner particle slurry to a second temperature below the glass transition temperature after a residence time; and recovering the quenched particle slurry at an outlet, wherein the circularity of the conventional toner particles in the quenched toner particle slurry is from approximately 0.940 to 0.999 and the time frame for the heating, quenching and recovering steps is less than 20 minutes.