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OTC Introduces Expanded HP 4000 RiteHopper

Long Island City, N.Y. — Optical Technologies announces the release of an expanded toner hopper for the HP 4000, the RiteHopper™. The large capacity RiteHopper holds 750 grams of toner, 50 percent more than the OEM toner fill of 500 grams.

"This hopper will give remanufacturers an opportunity to meet and beat OEM products on every issue," said Lester Cornelius, president of Optical Technologies Corporation. "A remanufacturer can now compete on the basis of image density, yield, and of course, price."

The RiteHopper has been designed and refined to allow for the increased capacity. It is also designed to provide acute angles that keep toner from remaining unused in the hopper. "This product has been in the development stage for years, as we studied the dynamics to toner flow and consumption," said Cornelius. "We have balanced all of the functions of the cartridge against our goal to increase cartridge yield. This product is the result of years of experimentation and testing."

In addition to its increased capacity, the RiteHopper is coated on the inside with a patent pending conductive coating. The coating uses the toner's electrostatic properties to assure that only a trace amount of toner remains, thus further improving efficient toner consumption and increasing the cartridge yield. "The coating uses electrical properties to release toner from the hopper," Cornelius said. "This prevents the common problem of poor toner flow found in other enlarged hoppers."

The RiteHopper helps the remanufacturer address the problem of limited availability of OEM-grade toner. "Most aftermarket HP 4000 toners have higher image densities than the toner available to the OEM," Cornelius said. "However this lowers the cartridge yield. Now it is possible to have excellent image density and higher yield than the OEM — at least 25 percent higher than the 10,000 page OEM HP 4000 cartridge."

Another improved feature of the RiteHopper is the substitution of a specially-designed leak-proof fill plug. "The triangular shaped plug found in the OEM cartridges and other aftermarket toner hoppers have a tendency to leak due to the complex fit of the triangular shaped plug," Cornelius said.

The RiteHopper will be available with an installed RiteSeal™. OTC's unique patented RiteSeals feature a parallel-fiber double-ribbon structure that ensures optimum strength to survive the most grueling shipping tests. "We wanted the world's best hopper to have the world's best seal protecting its integrity," Cornelius said. "And the RiteSeal is the penultimate quality seal available." The RiteHopper is available without a seal for customers that hand-deliver cartridges.

Sales Manager Orson Nicholson recommended using the RiteHopper in conjunction with OTC's remanufactured HP 4000 Ultrastat™ foam PCR coating and Chargelink™ doctor blade film. "There is no superior combination of HP 4000 components available to ensure optimum print density as well as improved yield and performance," Nicholson said.

"OTC developed its HP 4000 UltraStat coating in response to the common practice of substituting a hard rubber PCR for the foam PCR," Nicholson said. "The foam PCR is an essential part of the delicately balanced HP 4000 system, and we were committed to preserving the integrity of that system."

"By incorporating all the OTC HP 4000 products into a cartridge, remanufacturers can now compete on entirely different levels," Cornelius said. "This is the answer to the OEM advertising attack against remanufactured cartridges, especially those that question remanufactured cartridge yields."

The RiteHopper also competes on the basis of yield and print quality. "Higher yield cartridges, with good image densities, have significantly higher profit margins than standard yield cartridges," Cornelius said.

For further information, contact Optical Technologies Corporation at 800-682-7371, fax 800-682-3292 or e mail otcmail1@aol.com.

This article originally appeared in the December 1999 issue of Recharger.