CN113467205A

CN113467205A - Developing box

Info

Publication number: CN113467205A
Application number: CN202010239548.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 姜鹏; 刘小兵; 夏阳
Original assignee: Jiangxi Yibo Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Jiangxi Yibo Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-03-30
Filing date: 2020-03-30
Publication date: 2021-10-01

Abstract

A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus including a side wall and a door provided with a metal contact, comprising: a housing, the interior of which can contain a developer; a memory cell including a plurality of terminals including a ground terminal; an electrical connection member having one end electrically connected to the ground terminal and the other end electrically connectable to a sidewall of the image forming apparatus; the grounding terminal is not electrically connected with the metal contact on the door cover but electrically connected with the side wall; a control mechanism is included that controls movement of at least a portion of the electrical connection member relative to the sidewall from a first position to a second position. The ground terminal in the developing box can be stably electrically connected with the image forming device.

Description

Developing box

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge having a storage unit.

Background

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus that forms a visible image on a recording medium by the principle of electrophotographic image formation, and includes an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer, an LED printer, and the like.

Specifically, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms a desired image according to the following procedure. First, a surface of a photoconductive medium is charged to a predetermined electric potential, and then a laser beam is projected onto the charged surface of the photoconductive medium to form an electrostatic latent image; a developing cartridge supplying a developer onto the electrostatic latent image of the photoconductive medium; next, the visible developer image developed on the photoconductive medium is transferred to a printing medium directly or through an intermediate transfer medium, and finally fixed to the printing medium through a fixing process.

In the above-described electronic image forming apparatus, the life of the developing cartridge is limited during image formation, so that when the developer in the developing cartridge is used up, replacement is often required to ensure image quality. For this reason, the user must know information of the developing cartridge in order to accurately grasp the state of the developing cartridge, and generally, a storage unit is provided in the developing cartridge to store information on the amount of remaining developer of the developing cartridge and the like.

In the related art, chinese patent CN201621062066.4 discloses a developing cartridge having a memory unit having a plurality of terminals including conductive terminals, data terminals, and contact terminals. The ground terminal of the plurality of terminals is elastically contacted with the side wall of the printer through an intermediate conductive member so that the ground terminal of the storage unit is electrically connected with the printer earlier than the other terminals, thereby enabling the developing cartridge to be electrically connected with the printer and communicate information. However, since the middle conductive member is in elastic contact with the side wall of the printer, the middle conductive member may not recover its elastic deformation in the process of long-term installation of the developing cartridge in the printer, so that when the developing cartridge is installed in the printer again, the middle conductive member cannot be in close contact with the side wall of the printer, and thus the grounding terminal connected to the middle conductive member cannot be connected to the side wall of the printer to realize a grounding function, and the storage unit is damaged, and thus normal information communication with the printer cannot be realized.

Disclosure of Invention

In order to solve the problems in the prior art, the invention is realized by adopting the following technical scheme: a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus including a side wall and a door provided with a metal contact, comprising:

a housing, the interior of which can contain a developer; a memory cell including a plurality of terminals including a ground terminal; an electrical connection member having one end electrically connected to the ground terminal and the other end electrically connectable to a sidewall of the image forming apparatus; the grounding terminal is not electrically connected with the metal contact on the door cover but electrically connected with the side wall; a control mechanism is included that controls movement of at least a portion of the electrical connection member relative to the sidewall from a first position to a second position.

Further, when the electrical connection member is in the first position, the ground terminal is not electrically connected with the side wall; the ground terminal is electrically connected with the sidewall when the electrical connection member is in the second position.

Furthermore, the electric connection member comprises a conductive steel sheet, an elastic member and a tilting knife; one end of the conductive steel sheet is connected with the grounding terminal, and the other end of the conductive steel sheet is connected with one end of the elastic member; the other end of the elastic component is connected with the warped knife.

Furthermore, the seesaw knife comprises a sawtooth part, and the sawtooth part can be contacted with the side wall.

Still further, the elastic member may enable the seesaw blade to move from a second position electrically connected with the side wall to a first position not electrically connected with the side wall.

Still further, the control mechanism may be configured as a lever that may receive a force of a door cover to force the seesaw blade to move from the first position to the second position.

Furthermore, the housing is provided with a guide groove which can guide the control rod to move relative to the housing.

Still further, the control mechanism is configured as a linkage mechanism.

Further, the developing cartridge may further include an accommodating member accommodating at least a part of the conductive member, and the link mechanism may force the accommodating member to move.

Further, the electrical connection member further includes a seesaw blade, and the receiving member is configured to receive the seesaw blade.

The developing box of the invention, after the developing box is installed to the imaging device, the door cover of the imaging device can apply force to the control rod, so that the electric connecting component connected with the control rod moves relative to the side wall of the imaging device; the conductive member is movable relative to the side wall from a first position not contacting with the side wall of the image forming apparatus to a second position contacting with the image forming apparatus and applies force to the conductive member all the time as the door cover presses the control lever, so that the conductive member and the side wall keep tight fit all the time, and the conductive member is made of rigid material, so that contact failure caused by unrecoverable deformation of the conductive member and the side wall due to long-term contact in the prior art does not occur; and after the door cover is opened, the force exerted on the control rod disappears, the electric connecting component and the control rod can enable the electric contact component to move from the second position to the first position under the action of the elastic restoring force of the elastic component, the electric contact component is not contacted with the side wall, the developing box is not contacted with the side wall, and the developing box can be smoothly taken out of the image forming device.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a developing cartridge of the present invention mounted to an image forming apparatus without closing a door;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the developing cartridge of the present invention mounted to an image forming apparatus with a door cover closed;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of the state of FIG. 1 without the cover shield installed;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the state of FIG. 2 without the cover shield installed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a control lever of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a warped knife of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a memory cell of the present invention connected to a conductive steel plate;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of an elastic member of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of the cover of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a partial schematic view of a developing cartridge casing of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic view of a developing cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted to an image forming apparatus without closing a door;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a developing cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention mounted in an image forming apparatus with a door cover closed;

fig. 13 is a schematic view of an accommodating member of a developing cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

In order to make the object, technical scheme and technical effect of the embodiment of the present invention clearer, the technical scheme of the developing cartridge of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The described embodiments are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, rather than all embodiments, and other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive faculty based on the embodiments of the present invention will fall within the scope of the present invention.

Example one

As shown in fig. 1, the developing cartridge of the present invention comprises a casing 2 which can accommodate a developer therein; the storage unit 1 comprises a data terminal 1a, a power terminal 1c and a grounding terminal 1b, and the storage unit 1 can store the related information of the developing box and can be electrically connected with the printer through the terminals to realize information exchange with the printer. In the present embodiment, the storage unit 1 is provided at the rear end of the casing 2, but alternatively, the storage unit 1 may be provided at other portions of the developing cartridge, such as the front end, the upper end, or the lower end of the developing cartridge, or any other portion capable of accommodating the storage unit 1. The developing cartridge of the present invention further comprises an electrically connecting member having one end electrically connected to the ground terminal 1b of the memory cell and the other end electrically connected to the side wall 5 of the image forming apparatus. The electrical connection device of the present invention is movable relative to the side wall 5 of the image forming apparatus; the developing cartridge of the present invention further comprises a lever 9 for controlling the movement of the electrical connecting member.

The electric connecting member in this embodiment is made of a conductive material, and includes a conductive steel sheet 7, an elastic member 8 and a seesaw blade 6. The seesaw blade in this embodiment is configured as a substantially plate-shaped member as shown in fig. 6, and has a saw-tooth shape 6a formed at one end thereof, the seesaw blade 6 may be made of a conductive material such as a conductive resin or a metal, and may be provided as a rigid member that is not elastically deformed by a force, and the seesaw blade 6 may be configured in other shapes such as a square shape or a diamond shape. The spring element 8 is preferably provided as an electrically conductive tension spring, the first end 8a of which can be electrically connected to the electrically conductive steel sheet 7 and can be fixed to the housing 2 at the same time, and the other end 8b of which is electrically connected to the tilting blade 6, although the spring element can also be embodied as another elastically deformable element. The conductive steel sheet 7 can also be designed in other shapes or made of other materials, for example it can be designed as a conductive wire.

The control mechanism of the present embodiment is configured as a control lever 9. The lever 9 may be made of a conductive material or a non-conductive material, but is preferably made of a resin material, and the shape of the lever 9 may be changed according to the shape and space of the developing cartridge. In the present embodiment, the control lever 9 is configured as a lever with an arc-shaped portion as shown in fig. 5, and includes a pressed portion 9a which is protrudable from the rear end of the cartridge housing 2; a mounting portion 9c configured in a substantially arc shape and mountable to the arc-shaped guide groove 2a of the housing; the conductive member receiving portion 9b is configured to have a substantially groove shape and is provided with a cylindrical protrusion 9d, and the protrusion 9d is inserted into the mounting hole 6d of the seesaw blade 6, so that the seesaw blade 6 is positioned in the conductive member receiving portion 9b and the seesaw blade 6 is positioned by the protrusion 9 d. Of course, a plurality of positioning members may be further provided on the seesaw knife 6 to be better positioned on the control lever, so that the seesaw knife 6 can move together with the control lever 9.

The developing cartridge in this embodiment is also provided with a shutter cover 20; a shielding cover 20 may be mounted to one side of the housing for covering at least a portion of the control lever 9 and the electrical connection member so as not to be interfered with by an external mechanism. The shielding cover 20 is provided with a hole 20c, and when the shielding cover 20 is mounted to the housing, the screw post 1c on the housing is inserted into the hole 20c to position the shielding cover 20 to the housing. The shielding cover 20 is further provided with a restricting protrusion 20a, and the restricting protrusion 20a is shaped to match the circular arc portion of the lever for restricting the movement of the lever 9 with respect to the shielding cover 20. The cartridge housing is provided with a guide groove 2a for receiving the lever's circular arc portion 9c and guiding the lever for movement relative to the housing.

The developing cartridge of the present embodiment is mountable to an image forming apparatus including left and right side walls 5; the side wall 5 has a grounding function and can be connected with a grounding device of the printer to prevent the side wall from generating safety accidents due to electric leakage. The developing cartridge in this embodiment is mountable to the image forming apparatus along the left and right side walls 5, and when the developing cartridge is mounted to a predetermined position in the image forming apparatus, a door cover (not shown) of the image forming apparatus is closed, and a plurality of metal contacts, which can establish electrical connection with terminals other than the ground terminal of the storage unit, are provided on the door cover, so that the image forming apparatus and the developing cartridge storage unit establish electrical connection.

The detailed operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to fig. 1 to 4.

When the developing cartridge of the present embodiment is mounted to a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, but the door cover of the image forming apparatus is not closed, the electrical connection member of the ground terminal 1b on the storage unit of the developing cartridge is not in contact with the side wall 5 but is spaced from the side wall 5 by a distance n1, specifically, the seesaw blade 6 is spaced from the side wall 5 by a distance n1 in the left-right direction; the control rod 9 extends out of the rear wall of the housing by a first distance h 1; when the user closes the door of the image forming apparatus, the door first contacts the lever 9 and applies a force F perpendicular to the rear wall of the housing thereto; the control rod 9 receives the force F and then moves along the guide groove 1a of the housing, the tilting blade 6 connected with the control rod moves along with the control rod 9, the tilting blade 6 extends outwards relative to the housing in the moving process, specifically, the tilting blade moves forwards relative to the housing in the front-back direction and simultaneously moves close to the side wall 5 in the left-right direction, and in order, the tilting blade 6 is in sliding contact with the side wall 5 towards the right back, so that the storage unit grounding terminal 1b electrically connected with the tilting blade 6 is grounded firstly and is electrified firstly compared with other terminals such as a data terminal of the storage unit; when the door cover is completely closed, the warped blade is kept in close contact with the side wall 5 of the image forming device, so that the ground terminal 1b of the storage unit is electrically connected with the side wall 5 stably, and in the embodiment, the ground terminal 1b is electrically connected with the image forming device earlier than other terminals of the storage unit; in addition, in the process of executing a printing task by the developing box, the door cover always applies force F to the control rod 9 to force the warped blade 6 to be always in close contact with the side wall 5 of the image forming device, and because the warped blade is a rigid component, the warped blade cannot be elastically deformed due to stress, so that the grounding terminal 1b and the side wall 5 can always realize a good grounding function in the printing process; and the fault that the conductive device can not be in close contact with the side wall to generate normal grounding because the conductive device is in contact with the side wall for a long time and can not generate unrecoverable elastic deformation in the prior art can not occur. Also when the image forming apparatus needs to be taken out of the developing cartridge due to a paper jam or other reasons, the user opens the door cover, the force F is no longer applied to the lever 9, the lever 9 and the seesaw blade 6 are forced by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 8 to return the lever 9 and the seesaw blade 6 connected thereto from the second position shown in fig. 2 to the first position shown in fig. 1, so that the seesaw blade 6 moves toward being close to the housing, and a gap is formed between the seesaw blade 6 and the side wall, so that the ground terminal 1b is electrically disconnected from the side wall 5.

Example two

For simplicity of description, the same structure in this embodiment as that in the first embodiment is not described again. The control mechanism in the present embodiment is configured as a link mechanism, and the link mechanism in the present embodiment includes a first link 10, a second link 11, a third link 12, and a receiving member 13 connected to the third link 12. One end of the second connecting rod 11 is connected with the first connecting rod 10, and the other end is connected with the third connecting rod 13. In the embodiment, the first link 10 may receive a force F from the door cover of the image forming apparatus to move toward the front end of the housing, so that the second link 11 connected to the first link 10 moves toward the front and right sides, the second link 11 moves to move the rear and front end of the third link 12, so that the accommodating member 13 connected to the third link 12 moves along with the third link 12, the accommodating member 13 may accommodate the seesaw blade 14, the seesaw blade 14 may move along with the accommodating member 13, and the seesaw blade 14 moves toward the rear and right sides after the first link 10 receives the force F from the door cover, so that the seesaw blade 14 may move from the first position shown in fig. 11 to the second position shown in fig. 12, and the elastic member 15 is compressed. In the first position, the warped blade 14 is separated from the sidewall 5 by a certain gap and is not electrically connected, so that the grounding terminal 1b is not electrically connected with the sidewall and the memory cell is not grounded; when the memory cell is in the second position, the raised blade 14 contacts the sidewall 5 to form an electrical connection, so that the ground terminal is electrically connected with the sidewall 5, and the memory cell realizes a grounding function. When the door is opened, the force F applied to the first link 10 disappears, and the seesaw blade 14, the accommodating member 13 and the link mechanism are moved from the second position to the first position by the elastic restoring force of the elastic member 15.

When the developing box is installed to the image forming device, the door cover of the image forming device applies force to the control mechanism, so that the electric connection component connected with the control mechanism moves relative to the side wall of the image forming device; the conductive member is movable relative to the side wall from a first position not contacting with the side wall of the image forming device to a second position contacting with the image forming device, and the control mechanism applies force to the conductive member all the time due to the door cover pressing the control mechanism, so that the conductive member and the side wall are kept in tight fit all the time, and the conductive member is made of rigid material, so that the contact failure caused by unrecoverable deformation due to the long-term contact of the conductive member and the side wall in the prior art can not occur; and after the door cover is opened, the force applied on the control mechanism disappears, the electric connecting component and the control mechanism enable the electric contact component to move from the second position to the first position under the action of the elastic restoring force of the elastic component, the electric contact component is not contacted with the side wall, the developing box is not contacted with the side wall, and the developing box can be smoothly taken out of the image forming device.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus including a side wall and a door provided with a metal contact, comprising:

a housing, the interior of which can contain a developer;

a memory cell including a plurality of terminals including a ground terminal;

an electrical connection member having one end electrically connected to the ground terminal and the other end electrically connectable to a sidewall of the image forming apparatus;

the grounding terminal is not electrically connected with the metal contact on the door cover but electrically connected with the side wall;

it is characterized in that; a control mechanism is included that controls movement of at least a portion of the electrical connection member relative to the sidewall from a first position to a second position.

2. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein when the electrical connecting member is in the first position, the ground terminal is not electrically connected to the side wall; the ground terminal is electrically connected with the sidewall when the electrical connection member is in the second position.

3. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the electrically connecting member includes a conductive steel sheet, an elastic member, and a seesaw blade; one end of the conductive steel sheet is connected with the grounding terminal, and the other end of the conductive steel sheet is connected with one end of the elastic member; the other end of the elastic component is connected with the warped knife.

4. The developing cartridge as claimed in claim 3, wherein the seesaw blade includes a serration portion, and the serration portion is contactable with the side wall.

5. The developing cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the elastic member is capable of moving the seesaw blade from the second position electrically connected to the side wall to the first position not electrically connected to the side wall.

6. A developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the control mechanism is configured as a lever which receives a force of a door cover to force the seesaw blade to move from the first position to the second position.

7. A developing cartridge according to claim 6, wherein said casing is further provided with a guide groove for guiding movement of said control lever relative to the casing.

8. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the control mechanism is configured as a link mechanism.

9. A developing cartridge according to claim 8, further comprising an accommodating member accommodating at least a part of said conductive member, wherein said link mechanism forces said accommodating member to move.

10. The developing cartridge according to claim 9, wherein the electrical connecting member further includes a seesaw blade, and the accommodating member is configured to accommodate the seesaw blade.