CN113934120A - Developing box - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus including an identification member, the developing cartridge comprising: a housing, the interior of which can contain a developer; a driving gear provided at one side of the housing, receiving and transmitting a driving force from the image forming apparatus; a detection unit capable of receiving the driving force transmitted by the driving gear and detecting the driving force by the detection unit; the detection part rotates from a first position to a second position along with the driving gear to finish detection; the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a first contact point at the first position, the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a second contact point at the second position, and the projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in the axial direction of the detection part are overlapped.

Description

Developing box

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of electronic imaging, in particular to a developing box.

Background

In image forming apparatuses (printers, copiers, facsimile machines, etc.) of the related art, a developing cartridge is widely used, which includes a counting mechanism, and is detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus, and by interaction of an information detecting mechanism of the image forming apparatus and the counting mechanism on the developing cartridge, detection of whether the developing cartridge mounted to the image forming apparatus is a new developing cartridge is achieved, thereby determining the life of the developing cartridge.

However, in an actual production process, when the performance of the developing cartridge needs to be tested, the developing cartridge needs to be loaded into the image forming apparatus to receive the driving force for rotation, and then the developing cartridge needs to be detected as a new developing cartridge by the detection mechanism in the image forming apparatus. However, the edge cover is disassembled to readjust the position of the counting mechanism, which is time-consuming and complex in process and increases the production cost. After the powder adding operation is performed by the end user, the reset action of the counting mechanism can not be completed to recover the detection function under the condition of not disassembling the developing box, so that the waste of the developer and the increase of the use cost of the user are caused.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a developing box, and aims to solve the problems that after a developing box test is finished, a side cover of the developing box needs to be detached to readjust a counting mechanism to an initial position when the counting mechanism is not used, time is consumed, the process is complex, the production cost is increased, and a terminal user cannot reset the counting mechanism easily, so that the use cost is increased in the conventional technical scheme.

In order to solve the problems, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus having a detecting unit, comprising: a housing in which a developer can be accommodated; a driving gear provided at one side of the housing, receiving and transmitting a driving force from the image forming apparatus; a detection unit capable of receiving the driving force transmitted by the driving gear and detecting the driving force by the detection unit; the detection part rotates from a first position to a second position along with the driving gear to finish detection; the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a first contact point at the first position, the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a second contact point at the second position, and the projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in the axial direction of the detection part are overlapped.

Further, the detection part is provided with a shifting fork, and the first contact and the second contact are located on the same side of the shifting fork.

Further, the detection part comprises a counting shifting fork part, a detection gear, a first elastic component and a second elastic component; the detection gear can follow drive gear is rotatory and can drive count shift fork portion is rotatory, first elastic component is located the detection gear with between the count shift fork portion, second elastic component set up in on the count shift fork portion and can for count shift fork portion to the inboard slip of count shift fork portion.

Further, count shifting fork portion is provided with the spout from the upper surface downwards, second elastic component at least part sets up in the spout, the one end butt of second elastic component the inboard surface of spout.

Further, still include the bulge, locate the second elastic component is close to the one end in the count shift fork portion outside, the bulge is used for the butt the second elastic component is in order to drive the second elastic component to count shift fork portion inboard slides.

Further, during retraction of the second elastic assembly, the second elastic assembly moves from a third position to a fourth position, a third contact is formed between the second elastic assembly and the protruding portion in the third position, a fourth contact is formed between the second elastic assembly and the protruding portion in the fourth position, and a distance between the third contact and an axis of the counting fork is smaller than a distance between the fourth contact and the axis of the counting fork.

Further, the developing box comprises an end cover, wherein the end cover is arranged at one end of the developing box and used for at least partially accommodating the driving gear and the detection part, and the protruding part is arranged from the end cover to the detection part in a protruding mode.

Furthermore, one side of the second elastic component is provided with a notch for stopping the protruding part when the counting shifting fork is located at the first position.

Further, the second elastic assembly comprises a sliding block and an elastic piece, the sliding block is connected with one end of the elastic piece, the sliding block comprises a main body portion and a fixing column extending from the main body portion, one end of the elastic piece is fixed on the fixing column, and the other end of the elastic piece abuts against the counting shifting fork portion.

A method of resetting a developing cartridge detecting portion, the developing cartridge comprising: a driving gear provided at one side of the housing, receiving and transmitting a driving force from the image forming apparatus; a detection portion that can receive the driving force transmitted by the driving gear to be detected by the detection unit, the detection portion rotating from a first position to a second position following the driving gear to complete detection; the detecting portion contacts the detecting unit at the first position to form a first contact point, the detecting portion contacts the detecting unit at the second position to form a second contact point, and projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in an axial direction of the detecting portion overlap, and the developing cartridge detecting portion resetting method includes the steps of:

an external force in the axial direction of the detection unit is applied to the detection unit to move the detection unit from the second position to the first position.

According to the technical scheme of the developing box, the detection part rotates to the second position from the first position along with the driving gear to complete detection, the service life of the developing box is determined, the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other at the first position to form the first contact, the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other at the second position to form the second contact, and the projections of the first contact and the second contact in the axial direction of the detection part are overlapped. The detection part rotates from the first position to the second position to complete detection, the detection part only moves in the axial direction of the detection part relative to the detection unit, when the detection part is reset, the detection part only needs to be manually moved in the axial direction of the detection part, the reset of the detection part can be completed, the reset of the developing box is simple, time and labor are saved, the production cost is reduced, the end user can complete the reset without disassembling a side cover of the developing box, and the service life of the developing box is prolonged.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative efforts.

Fig. 1 is an assembled schematic view of a developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 2 is an exploded schematic view of a driving end side of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 3 is an exploded schematic view of a detecting portion of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

fig. 4 is an exploded schematic view of a detecting portion of the developing cartridge provided by the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the detecting part of the developing cartridge of the present invention at the side of the first position driving end;

fig. 6 is a left side view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at a first position;

fig. 7 is a left side view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at a second position;

fig. 8 is a schematic view of the combination of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at the first position;

fig. 9 is a schematic combination view of the detecting portion of the developing cartridge of the present invention at the second position.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

In the following description, the developing roller 2 is located at the front end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction, the handle 5 is located at the rear end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction, and the direction intersecting the left-right direction and the front-rear direction is the up-down direction.

Developing box

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the developing cartridge of the present invention, which is mountable to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus having a detecting unit, includes: a casing 1 configured to internally contain a developer; an agitation frame 14 located inside the casing 1, the agitation frame 14 being capable of rotating about a second axis extending in the left-right direction while being capable of agitating the developer contained inside the casing 1; a powder feeding roller 7, located inside the casing 1, for supplying the developer contained inside the casing 1 to the developing roller 2; a developing roller 2 rotatable about a developing roller axis extending in the left-right direction, the developing roller 2 being located at least partially outside the casing 1, the developing roller 2 being located at a front end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction; a handle 5 for facilitating the user to put and take the developing cartridge, the handle 5 being provided at the rear end portion of the casing 1 in the front-rear direction.

Drive end

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the developing cartridge further includes a driving end 3 that depends on gear transmission to receive driving force for driving components in the developing cartridge to work, the driving end 3 is located at the left end of the housing 1 in the left-right direction, and the driving end 3 includes: the developing roller gear 8 is matched with the developing roller 2 and drives the developing roller 2 to rotate; the powder feeding roller gear 9 is matched with the powder feeding roller 7 and drives the powder feeding roller 7 to rotate; a drive gear 10 which is engaged with the developing roller gear 8, the powder feeding roller gear 9, and the transmission gear 12 and which receives a drive force transmitted from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus to drive the developing roller gear 8, the powder feeding roller gear 9, and the transmission gear 12 to rotate; a bearing 6 mountable to the housing 1 and capable of supporting the drive gear 10, the bearing 6 having a first axis extending in the left-right direction, the drive gear 10 being rotatable about the first axis; the transmission gear 12 is also meshed with the stirring rack gear 13 and can drive the stirring rack gear 13 to rotate; the stirring frame gear 13 is matched with the stirring frame 14 and drives the stirring frame 14 to rotate around a second axis; and an end cover 11 which is mountable to the housing 1 and is provided to cover the developing roller gear 8, the powder feed roller gear 9, the transfer gear 12, the agitation frame gear 13, and the drive gear 10.

As shown in fig. 3, 4 and 5, the driving end 3 further includes a detecting portion 15 capable of touching a detecting unit in the electronic camera image forming apparatus, and the detecting portion 15 can receive the driving force transmitted by the driving gear 10 and be detected by the detecting unit. During the detection, the detection portion 15 rotates from the first position to the second position following the drive gear 10 to complete the detection; wherein, the detecting part 15 contacts with the detecting unit at a first position to form a first contact point, the detecting part 15 contacts with the detecting unit at a second position to form a second contact point, and the projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in the axial direction of the detecting part 15 are overlapped. The invention provides a developing box, a detection part 15 rotates from a first position to a second position following a driving gear 10 to complete detection and determine the service life of the developing box, the detection part 15 contacts with a detection unit at the first position to form a first contact, the detection part 15 contacts with the detection unit at the second position to form a second contact, and the projections of the first contact and the second contact in the axial direction of the detection part 15 are overlapped. Detection portion 15 has the displacement for detecting element only in the axial direction of detection portion 15 after the detection is accomplished, when carrying out the operation that resets to detection portion 15, only need manual removal detection portion 15 in the axial direction of detection portion 15, can accomplish the reseing of detection portion 15, the developing cartridge resets simply, and labour saving and time saving has reduced manufacturing cost, and end user need not to dismantle the side cover of developing cartridge and can accomplish and reset, has prolonged developing cartridge's life.

The detection unit 15 includes a counter fork 151, a detection gear 152, a first elastic member 153, and a second elastic member 154. Detection gear 152 is full-tooth gear, and detection gear 152 can follow drive gear 10 and rotatory and can drive count fork portion 151 is rotatory, specifically, and detection gear 152 meshes with stirring frame gear 13, can receive the drive power that drive gear 10 passes through transmission gear 12, stirring frame gear 13 transmission and drive count fork portion 151 and rotate. The first elastic member 153 is located between the detection gear 152 and the count fork portion 151, and the count fork portion 151 is movable relative to the detection gear 152 in the axial direction of the count fork portion 151. The counting shifting fork part 151 comprises a shifting fork part 1511 and a connecting part 1512, one end of the connecting part 1512 is fixedly connected with the shifting fork part 1511, the other end of the connecting part 1512 is provided with a first meshing part 1513, the first meshing part 1513 at least comprises one meshing part, the detection gear 152 comprises a second meshing part 1521, the second meshing part 1521 can be meshed with the first meshing part 1513, so that the detection gear 152 can drive the connecting part 1512 and the shifting fork part 1511 to rotate around an axis, and the second meshing part 1521 at least comprises one meshing part. In the embodiment, the connecting member 1512 and the shifting fork member 1511 are fixedly connected by interference fit, the shifting fork member 1511 is provided with a slot, one end of the connecting member 1512 is inserted into the slot for fixation, the outer diameter of the connecting member 1512 is greater than or equal to the diameter of the slot, at least a part of the corresponding portion of the slot and the connecting member 1512 is a non-circumferential surface, and the connecting member 1512 and the shifting fork member 1511 cannot rotate relatively around an axis, so as to prevent slipping. In a preferred embodiment, the inner periphery of the slot is provided with a plurality of fixing teeth, and the fixing teeth abut against the connecting piece 1512 and form an interference fit, so that the connecting piece 1512 is easier to insert into the fixing and slot, the requirement on the manufacturing precision of the connecting piece 1512 is reduced, and the manufacturing difficulty of the connecting piece 1512 is reduced.

The second elastic component 154 is disposed on the counting fork 151 and can slide toward the inside of the counting fork 151 relative to the counting fork 151. The counting fork 151 is provided with a sliding groove 1514 downward from the upper surface, the second elastic component 154 is at least partially arranged in the sliding groove 1514, and one end of the second elastic component 154 abuts against the inner side surface of the sliding groove 1514. Specifically, the sliding groove 1514 is recessed from the upper surface of the fork 1511 of the second elastic component 154, and the second elastic component 154 can slide in the sliding groove 1514, wherein two side walls of the sliding groove 1514 are respectively provided with a sliding rail 1515, two sides of the second elastic component 154 are correspondingly provided with clamping portions 1546, and the clamping portions 1546 clamp the sliding rail 1515 to enable the second elastic component 154 to move according to a preset track. In this embodiment, the second elastic assembly 154 includes a slider 1541 and an elastic member 1542, the slider 1541 is connected to one end of the elastic member 1542, the slider 1541 includes a main body 1543 and a fixed column 1544 extending from the main body 1543, one end of the elastic member 1542 is fixed to the fixed column 1544, and the other end of the elastic member 1542 abuts against the counting fork 151. The clamping portions 1546 are disposed on both sides of the slider 1541, and when the elastic member 1542 is pressed against the slider 1541, the elastic member 1542 is compressed and deformed, and the slider 1541 slides inward along a predetermined track.

The protruding portion 111 is disposed at an end of the second elastic component 154 close to the outer side of the counting fork 151, and the protruding portion 111 is used for abutting against the second elastic component 154 to drive the second elastic component 154 to slide towards the inner side of the counting fork 151. In this embodiment, the protrusion 111 protrudes from the end cap 11 to the detecting portion 15, the protrusion 111 is disposed on the right side of the shift fork 1511 and does not contact with the shift fork 1511 in the first position and the second position, and a notch 1545 is disposed on one side of the second elastic member 154 for stopping the protrusion 111 when the counting fork 151 is located in the first position. Specifically, the notch 1545 is disposed on one side of the slider 1541 to form a stop, and when the counting fork 151 is located at the first position, i.e., the detection position, the protrusion 111 is at least partially located in the notch 1545 to stop the axial displacement of the counting fork 151, so as to ensure the engagement between the first engagement portion 1513 and the second engagement portion 1521 when the counting fork 151 is located at the first position, at this time, the counting fork 151 can rotate together with the detection gear 152, and the detection unit 15 can start detecting. In other embodiments, the detecting portion 15 further comprises a stopper (not shown) fixedly connected to the end cap 11, and the protrusion 111 protrudes from the stopper toward the second elastic component 154.

During retraction of the second elastic member 154, the second elastic member 154 moves from a third position to a fourth position, a third contact a is formed between the second elastic member 154 and the protrusion 111 at the third position, a fourth contact B is formed between the second elastic member 154 and the protrusion 111 at the fourth position, and a distance between the third contact a and an axis of the count fork 151 is smaller than a distance between the fourth contact and an axis of the count fork 151. It can be understood that, the contact a and the contact B are both formed on the second elastic component, specifically, the position of the protruding portion 111 is kept unchanged, the outer surface of the slider 1541 in the second elastic component 154 is formed with a first surface 1547, in this embodiment, the first surface 1547 is a curved surface or an inclined surface, and during the rotation of the second elastic component 154 following the detecting portion 15, the protruding portion 111 abuts against the first surface 1547 and slides relative to the first surface 1547, and forces the slider 1541 in the second elastic component 154 to move inward.

The operation of the detecting portion 15 of the developing cartridge of the present invention when the developing cartridge of the present invention is mounted in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 to 9.

When the developing cartridge is installed in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the detecting portion 15 is located at the first position, i.e. the initial position, one side of the counting fork 151 abuts against the first contact of the detecting unit, the detecting unit can detect the position information of the detecting portion 15 at this time, the first engaging portion 1513 of the connecting member 1512 is engaged with the second engaging portion 1521 of the detecting gear 152, when the driving gear 10 receives the driving force and rotates around the first axis, the driving gear 10 drives the transmission gear 12 to rotate so as to drive the stirring frame gear 13 to rotate, and the stirring frame gear 13 drives the detecting gear 152 engaged therewith to rotate. In the first position, the protrusion 111 is located in the notch 1545 of the slider 1541, the slider 1541 is located on the periphery of the fork 1511 due to the urging of the elastic member 1542, at this time, the detection gear 152 drives the counting fork 151 to rotate, the second elastic member 154 rotates along with the fork 1511, when the second elastic member 154 rotates along with the fork 1511 to the third position, the protrusion 111 abuts against the side of the slider 1541 at the third contact a, and the protrusion 111 no longer supports the slider 1541 and the counting fork 151, when the second elastic member 154 continues to rotate, the slider 1541 slides toward the inner side of the sliding groove 1514 due to the urging of the protrusion 111, the counting fork 151 moves rightward relative to the protrusion 111 due to the urging of the first elastic member 153, i.e., the counting fork 151 gradually retracts, when the second elastic member 154 rotates along with the fork 1511 to the fourth position, the protrusion 111 abuts against the side of the slider 1541 at the fourth contact B, that is, the detecting portion 15 is located at the second position, the counting fork 151 rotates for a circle at this time, the counting fork 151 retracts completely, the first engaging portion 1513 of the connecting member 1512 disengages from the second engaging portion 1521 of the detecting gear 152, the counting fork 151 reaches the second position, that is, the end position, the stirring rack gear 13 drives the detecting gear 152 engaged therewith to rotate, the counting fork 151 no longer rotates along with the second engaging portion, the counting fork 151 abuts against the dial piece of the detecting unit again at the second contact with the same side, the detecting unit can detect the position information of the detecting portion 15 again at this time, and therefore the detection is completed.

After the detection of the detection portion 15 is completed, the detection portion 15 is located at the second position, the first engagement portion 1513 of the connecting member 1512 is kept disengaged from the second engagement portion 1521 of the detection gear 152, the counting fork 151 cannot rotate along with the detection gear 152, the detection portion 15 is always in a detection completion state, and the detection unit cannot complete the detection of the detection portion 15 again. Therefore, when the developing cartridge needs to be repeatedly used, the detecting portion 15 needs to be reset to the first position. In this embodiment, since the projections of the first position and the second position in the axial direction of the detecting portion 15 are overlapped, the detecting portion 15 can be moved from the second position to the first position only by pulling the counting fork 151 to the left in the axial direction of the detecting portion 15 by an external force, specifically, when the detecting portion 15 is pulled to the left in the axial direction of the detecting portion 15 to the first position, the protrusion 111 does not push the slider 1541 any more, the slider 1541 pushes back to the outer side of the counting fork 151 under the urging of the elastic member 1542, the protrusion 111 is at least partially located in the notch 1545, the displacement of the counting fork 151 in the axial direction is stopped, the first engaging portion 1513 of the connecting member 1512 is reengaged with the second engaging portion 1 of the detecting gear 152, and the detecting portion 152can receive the driving force of the driving gear 10 to complete the detection again. The reset process does not need to remove the side cover of the developing box, and the detection gear 152 does not need to be rotated, so that the reset is simple and convenient.

The invention provides a developing box, wherein a detection part rotates from a first position to a second position along with a driving gear to complete detection and determine the service life of the developing box, the detection part contacts with a detection unit to form a first contact point when in the first position, the detection part contacts with the detection unit to form a second contact point when in the second position, and the projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in the axial direction of the detection part are overlapped. The detection part rotates from the first position to the second position to complete detection, the detection part only moves in the axial direction of the detection part relative to the detection unit, when the detection part is reset, the detection part only needs to be manually moved in the axial direction of the detection part, the reset of the detection part can be completed, the reset of the developing box is simple, time and labor are saved, the production cost is reduced, the end user can complete the reset without disassembling a side cover of the developing box, and the service life of the developing box is prolonged.

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 (10)

1. A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus having a detecting unit, comprising:

a housing in which a developer can be accommodated;

a driving gear provided at one side of the housing, receiving and transmitting a driving force from the image forming apparatus;

a detection unit capable of receiving the driving force transmitted by the driving gear and detecting the driving force by the detection unit; wherein the detecting part rotates from a first position to a second position to complete the detection; the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a first contact point at the first position, the detection part and the detection unit are in contact with each other to form a second contact point at the second position, and the projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in the axial direction of the detection part are overlapped.

2. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the detecting portion is provided with a fork, and the first contact and the second contact are located on the same side of the fork.

3. The developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the detecting portion includes a counting fork portion, a detecting gear, a first elastic member, and a second elastic member; the detection gear can follow drive gear is rotatory and can drive count shift fork portion is rotatory, first elastic component is located the detection gear with between the count shift fork portion, second elastic component set up in on the count shift fork portion and can for count shift fork portion to the inboard slip of count shift fork portion.

4. The developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the count fork portion is provided with a slide groove downward from an upper surface, the second elastic member is at least partially provided in the slide groove, and one end of the second elastic member abuts against an inner side surface of the slide groove.

5. The developing cartridge according to claim 3, further comprising a projection provided at an end of the second elastic member adjacent to an outer side of the counting fork, the projection being adapted to abut against the second elastic member to drive the second elastic member to slide toward the inner side of the counting fork.

6. The developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the second elastic member moves from a third position to a fourth position during retraction of the second elastic member, the second elastic member and the projection form a third contact when in the third position, the second elastic member and the projection form a fourth contact when in the fourth position, and a distance between the third contact and the axis of the count fork is smaller than a distance between the fourth contact and the axis of the count fork.

7. The developing cartridge according to claim 5, further comprising an end cap provided at an end of said developing cartridge for at least partially accommodating said driving gear and said detecting portion, said projection projecting from said end cap toward said detecting portion.

8. The developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein a side of the second elastic member is provided with a notch for blocking the projection when the counting fork portion is located at the first position.

9. The developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the second elastic member includes a slider and an elastic member, the slider is connected to one end of the elastic member, the slider includes a main body portion and a fixing post extending from the main body portion, one end of the elastic member is fixed to the fixing post, and the other end of the elastic member abuts against the count fork portion.

10. A method of resetting a developing cartridge detecting portion, the developing cartridge comprising: a driving gear provided at one side of the housing, receiving and transmitting a driving force from the image forming apparatus; a detection portion that can receive the driving force transmitted by the driving gear to be detected by the detection unit, the detection portion rotating from a first position to a second position following the driving gear to complete detection; the detecting portion and the detecting unit form a first contact point in a contact manner when in the first position, the detecting portion and the detecting unit form a second contact point in a contact manner when in the second position, and projections of the first contact point and the second contact point in an axial direction of the detecting portion are overlapped, and the developing cartridge detecting portion resetting method is characterized by comprising the following steps:

an external force in the axial direction of the detection unit is applied to the detection unit to move the detection unit from the second position to the first position.

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