CN106919032B - process box - Google Patents

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 box

technical field

The present invention relates to important components of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a process cartridge detachably mounted in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

Background technique

Referring to Fig. 1, electrophotographic imaging devices 1 such as laser printers and multifunctional laser all-in-one machines use process cartridges 2 as image processing devices, and the developing roller in the process cartridge provides developers such as carbon powder in the powder chamber to the photosensitive drum, The electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum is thus developed to form a visible image on paper and other media. The process cartridge 2 is generally loaded or taken out through a port of the electrophotographic imaging device 1 through a chute.

There are at least rotating parts such as a photosensitive drum and a developing roller in the process box 2. These rotating parts are rotatably supported on a pair of end walls of the process box in an axis-parallel manner, and transmit rotational power through a gear train. The rotational power of the process box From the electrophotographic image forming apparatus 1, the earlier rotational force receiving member of the process cartridge is a spherical hinge at one end, hinged at one end of the photosensitive drum, and an engaging portion at the other end.

Referring to Fig. 2, when the process cartridge 2 is inserted in place toward the box compartment of the electronic imaging device 1 along the Y axis, it will be seated on a projection 11 protruding from the bottom of the relative compartment, and the driven teeth of the transmission pawl will be in contact with the electronic imaging device 1. The driving head 12 in the chamber of the camera imaging device 1 is engaged to receive the rotational power.

The Chinese utility model patent with the notification number CN206002844U discloses a process cartridge, which includes a housing, a photosensitive drum, a gear assembly, and a side cover assembly. The side cover assembly has a transmission claw that can rotate around a second imaginary axis. The gear assembly is arranged on the photosensitive drum and can rotate around the axis of the photosensitive drum. When the transmission pawl is at the first position, the second imaginary axis is not parallel to the first imaginary axis, and the transmission pawl is not in contact with the gear assembly. When the process cartridge is loaded into the electrophotographic When the transmission claw of the imaging device moves to the second position, the second imaginary axis is coaxial with the first imaginary axis, and the transmission claw and the gear assembly are snapped together and driven to rotate by the electrophotographic imaging device to transfer the rotational kinetic energy to the photosensitive drum , since the transmission pawl can move between the first position and the second position, the loading and unloading of the process cartridge toward the electrophotographic imaging device is simple and smooth.

The process box disclosed by CN206002844U has the following defects. First, when it is loaded into an electrophotographic imaging device, the axis of the drive claw in the first position is perpendicular to the axis of the drive head, and the overturn of the drive claw depends entirely on the thrust of the drive head. , the dead point of the overturning of the transmission claws is prone to occur; secondly, when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic imaging device, if there is an unsmooth situation such as jamming, the user is more accustomed to pulling out the process cartridge a little and inserting it again and again. , in order to break through the jam, but when it is just pulled out to the state shown in Figure 26 of its manual, the drive head releases the constraint of its elastic unit, but does not completely release the constraint of its torsion spring, and the transmission pawl will be released by the elastic unit. Restoration force pushes out along the axial direction of the photosensitive drum. At this time, the process cartridge is inserted in the opposite direction along the arrow in Fig. 26, which will damage the drive claw or the side cover assembly; thirdly, the drive head in the drive claw and the electrophotographic imaging device compartment The meshing pair of force-bearing teeth is very small. When the process cartridge is not loaded into the electrophotographic imaging device, the transmission pawl at the first position is half-exposed outside the process cartridge with the axis parallel to the side wall of the process cartridge. It is not completely located inside the process box, see Figure 4 of its instruction manual. When the process box is not loaded into the electrophotographic imaging device and receives an undue impact due to drop or collision, it is very easy to damage the force-bearing teeth of its transmission claw; finally , the top of the slot of the clamping piece in the gear assembly is a plane, which is one of the reasons for the unsmoothness in the meshing process between the transmission claw and the slot.

Contents of the invention

The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge which can be smoothly inserted into or taken out of an electrophotographic imaging device;

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge which can effectively prevent the force-bearing teeth of the transmission pawl from being damaged.

To achieve the above-mentioned main purpose, the process cartridge provided by the present invention includes a box body and a photosensitive drum, a gear assembly fixed at one end of the photosensitive drum, and a side cover assembly fixed on the outside of the box body. The side cover assembly includes a side cover, a transmission pawl, a pawl The frame also includes a positioning frame with a force receiving part. When the force receiving part is subjected to an external force from the outside of the process box to make the positioning frame 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 turn from the initial position around the turning axis of the claw frame to the engaged position, and when the external force disappears At this time, the positioning frame moves opposite to the side cover along the aforementioned moving direction, and drives the transmission claw to turn from the meshing position to the initial position around the overturning axis of the claw frame.

It can be seen from the above scheme that since the positioning frame with the force-receiving part is provided, when the force-receiving part is subjected to an external force, the turning of the transmission claw is driven by the positioning frame to start, which completely avoids the transmission claw of the prior art completely relying on electrophotography. The stuck phenomenon caused by the overturning of the driving head in the imaging device enables the process box to be inserted or removed smoothly relative to the electrophotographic imaging device.

In order to achieve another object of the present invention, a further solution is that when the drive claw is at the initial position, the force-bearing teeth of the drive claw are completely located in the process cartridge; when the drive claw is at the meshing position, the axis of the drive claw coincides with the axis of the photosensitive drum. It can be seen that when the process cartridge is not installed in the electrophotographic imaging device and the driving claw is in the initial position, the force-bearing teeth of the driving claw are facing the inside of the photosensitive drum, so it can effectively prevent it from being damaged.

Another further solution is that the gear assembly includes a clamping piece, and the engaging portion of the clamping piece for meshing with the transmission pawl is a pair of circumferential progressively rising teeth symmetrical to the center of the clamping piece axis.

A further solution is that the side cover and the positioning frame cooperate with each other through a chute and a slider mechanism, and can slide relative to each other in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum. The positioning frame is provided with two through grooves parallel to the chute. The distance between the two ends of the turning shaft is greater than the distance between the outer walls of the through groove, and a concave turning area is formed on the side of the positioning frame facing the transmission claw. The first elastic member is connected between the loop hook on the side of the claw frame away from the positioning frame and the positioning frame. The second elastic member is placed between the side cover and the positioning frame, and the restoring force forces the positioning frame to approach the transmission pawl.

A further solution is that when the transmission claw is at the initial position, the force-bearing teeth of the transmission claw are completely located in the process box; when the transmission claw is at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission claw coincides with the axis of the photosensitive drum.

A still further solution is that the gear assembly includes a clamping piece, and the engaging portion of the clamping piece for meshing with the transmission pawl is a pair of circumferential progressively rising teeth symmetrical to the center of the clamping piece axis.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of a process box and an electrophotographic imaging device;

Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged view of A in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention;

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

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

Fig. 6 is a structural exploded view of another perspective of the gear assembly;

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

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the side cover;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the positioning frame;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the transmission claw;

Figure 11 is a perspective view of the claw frame;

Figure 12 is a perspective view of the loop hook;

Fig. 13 is the structural diagram after the transmission claw, the claw frame, the ring hook and the elastic ring are combined;

Fig. 14 is the schematic diagram of assembling side cover, spacer, spring;

Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of the assembly shown in Figure 13 on the basis of Figure 14;

Figure 16 is a cross-sectional structural view of the side cover assembly;

Fig. 17 is a structural diagram of another perspective of the side cover assembly;

Figure 18 is a perspective view of the side cover assembly after the elastic ring is in place;

Fig. 19 is another sectional structural view of the side cover assembly;

Fig. 20 is a B-direction view of the positional relationship between the gear assembly and the side cover assembly relative to the drive head when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic imaging device, that is, when entering the cartridge chamber in the positive direction of the Y axis in Fig. 2;

Figure 21 is a view of Figure 20 rotated 180 degrees in the plane;

Fig. 22 is a CC sectional view of Fig. 21;

Fig. 23-Fig. 27 are schematic diagrams of the overturning process of the transmission claw when the process cartridge is inserted into the electrophotographic imaging device;

Fig. 28 is a state diagram when the transmission pawl is in the engaged position;

Fig. 29 - Fig. 33 are schematic diagrams of the overturning process of the transmission claw when the process cartridge is taken out from the electrophotographic imaging device.

The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with various embodiments and accompanying drawings.

Detailed ways

The present invention is mainly aimed at the improvement of the existing process box, especially the disclosed scheme of CN206002844U. The following embodiments only illustrate the structure and working principle closely related to the present invention. The other structures and parts of the process box are completely the same as those of the prior art. , those skilled in the art can fully understand and implement according to the existing process box and the technical content disclosed by CN20600284U, so these structures and components will not be further described.

For the purpose of clearly describing the present invention, due to the limitation of the size of the drawings, the proportions of the above drawings are not consistent, and the structures of the parts of the electrophotographic imaging device that do not belong to the embodiment of the present invention are shown in dots in Fig. 20-Fig. 33 The line indicates.

At the same time, in order to reflect the relative positional relationship of each component and clearly see the structural characteristics of the present invention, in view of the different viewing angles of each figure, a unified space Cartesian coordinate system XYZ is used in the relevant views. The way to solve, and XYZ satisfies the right-hand rule.

Example

Referring to FIG. 3 , a side cover assembly 3 is fixed on the outer wall of the box body at one end of the photosensitive drum of the process cartridge 2 .

Referring to FIG. 4 , the gear assembly 4 is composed of gears, springs and clips. One axial end of the gear is a fixed end 411 for connecting with the drum of the photosensitive drum. The side cover assembly 3 includes a side cover 31 , a positioning frame 32 , a transmission claw 33 , a spring 34 as the second elastic member of the present invention, and a process head 35 for installing the spring 34 .

Referring to FIG. 5 , the gear assembly 4 is assembled by 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 head 35, a claw frame 36, an elastic ring 37 as the first elastic member of the present invention, a ring hook 38, and a groove seal 39 . On 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 pawl 33 when it is in the initial position or the meshing position.

Referring to Fig. 6, the gear 41 is formed with an open inner cavity 412, and the bottom of the cavity is provided with guide openings 413, 414 penetrating the bottom wall, wherein a pair of guide openings 413 also serve as axial stoppers, and the spring 42 is located in the inner cavity 412, The clamping piece 43 is a cylindrical body with its opening facing downwards. A pair of progressively rising teeth 431 in the circumferential direction symmetrical to the center of the cylindrical body axis are provided on the outer side of the upper bottom surface. The peripheral wall of the cylindrical body is provided with four through grooves in the axial direction, forming Four slide rods 432,433 that are arranged axially and can slide axially in the guide ports 413,414, wherein a pair of slide rods 432 are located at the edge of the opening and are also provided with a pair of axial limiters with the guide port 413 Fitted radially outward.

Referring to Fig. 7, after the gear assembly 4 is assembled, the spring 42 is placed between the gear 41 and the clamping member 43, so that the clamping member 43 can accept the transmission pawl when it is in the meshing position through a pair of circumferential progressive teeth 431 on the one hand. The rotational force transmitted by 33, on the other hand, can slide in the axial direction relative to the gear 42 when the direction of the axial resultant force changes.

Referring to Fig. 8, the side cover 31 has an axial through chamber 311 for the transmission pawl 33 to move axially and to turn over in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the inner wall of the through chamber 311 is symmetrically provided with a pair of slides parallel to the axial direction. Slot 312, side cover 31 is also provided with a pair of sliding slots 313 for positioning frame 32 to slide relative to side cover 31 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum, and several buckles 314 that are buckled with the side wall of process cartridge 2 . In the middle of the pair of sliding grooves 313, a spring mounting hole 315 as an elastic member is also arranged in parallel.

Referring to Fig. 9, the positioning frame 32 is provided with a concave overturning area 321, and a force-receiving part 322, and two sliding rods 323 that cooperate with the aforementioned pair of sliding grooves as sliders are arranged parallel to the axial direction of the sliding rods 323 A pair of through grooves 324, a fixing groove 325 for installing the elastic ring is provided on the outer wall of the turning area 321, and the through grooves 324 mean to penetrate in the Z direction.

Referring to Fig. 10, one axial end of the transmission pawl 33 is provided with a pair of stressed teeth 331 for receiving the rotational force of the drive head 12, and the other end is provided with a pair of output arms for transmitting the rotational force to a pair of circumferential progressive teeth 431. 332, a diameter-reducing section 333 for cooperating with the claw frame 36 is arranged in the middle.

Referring to Fig. 11, the claw frame 36 has a shaft sleeve 361 matched with the diameter-reducing section 333, a pair of turning shafts 362 extending radially outward from the outer wall of the shaft sleeve 361, and a mounting seat 363 of the ring hook 38. From the installation process Considering the angle of view, the mounting seat 363 has a cutout so that the diameter-reducing section 333 can be squeezed into it.

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-reducing section 333 is squeezed into the shaft sleeve 361, the assembly of the transmission claw 33 and the claw frame 36 is completed, and the mounting part 381 is bonded to the mounting seat 363 with double-sided tape or glue, and finally the The elastic ring 37 made of rubber is inserted into the hook portion 382 to form the state of the components shown in FIG. 13 .

Referring to Fig. 14, insert the slide bar 323 of the positioning frame 32 into the chute 313 of the side cover 31, and insert the spring 34 from the opening on the left side of the installation hole 315 in Fig. 14, and seal the opening with the head 35, The spring 34 can be squeezed between the side cover 31 and the positioning frame 32 .

Referring to Fig. 15, move the positioning frame 32 relative to the side cover 31 along the negative direction of the Y axis to compress the spring so that the positioning frame 32 does not interfere with the assembly of the components shown in Fig. 13, and insert the component in the posture shown in Fig. 15 along the negative direction of the X axis Through the cavity 311, at this time, the ends of a pair of turning shafts 362 need to enter a pair of chute 312 correspondingly, and the groove seal 39 is squeezed at the opening of the chute 312, when inserted into the turning shaft 362 and the through groove 324 at X When the coordinate values of the directions are the same, release the constraint on the positioning frame 32, the positioning frame 32 will reset under the action of the restoring force of the spring 34, and place the turning shaft 362 in the through groove 324, that is, under certain conditions, the turning The shaft 362 can reciprocate relative to the sliding slot 312 in the X-axis direction, and can also reciprocate relative to the through slot 324 in the Y-axis direction.

When the process cartridge is not inserted into the electrophotographic imaging device, that is, when the force-bearing part 322 is not stressed, the turning shaft 362 passes through the through groove 324 and stretches into the chute 312, and is constrained by the through groove 324 and the chute 312 to turn over Shaft 362 cannot translate in any direction relative to the side cover. When the force-bearing part 322 is forced to make the positioning frame 32 slide negatively along the Y-axis relative to the side cover 31 to the state shown in FIG. Swipe in.

Fig. 17 shows the state after the assembly shown in Fig. 15 is completed, at this moment, the elastic ring 37 can be slightly stretched to be inserted into the fixing groove 325, so that the elastic ring 37 is connected to the claw frame as shown in Fig. 18 and is away from the positioning Between the ring hook on the frame 32 side and the positioning frame 32.

Referring to FIG. 19, FIG. 19 shows the positional relationship between the gear assembly 4 and the side cover assembly 3 after they are installed on the process box. At this time, the transmission pawl 33 is in the initial position, its axis is on the X-axis and the force-receiving tooth 331 is facing the negative direction of the X-axis, so it is completely inside the process cartridge. In addition, it can be seen in Figure 19 that the distance between the two ends of the overturning shaft 332 of the claw frame is greater than the distance between the outer walls of the through groove, that is, the distance between the outer sides of the two slide bars 323, so that the end of the overturning shaft 332 can pass through. The through groove extends into the slide groove 312 .

The working principle of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

When the process cartridge of the first embodiment of the present invention is inserted into the cartridge chamber of the electrophotographic imaging device, that is, when the Y axis in Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 advances forward, referring to Fig. For the convenience of the description of the first embodiment, the projection 11 in the magazine will be described after rotating 180 degrees in Fig. 20 in the plane.

Referring to Fig. 21, at this time, because the process cartridge is not yet in place, it will continue to move forward along the Y axis, and because the force receiving part 322 is subjected to resistance, the positioning frame 32 is positioned relative to the projection 11, that is, the cartridge compartment, and the relative side cover 31 is positioned. In other words, it means that the positioning frame 32 moves negatively along the Y-axis when the external force exerted by the bump 11 overcomes the restoring force of the spring 34 .

Referring to FIG. 22 , there is a distance between the drive head 12 and the transmission pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction at this time.

Referring to Fig. 23, under the constraint of the chute 312, the turning shaft 362 travels forward along the Y axis with the side cover 31. On the one hand, it slides toward the opening direction of the through groove 324; The inversion axis 362 begins to invert in the inversion zone. At this time, there is also a distance between the driving head 12 and the transmission pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction.

Referring to Fig. 24-25, as the process cartridge is continuously inserted into the cartridge compartment, the angle of rotation of the transmission pawl 33 gradually increases. When the overturning shaft 362 breaks out of the through groove 324, it will go down along the chute 312 toward the X axis negatively. At this time, there is still a distance between the driving head 12 and the transmission pawl 33 in the Y-axis direction.

Referring to FIG. 26 , the drive head 12 does not start to contact the drive claw 33 until the drive claw 33 rotates about 100 degrees from the initial position, and the drive head 12 pushes the drive claw 33 to continue to rotate and move down the chute 312 .

Referring to Fig. 27, when the process cartridge was in place relative to the box chamber, that is, when the transmission claw 33 was in the meshing position, the axis of the drive head 12, the axis of the transmission claw 33 and the axis of the photosensitive drum, that is, the axis of the gear 31, coincided.

Referring to Fig. 28, when the meshing position is about to be reached, the possibility of the output arm 332 directly entering the tooth bottom area of the circumferential progressively rising tooth 431 is much greater than that sitting on the tooth top area of the circumferential gradually rising tooth 431, therefore, compared with the prior art The possibility of maximum compression of the clamping member 43 in the axial direction is relatively much smaller, which reduces the probability of jamming.

Referring to Fig. 29-Fig. 32, during the process of taking out the process cartridge from the cartridge chamber, while the force-receiving part 322 is in contact with the projection 11, the side cover 31 will move in the negative direction of the Y-axis, under the action of the restoring force of the spring 34 , the positioning frame 32 is positioned relative to the magazine, that is, it is stationary, and the transmission claw 33 is under the action of the restoring force of the elastic ring 37. On the one hand, the relative side cover 31 moves forward along the X-axis along the chute 312, and at the same time, it also rotates around the turning axis. 362 rotates counterclockwise as shown in Figure 29. When the X-axis coordinates of the upturning shaft 362 and the through-groove 324 are the same, the opening of the through-groove 324 has the same Y-axis coordinate as the chute 312, and the overturning axis 362 starts from the opening. Enter the through groove 362 as shown in Figure 32 .

Referring to FIG. 33 , when the force receiving portion 322 is out of contact with the protrusion 11 , it returns to the original position under the restoring force of the elastic ring 37 and the spring 34 .

other implementations

Dovetail rails can also be used between the side cover and the positioning frame to achieve relative sliding in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum; the first elastic member can be replaced by a single rubber strip connected between the positioning frame and the claw frame Elastic ring.

Claims (6)

1. Process cartridge, including cartridge body and photosensitive drum; a gear assembly fixed at one end of the photosensitive drum and a side cover assembly fixed outside the box; The side cover assembly includes a side cover, a transmission claw, and a claw frame; It is characterized by: A diameter-reducing section is arranged in the axial middle of the transmission claw; The claw frame has a shaft sleeve matched with the diameter-reducing section, and a pair of turning shafts and ring hooks extending radially outward from the outer wall of the shaft sleeve; The side cover assembly also includes a positioning frame with a force-receiving part, the positioning frame has a concave turning area and a pair of through grooves, and a first elastic member is placed between the positioning frame and the ring hook , a second elastic member is placed between the positioning frame and the side cover, and the turning shaft can slide around its own axis in the through groove; When the force-receiving part is subjected to an external force from the outside of the process cartridge so that the positioning frame moves relative to the side cover in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum, the positioning frame drives the transmission pawl at the Turn around the turning axis from the initial position in the turning area until turning to the meshing position; When the external force disappears, the positioning bracket moves in the opposite direction relative to the side cover along the aforementioned moving direction under the action of the restoring force of the second elastic member, and at the same time, under the action of the restoring force of the first elastic member The following transmission pawl is turned back to the initial position around the turning axis from the meshing position. 2. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: When the transmission pawl is at the initial position, the stressed teeth of the transmission pawl are completely located in the process box; When the transmission pawl is at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission pawl coincides with the axis of the photosensitive drum. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The gear assembly includes a clamping member, and the engaging portion of the clamping member for engaging with the transmission pawl is a pair of circumferential progressively rising teeth symmetrical to the center of the clamping member axis. 4. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: The side cover cooperates with the positioning frame through a chute and a slider mechanism, and can slide relatively in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the photosensitive drum; The chute is parallel to the through groove, and the distance between the two ends of the turning shaft is greater than the distance between the outer walls of the through groove; The turning area is formed on a side of the positioning frame facing the driving pawl. 5. The process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein: When the transmission pawl is at the initial position, the stressed teeth of the transmission pawl are completely located in the process box; When the transmission pawl is at the meshing position, the axis of the transmission pawl coincides with the axis of the photosensitive drum. 6. The process cartridge according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that: The gear assembly includes a clamping member, and the engaging portion of the clamping member for engaging with the transmission pawl is a pair of circumferential progressively rising teeth that are symmetrical about the center of the clamping member axis.

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