CN106919032B

CN106919032B - Process cartridge

Info

Publication number: CN106919032B
Application number: CN201710326396.2A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 请求不公布姓名
Original assignee: Zhuhai Nastar Information Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Zhuhai Nastar Information Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2017-05-10
Filing date: 2017-05-10
Publication date: 2023-06-13
Anticipated expiration: 2037-05-10
Also published as: CN106919032A

Abstract

The utility model relates to a processing box for an electrophotographic imaging device, which comprises a box body, a photosensitive drum, a gear component fixed at one end of the photosensitive drum, a side cover component fixed at the outer side of the box body, and a positioning frame with a stress part, wherein the side cover component comprises a side cover, a transmission claw and a claw frame. When the force receiving part receives an external force to enable the positioning frame to move relative to the side cover in the direction vertical to the axis of the photosensitive drum, the positioning frame drives the transmission claw to turn around the turning shaft of the claw frame from the initial position to the engaged position, and when the external force disappears, the positioning frame moves reversely relative to the side cover and drives the transmission claw to turn around the turning shaft of the claw frame from the engaged position to the initial position. The driving device has the advantage that the driving claw is not pushed by the driving head to realize smooth overturning.

Description

Process cartridge

Technical Field

The present utility model relates to an important component of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and in particular, to a process cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

Background

Referring to fig. 1, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1 such as a laser printer, a multifunction laser integrated machine, or the like uses a process cartridge 2 as an image processing apparatus in which a developing roller supplies developer such as toner in a toner hopper to a photosensitive drum, thereby developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum to form a visible image on a medium such as paper. The process cartridge 2 is generally loaded into or unloaded from a hopper opening of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1 through a chute.

In the process cartridge 2, there are at least rotating members such as a photosensitive drum, a developing roller, etc., which are rotatably supported in a pair of end walls of the process cartridge in an axis-parallel manner, and transmit rotational power from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1 through a gear train, the process cartridge being provided with a rotational force receiving member of the earlier type, which is a spherical hinge at one end thereof, and is hinged at one end of the photosensitive drum, and an engaging portion at the other end thereof.

Referring to fig. 2, when the process cartridge 2 is inserted in place in the Y-axis forward direction toward the cartridge bay of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1, it will be seated on one of the projections 11 projecting opposite the bay bottom, and the passive teeth of the driving pawl will engage with the driving head 12 in the bay of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1, thereby receiving the rotational power.

The chinese patent publication No. CN206002844U discloses a process cartridge comprising a casing, a photosensitive drum, a gear assembly and a side cover assembly, the side cover assembly having a transmission claw rotatable about a second imaginary axis provided to the photosensitive drum and rotatable about the photosensitive drum axis, the second imaginary axis being non-parallel to the first imaginary axis when the transmission claw is in a first position and the transmission claw being not in contact with the gear assembly, the second imaginary axis being coaxial with the first imaginary axis when the process cartridge is loaded into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and the transmission claw is moved to a second position, and the transmission claw being engaged with the gear assembly and driven to rotate by the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to transmit rotational kinetic energy to the photosensitive drum, the process cartridge being simple and smooth to be loaded into and unloaded from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus because the transmission claw is movable between the first position and the second position.

The process cartridge disclosed in CN206002844U has the drawbacks that, first, when being loaded into an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the axis of the driving pawl in the first position is perpendicular to the axis of the driving head, the turning of the driving pawl is completely dependent on the pushing force of the driving head, and dead points of the turning of the driving pawl are liable to occur; secondly, when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, if the situation of jamming occurs, the user is more accustomed to pull out the process cartridge slightly and reinsert it again and repeatedly to expect to break the jamming, but when just pulled out to the state shown in fig. 26 of the specification, the driving head releases the constraint of the elastic unit thereof, but does not completely release the constraint of the torsion spring thereof, the driving claw is pushed out by the restoring force of the elastic unit along the axial direction of the photosensitive drum, and at this time, the process cartridge is reversely inserted along the arrow in fig. 26 again, and the driving claw or the side cover assembly is damaged; thirdly, the pair of force-receiving teeth of the driving pawl engaged with the driving head in the cartridge of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus are very small, and when the process cartridge is not loaded into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the driving pawl in the first position is semi-exposed outside the process cartridge in such a manner that the axis is parallel to the side wall of the process cartridge, i.e., is not completely located inside the process cartridge, as shown in fig. 4 of the specification, the force-receiving teeth of the driving pawl are extremely damaged when the process cartridge is subjected to an improper impact due to falling and collision before the process cartridge is not loaded into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; finally, the top end of the caulking groove of the clamping piece in the gear assembly is a plane, which is one of reasons for unsmooth engagement of the transmission claw and the caulking groove.

Disclosure of Invention

The main object of the present utility model is to provide a process cartridge which can be smoothly inserted into or taken out from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus;

another object of the present utility model is to provide a process cartridge capable of effectively preventing the force-receiving teeth of the driving pawl from being damaged.

In order to achieve the main purpose, the processing box provided by the utility model comprises a box body, a photosensitive drum, a gear assembly fixed at one end of the photosensitive drum, a side cover assembly fixed at the outer side of the box body, and a positioning frame with a stress part, wherein the side cover assembly comprises a side cover, a transmission claw and a claw frame. When the force receiving part receives external force from the outside of the processing box to enable the positioning frame to move relative to the side cover in the axial direction perpendicular to the photosensitive drum, the positioning frame drives the transmission claw to turn to the meshing position from the initial position around the turning shaft of the claw frame, and when the external force disappears, the positioning frame moves relative to the side cover in the reverse direction of the moving direction and drives the transmission claw to turn to the initial position around the turning shaft of the claw frame from the meshing position.

According to the scheme, the locating frame with the stress part is arranged, when the stress part is subjected to external force, the overturning of the transmission claw is started by being driven by the locating frame, so that the phenomenon that the transmission claw in the prior art is blocked by completely depending on the overturning of the driving head top in the electrophotographic imaging device is completely avoided, and the process cartridge can be smoothly inserted into or taken out of the electrophotographic imaging device.

In order to achieve the other purpose of the utility model, a further proposal is that when the transmission claw is positioned at the initial position, the stress teeth of the transmission claw are completely positioned in the processing box; when the transmission claw is positioned at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission claw is coincident with the axis of the photosensitive drum. As can be seen from this, when the process cartridge is not loaded into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus and the driving claw is in the initial position, the force-receiving teeth of the driving claw are directed toward the inside of the photosensitive drum, and therefore, can be effectively prevented from being damaged.

Another further solution is that the gear assembly comprises a clamping member, the engagement portion of the clamping member for engaging with the driving pawl is a pair of circumferential gradually rising teeth which are centrally symmetrical about the axis of the clamping member.

Still a further scheme is that the side cover is matched with the locating rack through the sliding groove and the sliding block mechanism, the locating rack can relatively slide in the direction vertical to the axis of the photosensitive drum, the locating rack is provided with two through grooves parallel to the sliding groove, the distance between two ends of the turning shaft of the claw rack is greater than the distance between the outer walls of the through grooves, and a concave turning area is formed on one face of the locating rack, facing the transmission claw. The first elastic piece is connected between the loop hook on one side of the claw frame far away from the positioning frame and the positioning frame. And the second elastic piece is arranged between the side cover and the positioning frame, and the restoring force forces the positioning frame to be close to the transmission claw.

The further proposal is that when the transmission claw is positioned at the initial position, the stress teeth of the transmission claw are completely positioned in the processing box; when the transmission claw is positioned at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission claw is coincident with the axis of the photosensitive drum.

Still further, the gear assembly includes a clamping member having a pair of circumferentially ascending teeth centered about an axis of the clamping member, and an engagement portion for engaging the driving pawl.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of part of A of FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present utility model;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the relative positional relationship of the gear assembly and the side cover assembly;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the gear assembly and side cover assembly;

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of another view of the gear assembly;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the gear assembly;

fig. 8 is a perspective view of a side cover;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a spacer;

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the drive pawl;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the pawl cage;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a loop hook;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the combination of the drive pawl, pawl cage, loop hook and elastomeric loop;

FIG. 14 is a schematic view of the assembly of the side cover, spacer, spring;

FIG. 15 is a schematic view of the assembly of FIG. 13 with the addition of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional structural view of a side cover assembly;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of another view of the side cover assembly;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the side cover assembly with the elastomeric ring in place;

FIG. 19 is another cross-sectional structural view of the side cover assembly;

FIG. 20 is a B-direction view of the positional relationship of the gear assembly and the side cover assembly relative to the drive head when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, i.e., is being moved forward into the cartridge bay in the Y-axis direction of FIG. 2;

FIG. 21 is a view of FIG. 20 rotated 180 degrees in-plane;

FIG. 22 is a C-C cross-sectional view of FIG. 21;

FIGS. 23 to 27 are schematic views showing a process of turning over the driving pawl when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus;

FIG. 28 is a state diagram of the drive pawl in the engaged position;

fig. 29 to 33 are schematic views of a process of turning over the driving claws when the process cartridge is taken out from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

The utility model is further described below with reference to various embodiments and the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The present utility model is mainly directed to improvements of the prior art process cartridge, and in particular, CN206002844U, and the following embodiments only describe the structure and working principle closely related to the present utility model, and other structures and components of the process cartridge that are exactly the same as those of the prior art, and those skilled in the art can fully understand and implement the process cartridge and the technical disclosure of CN20600284U, so these structures and components will not be described separately.

For the sake of clarity of explanation of the present utility model, the proportion of the drawings is not uniform, and the structure of portions of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus which do not belong to the embodiment of the present utility model is indicated by dash-dot lines in fig. 20 to 33.

Meanwhile, in order to reflect the relative position relation of all parts and clearly see the structural characteristics of the utility model, in view of different view angles of all the drawings, the utility model adopts a mode of using a unified space rectangular coordinate system XYZ in the related view, and the XYZ meets the right rule.

Examples

Referring to fig. 3, a side cover assembly 3 is fixed to an outer side wall of one end casing of the photosensitive drum of the process cartridge 2.

Referring to fig. 4, the gear assembly 4 is composed of a gear, a spring, and a snap-fit member, one axial end of the gear being a fixed end 411 for connection with the drum of the photosensitive drum. The side cover assembly 3 comprises a side cover 31, a positioning frame 32, a transmission claw 33, a spring 34 serving as a second elastic piece of the utility model and a process seal head 35 for installing the spring 34.

Referring to fig. 5, the gear assembly 4 is assembled from a gear 41, a spring 42 and a clip 43. The side cover assembly 3 is assembled by a side cover 31, a positioning frame 32, a transmission claw 33, a spring 34, a sealing head 35, a claw frame 36, an elastic ring 37 serving as a first elastic element of the utility model, a ring hook 38 and a groove seal 39. In the process cartridge, the axis of the photosensitive drum is collinear with the axis of the gear assembly 4 and the axis of the transmission claw 33 when in the initial position or the engaged position.

Referring to fig. 6, the gear 41 is formed with an open inner cavity 412, the bottom of the cavity is provided with

guide openings

413 and 414 penetrating through the bottom wall, one pair of guide openings 413 is also used as axial limit, the spring 42 is located in the inner cavity 412, the clamping piece 43 is an open downward cylinder, a pair of circumferential gradually rising teeth 431 symmetrical with respect to the center of the axis of the cylinder are arranged on the outer side of the upper bottom surface of the clamping piece, four through grooves are formed in the circumferential wall of the cylinder along the axial direction, four

sliding rods

432 and 433 which are axially arranged and can axially slide in the

guide openings

413 and 414 are formed, and a pair of radial protrusions matched with the axial limit of the guide openings 413 are further arranged at the edge of the opening of the sliding rod 432.

Referring to fig. 7, after the gear assembly 4 is assembled, the spring 42 is disposed between the gear 41 and the engaging piece 43, so that the engaging piece 43 can receive the rotational force transmitted from the driving pawl 33 in the engaged position through the pair of circumferential ascending teeth 431 on the one hand, and can slide in the axial direction with respect to the gear 42 when the direction of the resultant force in the axial direction is changed.

Referring to fig. 8, the side cover 31 has an axial through cavity 311 for the driving claw 33 to move in the axial direction and turn over in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, a pair of sliding grooves 312 parallel to the axial direction are symmetrically provided on the inner wall of the through cavity 311, a pair of sliding grooves 313 for the positioning frame 32 to slide relative to the side cover 31 in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum are further provided on the side cover 31, and a plurality of buckles 314 are buckled with the side wall of the process cartridge 2. In the middle of the pair of slide grooves 313, a mounting hole 315 for a spring as an elastic member is also provided in parallel.

Referring to fig. 9, the positioning frame 32 is provided with a concave overturning area 321, a force receiving portion 322, two sliding bars 323 matched with the sliding grooves as sliding blocks, a pair of through grooves 324 axially parallel to the sliding bars 323, and a fixing groove 325 for installing an elastic ring, wherein the through grooves 324 are formed on the outer wall of the overturning area 321 and penetrate in the Z direction.

Referring to fig. 10, the driving pawl 33 has a pair of force receiving teeth 331 at one axial end thereof for receiving the rotational force of the driving head 12, a pair of output arms 332 at the other end thereof for transmitting the rotational force to the pair of circumferential ascending teeth 431, and a diameter reducing section 333 at the middle thereof for engaging with the pawl frame 36.

Referring to fig. 11, the claw holder 36 has a sleeve 361 fitted with the reduced diameter section 333, a pair of turning shafts 362 extending radially outwardly from the outer wall of the sleeve 361, and a mounting seat 363 of the ring hook 38, the mounting seat 363 having a cutout for expanding the reduced diameter section 333 in view of the mounting process.

Referring to fig. 12, the loop hook 38 has a mounting portion 381 and a hook portion 382.

Referring to fig. 13, after the diameter-reduced section 333 is pressed into the sleeve 361, the assembly of the driving claw 33 and the claw holder 36 is completed, the mounting portion 381 is adhered to the mounting seat 363 by double faced adhesive tape or glue, and finally the elastic ring 37 made of rubber is sleeved into the hook portion 382, so that the component state shown in fig. 13 is obtained.

Referring to fig. 14, the slide bar 323 of the positioning frame 32 is inserted into the slide groove 313 of the side cover 31, and the spring 34 is inserted from the opening on the left side in fig. 14 of the mounting hole 315, and the opening is blocked by the sealing head 35, so that the spring 34 can be pressed between the side cover 31 and the positioning frame 32.

Referring to fig. 15, the positioning frame 32 is moved relative to the side cover 31 by compressing the spring in the negative Y-axis direction, so that the positioning frame 32 does not interfere with the assembly of the component shown in fig. 13, the component is inserted into the through cavity 311 in the negative X-axis direction in the posture shown in fig. 15, the ends of the pair of turning shafts 362 need to correspondingly enter the pair of sliding grooves 312, the groove seals 39 are pressed at the openings of the sliding grooves 312, when the turning shafts 362 are inserted into the openings of the sliding grooves 312 and the through grooves 324 have the same coordinate values in the X-axis direction, the positioning frame 32 is reset under the action of the restoring force of the spring 34, and the turning shafts 362 are placed in the through grooves 324, i.e., under certain conditions, the turning shafts 362 can reciprocate in the X-axis direction relative to the sliding grooves 312 and reciprocate in the Y-axis direction relative to the through grooves 324.

When the process cartridge is not inserted into the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, that is, when the force receiving portion 322 is not subjected to force, the turning shaft 362 passes through the through-groove 324 and extends into the slide groove 312, and the turning shaft 362 cannot be translated in any direction relative to the side cover due to the joint constraint of the through-groove 324 and the slide groove 312. When the force receiving portion 322 is forced to slide the positioning frame 32 in the negative Y-axis direction relative to the side cover 31 to the state shown in fig. 16, the turning shaft 362 is disengaged from the through groove 324, so that it can slide in the sliding groove 312 in the X-axis direction.

Fig. 17 shows the assembled condition of fig. 15, where the elastic ring 37 is slightly stretched to fit into the holding groove 325, so that the elastic ring 37 is connected between the hook on the side of the claw holder remote from the positioning frame 32 and the positioning frame 32 as shown in fig. 18.

Referring to fig. 19, fig. 19 shows the positional relationship between the gear assembly 4 and the side cover assembly 3 after both are mounted to the process cartridge. At this time, the driving pawl 33 is in the initial position with its axis in the X-axis direction and the force-receiving teeth 331 oriented in the X-axis direction, and thus is entirely inside the process cartridge. In addition, it can be seen in fig. 19 that the distance between the ends of the tilting shaft 332 of the claw holder is greater than the distance between the outer walls of the through-slot, i.e. greater than the distance between the outer sides of the two slide bars 323, so that the end of the tilting shaft 332 can extend through the through-slot into the slide slot 312.

The working principle of the first embodiment of the present utility model will be explained below.

When the process cartridge of the first embodiment of the present utility model is inserted into the cartridge bay of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, i.e., is traveling forward in the Y-axis direction of fig. 1 or 2, the projection 11 in the cartridge bay will be first contacted by the force receiving portion 322 of the process cartridge with reference to fig. 20, and for convenience of explanation of the first embodiment, the description will be made after rotating 180 degrees in the plane of fig. 20.

Referring to fig. 21, at this time, since the process cartridge is not yet in place, it will continue to travel in the positive direction along the Y axis, and since the force receiving portion 322 receives resistance, the positioning frame 32 is positioned with respect to the boss 11, i.e., the cartridge bin, and with respect to the side cover 31, it is equivalent to that the positioning frame 32 moves in the negative direction along the Y axis under the condition that the external force applied by the boss 11 overcomes the restoring force of the spring 34.

Referring to fig. 22, the drive head 12 is now spaced from the drive pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction.

Referring to fig. 23, the turning shaft 362 travels forward with the side cover 31 in the Y-axis direction under the constraint of the slide groove 312, on the one hand, slides in the opening direction thereof with respect to the through groove 324, and on the other hand, starts turning around the turning shaft 362 in the turning region under the pull of the elastic ring 37. At this time, the drive head 12 is also spaced from the drive pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction.

Referring to fig. 24 to 25, as the process cartridge is continuously inserted into the cartridge compartment, the rotation angle of the driving pawl 33 is gradually increased, and when the turning shaft 362 is pulled out of the through groove 324, the driving pawl will move downward along the slide groove 312 in the negative direction of the X axis. At this time, the drive head 12 is still spaced from the driving pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction.

Referring to fig. 26, the drive pawl 33 does not come into contact with the drive pawl 33 until after about 100 degrees of rotation from the home position, and the drive head 12 pushes the drive pawl 33 to continue rotation and down the chute 312.

Referring to fig. 27, when the process cartridge is in place with respect to the cartridge bay, i.e., when the transmission claw 33 is in the engaged position, the axis of the drive head 12, the axis of the transmission claw 33 coincides with the axis of the photosensitive drum, i.e., the axis of the gear 31.

Referring to fig. 28, when the engagement position is reached, the output arm 332 directly enters the tooth bottom region of the circumferential gradually rising tooth 431 and may be much larger than the tooth top region of the circumferential gradually rising tooth 431, so that the possibility of the snap-in member 43 being compressed most in the axial direction is relatively smaller than that of the prior art, and the occurrence of a click is reduced.

29-32, during the process of taking out the process cartridge from the cartridge compartment, during the period that the force receiving portion 322 keeps in contact with the projection 11, the side cover 31 will move in the negative direction toward the Y-axis, under the restoring force of the spring 34, the positioning frame 32 is positioned relative to the cartridge compartment, i.e., stationary, while the driving pawl 33, on the one hand, moves forward along the X-axis relative to the side cover 31 along the chute 312 under the restoring force of the elastic ring 37, and rotates counterclockwise about the turning shaft 362 as shown in FIG. 29, when the upward movement is to the point that the turning shaft 362 and the penetrating groove 324 have the same X-axis coordinate, the opening of the penetrating groove 324 has the same Y-axis coordinate as the chute 312, and the turning shaft 362 enters the penetrating groove 362 from the opening as shown in FIG. 32.

Referring to fig. 33, after the force receiving portion 322 is out of contact with the projection 11, it is restored to the original position by the restoring force of the elastic ring 37 and the spring 34.

Other embodiments

Dovetail guide rail matching can be adopted between the side cover and the positioning frame so as to realize relative sliding in the direction vertical to the axis of the photosensitive drum; the first elastic piece can replace the elastic ring by a single rubber strip connected between the locating rack and the claw rack.

Claims

1. A process cartridge including a cartridge body, a photosensitive drum;

a gear assembly fixed at one end of the photosensitive drum and a side cover assembly fixed at the outer side of the box body;

the side cover assembly comprises a side cover, a transmission claw and a claw frame;

the method is characterized in that:

the middle part in the axial direction of the transmission claw is provided with a reducing section;

the claw frame is provided with a shaft sleeve matched with the diameter reduction section, and a pair of overturning shafts and ring hooks which extend outwards along the radial direction from the outer wall of the shaft sleeve;

the side cover assembly further comprises a positioning frame with a stress part, the positioning frame is provided with a concave overturning area and a pair of penetrating grooves, a first elastic piece is arranged between the positioning frame and the ring hooks, a second elastic piece is arranged between the positioning frame and the side cover, and the overturning shaft can rotationally slide in the penetrating grooves around the axis of the positioning frame;

when the force receiving part receives an external force from the outside of the processing box to enable the positioning frame to move relative to the side cover in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum, the positioning frame drives the transmission claw to rotate around the turnover shaft from an initial position in the turnover area until the transmission claw turns to an engaged position;

when the external force disappears, the positioning frame moves reversely relative to the side cover along the moving direction under the action of the restoring force of the second elastic piece, and meanwhile, the transmission claw rotates from the meshing position around the overturning shaft to the initial position under the action of the restoring force of the first elastic piece.

2. A process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein:

when the transmission claw is positioned at the initial position, the stress teeth of the transmission claw are completely positioned in the processing box;

when the transmission claw is positioned at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission claw is coincident with the axis of the photosensitive drum.

3. A process cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the gear assembly comprises a clamping piece, and the meshing part of the clamping piece, which is used for meshing with the transmission claw, is a pair of circumferential gradually rising teeth which are symmetrical about the center of the axis of the clamping piece.

4. A process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein:

the side cover and the positioning frame are matched through a chute and a sliding block mechanism and can slide relatively in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum;

the sliding groove is parallel to the penetrating groove, and the distance between the two ends of the turning shaft is larger than the distance between the outer walls of the penetrating groove;

the overturning area is formed on one surface of the locating frame, which faces the transmission claw.

5. A process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein:

6. A process cartridge according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: