JP3408082B2 - Electrophotographic photosensitive drum, process cartridge, and electrophotographic image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process cartridge, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum. Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an apparatus that forms an image on a recording medium using an electrophotographic image forming method. Examples of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus include, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, laser beam printer, LED printer, etc.), a facsimile machine, a word processor, and the like.

Further, a process cartridge is a unit in which a charging unit, a developing unit or a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. . Further, at least one of the charging means, the developing means, and the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive drum are integrally made into a cartridge which can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. Furthermore, at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive drum are integrally made into a cartridge so that it can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

[0003]

Each of the techniques described in the publications described later in the description of the conventional technique is very effective as a structure for transmitting a rotational force to the photosensitive drum. The present invention is a further development of the above-mentioned conventional technique.

An object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, which can improve the longitudinal positional accuracy when the electrophotographic photosensitive drum is in operation.

Another object of the present invention is to secure the positioning accuracy of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with respect to the main body of the apparatus by pulling the electrophotographic photosensitive drum toward the main body of the apparatus when the driving force is transmitted. An object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum that can improve quality.

[0006]

A first aspect of the present invention relates to an electrophotographic photosensitive drum used in a process cartridge detachably mountable to the main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus ,
It consists of a cylinder with a photosensitive layer on the surface and a drum flange attached to one end of the cylinder in the longitudinal direction.
And a body coupling member provided on the apparatus body when the process cartridge is mounted on the apparatus body.
Cross section to mate with holes twisted polygonal having, it said
By rotating the twisted hole, the body coupling member
Resulting thrust force to move in the direction, and the body mosquito
A drum flange having a twisted substantially polygonal column projection to which the driving force is transmitted from the pulling member , and the cylinder is attached to the drum flange by caulking the cylinder at one end in the longitudinal direction. And an electrophotographic photosensitive drum.

A second invention according to the present application has a developing roller for developing a latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a process means, and the drum flange is a gear for rotating the developing roller. The electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to the first aspect of the invention.

A third invention according to the present application is the electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to the second invention, wherein the gear is integrally formed with a drum flange.

In a fourth aspect of the present invention, the twisted substantially polygonal prism is a twisted substantially triangular prism, and the polygonal hole is a twisted substantially triangular hole. First to do
Alternatively, it is the electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to the second invention.

[0010]

[0011]

[0012] The fifth invention of the present application is bent off the longitudinal end portions of the cylinder, by fitting into the recess of the drum flange, in that the cylinder which is attached to the drum flange The electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to the first, second, or fourth aspect of the invention.

[0013]

[0014]

[0015]

A sixth invention according to the present application is a process cartridge detachably mountable to the main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus , comprising: a, a cylinder having a photosensitive layer on its surface, and a drum flange attached to one end of the cylinder in the longitudinal direction. so
And a body coupling provided in the apparatus body when the process cartridge is mounted in the apparatus body.
Section with the member to mate with holes twisted polygonal, before
Rotating the twisted hole causes the body coupling part to rotate.
Producing a thrust force moving in the direction of the material , and said book
A drum flange having a twisted substantially polygonal column projection to which a driving force is transmitted from a body coupling member , and the cylinder is crimped at one end in a longitudinal direction to the drum flange. A process cartridge comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive drum that is attached; and b, a process unit that acts on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum.

[0017]

[0018]

[0019]

[0020]

In a seventh aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge is an integrally formed cartridge including the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and at least one of charging means, developing means and cleaning means as the process means. The process cartridge according to the sixth aspect is characterized in that it is attachable to and detachable from the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

An eighth invention according to the present application is an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein a process cartridge is attachable / detachable, and a main body having a twisted hole having a polygonal cross section. Caplin
And a cylinder having a photosensitive layer on the surface, and a drum flange attached to one end of the cylinder in the longitudinal direction.
Yes , the process cartridge is the electrophotographic image forming
When attached to the main body of the apparatus, fitted with the twisted hole
As the twisted hole rotates,
Generate a thrust force that moves in the direction of the ring member, and
A screw to which driving force is transmitted from the main body coupling member
An electrophotographic photosensitive drum in which the drum flange having a protrusion of a substantially polygonal column is attached, and the cylinder is attached to the drum flange by crimping the cylinder at one end in a longitudinal direction, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising: a mounting unit for detachably mounting a process cartridge having a process unit acting on a drum; and c, a transport unit for transporting a recording medium. is there.

[0023]

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrophotographic image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming system forms a latent image by selectively exposing an electrophotographic photosensitive drum uniformly charged by a charging means according to image information. Form. Then, the latent image is developed by the developing means with toner to form a toner image. After that, the toner image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum is transferred to a recording medium by a transfer unit to form an image.

Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an image forming process, an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum are integrally made into a cartridge, and the cartridge is used as a main body of the image forming apparatus. A process cartridge system that can be attached and detached is used. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without resorting to a serviceman, so that the operability can be markedly improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system
It is widely used in image forming apparatuses.

In such a process cartridge, since at least the electrophotographic photosensitive drum is driven,
When the process cartridge is mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus, the power transmission member connected to the drive source on the main body side of the image forming apparatus is connected to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum.

Here, various methods have been considered for rotationally driving the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. One of the methods is, as described in JP-A-62-65049, a pin fixed on the side surface of a gear provided on the main body of the image forming apparatus and a pin fixed on the side surface of the gear provided on the photosensitive drum. This is a method in which the photoconductor drum is rotated by fitting it in the provided recess.

Another method is, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-4252, a method in which a photoconductor drum is rotated by engaging with a helical gear provided in the main body of the image forming apparatus. . Such axial positioning of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum is achieved by using a gear tooth for driving the developing roller provided in the electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a helical gear,
The thrust is generated when the electrophotographic photosensitive drum rotates, and the electrophotographic photosensitive drum is applied to one side in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge frame. The twist angle of such a helical gear is about 20 °.

[0031]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Description of Embodiments of the Invention Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, the process cartridge B
The short side direction means that the process cartridge B is the apparatus main body 1
4 is the direction of attachment / detachment to and from the recording medium 4, and coincides with the recording medium conveyance direction. The longitudinal direction of the process cartridge B means
It is a direction that intersects with the direction in which the process cartridge B is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 14 (a direction that is substantially orthogonal), is parallel to the surface of the recording medium, and is a direction that intersects with the direction in which the recording medium is conveyed (generally orthogonal). . The left and right of the process cartridge refer to the right or left when the recording medium is viewed from above according to the conveyance direction of the recording medium.

FIG. 1 is a structural explanatory view of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an external perspective view thereof. 3 to 8 are drawings relating to a process cartridge to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied. 3 is a side sectional view of the process cartridge, FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing the outline of its appearance, FIG. 5 is its right side view, FIG. 6 is its left side view, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a perspective view as seen, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view as seen from above with the process cartridge turned upside down. Further, in the following description, the upper surface of the process cartridge B is a surface located above when the process cartridge B is mounted in the apparatus main body 14, and the lower surface is a surface located below.

(Electrophotographic Image Forming Apparatus A and Process Cartridge B) First, a laser beam printer A as an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 3 is a side sectional view of the process cartridge B.

As shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam printer A forms an image on a recording medium (for example, recording paper, OHP sheet, cloth, etc.) by an electrophotographic image forming process. Then, a toner image is formed on a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive drum).
Specifically, the photoconductor drum is charged by the charging means, and then the photoconductor drum is irradiated with laser light corresponding to image information from the optical means to form a latent image corresponding to the image information on the photoconductor drum. Then, the latent image is developed by the developing means to form a toner image. Then, in synchronization with the formation of the toner image, the recording medium 2 set in the paper feeding cassette 3a is picked up by a pickup roller 3b and a conveying roller pair 3.
Reversal conveyance is performed by c and 3d and the registration roller pair 3e. Next, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 of the process cartridge B is transferred to the recording medium 2 by applying a voltage to the transfer roller 4 as a transfer unit. After that, the recording medium 2 on which the toner image is transferred is conveyed to the fixing unit 5 by the conveying guide 3f. The fixing unit 5 includes a driving roller 5c and a heater 5a.
b. Then, heat and pressure are applied to the recording medium 2 passing therethrough to fix the transferred toner image. Then, the recording medium 2 is conveyed by the pair of discharge rollers 3g, 3h, 3i and is discharged to the discharge tray 6 through the reversing path 3j. The discharge tray 6 is provided on the upper surface of the apparatus body 14 of the image forming apparatus A. The swingable flapper 3k may be operated to discharge the recording medium 2 by the discharge roller pair 3m without passing through the reversing path 3j. In the present embodiment, the pickup roller 3b, the pair of conveying rollers 3c and 3d, the pair of registration rollers 3e, the conveying guide 3
f, discharge roller pair 3g, 3h, 3i and discharge roller pair 3
The transport means 3 is constituted by m.

On the other hand, in the process cartridge B, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 8, the photosensitive drum 7 having the photosensitive layer 7e (see FIG. 11) is rotated, and the surface thereof is transferred to the charging roller 8 as a charging means. It is uniformly charged by applying the voltage. Then, a laser beam light corresponding to image information from the optical system 1 is irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 7 through the exposure opening 1e to form a latent image. Then, this latent image is developed by the developing means 9 using toner. That is, the charging roller 8
Is provided in contact with the photosensitive drum 7, and charges the photosensitive drum 7. The charging roller 8 is rotated by the photosensitive drum 7. Further, the developing device 9 supplies toner to the developing area of the photosensitive drum 7 to develop the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 7. The optical system 1 includes a laser diode 1a, a polygon mirror 1b, and a lens 1.
c, a reflection mirror 1d.

Here, the developing means 9 is the toner container 1.
The toner inside 1A is rotated by the rotation of the toner feeding member 9b.
It is sent to the developing roller 9c. Then, the developing roller 9c containing the fixed magnet is rotated and the developing blade 9 is rotated.
A toner layer to which a triboelectric charge is applied by d is formed on the surface of the developing roller 9c, and the toner is supplied to the developing area of the photosensitive drum 7. Then, the toner is transferred to the photosensitive drum 7 according to the latent image to form a toner image and visualize it. Here, the developing blade 9d
Defines the amount of toner on the peripheral surface of the developing roller 9c and imparts triboelectric charge. A toner stirring member 9e for circulating toner in the developing chamber is rotatably attached in the vicinity of the developing roller 9c.

Then, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image is applied to the transfer roller 4 to transfer the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 7 to the recording medium 2, and then the cleaning means 1 is used.
The residual toner on the photosensitive drum 7 is removed by 0.
Here, the cleaning unit 10 scrapes off the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 7 by the elastic cleaning blade 10a provided in contact with the photosensitive drum 7, and collects it in the waste toner reservoir 10b.

In the process cartridge B, a toner frame 11 having a toner container (toner storage portion) 11A for storing toner and a developing frame 12 for holding the developing means 9 such as the developing roller 9c are connected. Then, the cleaning means 10 such as the photosensitive drum 7, the cleaning blade 10a, and the cleaning frame 13 to which the charging roller 8 is attached are connected to this. The process cartridge B is installed in the image forming apparatus main body 14 by the operator.
It is removable.

The process cartridge B is provided with an exposure opening 1e for irradiating the photosensitive drum 7 with light according to image information and a transfer opening 13n for facing the photosensitive drum 7 to the recording medium 2. is there. Specifically, the exposure opening 1e is provided in the cleaning frame body 13, and the transfer opening 13n is formed between the developing frame body 12 and the cleaning frame body 13.

Next, the structure of the housing of the process cartridge B according to this embodiment will be described.

In the process cartridge B shown in the present embodiment, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are combined, and the cleaning frame 13 is rotatably connected to the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12. The drum 7, the charging roller 8, the developing means 9, the cleaning means 10 and the like are housed into a cartridge. Then, the process cartridge B is detachably attached to the cartridge attaching means provided in the image forming apparatus main body 14.

(Structure of Housing of Process Cartridge B) The process cartridge B according to the present embodiment is
As described above, the toner frame 11, the developing frame 12 and the cleaning frame 13 are combined to form a housing. Next, the structure will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 20, a toner feeding member 9b is rotatably attached to the toner frame 11. Further, a developing roller 9c and a developing blade 9d are attached to the developing frame 12, and a stirring member 9e for circulating the toner in the developing chamber is rotatably attached in the vicinity of the developing roller 9c. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 19, an antenna rod 9h is attached to the developing frame body 12 so as to face the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 9c and substantially parallel to the developing roller 9c. Then, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are welded (in the present embodiment, ultrasonic welding) to form an integral developing unit D (see FIG. 13) as a second frame.

When the process cartridge B is removed from the main body 14 of the image forming apparatus, the drum shutter member 18 which covers the photosensitive drum 7 and protects the photosensitive drum 7 from being exposed to light for a long time or from contact with foreign matter is provided as a toner developing unit. Is attached to.

As shown in FIG. 6, the drum shutter member 18 is provided with a shutter cover 18a for opening and closing the transfer opening 13n shown in FIG. 3 and links 18b, 18c for supporting the shutter cover 18a. At both ends of the shutter cover 18a in the longitudinal direction, at the upstream side in the transport direction of the recording medium 2, as shown in FIGS.
One end of the right link 18c is pivotally attached to 0g, and one end of the left link 18c is pivotally attached to a boss 11h provided on the lower frame 11b of the toner frame 11 as shown in FIGS. The other end of the links 18c on both sides is the shutter cover 1
It is pivotally connected to the upstream side in the mounting direction of the process cartridge B of 8a. The link 18c is a metal wire, and the portion pivotally attached to the shutter cover 18a is connected between both sides of the process cartridge B, and the left and right links 18c are integral. The link 18b is provided only on one side of the shutter cover 18a. One end of the link 18b is pivotally attached to the shutter cover 18a at the downstream end in the transport direction of the recording medium 2 with respect to the position at which the link 18c is pivotally attached, and the other end is the developing unit. It is pivotally attached to a dowel 12d provided on the frame 12. The link 18b is made of synthetic resin.

The links 18b and 18c have different lengths, and form a four-bar linkage mechanism in which the shutter cover 18a, the frame including the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are linked. The projecting portions 18c1 provided on the links 18c on both sides and projecting laterally come into contact with a fixed member (not shown) provided near the cartridge mounting space S of the image forming apparatus 14,
By moving the process cartridge B, the drum shutter member 18 is operated and the shutter cover 18a is opened.

The shutter cover 18a and the link 18
The drum shutter member 18 composed of b and 18c is the dowel 1
The shutter cover 18a is biased to cover the transfer opening 13n by a torsion coil spring (not shown) that is inserted into the second frame 2d and has one end locked to the link 18b and the other end locked to the developing device frame 12.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 12, each member of the photosensitive drum 7, the charging roller 8 and the cleaning means 10 is attached to the cleaning frame 13 and the cleaning unit C as the first frame (FIG. 12). See).

Then, the developing unit D and the cleaning unit C are rotatably coupled to each other by a coupling member 22 having a round pin, so that the process cartridge B is constructed. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, a round rotation hole 20 is provided parallel to the developing roller 9c at the tip of the arm portion 19 formed on both sides of the developing frame body 12 in the longitudinal direction (axial direction of the developing roller 9c). (See FIG. 13).
On the other hand, recesses 21 are provided at two positions on both sides of the cleaning frame 13 in the longitudinal direction to allow the arm portion 19 to enter (see FIG. 12). The arm portion 19 is inserted into the concave portion 21, the coupling member 22 is press-fitted into the mounting hole 13e of the cleaning frame body 13, and further fitted into the rotation hole 20 at the end of the arm portion 19 and further press-fitted into the inner hole 13e. By being attached, the developing unit D and the cleaning unit C are rotatably connected to each other about the connecting member 22. At this time, the compression coil spring 22a attached to the dowel (not shown) provided upright at the base of the arm portion 19 is attached to the cleaning frame 1.
By hitting the upper wall of the concave portion 3 of FIG. 3 and urging the developing frame body 12 downward by the compression coil spring 22a, the developing roller 9c is surely pressed against the photosensitive drum 7. The upper wall of the recess 21 of the cleaning frame 13 is inclined so that when the developing unit D and the cleaning unit C are assembled, the compression coil spring 22a gradually increases the compression from the non-compression state. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, by mounting the spacer rollers 9i having a diameter larger than that of the developing roller 9c at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 9c, the rollers 9i are pressed against the photosensitive drum 7, and the photosensitive drum 7 and the developing roller 9c. 9c opposes at a constant interval (about 300 μm). Therefore, the developing unit D and the cleaning unit C are rotatable with respect to each other around the coupling member 22, and therefore, due to the elastic force of the compression coil spring 22a, the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 and the peripheral surface of the developing roller 9c. The positional relationship of can be maintained.

Since the compression coil spring 22a is attached to the developing device frame 12 on the base side of the arm portion 19 as described above, the pressing force of the compression coil spring 22a does not reach to the portion other than the base of the arm portion 19, so that the developing device frame 12 is exposed. Even if the surroundings of the spring seat are not particularly strengthened so that the attached member serves as a spring seat, the base side of the arm portion 19 has a large strength and rigidity, so that it is effective in maintaining accuracy.

The joint structure of the cleaning frame 13 and the developing frame 12 will be described in detail later.

(Structure of Guide Means for Process Cartridge B) Next, the guide means for attaching and detaching the process cartridge B to and from the apparatus main body 14 will be described. The guide means is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. 9 is a perspective view of the left side when viewed in the direction (arrow X) in which the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus main assembly A (when viewed from the developing unit D side). FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the right side thereof.

Now, as shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7, guide means for guiding the process cartridge B to and from the apparatus main body 14 is provided on both outer side surfaces of the cleaning frame 13. Is provided. The guide means is a cylindrical guide 13aR serving as a positioning guide member,
13aL and non-rotation guides 13bR, 13bL as guide members that serve as posture holding means at the time of attachment / detachment.

As shown in FIG. 5, the cylindrical guide 13a.
R is a hollow cylindrical member, and the rotation prevention guide 13bR
Is integrally molded with the cylindrical guide 13aR, and integrally projects from the circumference of the cylindrical guide 13aR in a substantially radial direction. The cylindrical guide 13aR has a mounting flange 13a
R1 is provided integrally. In this way, the cylindrical guide 13aR, the detent guide 13bR, the mounting flange 13
The right guide member 13R having aR1 is the mounting flange 1
The machine screw 13aR2 is screwed into and fixed to the cleaning frame 13 through the machine screw hole 3aR1. The detent guide 13bR of the right-side guide member 13R fixed to the cleaning frame 13 is extended to the side of a later-described developing holder 40 fixed to the developing frame 12 so that the developing frame 12 can be extended.
Is disposed on the side surface side of.

As shown in FIG. 6, the enlarged diameter portion 7a of the drum shaft 7a is inserted into the hole 13k1 (see FIG. 11) of the cleaning frame body 13.
2 is fitted. Then, the positioning pin 13c protruding to the side surface of the cleaning frame body 13 is fitted and fixed to the cleaning frame body 13 to prevent rotation, and the flat plate-shaped flange 29 fixed to the cleaning frame body 13 by a small screw 13d is placed outward (perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 6). The cylindrical guide 13aL is provided so as to protrude toward the front. The fixed drum shaft 7a for rotatably supporting the spur gear 7n fitted in the photosensitive drum 7 is provided inside the flange 29 (see FIG. 11). The cylindrical guide 13aL and the drum shaft 7a are coaxial. The flange 29, the cylindrical guide 13aL, and the drum shaft 7a
Are integrally or integrally made of a metallic material, such as iron.

As shown in FIG. 6, the cylindrical guide 13aL
A long distance from the cylindrical guide 13aL, which is elongated in the radial direction of the cylindrical guide 13aL.
Is integrally formed with the cleaning frame 13 so as to project laterally. The flange 29 is cut out at a portion where the anti-rotation guide 13bL interferes with the flange 29, and the protrusion height of the anti-rotation guide 13bL to the side is such that the top surface is substantially the same as the top surface of the anti-rotation guide 13bL. is there. The detent guide 13bL extends to the side of the developing roller bearing box 9v fixed to the developing device frame 12. As described above, the left guide member 13L is provided as a separate member by separating the metal cylindrical guide 13aL and the synthetic resin anti-rotation guide 13bL.

Next, the upper surface 13i of the cleaning unit C
The regulation contact portion 13j provided in the above will be described. Here, the upper surface is a surface located above when the process cartridge B is mounted in the image forming apparatus main body 14.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the upper surface 13i of the cleaning unit C is restricted by the right end 13p and the left end 13q in the direction orthogonal to the process cartridge mounting direction. A contact portion 13j is provided. The restriction contact portion 13j defines the position of the process cartridge B when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 14. That is, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus image forming main body 14, the regulation contact portion 13j contacts the fixing member 25 (see FIGS. 9, 10, and 30) provided on the image forming apparatus main body 14. In contact with each other, the process cartridge B is defined in a rotational position about the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL.

Next, the guide means on the image forming apparatus main body 14 side will be described. Opening / closing member 35 of the image forming apparatus main body 14
1 is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 about the fulcrum 35a, the upper portion of the image forming apparatus main body 14 is opened, and the mounting portion of the process cartridge B looks like FIG. 9 and FIG. When viewed from the attaching / detaching direction of the process cartridge B on the inner walls on the left and right sides of the image forming apparatus main body 14 through the opening of the opening / closing member 35, guide members 16R and 16L are provided on the left side as shown in FIG. It is provided.

As shown in the drawing, the guide members 16R, 16L
Each of the guide portions 16a, 1 is provided so as to be inclined downward as viewed from the arrow X in the insertion direction of the process cartridge B.
6c and the cylindrical guides 13aR, 13a of the process cartridge B connected to the guide portions 16a, 16c, respectively.
It is provided with semicircular positioning grooves 16b and 16d into which L is just fitted. The peripheral walls of the positioning grooves 16b and 16d are cylindrical. The centers of the positioning grooves 16b and 16d are the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL of the process cartridge B when the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus main body 14.
Coincides with the center of the photosensitive drum 7, and thus also coincides with the center line of the photosensitive drum 7.

The widths of the guide portions 16a and 16c are the cylindrical guides 13a when viewed from the mounting and demounting direction of the process cartridge B.
R and 13aL have a width that allows loose fitting. Cylindrical guide 13
Although the detent guides 13bR and 13bL each having a narrower width than the diameters of aR and 13aL fit in loosely, the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL and the detent guide 13 are naturally fitted.
Rotation of the bR and 13bL is restricted by the guide portions 16a and 16c, and the process cartridge B is mounted while keeping the posture in a certain range. When the process cartridge B is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 14, the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL of the process cartridge B are installed.
Are positioning grooves 16b of the guide members 13R and 13L,
While being fitted to 16d, the regulation contact portions 13j on the left and right ends of the cleaning frame 13 of the process cartridge B are brought into contact with the fixed member 25 of the apparatus main body 14.

In the process cartridge B described above, if the center lines connecting the centers of the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL are kept horizontal on the cleaning unit C side and the developing unit D side, the developing unit D side is closer to the cleaning unit C side than the cleaning unit C side. The weight distribution is such that a large first moment is generated.

To mount the process cartridge B on the main body 14 of the image forming apparatus, the ribs 11c on the concave portion 17 side and the lower side of the toner frame 11 are held with one hand, and the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL are respectively attached. Inserted into the guide portions 16a, 16c of the cartridge mounting portion of the main body 14, and then, when viewed from the insertion direction, the process cartridge B is moved forward and downward, and the detent guides 13bR, 13bL are guided to the guide portions 16a, 16c of the image forming apparatus main body 14. insert. Cylindrical guides 13aR, 13a of the process cartridge B
L, the rotation-stop guides 13bR, 13bL proceed to the inner side along the guide portions 16a, 16c of the image forming apparatus main body 14, and the cylindrical guides 13aR,
13aL is a positioning groove 16b of the image forming apparatus main body 14,
When it reaches 16d, the cylindrical guides 13aR, 13a
L is seated by the gravity of the process cartridge B at the positions of the positioning grooves 16b and 16d. As a result, the cylindrical guides 13aR, 13aL of the process cartridge B are accurately positioned with respect to the positioning grooves 16b, 16d. Since the center line connecting the centers of the cylindrical guides 13aR, 13aL is the center line of the photoconductor drum 7, the photoconductor drum 7 is roughly positioned in the image forming apparatus body 14.
Finally, the position of the photosensitive drum with respect to the apparatus main body 14 is determined with the coupling being coupled.

In this state, the fixing member 25 of the image forming apparatus main body 14 and the regulation contact portion 13 of the process cartridge B are provided.
j has a slight gap. When the hand holding the process cartridge B is released here, the developing unit D side of the process cartridge B goes down around the cylindrical guides 13aR, 13aL, and the cleaning unit C side goes up, so that the process cartridge B has a restricting contact portion. 13j contacts the fixing member 25 of the image forming apparatus main body 14, and the process cartridge B is accurately attached to the image forming apparatus main body 14. After that, the opening / closing member 35 is attached to the fulcrum 3 in FIG.
Rotate clockwise around 5a to close.

The process cartridge B is removed from the main assembly 14 of the apparatus in the reverse order of the above. , The cylindrical guide 13aR of the process cartridge B,
13aL rotates about the positioning grooves 16b and 16d of the apparatus main body 14, and the regulating contact portion 1 of the process cartridge B is rotated.
3j separates from the fixing member 25 of the apparatus body 14. When the process cartridge B is further pulled, the cylindrical guide 13a
Guide members 16R and 16L in which R and 13aL are fixed to the apparatus body 14 by escaping from the positioning grooves 16b and 16d
When the process cartridge B is pulled up as it is, the cylindrical guides 13aR and 13aL of the process cartridge B and the detent guides 13bR and 13bL of the process cartridge B are guided to the guide portions 16a and 16b of the apparatus main body 14, respectively.
The process cartridge B is lifted by moving in 16c, whereby the posture of the process cartridge B is regulated, and the process cartridge B is taken out of the apparatus main body 14 without hitting other parts of the apparatus main body 14.

As shown in FIG. 12, the spur gear 7n
Is provided at the end of the photosensitive drum 7 on the side opposite to the helical drum gear 7b in the axial direction. This spur gear 7n is
When the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus main body 14, a driving force that meshes with a gear (not shown) coaxial with the transfer roller 4 provided in the apparatus main body 14 to rotate the transfer roller 4 is applied to the process cartridge B. Communicate from.

(Toner Frame) FIG. 3, FIG. 5, FIG. 7, FIG.
The toner frame body will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 20 is a perspective view before the toner seal is welded, and FIG. 21 is a perspective view after the toner is filled.

As shown in FIG. 3, the toner frame 11 is composed of two parts, an upper frame 11a and a lower frame 11b. As shown in FIG. 1, the upper frame 11a bulges upward so as to occupy the space on the right side of the optical system 1 of the main body 14 of the image forming apparatus, and thus the image forming apparatus A is not enlarged. The amount of toner in the process cartridge B is increased. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 7, a concave portion 17 is provided from the outside at the center of the upper frame body 11a in the longitudinal direction, and has a function of a handle. Then, the operator manually holds the recess 17 of the upper frame 11a and the lower frame 1 by hand.
Hold the bottom of 1b. The longitudinal ribs 11c provided on one side of the recess 17 and on the lower side of the lower frame 11b serve as a slip stopper when the process cartridge B is held. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the flange 11a1 of the upper frame body 11a is fitted to the flange 11b1 with a peripheral edge of the lower frame body 11b, aligned at the welding surface U, and the welding ribs are melted by ultrasonic welding to form both frames. The bodies 11a and 11b are integrated. However, the joining method is not limited to ultrasonic welding, and may be, for example, thermal welding, forced vibration, or adhesion. When ultrasonically welding both the frame bodies 11a and 11b, the above-mentioned flange 11b1 is used.
In addition to supporting 11b, a step 11m is provided above the opening 11i on substantially the same plane as the flange 11b1. The structure for providing the step portion 11m will be described later.

Prior to joining the two frame members 11a and 11b together, the toner feeding member 9 is placed inside the lower frame member 11b.
Incorporate b. Further, as shown in FIG. 16, the coupling member 11 is engaged with the end of the toner feeding member 9b.
e is assembled from the hole 11e1 of the side plate of the toner frame 11. The hole 11e1 is provided at one end in the longitudinal direction of the lower frame body 11b. A toner filling port 11d having a substantially right triangle shape for filling the toner is provided on the same side as the hole 11e1. The edge of the toner filling port 11d has one side on the right side along the vicinity of the seam of the upper and lower toner frames 11a and 11b, one side in the vertical direction perpendicular to this side, and a hypotenuse along the lower side of the lower frame 11b. . Therefore, the maximum size of the toner filling port 11d can be adopted. Therefore, the hole 11e1 and the toner filling port 11d are provided side by side. Further, as shown in FIG. 20, in the longitudinal direction of the toner frame body 11, the opening 11 of the toner frame body 11 for sending the toner from the toner frame body 11 to the developing frame body 12 is formed.
i is provided, and a seal (described later) is welded so as to cover the opening 11i. After that, the toner filling port 11
The toner is filled from d, and the toner filling port 11d is covered with the toner cap 11f as shown in FIG. 21 to complete the toner unit J. The toner cap 11f is made of polyethylene, polypropylene or the like, and is press-fitted or adhered to a toner filling port 11d provided in the toner frame 11 to prevent the toner cap 11f from coming off. Toner unit J
Is ultrasonically welded to a developing device frame 12, which will be described later, to form a developing unit D. However, the joining method is not limited to ultrasonic welding, but may be performed by adhesion or snap fitting using elastic force.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the toner frame 11
The slope K of the lower frame 11b of FIG. 2 is inclined at an angle θ that naturally drops when the toner is consumed, that is, the slope K and the horizontal line of the process cartridge B attached to the apparatus main body 14 in a state where the apparatus main body 14 is horizontal. The angle θ with Z is about 65
The degree of about 0 is preferable. Further, the lower frame body 11b is provided with a concave portion 11 downward so as to escape the rotation region of the toner feeding member 9b.
has g. The rotation diameter of the toner feeding member 9b is 37
It is about mm. The concave portion 11g may be recessed by about 0 mm to 10 mm from the extension line of the slope K. If the concave portion 11g is located above the slope K, the toner that naturally falls from above the slope K will not be sent to the inside of the developing frame 12 from the toner between the concave portion 11g and the slope K, and the toner will not be transferred. However, in the present embodiment, the toner can be reliably sent from the toner frame 11 to the developing frame 12.

The toner feeding member 9b is made of a rod-shaped iron material having a diameter of about 2 mm and has a crank shape. It is pivotally attached to the hole 11r of the portion of the body 11 facing the opening 11i and the other is fixed to the coupling member 11e (the coupling portion is not visible in FIG. 20).

As described above, by providing the concave portion 11g as the escape of the toner feeding member 9b on the bottom surface of the toner frame 11, stable toner feeding performance can be obtained without increasing the cost.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 20, and 22, the toner frame 1 is attached to the joint portion of the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12.
An opening portion 11i for sending the toner from 1 to the developing device frame 12 is provided. A concave surface 11 is formed around the opening 11i.
k is provided. Directly in the longitudinal direction of the upper and lower flanges 11j and 11j1 of the concave surface 11k, the groove 1 is formed on both edges.
1n are provided in parallel. In addition, this concave surface 11k
The upper flange 11j has a gate shape, and the lower flange 11j1 intersects the concave surface 11k.
As shown in FIG. 22, the bottom 11n2 of the groove 11n is located outside the concave surface 11k (toward the developing frame 12). Note that the flange 11j of the opening 11i may be frame-shaped and may be a single plane, as shown in the schematic view of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 19, the surface of the developing frame 12 facing the toner frame 11 is a flat surface 12u.
A flange 12e parallel to the plane 12u is provided at a position retracted from the plane 12u on the upper and lower sides and the longitudinal side of the 2u in a frame-like closed shape, and the toner frame body is provided along the longitudinal direction at the edge of the flange 12e. A protrusion 12v that fits into the groove 11n of the groove 11 is provided. A triangular protrusion 12v1 for ultrasonic welding is provided on the top surface of the protrusion 12v (see FIG. 22). Therefore, the toner frame body 11 and the developing frame body 12 after the parts are respectively assembled are
The first groove 11n and the protrusion 11v of the developing device frame 12 are fitted and ultrasonically welded along the longitudinal direction (details will be described later).

As shown in FIG. 21, a cover film 51 which is easy to tear in the longitudinal direction is attached to the concave surface 11k so as to close the opening 11i of the toner frame 11. The cover film 51 has the opening 1 at the concave surface 11k.
The toner is attached to the toner frame 11 along the four edges of 1i. A tear tape 52 for tearing the cover film 51 is welded to the cover film 51 in order to open the opening 11i. The tear tape 52 is folded back at one end 52b in the longitudinal direction of the opening 11i and attached to the end in the longitudinal direction of the plane of the developing device frame 12 which faces the toner frame 11, and is elastic such as felt. The sealing material 54 (see FIG. 19) and the toner frame 11
The end portion 52a that is pulled out to the outside through the gap and that is pulled out to the outside of the tear tape 52 is a handle member 11t that serves as a handle.
Is attached (see FIGS. 6, 20, and 21). The handle member 11t is integrally formed with the toner frame 11, and the portion connected to the toner frame 11 is made particularly thin so that it can be separated. The end portion of the tear tape 52 is attached to the handle member 11t. . A synthetic resin film tape 55 having a small friction coefficient is attached to the inside of the surface of the sealing material 54. Furthermore, an elastic seal material 56 is attached to the flat surface 12e at the end opposite to the position where the elastic seal material 54 is attached in the longitudinal direction (FIG. 19).

The above-mentioned elastic sealing materials 54 and 56 are attached to the flange 12e at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the flange 12e over the entire width in the lateral direction. The elastic sealing members 54 and 56 are aligned with the flanges 11j at both ends of the concave surface 11k in the longitudinal direction, and also overlap the projection 12v over the entire width of the flange 11j in the lateral direction.

Furthermore, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 1
In order to facilitate the alignment of the two frame bodies 11 and 12 when the two are coupled, the flange 11j of the toner frame body 11 is fitted with the cylindrical dowel 12w1 and the rectangular dowel 12w2 provided on the developing frame body 12. A matching round hole 11r and a square hole 11q are provided. Here, the round hole 11r closely fits the dowel 12w1, the square hole 11q tightly fits the dowel 12w2 in the lateral direction, and roughly engages in the longitudinal direction.

When the toner frame body 11 and the developing frame body 12 are joined together, the toner frame body 11 and the developing frame body 12 are independently assembled as a component. After that, the cylindrical dowel 12w1 and the rectangular dowel 12w2 for positioning the developing device frame 12 are fitted into the round holes 11r and 11q for positioning the toner frame 11, respectively. In addition, the developing frame 1 is inserted into the groove 11n of the toner frame 11.
Insert the 2 ridges 12v, respectively. Then, the toner frame 1
When 1 and the developing device frame 12 are pressed against each other, the sealing material 54,
Reference numeral 56 denotes the flanges 11 at both ends of the toner frame 11 in the longitudinal direction.
The protrusions 12z, which are compressed in contact with j and are integrally formed in the lateral direction on both sides of the plane 12u of the developing frame 12 in the lateral direction, approach the flange 11j of the toner frame 11. Here, to allow passage of the tear tape 52,
The protrusions 12z are provided only on both sides of the tear tape 52 in the width direction (widthwise direction).

In the above state, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12
Is applied to apply ultrasonic vibration between the protrusion 12v and the groove 11n, and the triangular protrusion 12v1 is melted by frictional heat to be welded to the bottom of the groove 11n. As a result, the toner frame 1
The edge 11n1 of the first groove 11n and the protruding ridge 12z for the spacer of the developing device frame 12 are brought into close contact with the mating member, respectively, and between the opposing flat surface 12u of the developing device frame 12 facing the concave surface 11k of the toner frame 11. There is a space where the edges are closely attached. The cover film 51 and the tear tape 52 are housed in this space.

In order to send the toner contained in the toner frame 11 to the developing frame 12, the end portion 52 of the tear tape 52 protruding to the outside of the process cartridge B is discharged.
The base side of the handle member 11t shown in FIG.
When the operator manually pulls the handle member 11t after separating or tearing it off, the cover film 51 is torn, the opening 11i of the toner frame 11 is opened, and the toner is removed from the toner frame 11 to the developing frame. It can be delivered to the body 12. Then, the elastic sealing members 54 and 56 remain in the flat strip-shaped six-cube shape, and the flange 1 of the toner frame 11 is kept.
Since both ends of 1j in the longitudinal direction are deformed so that only the thickness is reduced, the sealing property is good.

As described above, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are
Since the opposing surface of the tear tape 5 is formed by applying a force for tearing the cover film 51 to the tear tape 52.
2 can be smoothly pulled out from between both frame bodies 11 and 12.

Furthermore, the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12
When ultrasonic welding is performed, frictional heat is generated, and the frictional heat melts the triangular protrusion 12v1. Due to this frictional heat,
The toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 may be thermally deformed due to thermal stress. However, according to the present embodiment, the groove 11n of the toner frame 11 and the protrusion 12v of the developing frame 12 are fitted over substantially the entire range in the longitudinal direction, and when the two frames 11 and 12 are joined together, Since the periphery of the welded portion is reinforced, thermal deformation due to thermal stress is unlikely to occur.

The material for forming the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 is plastic such as polystyrene or AB.
S resin Acrylonitrile / butadiene / styrene copolymer, polycarbonate, polyethylene, polypropylene and the like.

Here, FIG. 3 shows a side sectional view of the toner frame 11 used in the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, the joining surface JP where the toner frame 11 is joined to the developing frame 12 is arranged in a substantially vertical direction.

The toner frame 11 used in this embodiment will be described in more detail. In order to efficiently drop the one-component toner stored in the toner container 11A toward the opening 11i, the two slopes K and L are provided. Both the slopes K and L are provided over the entire width of the toner frame 11 in the longitudinal direction. The slope L is arranged above the opening 11i, and the slope K is arranged on the inner side of the opening 11i (in the lateral direction of the toner frame 11). The slope L is formed on the upper frame 11a, and the slope K is on the lower frame 11a.
b. Further, the slope L is a vertical direction or a surface downward from the vertical direction when the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus main body 14. The slope K is
The angle θ3 with respect to the line m orthogonal to the joining surface JP of the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 is about 20 to 40 degrees. In other words, in the present embodiment, when the lower frame body 11b is joined to the upper frame body 11a, the shape of the upper frame body 11a is defined so that the lower frame body 11b can be installed at the installation angle. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the toner container 11A containing the toner can efficiently supply the toner toward the opening 11i.

Next, the developing frame will be described in more detail.

(Developing Frame) The developing frame 12 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing a state in which each component is incorporated in the developing frame body 12, FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing a state in which the developing unit drive transmission unit DG is incorporated in the developing frame body 12, and FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the drive transmission unit DG. FIG. 17 is a side view showing the developing unit in a state where it is not attached, FIG. 17 is a side view of the developing unit drive transmission unit DG as seen from the inside, and FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing the inside of the bearing box.

As described above, the developing roller body 12 includes the developing roller 9c, the developing blade 9d, the toner stirring member 9e, and the antenna rod 9h for detecting the remaining amount of toner.

As shown in FIG. 14, the developing blade 9d comprises a sheet metal 9d1 having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm, a urethane rubber 9d2, and
Is fixed by hot melt, double-sided adhesive tape or the like, and the amount of toner on the peripheral surface of the developing roller 9c is regulated by the urethane rubber 9d2 contacting the generatrix of the developing roller 9c. Dowels 12i1 (ells), square protrusions 12i3, and screw holes 12i2 are provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction of a blade abutting plane 12i as a blade mounting portion provided on the developing device frame 12. Therefore, the holes 9d3 and the cuts 9d5 provided in the sheet metal 9d1 are formed in the dowels 1 and 2, respectively.
2i1 and projection 12i3 are fitted. After that, sheet metal 9d1
Through the screw hole 9d4 provided in the female screw 9d6 and screwing the machine screw 9d6 into the female screw 12i2.
Fixed to. An elastic seal member 12s such as a maltoprene is attached to the developing frame 12 along the upper longitudinal direction of the sheet metal 9d1 to prevent the toner from leaking to the outside. Further, the elastic seal members 12s1 are attached from both ends of the elastic seal member 12s to the arc surface 12j along the developing roller 9c. Furthermore, a thin elastic seal member 12s2 that is in contact with the generatrix of the developing roller 9c is attached to the lower jaw 12h.

Here, one end of the sheet metal 9d1 of the developing blade 9d is bent at about 90 ° to form a bent portion 9d1a.

Next, the developing roller unit G is shown in FIG.
4 and FIG. Developing roller unit G
Is a developing roller 9c, a spacer roller 9i for keeping the distance between the peripheral surface of the developing roller 9c and the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 7 constant, and this spacer roller 9i is made of an electrically insulating material made of synthetic resin. 7 aluminum Al
(All) cylindrical part and aluminum A of developing roller 9c
It also serves as a sleeve cap that covers both ends of the developing roller 9c so that the cylindrical portion made of l (L) does not leak.
A developing roller bearing 9j for rotatably supporting the developing roller 9c and positioning it on the developing device frame body 12 (particularly enlarged in FIG. 14) is driven by a helical gear drum gear 7b provided on the photosensitive drum 7. A developing roller gear 9k (helical gear) for rotating the developing roller 9c, a developing coil spring contact 91l (one end) fitted to the end portion of the developing roller 9c (see FIG. 18), and the developing roller. It is unitized by a magnet 9g provided inside 9c for adhering toner to the peripheral surface of the developing roller 9c. Although the bearing box 9v is already attached to the developing roller unit G in FIG. 14, the developing roller unit G has the rear bearing box 9v mounted on the side plates 12A and 12B of the developing device frame 12 and attached to the developing device frame 12. When installing the bearing box 9v
Some are combined with.

In this developing roller unit G, as shown in FIG. 14, a metal flange 9p is fitted and fixed to one end of the developing roller 9c, and the developing roller gear mounting shaft portion 9p1 projects outwardly from the flange 9p. The developing roller gear mounting shaft portion 9p1 has a two-sided width portion in the cylindrical portion, and the developing roller gear 9k made of synthetic resin is fitted into the cylindrical portion with the two-sided width portion to prevent rotation. . Developing roller gear 9k
When the bevel gear is rotated, the thrust in the axial direction is twisted toward the center of the developing roller 9c (see FIG. 38). D of magnet 9g passes through this flange 9p
A cut circular shaft 9g1 is projected to the outside. One of the missing circular shafts 9g1 has a drive transmission unit DG described later.
It is fitted in the developing holder 40 and is non-rotatably supported. The above-mentioned developing roller bearing 9j is provided with a round hole having a rotation preventing projection 9j5 protruding inward, and a C-shaped bearing 9j4 is just fitted into this round hole, and the flange 9p is rotatably attached to the bearing 9j4. It is fitted. The developing roller bearing 9j is fitted into the slit 12f of the developing device frame 12, the protrusion 40f of the developing holder 40 is inserted into the hole 12g of the developing device frame 12 and the hole 9j1 of the developing roller bearing 9j, and the developing holder 40 is moved to the developing device frame 12 It is held by fixing to. The bearing 9j4 has a collar and only the collar portion is C-shaped. However, it does not matter if the entire axial section is C-shaped. The hole into which the bearing 9j1 of the developing roller bearing 9j is fitted is a stepped hole, and the rotation preventing projection 9j5 is a bearing 9j.
It is provided in the large diameter portion into which the collar 4 is fitted. The bearing 9j and the bearing 9f described later are made of polyacetal, polyamide or the like.

Both ends of a magnet 9g which is inserted through the hollow cylindrical developing roller 9c protrudes from the developing roller 9c to both ends, and a circular shaft 9g1 at the other end is provided in a developing roller bearing box 9v shown in FIG. It fits into the D-shaped support hole 9v3 that is on the upper side and is not visible. A hollow journal 9w made of an insulating member is fitted and fixed on the inner periphery of the end of the developing roller 9c.
The diameter-reduced cylindrical portion 9w1 integrated with the journal 9w insulates the developing roller 9c from the developing coil spring contact 9l (el) which is electrically connected to the developing roller 9c. The flanged bearing 9f is a synthetic resin insulator and is fitted into a bearing fitting hole 9v4 which is concentric with the magnet support hole 9v3. The key portion 9f1 provided integrally with the bearing 9f is fitted in the key groove 9v5 provided in the bearing fitting hole 9v4, whereby the bearing 9f is prevented from rotating.

The above-mentioned bearing fitting hole 9v4 has a bottom, and this bottom has an inner end portion of the developing bias contact 121 in the shape of a hollow disk. Developing roller bearing box 9v and developing roller 9c
When the developing bias contact 121 is assembled, the metal developing coil spring contact 9l (L) is contracted and pressed against the developing bias contact 121. The developing bias contact 121 is bent from the outer diameter of the disk-shaped portion, is fitted into the axial recess 9v6 of the bearing fitting hole 9v4, and extends through the outside of the bearing 9f. The second lead-out portion 121 which is fitted into the notch 9v7 at the end of the bearing fitting hole 9v4 and is bent after 121a.
b, the third lead-out portion 1 bent from the second lead-out portion 121b
21c, a fourth lead-out portion 121d bent outward from the third lead-out portion 121c in the radial direction when viewed from the developing roller 9c,
The external contact portion 121e is bent in the same direction from the fourth lead portion 121d. Such a developing bias contact 12
In order to support 1, the supporting portion 9v8 projects toward the developing roller bearing box 9v toward the inner side in the longitudinal direction.
Reference numeral 8 is in contact with the third and fourth lead portions 121c and 121d and the external contact portion 121e. Further, the second lead-out portion 121b has a stop hole 121f that is press-fitted into the dowel 9v9 that projects inward in the longitudinal direction on the back side of the developing roller bearing box 9v.
The external contact portion 121e of the developing bias contact 121 comes into contact with a developing bias contact member 125 on the side of the apparatus body 14 which will be described later when the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus body 14. As a result, a developing bias is applied to the developing roller 9c.

The developing roller bearing box 9v is fitted with two cylindrical projections 9v1 and a hole 12m provided at one longitudinal end of the developing device frame 12 shown in FIG. The box 9v is positioned with respect to the developing device frame 12. Further, a small screw (not shown) is inserted into the screw hole 9v2 of the developing roller bearing box 9v and is screwed into the female screw 12c of the developing frame body 12 to fix the developing roller bearing box 9v to the developing frame body 12.

As described above, in this embodiment, the developing roller unit G is first assembled by mounting the developing roller 9c on the developing device frame 12. Then, the assembled developing roller unit G is attached to the developing device frame 12.

The assembling of the developing roller unit G is performed in the next step. First, a magnet 9g is inserted into a developing roller 9c incorporating a flange 9p, and a journal 9w and a developing coil spring contact 9l are provided at one end of the developing roller 9c.
(L) is attached, spacer rollers 9i are attached to both ends, and developing roller bearings 9j are attached to the outer sides thereof. Next, the developing roller gear 9k is attached to the developing roller gear attaching shaft portion 9p1 at one end of the developing roller 9c. Then, at both ends of the developing roller 9c to which the developing roller gear 9k is attached, a magnet 9g having a D-cut tip is formed.
The missing circular shaft 9g1 is projected. In this way
The developing roller unit G is configured.

Next, the antenna rod 9h for detecting the remaining amount of toner will be described. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 19, one end of the antenna rod 9h is bent into a crank shape. The contact portion 9h1 (toner remaining amount detection contact 122) at this one end contacts with a toner detection contact member 126, which will be described later, attached to the apparatus main body 14 and is electrically connected thereto. To attach the antenna rod 9h to the developing device frame 12, first attach the tip of the antenna rod 9h to the side plate 1 of the developing device frame 12.
The through hole 12b provided in 2B is penetrated and inserted into the inside. Then, the tip is supported in a hole (not shown) provided on the opposite side surface of the developing device frame 12. Thus, the antenna rod 9h is positioned and supported by the through hole 12b and the hole (not shown). In addition, a seal member (not shown) (for example, a synthetic resin ring, felt, sponge, or the like) is inserted into the through hole 12b in order to prevent toner from entering.

When the developing roller bearing box 9v is attached to the developing device frame 12, the arm portion of the crank-shaped contact portion 9h1 prevents the developing roller bearing box 9v from moving and the antenna rod 9h moves outside. It is in a position where you cannot escape.

Here, the side plate 12A of the developing frame body 12 on the side into which the tip of the antenna rod 9h is inserted extends to the side surface side of the toner frame body 11 when the toner frame body 11 and the developing frame body 12 are joined. And partially covers the toner cap 11f so as to face the toner cap 11f provided on the toner lower frame 11b. Also, the side plate 12A has holes 12x as shown in FIG.
The shaft coupling portion 9s1 (FIG. 15) of the toner feeding gear 9s for transmitting the driving force to the toner feeding member 9b is inserted into the hole 12x. The toner feeding gear 9s is engaged with the end portion of the toner feeding member 9b and is rotatably supported by the toner frame body 11.
1e (see FIGS. 16 and 20) is integrally provided with a shaft coupling portion 9s1 for transmitting a driving force to the toner feeding member 9b.

As shown in FIG. 19, a toner stirring member 9e is rotatably supported on the developing device frame 12 in parallel with the antenna rod 9h. The toner stirring member 9e has a crank shape and one journal is fitted in a bearing hole (not shown) of the side plate 12B, and the other journal integrally has a shaft portion rotatably supported by the side plate 12A shown in FIG. The rotation of the stirring gear 9m is transmitted to the toner stirring member 9e by fitting into the toner stirring gear 9m and hooking the crank arm in the notch of the shaft portion.

Next, the transmission of the driving force to the developing unit D will be described.

As shown in FIG. 15, the support hole 40a of the developing holder 40 is fitted into the broken circular shaft 9g1 of the D-cut magnet 9g and is non-rotatably supported. When the developing holder 40 is attached to the developing device frame 12, the developing roller gear 9k meshes with the gear 9q of the gear train GT, and the toner stirring gear 9m meshes with the small gear 9s2. As a result, the toner feeding gear 9s
Also, the toner stirring gear 9m can receive the driving force from the developing roller gear 9k.

All gears from the gear 9q to the toner feeding gear 9s are idler gears. A gear 9q meshing with the developing roller gear 9k and a small gear 9q1 integral with the gear 9q are rotatably supported by a dowel 40b integral with the developing holder 40. The large gear 9r that meshes with the small gear 9q1 and this gear 9
The small gear 9r1 integral with r is rotatably supported by a dowel 40c integral with the developing holder 40. The small gear 9r1 meshes with the toner feeding gear 9s. Toner feed gear 9s
Is rotatably supported by a dowel 40d provided integrally with the developing holder 40. The toner feeding gear 9s is the shaft coupling portion 9s.
Has 1. A small gear 9s2 meshes with the toner feeding gear 9s. The small gear 9s2 is rotatably supported by a dowel 40e provided integrally with the developing holder 40. The dowels 40b, 40c, 40d and 40e have a diameter of about 5 to 6 mm and support each gear of the gear train GT.

With the above structure, the gears constituting the gear train can be supported by the same member (the developing holder 40 in this embodiment). Therefore, regarding the assembly, the gear train GT can be partially assembled to the developing holder 40, and the assembly process can be dispersed and simplified. That is, the antenna rod 9h and the toner stirring member 9e are attached to the developing device frame 12, the developing roller unit G is attached to the developing device drive transmission unit DG, and the gear box 9v is attached to the developing device frame 12 at the same time. Complete D.

Further, in FIG. 19, 12p is an opening, which is provided along the longitudinal direction of the developing device frame 12. The opening 12p faces the opening 11i of the toner frame 11 in a state where the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are combined. Then, the toner contained in the toner frame 11 can be supplied to the developing roller 9c. The stirring member 9e and the antenna rod 9h are attached along the entire length of the opening 12p in the longitudinal direction.

The material for forming the developing frame 12 is the same as the material for the toner frame 11 described above.

(Construction of Electric Contact) Next, when the process cartridge B is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 14, connection and arrangement of contacts for electrically connecting the both are shown in FIGS. 11, FIG. 23, and FIG. 30.

As shown in FIG. 8, the process cartridge B is provided with a plurality of electric contacts. That is, in order to ground the photoconductor drum 7 to the main body 14 of the apparatus, a cylindrical guide 13aL (a conductive ground contact, which will be referred to as a conductive ground contact, is used as a conductive ground contact electrically connected to the photoconductor drum 7). 119 is used), in order to apply a charging bias from the apparatus body 14 to the charging roller 8, a developing bias is applied from the apparatus body 14 to the conductive charging bias contact 120 electrically connected to the charging roller shaft 8a and the developing roller 9c. In order to detect the remaining amount of toner, a conductive developing bias contact 121 electrically connected to the developing roller 9c and a conductive toner remaining amount detection contact 122 electrically connected to the antenna rod 9h are used. The contacts are provided so as to be exposed from the side surface and the bottom surface of the cartridge frame.
The four contacts 119 to 122 are all provided on the left side surface and bottom surface of the cartridge frame when viewed from the mounting direction of the process cartridge B, with a distance between the contacts so as not to electrically leak. The ground contact 11
9 and the charging bias contact 120 are provided in the cleaning unit C, and the developing bias contact 121 and the toner remaining amount detecting contact 122 are provided in the developing device frame 12. The toner remaining amount detection contact 122 also serves as a process cartridge presence / absence detection contact for causing the device body 14 to detect that the process cartridge B is mounted in the device body 14.

As shown in FIG. 11, the earth contact 119 is provided.
Is provided integrally with the flange 29 made of a conductive material, and the drum shaft 7a integral with the flange 29 is provided coaxially with the ground contact member 119 so that the drum shaft 7a is electrically connected to the drum cylinder 7d. The ground plate 7f is pressed and guided to the outside. In the present embodiment, the flange 29 is made of metal such as iron. In addition, another charging bias contact 12
0, the developing bias contact 121 has a thickness of about 0.1 mm
A conductive metal plate (for example, stainless steel, phosphor bronze) of about 0.3 mm is stretched from the inside of the process cartridge. Further, the charging bias contact 120 is provided so as to be exposed from the bottom surface of the cleaning unit C on the non-driving side, and the developing bias contact 121 and the toner remaining amount detection contact 122 are provided so as to be exposed from the bottom surface of the developing unit D on the opposite driving side.

Further details will be described.

As described above, in the present embodiment,
As shown in FIG. 11, a helical drum gear 7b is provided at one end of the photosensitive drum 7 in the axial direction. The drum gear 7b meshes with the developing roller gear 9k, and
Rotate c. The drum gear 7b generates a thrust force (in the direction of arrow d shown in FIG. 11) when rotating,
The photosensitive drum 7 provided in the cleaning frame 13 having a play in the longitudinal direction is urged toward the side where the drum gear 7b is provided, and the earth plate 7f fixed to the spur gear 7n is connected to the drum shaft. A reaction force for pressing 7a is applied in the direction of arrow d. Then, the side end 7b1 of the drum gear 7b abuts on the inner end surface 38b of the bearing 38 fixed to the cleaning frame 13. As a result, the position of the photosensitive drum 7 in the axial direction is defined inside the process cartridge B. The ground contact 119 is provided so as to be exposed at the one end 13k of the cleaning frame 13. The drum shaft 7a enters the center of the drum cylinder 7d (made of aluminum in the present embodiment) covered with the photosensitive layer 7e. Inner surface 7d1 of drum cylinder 7d and the drum shaft 7a
The drum cylinder 7d and the drum shaft 7a are electrically connected to each other by a ground plate 7f that is in contact with the end surface 7a1.

The charging bias contact 120 is provided near the portion of the cleaning frame 13 supporting the charging roller 8 (see FIG. 8). The charging bias contact 120 is electrically connected to the shaft 8a of the charging roller 8 via a compound spring 8b which is in contact with the charging roller shaft 8a as shown in FIG. The composite spring 8b is a guide groove 13 on a line that almost connects the charging roller 8 provided on the cleaning frame 13 and the center of the photosensitive drum 7.
g of the charging roller bearing 8c and the guide groove 13
It has an internal contact 8b2 that is pressed against the charging roller shaft 8a from the spring seat side end turn portion of the compression coil spring portion 8b1 of the composite spring 8b compressed between the spring seats 120b at one end of g. As shown in FIG. 23, the charging bias contact 120 enters the cleaning frame 13 from the externally exposed portion 120a, is bent so as to cross the direction of movement of the charging roller shaft 8a on one end side of the charging roller 8, and is a spring. The seat 120b ends.

Next, the developing bias contact 121 and the toner remaining amount detecting contact 122 will be described. Both contacts 1
Reference numerals 21 and 122 denote one side end 13k of the cleaning frame body 13.
It is provided on the bottom surface of the developing unit D provided on the same side as. And the third of the developing bias contact 121
The external contact portion 121e is disposed on the opposite side of the charging bias contact 120 with the spur gear 7n in between. Then, as described above, the developing bias contact 121 is electrically connected to the developing roller 9c through the developing coil spring contact 9l (L) which is electrically connected to the side end of the developing roller 9c (FIG. 18). reference).

FIG. 38 schematically shows the relationship between the thrust generated in the drum gear 7b and the developing roller gear 9k and the developing bias contact 121. As described above, the photosensitive drum 7 is driven to move in the direction of arrow d in FIG. 38, and the end surface on the drum gear 7b side contacts with the end surface (not shown in FIG. 38) of the bearing 38 (see FIG. 32) to rotate, The longitudinal position of the photosensitive drum 7 is constant. On the other hand, the developing roller gear 9k meshing with the drum gear 7b receives thrust in the direction of the arrow e opposite to the arrow d, and presses the developing coil spring contact 91 (el) that presses the developing bias contact 121, and the developing roller 9
The pressing force in the arrow f direction by the developing coil spring contact 9l acting between c and the developing roller bearing 9j is reduced.
This ensures contact between the developing coil spring contact 9l and the developing bias contact 121, reduces frictional resistance between the developing roller 9c end surface and the developing roller bearing 9j end surface, and smoothes the rotation of the developing roller 9c.

Further, the toner remaining amount detecting contact 12 shown in FIG.
The reference numeral 2 designates a developing frame member 12 on the upstream side of the developing bias contact 121 with respect to the cartridge mounting direction (arrow X direction in FIG. 9).
It is exposed from. Then, as shown in FIG. 19, the toner remaining amount detecting contact 122 is connected to the developing roller 9c.
On the toner frame 11 side of the above, a conductive material provided on the developing frame 12 along the longitudinal direction of the developing roller 9c,
For example, it is a part of a metal wire antenna rod 9h. As described above, the antenna rod 9h is provided at a position separated from the developing roller 9c by a constant distance over the entire length of the developing roller 9c in the longitudinal direction. When the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus body 14, the toner detection contact member 126 on the apparatus body 14 side comes into contact. And this antenna rod 9
The electrostatic capacitance between h and the developing roller 9c changes depending on the amount of toner existing between them. Therefore, the amount of remaining toner can be detected by detecting this change in capacitance as a change in potential difference by a control unit (not shown) electrically connected to the toner detection contact member 126 of the apparatus body 14. is there.

Here, the toner remaining amount means the developing roller 9
The amount of toner existing between c and the antenna rod 9h is the amount of toner that produces a predetermined electrostatic capacity. As a result, it can be detected that the remaining amount of toner in the toner container 11A has reached a predetermined amount. Therefore, the controller provided in the apparatus main body 14 detects that the electrostatic capacitance has reached the first predetermined value via the toner remaining amount detection contact 122, and the toner remaining amount in the toner container 11A is detected. It is determined that the predetermined amount has been reached. When the apparatus main body 14 detects that the capacitance has reached the first predetermined value, the process cartridge B
Notification of replacement (for example, blinking of a lamp and generation of a sound by a buzzer). Further, the control unit detects that the process cartridge B has the second predetermined value in which the capacitance is smaller than the first predetermined value.
It is detected that it has been attached to 4. In addition, the control unit,
If it is not detected that the process cartridge B is mounted, the image forming operation of the apparatus main body 14 is not started. That is, the image forming operation of the apparatus body 14 is not started.

It is also possible to notify that the process cartridge is not mounted (for example, blinking of a lamp).

Next, the connection between the contact provided on the process cartridge B and the contact member provided on the apparatus main body 14 will be described.

Now, as shown in FIG. 9, on the inner side surface of one side of the cartridge mounting space S of the image forming apparatus A, as shown in FIG.
Four contact members that can be connected to the contacts 119 to 122 when the process cartridge B is mounted (earth contact member 12 electrically connected to the earth contact 119).
3, a charging contact member 124 electrically connected to the charging bias contact 120, a developing bias contact member 125 electrically connected to the developing bias contact 121, and a toner detecting contact member 126 electrically connecting to the remaining toner amount detecting contact 122. )
Is provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, the ground contact member 123 is provided at the bottom of the positioning groove 16b. Further, the developing bias contact member 125, the toner detecting contact member 126, and the charging contact member 124 are located below the guide portion 16a and are located under the guide portion 1.
It is elastically provided outside 6a under the wall surface on one side of the cartridge mounting space S near the guide portion 16a so as to face upward.

The positional relationship between each contact and the guide will now be described.

First, in FIG. 6 with the process cartridge B in a substantially horizontal state, in the vertical direction, the toner remaining amount detection contact 122 is located at the lowest position, the developing bias contact 121 is located above it, and the charging bias contact 120 is located above it. The rotation stop guide 13bL and the cylindrical guide 13aL (earth contact 119) are arranged at substantially the same height. Further, in the cartridge mounting direction (direction of arrow X), the toner remaining amount detection contact 122 is located at the most upstream side, and the detent guide 13bL and the developing bias contact 121 are provided downstream thereof.
Then, downstream thereof, the cylindrical guide 13aL (earth contact 1
19) And the charging bias contact 120 is arranged downstream thereof. By arranging in this way, the charging bias contact 120 approaches the charging roller 8, the developing bias contact 121 approaches the developing roller 9c, the toner remaining amount detection contact 122 approaches the antenna rod 9h, and
The ground contact 119 can be brought close to the photosensitive drum 7. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the distance between the contacts by eliminating the wandering of the electrodes of the process cartridge B side and the image forming apparatus main body 14.

The size of the contact portion of each contact with the contact member is as follows. First, the charging bias contact 120
Is approximately 10.0 mm vertically and horizontally, the developing bias contact 121 is approximately 6.5 mm vertically and approximately 7.5 mm horizontally, and the toner remaining amount detecting contact 122 is 2 mm in diameter and approximately 18.0 in lateral length.
mm, and the ground contact 119 is circular and has an outer diameter of about 1
It is 0.0 mm. The charging bias contact 120,
The developing bias contact 121 has a rectangular shape. Here, the vertical direction of the contact is a direction following the mounting direction X of the process cartridge B, and the horizontal direction is a horizontal direction perpendicular to the direction X.

The earth contact member 123 is a conductive leaf spring member, and is the earth contact 11 on the process cartridge side.
9. That is, the ground contact member 123 is mounted in the positioning groove 16b into which the cylindrical guide 13aL (where the drum shaft 7a is positioned) fits (see FIGS. 9, 11, and 30), which serves as a chassis of the apparatus body. Grounded through. The toner remaining amount detecting contact member 126 is a conductive leaf spring member provided below the guide portion 16a and beside the guide portion 16a. In addition, other contact members 124, 125
Are provided below the guide portion 16a and beside the guide 16a, and are held by the compression coil springs 129, respectively.
It is attached by projecting upward from 7. This will be described by taking the charging contact member 124 as an example. Figure 30
As shown in an enlarged scale in a part of FIG. Then, the holder 127 is fixed to the electric substrate 128 attached to the apparatus main body 14, and each contact member and the wiring pattern are electrically connected by the conductive compression spring 129.

The process cartridge B is connected to the image forming apparatus A.
When the guide member 16a is inserted into and is mounted by being guided by the guide portion 16a, each contact member 123 to 126 is in a protruding state by a spring force before reaching a predetermined mounting position. At this time, the contact members 119 of the process cartridge are attached to the contact members.
~ 122 are not in contact. When the process cartridge B is further inserted, the contact points 119 to 122 of the process cartridge B come into contact with the contact point members 123 to 126, and further slightly, the cylindrical guide 13aL of the process cartridge B is fitted into the positioning groove 16b. As a result, the contact points 119 to 122 respectively retract the contact point members 123 to 126 against their resilience and increase the contact pressures.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the process cartridge B is guided by the guide member 16 and mounted at the predetermined mounting position, the respective contacts are surely connected to the respective contact members.

When the process cartridge B is mounted at a predetermined position, the ground contact member 123 comes into contact with the ground contact member 119 protruding from the cylindrical guide 13aL (see FIG. 11). Here, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body 14, the ground contact 119 and the ground contact member 123 are provided.
Are electrically connected, and the photosensitive drum 7 is grounded.
Further, the charging bias contact 120 and the charging contact member 124 are electrically connected to each other, so that a high voltage (AC voltage and D
C voltage superposition) is applied. Also, developing bias contact 1
21 and the developing bias contact member 125 are electrically connected, and a high voltage is applied to the developing roller 9c. Furthermore,
Toner remaining amount detection contact 122 and toner detection contact member 126
Are electrically connected, and the contact 122 and the developing roller 9c
Information according to the electrostatic capacitance between them is transmitted to the apparatus main body 14.

Further, since the contacts 119 to 122 of the process cartridge B are provided on the bottom surface side of the process cartridge B as in the present embodiment, the positional accuracy of the process cartridge B in the lateral direction with respect to the mounting direction arrow X is not affected. .

Further, as in the above-described embodiment, all the contacts of the process cartridge B are arranged on one side of the cartridge frame, so that the mechanical mechanism member and the electric wiring member for the image forming apparatus main body 14 and the process cartridge B are arranged. Can be separately arranged on both sides of the cartridge mounting space S and the process cartridge B, so that the number of assembling steps can be reduced and maintenance and inspection can be facilitated.

When the process cartridge B is mounted on the main body 14 of the image forming apparatus, as will be described later, the process cartridge side coupling device and the main body side coupling are coupled with each other in association with the closing operation of the opening / closing member 35, and the photosensitive member is exposed. The body drum 7 and the like can be rotated by being driven by the apparatus body 14.

As described above, since the plurality of electric contacts provided in the process cartridge are all arranged on one side of the cartridge frame, the electric connection with the image forming apparatus main body can be stably performed.

Alternatively, by arranging each contact as in the above-mentioned embodiment, it is possible to shorten the wandering of the electrode in each cartridge of each contact.

(Coupling and Driving Structure) Next, the structure of the coupling means, which is a driving force transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force from the image forming apparatus main body 14 to the process cartridge B, will be described.

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal sectional view of the coupling portion showing a state in which the photosensitive drum 7 is attached to the process cartridge B.

As shown in FIG. 11, cartridge side coupling means is provided at one end of the photosensitive drum 7 attached to the process cartridge B in the longitudinal direction. In this coupling means, a coupling convex shaft 37 (cylindrical shape) is provided on a drum flange 36 fixed to one end of the photosensitive drum 7, and a convex portion 37a is formed on the tip end surface of the convex shaft 37. I am doing it. In addition, the convex portion 37a
Is parallel to the end face of the convex shaft 37. The convex shaft 37 fits into the bearing 38 and functions as a drum rotating shaft. Further, in the present embodiment, the drum flange 36, the coupling convex shaft 37 and the convex portion 37a are integrally provided. Then, in order to transmit the driving force to the developing roller 9c inside the process cartridge B to the drum flange 36,
A helical gear drum gear 7b is integrally provided. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 11, the drum flange 36 is an integrally molded product having a drum gear 7b, a convex shaft 37 and a convex portion 37a, and is a driving force transmitting component having a function of transmitting a driving force.

The shape of the convex portion 37a is a twisted polygonal column, and more specifically, it is a column having a substantially equilateral triangular cross section and is gradually twisted in the axial direction slightly in the rotational direction.
Further, the concave portion 39a fitted with the convex portion 37a is a hole having a polygonal cross section and gradually twisted in the rotational direction in the axial direction. The convex portions 37a and the concave portions 39a have substantially the same twist pitch and are twisted in the same direction. The recess 39a has a substantially triangular cross section. The recess 39a is provided on the coupling recess shaft 39b that is integral with the gear 43 provided on the apparatus body 14. The coupling concave shaft 39b is rotatably and axially movable in the device body 14 as described later. Therefore,
In the configuration of the present embodiment, the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus main body 14, and the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a provided in the apparatus main body 14 are fitted to each other to form the concave portion 39a.
When the rotational force is transmitted to the convex portion 37a, the ridge lines of the convex portion 37a of the substantially triangular prism and the inner surface of the concave portion 39a abut on each other equally, so that the axes coincide with each other. For this reason, the diameter of the circumscribed circle of the coupling convex portion 37a is equal to the coupling concave portion 39a.
Is larger than the inscribed circle of and the coupling recess 39a
It is made smaller than the circumscribed circle. Further, due to the twisted shape, a force acts in the direction in which the concave portion 39a pulls the convex portion 37a, and the convex end surface 37a1 abuts the bottom 39a1 of the concave portion 39a. Therefore, since the thrust generated in the coupling portion and the drum gear 7b acts in the same direction as the arrow d, the photosensitive drum 7 integrated with the convex portion 37a is axially moved in the image forming apparatus main body 14. The position and the position in the radial direction are stably determined.

In the present embodiment, when viewed from the side of the photosensitive drum 7, the twisting direction of the convex portion 37a is opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 7 from the root of the convex portion 37a toward the tip. The direction in which the recess 39a is twisted is the opposite direction from the inlet of the recess 39a toward the inside, and the direction in which the drum gear 7b of the drum flange 36 is twisted is the direction opposite to the direction in which the protrusion 37a is twisted.

Here, the convex shaft 37 and the convex portion 37a are
When the drum flange 36 is attached to one end of the photosensitive drum 7, the drum flange 36 is provided so as to be coaxial with the axis of the photosensitive drum 7. Reference numeral 36b is a fitting portion, which is fitted to the inner surface of the drum cylinder 7d when the drum flange 36 is attached to the photosensitive drum 7. The drum flange 36 is attached to the photosensitive drum 7 by "staking" or "adhesion". A photosensitive layer 7e is coated around the drum cylinder 7d.

As already described, the spur gear 7n is fixed to the other end of the photosensitive drum 7.

The material of the drum flange 36 and the spur gear 7n is polyacetal.
tal), polycarbonate (polycarbona)
te), polyamide (polyamide), and polybutylene terephthalate (polybutyrene).
A resin material such as terephthalate) is used. However, other materials may be appropriately selected and used.

Around the convex portion 37a of the coupling convex shaft 37 of the process cartridge B, a cylindrical convex portion 38a (cylindrical guide 13aR) concentric with the convex shaft 37 is fixed to the cleaning frame 13. 38 is integrally provided (see FIG. 12). The convex portion 38a protects the convex portion 37a of the coupling convex shaft 37 when the process cartridge B is attached or detached, and is protected from damage or deformation due to external force. Therefore, it is possible to prevent rattling and vibration at the time of driving the coupling due to the damage of the convex portion 37a.

Further, the bearing 38 can also serve as a guide member when the process cartridge B is attached to or detached from the image forming apparatus main body 14. That is, when the process cartridge B is attached to the image forming apparatus main body 14, the bearing 3
8, the convex portion 38a and the main body side guide portion 16c contact each other,
The convex portion 38a functions as a positioning guide 13aR when the process cartridge B is mounted in the mounting position, and facilitates attachment and detachment of the process cartridge B to and from the apparatus main body 14. Further, when the process cartridge B is mounted in the mounting position, the convex portion 38a is supported by the positioning groove 16d provided in the guide portion 16c.

Further, there is a relationship as shown in FIG. 11 between the photosensitive drum 7, the drum flange 36 and the coupling convex shaft 37. That is, the outer diameter of the photosensitive drum 7
H, root diameter of drum gear 7b = E, bearing diameter of photoconductor drum 7 (outer diameter of shaft coupling convex shaft 37, bearing 38)
Inner diameter) = F, circumscribed circle diameter of the coupling protrusion 37a =
M, and the fitting portion diameter (drum inner diameter) of the photosensitive drum 7 with the drum flange 36 = N, H> F ≧ M and E> N
Have a relationship.

By the above H> F, the sliding load torque at the bearing can be reduced as compared with the case where the drum cylinder 7d is supported, and F ≧
When the flange portion is molded due to the relationship of M, the molding die is normally split in the direction of the arrow P in the figure, but the undercut portion is eliminated, so that the mold configuration can be simplified.

Further, because of the relationship of E> N, the mold shape of the gear portion is provided on the mold on the left side when viewed from the mounting direction of the process cartridge B, so that the mold on the right side is simplified and the durability of the mold is improved. And so on.

On the other hand, the image forming apparatus main body 14 is provided with main body coupling means. The main body coupling means has a coupling concave shaft 39 at a position that coincides with the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum when the process cartridge B is inserted.
b (cylindrical shape) is provided (see FIGS. 11 and 25). As shown in FIG. 11, the coupling concave shaft 39b is a drive shaft integrated with a large gear 43 that transmits the driving force of the motor 61 to the photoconductor drum 7. (The concave shaft 39b is provided at the center of rotation of the large gear 43 and projects from the side end of the large gear 43 (FIGS. 25 and 2).
6))). In the present embodiment, the large gear 43 and the coupling concave shaft 39b are integrally formed.

The large gear 43 on the apparatus body 14 side is a helical gear, and this helical gear is the shaft 61 of the motor 61.
a small gear 62 having helical teeth fixed to or integrally with a.
And has teeth with a twist direction and an inclination angle that generate a thrust force that moves the concave shaft 39b toward the convex shaft 37 when the driving force is transmitted from the small gear 62.
Accordingly, when the motor 61 is driven during image formation, the concave shaft 39b moves toward the convex shaft 37 by the thrust force, and the concave portion 39a and the convex portion 37a are engaged with each other. The recess 3
9a is the tip of the concave shaft 39b and is the concave shaft 39b.
Is provided at the center of rotation.

In this embodiment, the motor shaft 61a
Although the driving force is directly transmitted from the small gear 62 provided to the large gear 43, deceleration and drive transmission are performed using a gear train,
Alternatively, a belt and a pulley, a friction roller pair, a timing belt and a pulley, etc. may be used.

Next, the structure in which the concave portion 39a and the convex portion 37a are fitted in conjunction with the closing operation of the opening / closing member 35 is shown in FIG.
4, and FIG. 27 to FIG. 29 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 29, a side plate 67 is fixedly provided between the side plate 66 provided on the apparatus main body 14 and the large gear 43, and these side plates 66 and 67 are integrally formed at the center of the large gear 43. The coupling concave shaft 39b provided is rotatably supported. The outer cam 6 is provided between the large gear 43 and the side plate 66.
3 and the inner cam 64 are closely inserted. The inner cam 64 is fixed to the side plate 66, and the outer cam 63 is rotatably fitted to the coupling concave shaft 39b. The surfaces of the outer cam 63 and the inner cam 64 that face each other in the axial direction are cam surfaces, and the cam surfaces are screw surfaces that are in contact with each other about the coupling concave shaft 39b. A compression coil spring 68 is compressed between the large gear 43 and the side plate 67 and is inserted into the coupling concave shaft 39b.

As shown in FIG. 27, an arm 63a is provided in the radial direction from the outer circumference of the outer cam 63.
From the tip end of the open / close member and the fulcrum 35a of the open / close member 35.
In the state in which 5 is closed, the position of the end of the opening / closing member 35 in the radial direction opposite to the end on the open side in the diagonally downward left direction in FIG. 27 is connected to one end of one link 65 by a pin 65 a. . The other end of the link 65 is connected to the tip of the arm 63a by a pin 65b.

FIG. 28 is a view of FIG. 27 seen from the right side. When the opening / closing member 35 is closed, the link 65, the outer cam 63, etc. are at the positions shown in the drawing, and the coupling convex portion 37a.
The recess 39a meshes with each other, and the driving force of the large gear 43 can be transmitted to the photosensitive drum 7. Then, when the opening / closing member 35 is opened, the pin 65a rotates around the fulcrum 35a and ascends, the arm 63a is pulled up via the link 65, the outer cam 63 rotates, and the outer cam 63 and the inner cam 64 face each other. The cam surface slides and the large gear 43 moves in a direction away from the photosensitive drum 7. At that time, the large gear 43 is pushed by the outer cam 63 and moves while pushing the compression coil spring 68 mounted between the side plate 67 and the large gear 39, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the coupling recess 39a is separated from the coupling protrusion 37a, the coupling is released, and the process cartridge B becomes detachable.

Conversely, when the opening / closing member 35 is closed, the opening / closing member 3
The pin 65a connecting the 5 and the link 65 is the fulcrum 35a.
29, the link 65 moves downward, the link 65 moves downward and pushes down the arm 63a, the outer cam 63 rotates in the opposite direction, and the spring 68 pushes the large gear 43 leftward from FIG. 28, the large gear 43 is set to the position shown in FIG. 28 again, the coupling concave portion 39a is fitted into the coupling convex portion 37a, and the state in which drive transmission is possible is restored. With such a configuration, the process cartridge B can be placed in a removable and drivable state according to the opening / closing of the opening / closing member 35. By closing the opening / closing member 35, the outer cam 63 rotates in the opposite direction, the large gear 43 moves leftward from FIG. 29, and the coupling concave shaft 39b and the coupling convex shaft 37 come into contact with each other so that the coupling convex portion 37a.
Even if the coupling concave portion 39a does not mesh with the coupling concave portion 39a, the coupling immediately follows after the image forming apparatus A is started, as will be described later.

As described above, in this embodiment, when the process cartridge B is attached to or detached from the apparatus main body 14, the opening / closing member 35 is opened. Then, in conjunction with the opening / closing of the opening / closing member 35, the coupling recess 39a moves horizontally (arrow j).
Direction). Therefore, when the process cartridge B is attached to or detached from the apparatus main body 14, the process cartridge B and the coupling (37a, 39a) of the apparatus main body 14 are not connected. Also, they are not linked. Therefore, the process cartridge B can be smoothly attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 14. Further, in this embodiment, the large recess 43a of the coupling 39a is pushed by the compression coil spring 68 to push the large gear 43.
Is pressed in the direction of. Therefore, the coupling protrusion 3
7a and the recess 39a are engaged with each other, even if the coupling protrusion 37a and the recess 39a are not properly engaged with each other, the motor 61 is rotated for the first time after the process cartridge B is mounted in the apparatus main body 14. By rotating 39a, the two mesh with each other instantly.

Next, the shapes of the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a, which are the engaging portions of the coupling means, will be described.

The coupling concave shaft 39b provided on the apparatus main body 14 is mounted so as not to move in the radial direction (radial direction), although it can move in the axial direction as described above. On the other hand, the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus main body 14 so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction and the X direction (see FIG. 9) of the cartridge mounting direction. In the longitudinal direction, the guide members 16R and 16L in which the process cartridge B is provided in the cartridge mounting space S are provided.
It is designed to allow a slight movement between them.

That is, when the process cartridge B is attached to the apparatus main body 14, the cylindrical guide 1 formed on the flange 29 attached to the other end of the cleaning frame 13 in the longitudinal direction.
The portion 3aL (see FIGS. 6, 7, and 9) is the device body 14
The spur gear 7n fixed to the photoconductor drum 7 meshes with a gear (not shown) that transmits the driving force to the transfer roller 4 by being inserted into the positioning groove 16b of FIG. To do. On the other hand, on one end side (driving side) of the photosensitive drum 7 in the longitudinal direction, the cylindrical guide 13aR provided in the cleaning frame 13 is provided in the positioning groove 1 provided in the apparatus main body 14.
It is supported by 6d.

This cylindrical guide 13aR is the main body 14 of the apparatus.
By being supported by the positioning groove 16d, the rotating shaft center of the drum shaft 7a and the concave shaft 39b is supported within the concentricity φ2.00 mm, and the first centering action in the coupling coupling process is completed. Then, when the opening / closing member 35 is closed, the coupling recess 39a moves horizontally to enter the protrusion 37a (see FIG. 28).

Next, the drive side (coupling side) is positioned and the drive is transmitted as follows.

First, when the drive motor 61 of the apparatus main body 14 rotates, the coupling concave shaft 39b moves in the direction of the coupling convex shaft 37 (the direction opposite to the arrow d in FIG. 11), and the coupling convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a. At the time point (in the present embodiment, since the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a are substantially equilateral triangles, the two phases are aligned at every 120 °), they are engaged with each other, and the process cartridge is ejected from the apparatus main body 14. B
The rotational force is transmitted to (from the state shown in FIG. 29 to the state shown in FIG. 28).

When the coupling convex portion 37a enters the concave portion 39a during this coupling engagement, there is a difference in size between the substantially equilateral triangles, that is, the coupling concave portion 3a.
A hole having a substantially equilateral triangle in the cross section of 9a is a coupling convex portion 37a.
Since it is larger than the substantially equilateral triangle, it enters smoothly with a gap.

However, if the gap is made larger than the triangular shape of the concave portion 39, (1) the rigidity is lowered due to the change in the sectional shape of the convex portion 37a. (2) An increase in the drag force at the contact point due to a decrease in the contact point radius. Due to the above (1) and (2), the torsional rigidity of the coupling is lowered, which causes image unevenness and the like.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the lower limit of the inscribed circle diameter of the convex triangle is φ8.0 mm in view of the required torsional rigidity.
And the inscribed circle diameter of the φ8.5mm concave triangle is φ
The gap of 9.5 mm was set to 0.5 mm.

On the other hand, in order to fit a set of couplings having a small gap, it is necessary to maintain the concentricity of these before fitting.

Therefore, in this embodiment, in order to maintain the concentricity φ1.0 mm necessary for guiding the fitting to the clearance of 0.5 mm, the protrusion amount of the cylindrical bearing convex portion 38 is set to the cup. The protrusion 37 and the concave shaft 39a are made larger than the protrusion of the ring convex portion 37a, and the outer diameter portion of the concave shaft 39a is guided by three or more protrusion-shaped guides 13aR4 provided inside the bearing convex portion 38a. The concentricity before the fitting of the coupling is maintained at 1.0 mm or less and the coupling process of the coupling is stabilized (second aligning action).

Then, at the time of image formation, the coupling projection 3
When the coupling concave shaft 39b rotates with 7a in the concave portion 39a, the inner surface of the coupling concave portion 39a and the three ridge lines of the substantially equilateral triangular column of the convex portion 37a come into contact with each other to transmit the driving force. At this time, the coupling convex shaft 37 is formed so that the inner surface of the regular polygonal coupling concave portion 39a and the ridge line of the convex portion 37a abut each other equally.
Move instantly to match the center of.

With the above-described structure, the coupling convex shaft 37 and the concave shaft 39b are automatically aligned when the motor 61 is driven. Further, the driving force is transmitted to the photoconductor drum 7, whereby a rotational force is generated in the process cartridge B, and this rotational force causes a restriction contact portion 13j provided on the upper surface of the cleaning frame body 13 of the process cartridge B.
(See FIGS. 4, 5, 6, 7, and 30) The fixing member 25 (see FIGS. 9, 10,
(See FIG. 30), the contact force to the image forming apparatus main body 14 is increased.
The position of the process cartridge B with respect to is determined.

Further, when not driven (at the time of non-image formation), a gap is provided in the radial direction between the coupling convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a, so that the coupling can be easily engaged and disengaged from each other. Further, during driving, the abutting force at the above-mentioned coupling engaging portion is stable, so rattling and vibration at this portion can be suppressed.

In this embodiment, the shapes of the convex and concave portions of the coupling are substantially equilateral triangles. However, it is needless to say that the same effect can be obtained as long as they are substantially regular polygonal shapes.
Further, the positioning can be performed more accurately if it is a substantially regular polygonal shape, but the shape is not limited to this and may be, for example, a polygonal shape as long as it can be pulled and meshed. Further, a male screw having a large lead may be adopted as the coupling convex portion, and a female screw screwed into this male screw may be used as the coupling concave portion. In this case, the modified example of the triple triangular screw corresponds to the above-mentioned coupling convex portion and concave portion.

Further, comparing the coupling convex portion and the concave portion, the convex portion is apt to be damaged in terms of shape, and the strength is inferior to the concave portion. For this reason, in this embodiment, the replaceable process cartridge B is provided with the coupling convex portion, and the image forming apparatus main body 14 which is required to have higher durability is provided with the coupling concave portion.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view showing the mounting relationship between the right guide member 13R and the cleaning frame 13 in detail, and FIG.
4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the right side guide member 13R attached to the cleaning frame body 13, and FIG.
It is a figure which shows a part of right side surface of FIG. FIG. 35 is a side view showing an outline of a mounting portion of the bearing 38 formed integrally with the right guide member 13R.

Right guide member 13 with bearing 38 integrated
The attachment of R (38) to the cleaning frame body 13 shown in FIG. 11 and the attachment of the unitized photosensitive drum 7 to the cleaning frame body 13 will be specifically described.

FIG. 33 shows the rear surface of the right guide member 13R.
As shown in FIG. 34, a bearing 38 having a small diameter and being concentric with the cylindrical guide 13aR is integrally provided. The bearing 38 is connected to the end of the cylindrical bearing 38 by a disk member 13aR3 in the axial (longitudinal) middle portion of the cylindrical guide 38aR. The cleaning frame 1 is provided between the bearing 38 and the cleaning frame 13 side of the cylindrical guide 13aR.
A circular groove 38aR4 is formed when viewed from the inner side of 3.

The side surface of the cleaning frame 13 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 35, a hollow cylindrical bearing mounting hole 13h is provided, and the missing circular portion 13h1 has a facing interval smaller than the diameter of the bearing mounting hole 13h.
Larger than the diameter of 7. Further, since the coupling protruding shaft 37 is fitted into the bearing 38, it is spaced from the bearing mounting hole 13h. The positioning pin 13h2 integrally formed on the side surface of the cleaning frame 13 is closely fitted to the flange 13aR1 of the guide member 13R. As a result, the unitized photosensitive drum 7 can be attached to the cleaning frame 13 in the axial direction (longitudinal direction) in the intersecting direction, and the right guide member 1 can be arranged in the longitudinal direction.
When the 3R is attached to the cleaning frame 13, the relative position of the right guide member 13R to the cleaning frame 13 is accurately determined.

To mount the unitized photosensitive drum 7 on the cleaning frame 13, the photosensitive drum 7 is moved in the longitudinal direction in the transverse direction as shown in FIG. In this way, the coupling convex shaft 37 is inserted into the bearing mounting hole 13h by passing through the missing circle portion 13h1. In this state, the drum shaft 7a integrated with the left guide 13aL shown in FIG. 11 penetrates the side end 13k of the cleaning frame 13 to fit the drum shaft 7a into the spur gear 7n, and the flange 29 of the guide 13aL.
Is inserted and the small screw 13d is screwed into the cleaning frame body 13, and this guide 13aL is fixed to the cleaning frame body 13 to support one end side of the photosensitive drum 7.

Next, the bearing 3 integrated with the right guide member 13R
8 is fitted into the bearing mounting hole 13h and the bearing 38
Of the cleaning frame 13 is fitted to the coupling convex shaft 37, and the positioning pin 13h2 of the cleaning frame 13 is attached to the right guide member 13.
R flange 13a is fitted into the hole of R1 and the flange 1
3aR1 is inserted and the small screw 13aR2 is screwed into the cleaning frame 13 to fix the right guide member 13R to the cleaning frame 13.

As a result, the photosensitive drum 7 is accurately and firmly fixed to the cleaning frame 13. Since the photoconductor drum 7 is attached to the cleaning frame body 13 in the cross direction with respect to the longitudinal direction, it is not necessary to repeat the photoconductor drum 7 in the longitudinal direction, and the dimension of the cleaning frame body 13 in the longitudinal direction can be reduced. Therefore, the image forming apparatus main body 1
4 can be made smaller. Then, the left cylindrical guide 13a
L has a large flange 29 abuttingly fixed to the cleaning frame 13, a drum shaft 7a integral with this flange 29 is closely fitted to the cleaning frame 13, and the right cylindrical guide 13aR is a photosensitive drum 7 Bearing 38 for supporting
Since the bearing 38 is concentrically integrated with the bearing mounting hole 13h of the cleaning frame 13, the photoconductor drum 7 is arranged so as to be orthogonal to the transporting direction of the recording medium 2 exactly. Can be set.

In the left cylindrical guide 13aL, the large-area flange 29 and the drum shaft 7a projecting from the flange 29 are integrally made of metal. Therefore, the position of the drum shaft 7a is accurate and wear resistance is improved. To do. The cylindrical guide 13aL does not wear even if the process cartridge B is repeatedly attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body 14. Further, the grounding of the photoconductor drum 7 can be easily established as described in relation to the electrical contact. Right cylindrical guide 13
Since aL has a larger diameter than the bearing 38 and the bearing 38 and the cylindrical guide 13aR are connected by the disc member 13aR3, and the cylindrical guide 13aR is connected to the flange 13aR1, the cylindrical guide 13aR and the bearing 38 are reinforced with each other. , Stiffened. Since the right cylindrical guide 13aR has a large diameter, it is durable against repeated installation and removal of the process cartridge B from the image forming apparatus main body 14 even though it is made of synthetic resin.

36 and 37 are vertical sectional development views showing another method of attaching the bearing 38 integral with the right guide member 13R to the cleaning frame 13.

Incidentally, the drawing particularly shows the bearing 38 of the photosensitive drum 7.
Is schematically shown as a main part.

As shown in FIG. 36, there is a rib 13h3 in the circumferential direction on the outer edge of the bearing mounting hole 13h.
The outer circumference of 3h3 is a part of a cylinder. In this example, the right cylindrical guide 13a is provided on the outer circumference of the rib 13h3.
The circumference of the portion that reaches the flange 13aR1 beyond the R disc member 13aR3 is closely fitted. And the bearing 38
The bearing mounting portion 13h and the outer periphery of the bearing 38 are loosely fitted. In this case, the bearing mounting portion 13h has the missing circle portion 13h.
Since it is discontinuous at 1, there is an effect that the open portion 13h1 can be prevented from opening and can be reinforced.

For the same purpose as described above, a plurality of restraint bosses 13h4 may be provided on the outer circumference of the rib 13h3 as shown in FIG.

The restraint boss 13h4 is controlled, for example, when the molding die is manufactured, the circumscribed circle diameter is IT tolerance 9 and the concentricity with the inner diameter portion of the mounting hole 13h of the frame body is 0.01 mm or less.

When the drum bearing 38 is mounted on the cleaning frame 13, the mounting hole 13h of the cleaning frame 13 and the outer diameter portion of the bearing 38 are fitted to each other, and the inner peripheral surface of the drum shaft 38 facing the outer diameter portion. Since 13aR5 is fitted by restraining the restraint boss 13h4 on the side of the cleaning frame 13, it is possible to prevent misalignment at the time of assembling the bearing due to the opening of the lacked circular portion 13h1.

(Coupling Structure of Cleaning Frame (also called Drum Frame) and Developing Frame) As described above, the cleaning frame 13 incorporating the charging roller 8 and the cleaning means 10 and the developing incorporating the developing means 9 The frame 12 is joined. Generally, this connecting portion is a drum frame 13 incorporating the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7 and a developing means 9.
Is required to be connected to the developing device frame body 12 in which at least the process cartridge B is incorporated.

The drum frame 13 and the developing frame 12 as described above
The following is a summary of the combined configuration of the above with reference to FIGS. 12, 13, and 32. The right side and the left side below refer to the case where the recording medium 2 is viewed from the upper side in the transport direction.

In the process cartridge detachable from the main body 14 of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7 and the developing means 9 for developing the latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7, A developing frame body 12 that supports the developing means 9, a drum frame body 13 that supports the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7, a toner frame body 11 having the toner storage portion, and one end of the developing means 9 in the longitudinal direction. Side and the other end, one end of which is attached to the developing frame 12 portion above the developing means 9 and the other end is in contact with the drum frame 13
2a and a first projecting portion (on the right side) provided to project in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the developing means 9 at the developing frame body 12 portions on one end side and the other end side of the developing means 9 in the longitudinal direction. Arm part 19) and the second protrusion (the left arm part 1)
9), a first opening (a hole 20 on the right side) provided in the first protrusion (the right arm portion 19), and a second opening (the left arm portion 19). The second opening (the hole 20 on the left side) and one end in the longitudinal direction of the drum frame body 13, which is provided in the drum frame body 13 portion above the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7. The first engaging portion (the recess 21 on the right side) that engages with the first projecting portion (the arm portion 19 on the right side), and the other end side in the longitudinal direction of the drum frame body 13, A second engaging portion (left concave portion 21) provided on the drum frame 13 above the body drum 7 to engage with the second projecting portion (left arm portion 19); A third opening (a hole 13e shown in FIG. 12 on the right side) provided in the first engaging portion (the recess 21 on the right side); Second engagement portion fourth opening provided in the (recess 21 on the left) (hole 13e illustrated in the left Figure 12)
To engage the first projecting portion (right arm portion 19) and the first engaging portion (right concave portion 21) in order to connect the drum frame body 13 and the developing frame body 12. With the
A first penetrating member that penetrates the first opening (the hole 20 on the right side) and the third opening (the hole 13e on the right side) (see FIG. 12 on the right side).
2), the second frame (right arm part 19) and the second engaging part (left recess) for connecting the drum frame 13 and the developing frame 12 together. 21)
The second opening (the hole 20 on the left side) in the state of being engaged with
And a second penetrating member (coupling member 22 shown in FIG. 12 on the left side) penetrating the fourth opening (hole 13e on the left side).

The method of assembling the developing frame 12 and the drum frame 13 in such a structure is as follows. The first engaging step of engaging the first projecting portion (right arm portion 19) and the first engaging portion (right concave portion 21) of the developing frame body 12 and the drum frame body 13, and The second engaging step of engaging the second projecting portion (the left arm portion 19) and the second engaging portion (the left concave portion 21) with the drum frame body 13 and the developing frame body 12. For coupling, the first protrusion (the right arm portion 19) and the first engaging portion (the right recess 2)
1) in a state of being engaged with, the first opening (the hole 20 on the right side) provided in the first protrusion (the arm portion 19 on the right side).
And a first opening for penetrating the first penetrating member (right side connecting member 22) into the third opening (right side hole 13e) provided in the first engaging portion (right side concave portion 21). In order to combine the process and the developing frame body 12 and the drum frame body 13,
Provided on the second protrusion (left arm portion 19) in a state where the second protrusion (left arm portion 19) and the second engagement portion (left recess 21) are engaged with each other. The second penetrating member (left side hole 20) and the fourth opening (left side hole 20) provided in the second engaging portion (left side concave portion 21) are In the second penetrating step of penetrating the connecting member 22), the developing frame body 12 and the drum frame body 13 become an integrated process cartridge B.

As described above, the developing frame body 12 and the drum frame body 1
3 is engaged with each other and the connecting member 22 is pierced through them to assemble, and the disassembling can be done only by pulling out the connecting member 22 and separating the developing device frame 13 and the drum frame 13. It can be done very easily.

In the above description, the developing means 9 is the developing roller 9
c, and a first engaging step of engaging the first projecting portion and the first engaging portion, and engaging the second projecting portion and the second engaging portion The second engaging step is performed simultaneously, and (1) the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7 and the developing roller 9 are
(2) The developing roller 9c is moved along the periphery of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 7, and (3) the developing frame 12 is rotated in accordance with the movement of the developing roller 9c, and (4) By the rotation of the developing device frame 12, the first and second protrusions (arm portions 19 on both sides) enter the first and second engaging portions (recesses 21 on both sides), respectively. The first and second protrusions (arm portions 19 on both sides) engage with the first and second engaging portions (recesses 21 on both sides), respectively. By doing so, the developing roller 9c can be rotated around the photosensitive drum 7 while the spacer rollers 9i are in contact with the peripheral surfaces of both ends of the photosensitive drum 7, and the arm portion 19 can approach the concave portion 21.
And the concave portion 21 are engaged with each other at a constant position, and therefore it is easy to align the hole 20 provided in the arm portion 19 of the developing frame body 12 with the holes 13e provided on both sides of the concave portion 21 of the drum frame body 13. The shape of the arm portion 19 and the concave portion 21 can be determined so as to do so.

As already described above, the developing unit D in which the toner frame 11 and the developing frame 12 are combined, and the cleaning unit C in which the cleaning frame 13 and the charging roller 8 are incorporated are generally combined. .

As described above, the developing frame 12 and the drum frame 13
When the first and second projections are engaged (hole 20)
And the openings (holes 13e) of the first and second engaging portions are substantially aligned with each other so that the penetrating member (engaging member 22) can be penetrated.

As shown in FIG. 32, the tip end 19a of the arm portion 19 has an arc shape centered on the hole 20, and the recess 2
The bottom 21a of No. 1 has an arc shape centered on the hole 13e. The radius of the arc of the tip 19a of the arm 19 is equal to that of the recess 21.
Is slightly smaller than the radius of the circular arc portion 21a at the bottom of the. This slightly smaller degree means that when the tip end 19a of the arm portion 19 is abutted against the bottom 21a of the recess 21, the coupling member 22 is inserted through the hole 13e of the drum frame body (cleaning frame body) 13 and the arm portion 19 of the arm portion 19 is inserted. The connecting member 22 having the chamfered end is easily inserted into the hole 20. When the connecting member 22 is inserted, an arc-shaped gap is formed between the tip 19a of the arm 19 and the bottom 21a of the recess 21. Thus, the arm portion 19 is rotatably supported by the connecting member 22. For the sake of explanation, the gap g is exaggerated,
The gap g is smaller than the chamfered dimension of the end of the coupling member 22 or the hole 20.

As shown in FIG. 32, in the developing frame 12 and the drum frame 13, the hole 20 of the arm portion 19 has a locus RL1 or R.
Assembly is performed by drawing either L2 or the locus between the loci RL1, RL2 and the like. At this time, the inner surface 20a of the upper wall of the recess 21 is continuously inclined so that the compression coil spring 22a is gradually and continuously compressed. That is, the shape is set so that the distance between the mounting portion of the compression coil spring 22a on the developing device frame 12 and the inner surface 20a of the upper wall of the above-described recess 21 facing each other at the time of assembly is gradually reduced. In this example, the upper coiled portion of the compression coil spring 22a is in contact with the inclined portion 20a1 of the inner surface 20a during assembly, and the compression coil spring 22a has the inclined portion in the assembled state where the developing device frame 12 and the drum frame 13 are joined. It contacts the spring seat portion 20a2 following 20a1. The compression coil spring 22a and the spring seat portion 20a2 intersect at a right angle.

Because of this structure, the developing device frame 1
2 and the drum frame 13 are assembled, the compression coil spring 2
It is not necessary to separately compress and insert 2a, and the spacer roller 9i and the photosensitive drum 7 are automatically brought into pressure contact with each other.

The locus RL1 described above is the photosensitive drum 7
Is a circular arc centered at, and the locus RL2 is the inclined portion 20a1.
The distance between and is an approximate straight line that gradually decreases from right to left in the figure.

As shown in FIG. 31, the compression coil spring 22a is held by the developing device frame 12. FIG. 31 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vicinity of the base of the arm portion 19 of the developing device frame 12 in the mounting direction X of the process cartridge B. Development frame 1
A spring holding portion 12t is provided on the upper side of the upper portion of the upper portion 2.
The spring holding portion 12t is a cylindrical spring fixing portion 12k into which the inner circumference of the end portion of the compression coil spring 22a is press-fitted to the root side, and the compression coil spring 22a is inserted halfway through by reducing the diameter of the fixing portion 12k. The guide portion 12n is provided. The height of the spring fixing portion 12k must be at least one turn of the end turn portion of the compression coil spring 22a.
Volume is preferred.

As shown in FIG. 12, the partition wall 13 is separated from the outer wall 13s of the drum frame 13 by the inner side of the outer wall 13s.
t is provided, and the space between them is the recess 21.

The inner rectangular shape in the longitudinal direction of the recessed portion 21 shown in FIG. 12 is such that the opposing wall surfaces of the outer wall 13s and the partition wall 13t forming the recessed portion 21 on the right side on the same side as the side where the drum gear 7b is provided are arranged in the longitudinal direction. The arms 19 on the right side on the same side as the side on which the developing roller gear 9k of the developing device frame 12 is arranged are closely fitted between the opposing wall surfaces. On the other hand, the recess 21 of the cleaning frame 13 on the left side on the same side as the side on which the spur gear 7n is arranged and the arm 19 of the developing frame 12 inserted into this recess 21 are loosely fitted in the longitudinal direction. It has become.

Therefore, the developing frame body 12 and the cleaning frame body 13 are accurately aligned in the longitudinal direction. This is because the dimension between the opposing wall surfaces of the recess 21 on the one end side in the longitudinal direction can be easily obtained, and the width of the arm portion 19 can be easily obtained. The developing frame body 13 and the cleaning frame body 12
Even if a dimensional difference occurs in the longitudinal direction due to thermal deformation due to the temperature rise of the arm 1,
This is because the size of both of the parts fitted between the opposing walls of 9 is small, and the difference in thermal deformation is extremely small. Therefore, there is a difference in dimensional change in the entire length in the longitudinal direction due to thermal deformation of the developing frame 12 and the cleaning frame 13. Even if there is, the concave portion 21 on the side of the spur gear 7n and the arm portion 19 fitted into the concave portion 21 are loosely fitted in the longitudinal direction, and therefore, due to deformation due to thermal stress,
No stress is generated between the developing frame 12 and the cleaning frame 13.

The process cartridge B shown in the above-mentioned embodiment has exemplified the case of forming a monochromatic image. However, the process cartridge according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of developing means, and images of a plurality of colors (for example, a two-color image and a three-color image are provided. It can also be suitably applied to a cartridge that forms a color image or full color).

The electrophotographic photosensitive member is not limited to the photosensitive drum 7, but includes the following, for example. First, a photoconductor is used as the photoconductor, and examples of the photoconductor include amorphous silicon, amorphous selenium, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, and organic photoconductor (O).
PC) etc. are included. As the shape for mounting the photosensitive member, for example, a drum-shaped or belt-shaped one is used. It is something that has been done.

As the developing method, various known developing methods such as a two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touchdown developing method and a cloud developing method can be used.

The charging means is also constructed by using the so-called contact charging method in the above-mentioned embodiment, but a tungsten wire which has been conventionally used as another structure is provided with a metal shield such as aluminum around the three sides, It goes without saying that a configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the tungsten wire are moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum to uniformly charge the surface of the drum.

The charging means may be a blade (charging blade), a pad type, a block type, a rod type, a wire type or the like other than the roller type.

Further, as a method for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum, the cleaning means may be constituted by using a blade, a fur brush, a magnetic brush or the like.

(Improvement of Positioning Accuracy of Photoreceptor Drum in the Longitudinal Direction and Structure of the Photoreceptor Drum) Regarding the positioning of the photoreceptive drum 7 in the longitudinal direction, some points have already been described. Here, a more preferable method for positioning the photosensitive drum 7 in the longitudinal direction will be described.

That is, the fitting portion 36b of the drum flange 36 shown in FIG. 42 is fitted to one end of the photosensitive drum 7 on the drive side. The fitting portion 36b has a square hole 36n in the radial direction.
Is provided.

The photosensitive drum 7 is a drum cylinder 7d which is a hollow cylinder.
The photosensitive layer 7e is provided on the outer periphery of the.

The material of the drum cylinder 7d of the photosensitive drum 7 is aluminum alloy, iron, ferroalloy, copper alloy or the like other than aluminum which has already been described. The material of the drum flange 36 is as described above, and in the case of polycarbonate, a material containing polytetrafluoroethylene may be used.

Although the drum gear 7b shown in FIG. 42 is integrally formed with the drum flange 36, it may be fitted into the drum flange 36 as a ring gear by press fitting or an adhesive. If a ring gear is used, it is easy to use a material different from that of the drum gear 7b. The drum gear 7b is a helical gear and is twisted in the same direction as the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 7 when viewed from the drum cylinder 7d side of the photosensitive drum 7, and the drum gear 7b is shown in FIG. Is meshing with. The drum gear 7b and the developing roller gear 9k have a twist angle of 10 to 30 °. Due to the twist of the drum gear 7b due to the rotation of the photoconductor drum 7, the photoconductor drum 7 receives thrust in the direction of the coupling concave shaft 39b.

The thrust generated by the drum gear 7b should be large. On the other hand, a resin-molded helical gear has a structure in which the mold of the tooth portion is helically extracted at an angle corresponding to the helix angle of the helical gear with the center of the helical gear as the center during the die cutting. It reduces the accuracy of the surface. The greater the helix angle of the teeth, the greater this decrease in accuracy.

On the other hand, in the drum gear 7b, the meshing accuracy of the gears may be required to have a gear accuracy standard of JIGM class 3 or higher of the Japan Gear Manufacturers Association, and a tooth line accuracy of JIS class JIS precision standard of 8 or higher. In such a case, it is desirable to set the twist angle of the teeth to 30 ° or less in order to secure the gear precision by resin molding which can be mass-produced. In the embodiment, the twist angle of the teeth of the drum gear 7b is about 20 °.

The convex portion 37a at the tip of the coupling convex shaft 37
As described above, the concave portion 39a of the coupling concave shaft 39b is rotated by the coupling concave shaft 39b so that the concave portion
9a pulls the convex portion 37a in the axial direction. This recess 39a
Is a twisted hole having a substantially equilateral triangular cross section, and the convex portion 37a is a twisted substantially equilateral triangular prism, which is loosely fitted as described above. Therefore, the shape accuracy, for example, surface accuracy (error in the radial direction with respect to the theoretical screw surface) has a large allowable value. Therefore, the twist angle at the contact portion between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a of the twisted substantially regular triangular prism (contact at the ridge line 37a2 of the twisted substantially regular triangular prism, see FIG. 43) is about 40 ° as an example.

By thus increasing the twist angle at the contact portion between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a, the following effects can be obtained.

The thrust applied to the photosensitive drum 7 is the thrust of the drum gear 7b and the thrust of the convex portion 37a drawn into the concave portion 39a. As described above, the former thrust force is limited due to the problem of the twist angle of the teeth of the drum gear 7b. Therefore, it is preferable that the axial position of the photosensitive drum 7 be accurately determined by increasing the force with which the convex portion 37a is drawn into the concave portion 39a.

Now, the pitch circle diameter of the drum gear 7b is D, the twist angle of the tooth is α, the tangential load of the tooth is P, the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 3 are formed.
If the twist angle and the diameter of the contact portion of 9a are β and d, respectively,
The thrust force T1 generated by the engagement of the drum gear 7b with the developing roller gear 9k is Ptan α when the frictional force on the tooth surface is ignored.
The tangential load at the contact portion between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a is P × D / d, and the thrust generated at the contact portion between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a (the concave portion 39a is the convex portion 37a
Force T2) is P × D / d × tan β when the frictional force at the contact portion is ignored. So drum gear 7b
Comparing the thrust force T1 generated at step T2 with the thrust force T2 generated between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a, T2 / T1 = D / d × ta
nβ / tanα = D / d × tan40 ° / tan20 °
= D / d × 0.8391 / 0.3640≈2.3 × D /
It becomes d. Since D >> d, the shaft coupling (37a, 39
The thrust generated in a) is significantly larger than the thrust generated in the drum gear 7b.

Therefore, the force required for the axial positioning of the photosensitive drum 7 can be sufficiently obtained by the shaft joint.

FIG. 43 shows a state in which the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a are fitted and rotated. In this state, the center X2 of the convex portion 37a and the center X1 of the concave portion 39a coincide with each other, and the ridge line 37a2 of the convex portion 37a is the inner surface 39a2 of the concave portion 39a.
Abuts equally.

The convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a are
As shown in FIG. 43, the diameter of the circumscribed circle R0 of the triangular prism as the convex portion 37a = d0, the diameter of the inscribed circle R1 of the space having a triangular cross section as the concave portion 39a = d1, and its circumscribed circle R2.
When the diameter of d = d2, the relationship of d1 <d0 <d2 is satisfied.

To give a concrete example of a suitable numerical range, d0 = about 3 mm to 70 mm, d1 = about 3 mm to 70.
mm, or d2 = about 3 mm to 70 mm is preferable. Then, a size satisfying the above-mentioned relationship may be appropriately selected from within this numerical range. In the example of this embodiment, in particular, d0 = about 16 mm and d1 = about 9.5.
mm, and d2 = about 17.5 mm. In addition, the convex portion 3
The amount of twist of 7a and the concave portion 39a is such a size that the photosensitive drum 7 or the process cartridge B is moved in the longitudinal direction when the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a are in the rotating state. In the embodiment, the twist angle at the contact portion between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a is about 4
It is 0 °.

However, the present invention is not limited to the above numerical value and numerical value range, and the twist angle at the abutting portion of the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a may be appropriately selected so as to be 30 ° to 50 °.

43, 44, and 45 show the difference in size between the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39a in an exaggerated manner.
The difference in cross section between a and the recess 39a is that the recess 39a
7a is loosely fitted. This is the convex part 3
This is for facilitating the engagement and disengagement of the 7a and the recess 39a and for causing the coupling convex shaft 37 and the concave shaft 39b to perform the centering action by the rotation. FIG. 43 shows rotation in the direction of the arrow. When the concave portion 39a and the convex portion 37a are fitted in the stationary state, it is conceivable that the states shown in FIGS. 43, 44, and 45 are taken.

As shown in FIG. 43, the ridge line 37a2 of the convex portion 37a is formed.
When the concave portion 39a rotates in the direction of the arrow in the figure in a state in which the concave portions 39a are evenly contacted with the inner surface 39a2 of the concave portion 39a, the photosensitive drum 7 and the developing roller 9c, the transfer roller 4, the toner feeding member 9b, the toner conveying member 9e and An inertia load, a frictional resistance load, a load for moving and stirring the toner, and the like are added to the gear train that connects them.

FIG. 44 shows the center X2 of the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39.
When the center X1 of a does not match, the convex portion 37a and the concave portion 39
45, the center X2 of the convex portion 37a and the center X1 of the concave portion 39a coincide with each other, but the inner surface 39a2 of each concave portion and the ridge line 37a2 of each convex portion are fitted separately. This is the case. In the case of FIG. 44, when the concave shaft 39b rotates clockwise, the ridge line 37a of the convex portion 37a that is in contact with the lower side.
2 and the inner surface 39a2 of the concave portion 39a are immediately separated from each other, or the contact pressure for supporting the photosensitive drum 7 is lowered and the convex ridge line 3
7a2 adjacent to any ridge line 37a2 inner surface 39a2 of the recess
Collide with each other and the center X2 of the convex portion 37a is momentarily moved to the concave portion 39a.
The center X2 of the convex portion 37a is moved toward the center X1 of the concave portion 39a, and the center X2 of the convex portion 37a coincides with the center X1 of the concave portion 39a.
Rotates the convex portion 37a. At the beginning of this centering action, any one inner surface 39a2 of the concave portion is provided with one ridge line 37 of the convex portion.
Since it collides with a2, the drum flange 36 receives an impact load.

Further, as shown in FIG. 45, the center X2 of the convex portion 37a is
And the center X1 of the recess 39a coincides with each other, and there is some play in the rotation direction, the inner surface 39 of each recess 39a is formed at the beginning of the rotation of the recess 39a.
a2 simultaneously collides with the ridge line 37a2 of the convex portion, respectively, and the drum flange 36 receives an impact load.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 7 is the drum flange 3
6, a drum cylinder 7d, a spur gear 7n, a gear (not shown) coaxial with the transfer roller 4, and a transfer roller 4, which serve as an inertial load at the time of starting the connection between the drum cylinder 7d and the drum flange 36 and rotate. Because it is drum flange 3
6 and the drum cylinder 7d are connected to each other by the shaft couplings (37a, 39a).
It must withstand the impact of the joint a). The photosensitive drum 7 has a temperature difference between when the image forming apparatus A is used and when the image forming apparatus A is not used, and is thermally deformed, so that the drum cylinder 7d and the drum flange 36 are not deformed.
Because of different materials and shapes, heat stress is generated in the joint.

Described below is the structure in which the shaft joint is shockedly connected in such a case, and the connection between the drum flange 36 and the drum cylinder 7d is adapted to cope with the thermal deformation.

As shown in FIGS. 40, 41, and 46, the fitting portion 36b of the drum flange 36 is fixed to the end of the drum barrel 7d by the upper caulking 7m.

The configuration of the drum flange 36 will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the drum flange 36 has the convex portion 3
7a, the coupling convex shaft 37, the drum gear 7b, and the fitting portion 36b are integrally formed. The coupling convex shaft 37 has an inner cylinder 36d and an outer cylinder 36e.
The end of 6e is joined by the end plate 36f, and the projection 37a is formed on the end plate 36f.
Is provided. In the drum gear 7b portion, the inner cylinder 36d is shared with the coupling convex shaft 37 portion, and an outer cylinder 36g having a diameter larger than the outer cylinder 36e of the coupling convex shaft 37 is provided with a flat plate-shaped arm 36h perpendicular to the axis. A rim 36i is provided on the outer peripheral side and helical teeth 7b2 are formed on the outer periphery of the rim 36i. The fitting portion 36b has a hollow cylindrical shape that fits on the inner circumference of the drum cylinder 7d and is continuous from the arm 36h. The inner cylinder 36d and the outer cylinder 36g described above are fitted in the fitting portion 3 in the axial direction.
It is extended to the middle of 6b. Inner cylinder 36d and outer cylinder 36
A plurality of radial plate-shaped arms 36j are provided equidistantly in the circumferential direction between e and 36g. Outer cylinder 36g and rim 3
Plate-shaped arms 36k and 36m in the radial direction are provided between 6i and the fitting portion 36b. Radial square holes 36n are provided in the fitting portion 36b along the arm 36h.

FIG. 47 shows the drum cylinder 7d and the drum flange 3.
6 shows an assembly process. As shown in FIG. 47, the fitting portion 36b of the drum flange 36 is fitted into the end of the drum cylinder 7d, and is held by a jig (not shown) so as to prevent the drum flange 36 from being axially pulled out from the drum cylinder 7d. Next, as shown in FIG. 46 and FIG. 47, the cross-section is rectangular and the width is such that it fits in the square hole 36n of the drum flange 36, and the tip is a vertical surface along the end of the helical tooth 7b2 and the arm 36h. Surface 3
1a, using a tool 31 having a bending action surface 31b obliquely toward the cutting edge 31c with respect to the contact surface 31a and having a cutting edge angle γ of about 30 °, a tooth 7b for cutting the cutting edge 31c of the tool 31
When the end face of the drum cylinder 7d is bent toward the axial center at a right angle to the axis along the end face of the arm 36h, the bending face 31b bends the end face of the drum cylinder 7d as shown in FIG. Cut at both corners of the surface 31b and crimp as shown in FIG. The bent caulking 7m portion just fits into the square hole 7n, and the caulking 7m portion is the drum cylinder 7d.
And the drum flange 36 is pulled, and the end surface of the drum cylinder 7d and the arm 36h are brought into pressure contact with each other. Therefore, the drum flange 3
The mutual relationship between 6 and the drum cylinder 7d in the axial direction is accurately determined.

The same applies to the connection between the spur gear 7n and the drum cylinder 7d.

Such caulking 7m is performed at a plurality of positions in the circumferential direction of the drum cylinder 7d.

As a result, the drum cylinder 7d and the drum flange 36 are firmly fastened to each other with respect to both the rotational force and the axial force. It is possible to endure against.

In the above description, the concave direction of the concave portion 39a, that is, the hole (projection) is the direction in which the gear is twisted inward from the entrance of the hole in the direction opposite to the rotational direction of the gear.

The twist amount of the hole (projection) is 1 axis length.
The ratio is 1 ° to 15 ° in the rotational direction with respect to mm.

In this embodiment, the hole has a depth of about 4 mm and is twisted by about 30 °.

[0240]

[0241]

[Examples] In addition to the embodiments.

[0242]

As evident from the foregoing description, according to the present invention, attached to a longitudinal end of the cylinder, when the process cartridge is mounted to the apparatus main body, the body coupling member provided in the apparatus main body and the holes and the fitting section is twisted polygonal included in said twisted hole for rotation
To move toward the main body coupling member.
The last force is generated, and the body coupling member
Having a drum flange having a projection of substantially polygonal prism twisted to al driving force is transmitted, the cylinder is Rukoto with Ri <br/> preparative said drum flange to the cylinder in the longitudinal direction of the end is crimped, Thermal deformation of drum flange and cylinder
Drum flange and cylinder without being affected by
Can be firmly bonded to the
Can withstand minutes. In addition, the thrust force
You can really get the image on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum
The axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with respect to the forming apparatus main body
Can be accurately positioned in the direction.

The drum flange has a gear for driving the developing roller, and it is possible to sufficiently withstand the sudden generation of the rotational force generated in the projection of the twisted polygonal column when the load is large.

Since the polygonal prism is a twisted substantially triangular hole and the polygonal hole is a twisted substantially triangular hole, an aligning action and a pulling force are surely obtained.

One end portion of the cylinder in the longitudinal direction is cut and bent, and the cylinder flange is attached by fitting into the recess of the drum flange. Since the displacement in the rotational direction is not allowed, the cylinder and the drum flange can be firmly fastened.

[0246]

[0247]

[0248]

The present invention is suitable for application to the process cartridge including the above-described electrophotographic photosensitive drum and the process means of each aspect.

Further, this process cartridge is applied to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which is detachably provided, and a suitable result is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

Each of the drawings shows an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

2 is an external perspective view of the device shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a process cartridge.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of the process cartridge shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the upper right side.

5 is a right side view of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

6 is a left side view of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

7 is an external perspective view of the process cartridge shown in FIG. 3 as viewed from the upper left side.

FIG. 8 is an external perspective view showing the lower left side of the process cartridge shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view of a mounting portion of a process cartridge of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 10 is an external perspective view of the mounting portion of the process cartridge of the apparatus main body.

FIG. 11 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a photosensitive drum and a driving device therefor.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a cleaning unit.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a developing unit.

FIG. 14 is a partially exploded perspective view of a developing unit.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of the back of the developing holder.

FIG. 16 is a side view of the side plate of the developing device frame and the toner frame.

FIG. 17 is a side view seen from the inner side to the outer side of the developing holder unit in FIG.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a developing roller bearing box.

FIG. 19 is a perspective view of a developing device frame.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of a toner frame.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a toner frame.

22 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the toner seal portion of FIG.

FIG. 23 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a support device for the charging roller unit.

FIG. 24 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing a drive system of the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a coupling provided on the apparatus main body and a coupling provided on the process cartridge.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a coupling provided in the apparatus main body and a coupling provided in the process cartridge.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of an opening / closing member and a coupling portion of the apparatus body.

FIG. 28 is a front view showing the configuration around the concave axis of the coupling when the process cartridge of the apparatus main body is driven.

FIG. 29 is a front view showing the configuration around the concave axis of the coupling when the process cartridge of the apparatus main body is attached or detached.

FIG. 30 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the relationship of electrical contacts when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

FIG. 31 is a side view showing a mounting portion of a compression coil spring.

FIG. 32 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a joint portion between a drum frame and a developing frame.

FIG. 33 is a perspective view showing a mounting portion of the photosensitive drum to the cleaning frame.

FIG. 34 is a vertical sectional view showing a drum bearing portion.

FIG. 35 is a side view showing the external shape of the drum bearing portion.

FIG. 36 is a developed sectional view showing another embodiment of the drum bearing portion. ,

FIG. 37 is a perspective view schematically showing a drum bearing portion.

FIG. 38 is a development view showing the relationship of the generated thrust in the process cartridge.

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of another embodiment showing the opening of the toner frame.

FIG. 40 is a perspective view around the drum flange of the photosensitive drum.

FIG. 41 is a perspective view of a cleaning unit.

FIG. 42 is a perspective view of a drum flange.

FIG. 43 is a sectional view of the shaft joint, taken at right angles to the axis.

FIG. 44 is a sectional view of the shaft coupling, taken at right angles to the axis.

FIG. 45 is a cross-sectional view of the shaft coupling, taken at right angles to the shaft.

FIG. 46 is a vertical cross-sectional view including the axis of the drum flange.

FIG. 47 is a perspective view showing a process of assembling the drum flange and the drum cylinder.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Optical system 1a ... Laser diode 1b ... Polygon mirror 1c ... Lens 1d ... Reflection mirror 1e ... Exposure opening 2 ... Recording medium 3 ... Conveying means 3a ... Paper feeding cassette 3b ... Pickup roller 3c ... Conveying roller pair 3d ... Conveying roller versus
3e ... Pair of registration rollers 3f ... Conveyance guides 3g, 3
h, 3i ... Ejection roller pair 3j ... Inversion path 3k ... Flapper 3m ... Ejection roller pair 4 ... Transfer roller 5 ... Fixing means 5a ... Heater 5b ... Fixing roller 5c
Drive roller 6 Discharge tray 7 Photosensitive drum 7a Drum shaft 7a1 End surface 7
a2 ... expanded part 7b ... drum gear 7b1 ... side end 7d
... drum cylinder 7d1 ... inner surface 7e ... photosensitive layer 7f ... ground plate 7n ... spur gear 8 ... charging roller 8a ... charging roller shaft 8b ... compound spring 8b1 ... compression coil spring 8b2 ... internal contact 8c ...
Charging roller bearing 9 ... Developing means 9b ... Toner feeding member 9b1 ... Journal 9c ... Developing roller 9d ... Developing blade 9d1
... Sheet metal 9d1a ... Bent portion 9d2 ... Urethane rubber 9
d3 ... hole 9d4 ... screw hole 9d5 ... notch 9d6
... Machine screw 9e ... Toner stirring member 9f ... Bearing 9f1
… Key part 9g… Magnet 9g1… Missing circular shaft 9h
… Antenna rod 9h1… Contact point 9i… Spacer roller 9
j ... Developing roller bearing 9j1 ... Hole 9j4 ... Bearing 9k
Developing roller gear 9l (developing coil spring contact 9m) Toner stirring gear 9p Flange 9p1 Developing roller gear mounting shaft 9q Gear 9q1 Small gear
9r ... Large gear 9r1 ... Small gear 9s ... Toner feed gear 9s1 ... Shaft coupling part 9s2 ... Small gear 9u ... Bevel gear 9v ... Bearing box 9v1 ... Cylindrical projection 9v2 ... Screw hole 9v3 ... Magnet support hole 9v4 ... Bearing Mating hole
9v5 ... Key groove 9v6 ... Recessed portion 9v7 ... Notch 9
v8 ... Support part 9v9 ... Dowel 9w ... Journal 9w
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Reduced diameter cylindrical part 10 ... Cleaning means 10a ... Cleaning blade 10b ... Waste toner reservoir 11 ... Toner frame 11A ... Toner container 11a ... Upper frame 11a1 ... Flange 11b ... Lower frame 11b
1 ... Flange 11c ... Rib 11d ... Toner charging port
11e ... Coupling member 11e1 ... Hole 11f ... Toner cap 11g ... Recessed portion 11h ... Boss 11i ...
Opening 11J ... Toner unit 11j, 11j1 ...
Flange 11k ... Concave surface 11m ... Step 11n ... Slit groove 11n1 ... Edge 11n2 ... Bottom 11q ... Square hole 11r
... Round hole 11t ... Handle member 11v ... Projection strip 12 ... Development frame 12A, 12B ... Side plate 12b ... Through hole 12c ... Female thread 12d ... Dowel 12e ... Flange
12f ... slit 12g ... hole 12h ... lower jaw 12
i ... plane 12i1 ... dowel 12i2 ... female screw 12i
3 ... Protrusion 12j ... Arc surface 12k ... Spring fixing part 12
m ... hole part 12n ... spring guide part 12p ... opening part 1
2s, 12s1, 12s2 ... Sealing member 12t ... Spring holding part 12u ... Plane 12v ... Projection 12v1 ... Triangular projection 12w1 ... Cylindrical dowel 12w2 ... Square dowel 12x
... hole 12z ... ridge 13 ... cleaning frame (drum frame) 13a ... cylindrical guide 13aR1 ... flange 13aR2 ... machine screw 13aR3 ... disk member 13aR4 ... inner diameter guide part
13aR5 ... Restraint inner peripheral surface 13aR, 13aL ... Cylindrical guide 13bR, 13bL ... Detent guide 13c
... Locating pin 13d ... Machine screw 13e ... Mounting hole 1
3f ... Regulation contact part 13g ... Guide groove 13h ... Mounting hole 13h1 ... Missing circular part 13h2 ... Positioning pin 13h
3 ... Rib 13h4 ... Restraining boss 13i ... Upper surface 13j ... Regulation contact part 13k ... Side end 1
3k1 ... Hole 13L ... Guide member 13n ... Transfer opening 13p ... Right end 13q ... Left end 13R ... Guide member 13s ... Outer wall 13t ... Partition wall 14 ... Image forming apparatus body 16 ... Guide member 16a ... Guide part 16b ... Positioning groove 16c ... Guide part 16d ... Positioning groove 16
R, 16L ... Guide member 17 ... Recessed portion 18 ... Drum shutter member 18a ... Shutter cover 18b, 18c ... Link 18c1 ... Projection portion 19 ... Arm portion 19a ... Tip 20 ... Rotation hole 20a ... Inner surface 20a1 ... Inclined portion 20
a2 ... Spring seat 21 ... Recess 21a ... Bottom 22 ... Coupling member 22a ... Compression coil spring 25 ... Fixed member 29 ... Flange 35 ... Opening / closing member 35a ... Support point 36 ... Drum flange 36b ... Fitting portion 37 ... Coupling convex shaft 37a, 37a1 ... Convex end 38 ... Bearing 38a ... Convex 38b ... Inner end face 39 ... Gear 39a ... Recess 39a1 ... Bottom 39b ... Coupling concave shaft 40 ... Development holder 40a ... Support hole 40b, 40c,
40d, 40e ... Dowel 40f ... Protrusion 43 ... Large gear 51 ... Cover film 52 ... Pull-out tear tape 52a ... End 52b ... One end 54 ... Elastic seal material 55 ... Tape 56 ... Elastic seal material 61 ... Motor 61a ... Shaft 62 ... Small Gear 63 ... Outer cam 63a ... Arm 64 ... Inner cam 65 ... Link 65a, 65b ... Pin 66 ... Side plate 67 ... Side plate 68 ... Compression coil spring 69 ... Side plate 119 ... Ground contact 120 ... Charging bias contact 120a ... External exposed part 1
20b ... Spring seat 121 ... Development bias contact 121a ... Derivation part 121
b ... 2nd derivation part 121c ... 3rd derivation part 121d
... fourth lead-out portion 121e ... external contact portion 121f ... stop hole 122 ... toner remaining amount detection contact 123 ... earth contact member 124 ... charging contact member 125 ... development bias contact member 126 ... toner detection contact member 127 ... holder 128 ... electricity Substrate 129 ... Compression coil spring A ... Laser beam printer (image forming apparatus) B ... Process cartridge C ... Cleaning unit D ... Developing unit DG ... Developing unit drive transmission unit G ... Developing roller unit GT ... Gear train J ... Toner unit JP ... Coupling surface L, K ... Slope S ... Cartridge mounting space Z ... Horizontal line m ... Line g ... Gap

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-61-114282 (JP, A) JP-A-5-317992 (JP, A) JP-A-8-44247 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 258877 (JP, A) JP 7-334036 (JP, A) JP 6-264920 (JP, A) Actual development Sho 63-201211 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 21/00 350 G03G 15/00 550 F16D 1/06 F16D 1/02

Claims (8)

(57) [Claims] 1. A electrophotographic photosensitive drum usable with a possible process cartridge detachably attached to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body, a cylinder having a photosensitive layer on the surface, it mounted on a longitudinal end of the cylinder Dora
A Mufuranji, when the process cartridge is mounted to the apparatus main body, provided in the apparatus main body
The coupling member has in cross-section to mate with holes twisted polygonal, the body mosquitoes by the twisted hole is rotated
Generate a thrust force that moves in the direction of the pulling member ,
And the driving force is transmitted from the main body coupling member.
An electrophotographic photosensitive drum, comprising: a drum flange having a twisted substantially polygonal columnar protrusion; and the cylinder having the drum flange attached by caulking the cylinder at one longitudinal end. 2. A developing roller for developing a latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive drum as a process means, and the drum flange has a gear for rotating the developing roller. The electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to claim 1. 3. The electrophotographic photosensitive drum according to claim 2, wherein the gear is integrally formed with the drum flange. 4. The electric wire according to claim 1, wherein the twisted substantially polygonal prism is a twisted substantially triangular prism, and the polygonal hole is a twisted substantially triangular hole.
Child photoconductor drum . 5. The cylinder is attached with the drum flange by cutting and bending one end portion in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder and fitting the recess into the recess of the drum flange. 2. The electrophotographic photosensitive drum described in 2 or 4 . 6. A process cartridge attachable to and detachable from a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus , comprising: a, a cylinder having a photosensitive layer on a surface thereof, and a drum flange attached to one end of the cylinder in a longitudinal direction.
And a body coupling provided in the apparatus body when the process cartridge is mounted in the apparatus body.
Section with the member to mate with holes twisted polygonal, before
Rotating the twisted hole causes the body coupling part to rotate.
Producing a thrust force moving in the direction of the material , and said book
A drum flange having a twisted substantially polygonal column projection to which a driving force is transmitted from a body coupling member , and the cylinder is crimped at one end in a longitudinal direction to form the drum flange. A process cartridge comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive drum that is attached; and b, a process unit that acts on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. 7. The electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the process cartridge is an integrally formed cartridge including the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and at least one of a charging unit, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit as the process unit. Claims characterized by being removable from the device body
Item 7. The process cartridge according to Item 6 . 8. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein a process cartridge is attachable / detachable, and a main body coupling having a twisted hole having a polygonal cross section.
And a cylinder having a photosensitive layer on the surface, and a drum flange attached to one end of the cylinder in the longitudinal direction.
Yes , the process cartridge is the electrophotographic image forming
When attached to the main body of the apparatus, fitted with the twisted hole
As the twisted hole rotates,
Generate a thrust force that moves in the direction of the ring member, and
A screw to which driving force is transmitted from the main body coupling member
And a drum flange having a protrusion of a substantially polygonal prism, wherein the cylinder is attached to the drum flange by crimping the cylinder at one longitudinal end, and the electrophotographic photoreceptor. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprising: a mounting unit for removably mounting a process cartridge having a process unit acting on a drum; and c, a transport unit for transporting a recording medium.