THE INTEGRAL TONER MANUFACTURING PROCESSStep 1: Raw Material Handling
INTEGRAL uses exclusively the best, specially the raw materials for the manufacturing of copier and printer toners.
At the production site, the raw materials are fed from tote bin containers into the manufacturing process as illustrated on the right.
Step 2: Raw Material Dispensing
To ensure that production takes place to exacting standards, all raw materials are dispensed into the manufacturing process by automatic raw material wheighing systems assuring maximum weight accuracy during recepy processing. The raw material dispensing stations are automated within the total automation system.
Step 3: Raw Material Blending
A high-speed blender mixes the raw materials before compounding and further processing takes place. The high-speed blender too is controlled by automation software.
Step 4: Compounding
Material compounding is one of the most important process steps in the production of toners.Type and quality of the extrusion system used for the compounding is of vital importance in the making of a toner. The illustration shows the extrusion process.
Step 5: Chilling Belt - Pre-crusher
After the compounding, the extruded material is chilled on a cooling belt. The material is delivered in sheet form of 2 mm thickness.
The chilled-down material then enters a pre-crusher breaking it down to beads of an average size of 2mm.
Step 6: Jet Mill
The pre-crushed material is injected into the jet mill, where the particle size is reduced to an average of 7 to 10 micron depending on the toner type.
Step 7: Classifier
The next important step is the removal of toner fines from the jet milled toner. Too fine toner dust, which leads to background on copies or prints and to the contamination of the printing or copying system are removed from the toner by the classification process in this step of production.
Step 8: Additive dispensing
After classification, the raw toner is subjected to coating with external additives.
Again a fully automated dispensing system assures that only the right quantity of the right additives are applied to the toner.
Step 9: External Additive Coating
Additiv coating takes place by means of a high-speed blender.
Step 10: Sieving
When the additive coating process is finished the final toner is ready. Before being filled into tote bins, fiber drums or other containers or cartridges, the toner passes a sieving machine to ensure that possible agglomerations are removed from the toner.
Step 11: The finished toner
The toner is filled into storage containers of fiber drums depending on the further processing.
All containers receive coding specifying the exact weight, production date and other important product relevant information. 
FILLING DEPARTMENTAt INTEGRAL´s filling department, modern filling lines are under use. 
All cartridges get checked for pressure proofness before filling. After the filling takes place with maximum weight accuracy, all cartridges are automatically plugged and pass a cleaning station. This procedure ensures that only clean cartridges are shipped to the customers.
The filled cartridges are set on a conveying belt for further box packing.
CARTRIDGE MANUFACTURING LINE
For more than 10 years, INTEGRAL has engaged in the production of empty copier toner cartridges for the exclusive use with INTEGRAL GI branded toner products. This photo shows cartridge manufacturing at INTEGRAL.
Conveying of the sealed cartridges at INTEGRAL.
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