CN114137807A

CN114137807A - Developing box

Info

Publication number: CN114137807A
Application number: CN202111408976.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄景宏; 田伙林
Original assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-19
Filing date: 2021-11-19
Publication date: 2022-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 2041-11-19
Also published as: CN114137807B

Abstract

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus provided with a detecting member, the developing cartridge including a casing, a driving force receiving member and a counting assembly provided on the same side of the casing, the driving force receiving member for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the counting assembly to interact with the detecting member, the developing cartridge further including a driving portion and a driven portion, the driving portion being driven by the driving force receiving member and located in front of the driven portion in a front-rear direction, the driven portion being adapted to be coupled with the counting assembly to drive the counting assembly to rotate; the driving part and the driven part form a vacant area between the driving part and the driven part, and the driving part and the driven part transmit driving force in a non-gear combination mode, so that the gear distribution of the side where the driving force receiving part is located is simplified.

Description

Developing box

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electrophotographic image forming, and more particularly, to a developing cartridge detachably mountable in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

Background

A developing cartridge is a consumable type product used in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine, in which toner required for image formation is stored, and in operation, a power receiving member in the developing cartridge receives a driving force from the image forming apparatus, and a powder feeding member for supplying toner to a surface of the developing member and a developing member for supplying toner to a surface of a photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed rotate at a predetermined speed in a predetermined direction while pressing the toner to the developing member, so that the electrostatic latent image is developed.

In order to enable the imaging device to accurately master the use condition of the developing box, a component named as a counting component is arranged in the existing developing box, when the developing box is installed to the imaging device for the first time and starts to work, the counting component is mutually touched with a detection component in the imaging device, parameters such as the touch duration, the touch interval and the touch frequency of the counting component and the detection component are used, and the information such as the service life and the model of the developing box is known by the imaging device.

In a conventional developing cartridge, a driving force receiving member is disposed on the same side as a counting assembly, and a driving force required for the operation of the counting assembly is received from the driving force receiving member, and the driving force is transmitted between the driving force receiving member and the counting assembly through a plurality of gears.

Disclosure of Invention

In the developing box provided by the invention, the counting assembly is still driven by the driving force of the driving force receiving piece, but the gear distribution of the side of the driving force receiving piece is simplified, and the specific scheme is as follows:

a developing cartridge detachably mounted in an image forming apparatus provided with a detecting member, the developing cartridge including a housing, a driving force receiving member and a counting assembly provided at a same side of the housing, the driving force receiving member for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the counting assembly to interact with the detecting member, the developing cartridge further including a driving portion and a driven portion, the driving portion being driven by the driving force receiving member and located in front of the driven portion in a front-rear direction, the driven portion being adapted to be combined with the counting assembly to drive the counting assembly to rotate; a hollow area is formed between the driving part and the driven part, and driving force is transmitted between the driving part and the driven part in a non-gear combination mode.

Wherein the developing cartridge further comprises an urging portion for receiving an urging force which urges the developing cartridge to be held at a predetermined position, at least a part of the urging portion being located in the vacant region; a spacing area is formed between the pushing part and the driven part.

Preferably, at least one of the driven portion and at least a portion of the counting assembly is movable in a direction intersecting with a left-right direction of the developing cartridge.

The developing cartridge further includes a first gear provided coaxially with the driving force receiving member, and the driving portion may be a part or the whole of the first gear, and may also be a part or the whole of the driving force receiving member.

As a driving force transmission manner, the developing cartridge further includes a plurality of rotating members rotatably mounted in the housing, the side where the driving force receiving member is located is a driving end, and the side opposite to the driving end is a conductive end, and the driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through one of the rotating members and then from the conductive end to the driving end through the other rotating member.

The rotating piece comprises a stirring piece and a powder feeding piece, the stirring piece is used for stirring carbon powder contained in the shell and supplying the carbon powder to the powder feeding piece, the powder feeding piece is positioned in front of the stirring piece along the front and back directions of the developing box, and the driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through the powder feeding piece and then transmitted from the conductive end to the driving end through the stirring piece; the driven part and the stirring piece are coaxially arranged.

Or, the rotating member includes a stirring member, a powder feeding member and a transmission shaft, the stirring member is used for stirring the carbon powder contained in the housing and supplying the carbon powder to the powder feeding member, the powder feeding member is located in front of the transmission shaft and the stirring member along the front-back direction of the developing box, and the driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through the powder feeding member and then transmitted from the conductive end to the driving end through the stirring member; the driven part and the transmission shaft are coaxially arranged; in order to prevent the developing box from being damaged by collision between the driven part and the counting assembly or the driving part in the transportation process, the driven part is separated from the counting assembly before the counting assembly counts, the driven part is mutually combined with the counting assembly when the counting assembly starts counting, and the driven part is separated from the counting assembly again when the counting assembly finishes counting.

As another driving force transmission manner, the developing cartridge further includes transmission members respectively combined with the driving portion and the driven portion, the driving force being transmitted from the driving portion to the driven portion through the transmission members, a portion of the transmission members being located in the vacant region, the transmission members being belts or gear bars.

As described above, the driving force of the driving force receiving member is transmitted to the driven portion by the non-gear manner, and the counting assembly is driven to rotate by the driven portion, and the gear distribution of the side where the driving force receiving member is located is simplified.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a developing cartridge according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded schematic view of a driving end of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a partially exploded view of a conductive end of a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the developing cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction thereof.

Fig. 5 is an overall side view of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Fig. 6A is a driving end side view of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Fig. 6B is a sectional view of the developing cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction thereof while passing through the driving force receiving member and the driving gear.

Fig. 7 is an overall side view of the developing cartridge according to the second embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above and downward with the cover hidden.

Fig. 8 is a partially exploded schematic view of a driving end of the developing cartridge according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9A is a driving end side view of the developing cartridge relating to the third embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Fig. 9B is a side view of the developing cartridge according to the third embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the left to the right thereof.

Fig. 10 is a side view of the developing cartridge according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the left to the right thereof.

Fig. 11 is a side view of the driving end of the developing cartridge according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the driving end of the developing cartridge according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention with the driving end cap hidden.

Fig. 13 is a side view of the developing cartridge according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from left to right in the left-right direction thereof.

Fig. 14 is a driving end side view of the developing cartridge according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from above downward.

Fig. 15 is a driving end side view of a developing cartridge according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[ integral Structure of developing Cartridge ]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a developing cartridge according to the present invention. The developing cartridge C has a front-rear direction, a left-right direction, and an up-down direction as shown in the drawing, and can be attached to the image forming apparatus substantially in the front-rear direction to the front 101, and taken out to the rear 102, and one end for receiving driving force from the image forming apparatus is referred to as a driving end 103, corresponding to the left side in the drawing, and one end for receiving power from the image forming apparatus is referred to as a conductive end 104, corresponding to the right side in the drawing.

The developing cartridge C includes a housing 1 accommodating toner, a rotary 2 rotatably mounted in the housing 1, a driving force receiving member 3 at a driving end 103, a counting assembly 5 disposed on the same side as the driving force receiving member 3, and a gear train 4 for transmitting a driving force between the driving force receiving member 3 and the counting assembly 5, the driving force receiving member 3 receiving the driving force from the image forming apparatus and driving the rotary 2 and the counting assembly 5 to operate; the rotary member 2 extends in the left-right direction/length direction/longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge and is rotatably supported by the casing 1, and specifically, the developing member 21 for supplying the toner to the outside is one kind of rotary member, and the toner feeding member 22 (shown in fig. 4) which is in contact with the developing member 21 and is for feeding the toner to the developing member 21 is also one kind of rotary member for stirring the toner to prevent it from caking, and the stirring member 23 which is for feeding the toner to the toner feeding member 22 is also one kind of rotary member.

As shown in fig. 1, the developing member 21 is disposed close to the front of the developing cartridge C, and the driving force receiving member 3 is disposed behind the developing member 21 and the counting assembly 5 is disposed behind the driving force receiving member 3 in the front-rear direction, so that the driving force receiving member 3 is disposed closer to the developing member 21 than the counting assembly 5, and in contrast, the resistance to rotation of the developing member 21 is much greater than the resistance to rotation of the counting assembly 5 during the operation of the developing cartridge C, and at this time, the driving force receiving member 3 is disposed closer to the developing member 21, ensuring more efficient transmission of the driving force between the driving force receiving member 3 and the developing member 21.

As shown in fig. 1, the developing cartridge C further includes a driving cap 11 mounted at the driving end 103, and the driving force receiving member 3 and the counter assembly 5 are exposed through the driving cap 11, so that the counter member 51 in the counter assembly 5 can interact with the detecting part in the image forming apparatus when the driving force is transmitted to the counter assembly 5.

[ example one ]

Fig. 2 is a partially exploded schematic view of a driving end of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a partially exploded view of a conductive end of a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the invention; fig. 4 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction thereof; fig. 5 is an overall side view of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

As shown in fig. 2, the housing 1 includes a bottom case 1a and a face cover 1b combined with each other, the toner chamber 10 is located between the bottom case 1a and the face cover 1b, the bottom case 1a has a left side wall 1a1 located at the driving end 103 and a right side wall 1a2 located at the conductive end 104, the toner chamber 10 is located between the left side wall 1a1 and the right side wall 1a2, and the developing member 21, the powder feeding member 22, and the stirring member 23 are supported by the left side wall 1a1 and the right side wall 1a2, respectively; the powder filling opening 13 is disposed on the left side wall 1a1 or the right side wall 1a2, and when the carbon powder in the carbon powder chamber 10 is consumed, a user can fill the carbon powder chamber 10 with new carbon powder through the powder filling opening 13.

The gear train 4 includes a first gear 41 coupled to the driving force receiving member 3, second and

third gears

42 and 43 respectively located at ends of the developing member 21 and the powder feeding member 22, and a fourth gear 44 coupled to the counting assembly 5, so that the second gear 42 may be referred to as a developing member gear and the third gear 43 may be referred to as a powder feeding member gear, wherein the first gear 41 is engaged with the second and

third gears

42 and 43 at the same time, and the first and

fourth gears

41 and 44 are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction, and the driving force is transmitted therebetween through an intermediate transmission assembly; the first gear 41 may be formed integrally with or separately from the driving force receiving member 3 as long as the driving force of the driving force receiving member 3 can be stably transmitted to the first gear 41, and it is preferable that the first gear 41 is provided coaxially with the driving force receiving member 3.

In this embodiment, the rotation axis L23 of the stirring member 23 is parallel to the rotation axis of the developing member 21, the fourth gear 44 is disposed coaxially with the stirring member 23 and may be referred to as a stirring member gear, and the driving force received by the driving force receiving member 3 is transmitted from the driving end 103 to the conductive end 104, and then transmitted from the conductive end 104 to the driving end 103. As shown in fig. 3, at least one of the developing member 21 and the powder feeding member 22 may be configured to transmit the driving force from the driving end 103 to the conductive end 104, and accordingly, the gear set 4 further includes a fifth gear 45 disposed at the conductive end 104 and a seventh gear 47 disposed coaxially with the stirring member 23, and a connection manner between the fifth gear 45 and the seventh gear 47 may be adjusted according to a rotation direction requirement of the counting assembly 5, a size requirement of the developing cartridge, and the like, for example, the fifth gear 45 and the seventh gear 47 may be directly engaged to realize connection or may be connected through one or more sixth gears 46. For the present embodiment, the seventh gear 47 at the conductive end 104 may be regarded as a driving force input gear of the stirring member 23, the fourth gear 44 at the driving end 103 may be regarded as a driving force output gear, and for the counting assembly 5, the fourth gear 44 may be regarded as a driving gear.

As shown in fig. 3, the developing cartridge C further includes a conductive end cap 12 mounted on the conductive end 104, and the fifth gear 45, the sixth gear 46 and the seventh gear 47 are disposed between the right side wall 1a2 of the bottom casing and the conductive end cap to be protected, so that the driving force received by the driving force receiving member 3 is transmitted to the conductive end 104 through the developing member 21 and/or the powder feeding member 22, then transmitted to the stirring member 23 through the fifth gear 45, the sixth gear 46 and the seventh gear 47, and finally transmitted to the fourth gear 44 through the stirring member 23, and then the counting assembly 5 is driven to operate by the fourth gear 441.

As shown in fig. 5, the developing cartridge C further includes first and second urging

portions

14a and 14b provided on the left and right sides, and when the developing cartridge is mounted, the first and second urging

portions

14a and 14b receive the urging force, thereby urging the developing cartridge C to be held at a predetermined position where the developing member 21 is in contact with the photosensitive member (not shown). Alternatively, the first urging portion 14a and the second urging portion 14b may be provided on the end caps on both the left and right sides, or may be formed to protrude from both the left and right sides of the casing 1, the first urging portion 14a and the second urging portion 14b are substantially aligned in the left-right direction (as shown by the broken line in fig. 4), and the first urging portion 14a and the second urging portion 14b are closer to the front 104/the developing member 21 in the width direction/the front-rear direction/the lateral direction of the developing cartridge C, and the urging force can be transmitted to the developing member 21 more efficiently.

Fig. 6A is a side view of the driving end of the developing cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward; fig. 6B is a sectional view of the developing cartridge according to the embodiment of the present invention, taken along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction thereof while passing through the driving force receiving member and the driving gear.

In the present embodiment, the first urging portion 14a is formed integrally with the drive end cap 11, and thus, in fig. 6A, the first urging portion 14a is hidden together with the drive end cap 11. The counting assembly 5 includes a counting member 51 and a driven body 52 coupled to each other, the driving gear 44 is coupled to the driven body 52, the driving force is sequentially transmitted to the counting member 51 through the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52, and the counting member 51 interacts with a detecting part in the image forming apparatus during rotation. As described above, the driving gear 44 is coaxial with the stirring member 23 and is driven by the stirring member 23 to transmit the driving force to the counter unit 5, that is, the driving gear 44 only has to receive the driving force of the stirring member 23 and transmit the driving force to the counter unit 5, so that the distance between the driving gear 44 and the bracket of the left side wall 1a1 and the distance between the counter unit 5 and the left side wall 1a1 in the left-right direction can be shortened to the maximum extent, and the left-right direction dimension of the developing cartridge C at the position corresponding to the driving gear 44 and the counter unit 5 can be reduced; even if the distance between the counter assembly 5 and the left side wall 1a1 cannot be changed due to the position of the detection member in the image forming apparatus, the driven body 52 can be disposed at a position close to the left side wall 1a1, specifically, the left side surface 52a of the driven body 52 is close to the left side wall 1a1, and the reduction in the size of the developing cartridge C can be achieved as well.

In the case of the conventional developing cartridge, at least one intermediate gear is further provided between the first gear 41 and the driving gear 44, and as shown in fig. 6A, the distance between the first gear 41 and the left side wall 1a1 is larger than the distance between the driven body 52 and the left side wall 1a1 in the left-right direction, obviously, the driving force is transmitted from the first gear 41 to the driven body 52, the intermediate gear is necessarily provided in at least two stages, and correspondingly, the driving gear 44 is also provided in two stages, and at this time, the size of the developing cartridge in the left-right direction, especially the positions corresponding to the intermediate gear and the driving gear 44, cannot be reduced.

As shown in fig. 6B, when cut along a plane parallel to the front-rear direction and passing through both the driving force receiving member and the driving gear, a part of the first urging portion 14a is left, the rotation center of the driving force receiving member 3/the first gear 41 is M, the rotation center of the stirring piece 23/the driving gear 44 is N, along a line MN connecting the two rotation centers, the maximum distance between the first gear 41 and the driving gear 44 is S3, the minimum distance is S2, the distance between the two rotation centers is S1, the first urging portion 14a is located at least in a region defined by the maximum distance S3, further, the first urging portion 14a is located in a region defined by the distance S1 between the two rotation centers, and a part of the first urging portion 14a is opposed to a region defined by the minimum distance S2, in a region defined by the minimum distance S2, since no other component is provided, this region is formed as a vacant region, which facilitates the position and shape adjustment of the first urging portion 14a in this vacant region as required. For example, when the positions of only the first urging portions 14a of the two types of developing cartridges are slightly different, the production mold of the developing cartridge can be simplified, thereby reducing the production cost and the management cost; alternatively, when a large urging force is required for a certain type of developing cartridge, a reinforcing portion that can reinforce the strength of the first urging portion 14a may be provided in the vacant region.

On the other hand, the drive gear 44 only needs to be provided by one stage and is provided near the left side wall 1a1, the diameter of the drive gear 44 and the size in the left-right direction are both reduced; in the present embodiment, the first urging portion 14a is provided on the drive end cap 11, and in the left-right direction, the overlapping area of the first urging portion 14a and the drive gear 44 can be reduced, even no overlapping area occurs, and interference between the drive end cap 11 and the drive gear 44 during assembly of the developing cartridge C can be reduced or eliminated; in the case where the first urging portion 14a protrudes from the left side wall 1a1 as in the following embodiments, there is no interference between the drive gear 44 having a reduced diameter and the first urging portion 14a, that is, there is no overlap between the first urging portion 14a and the drive gear 44 on a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction.

In actual operation, the counting assembly 5 needs to be disengaged from the driving gear 44 and kept stationary after counting is completed, and it is the first way to provide the driven body 52 as a "half-tooth gear" having a tooth-missing portion 522 (as shown in fig. 8) and a tooth portion 521, wherein the tooth portion 521 is opposite to the driving gear 44 during counting, and the tooth-missing portion 522 is opposite to the driving gear 44 when counting is completed; the second way is to arrange the driving body 52 as a full-tooth gear (as shown in fig. 6B) and to arrange the counting member 51 and the driven body 52 to be detachably coupled, the counting member 51 can receive the driving force of the driven body 52 during counting, and the counting member 51 is disengaged from the driven body 52 when counting is completed; it is a third mode to provide at least one of the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 to be movable in a moving direction intersecting the left-right direction, and during counting, the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 are engaged with each other, and when counting is completed, at least one of the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 is moved in the moving direction so that the engagement is released.

The first embodiment described above is highly required for the precision of the driven body 52, and the second embodiment requires the counter 51 and the driven body 52 to be provided as separate bodies, which not only complicates the assembly process, but also is disadvantageous for maintaining the operational stability of the counter assembly 5. when the third embodiment is employed, it is preferable that the driving gear 44 is provided to be movable in the movement direction, more preferably, the movement direction is orthogonal to the left-right direction, and at the same time, since the driving gear 44 and the first pressing portion 14a are also separated from each other, as shown in fig. 6B, a space S4 is formed between the driving gear 44 and the first pressing portion 14a, so that the space in which the driving gear 44 can move is larger, and the device that can move the driving gear 44 will have a greater degree of freedom in design.

It should be noted that, the void region and the spacing region are not provided with other components, which means that functional components, such as a protrusion or a sliding groove for supporting a certain component, are not provided, but the protrusion or the groove provided by the mold requirement of the product is allowed.

[ example two ]

This embodiment differs from the embodiment in that, when the driving force is transmitted from the conductive end 104 toward the driving end 103, the stirring member 23 is not used, but a transmission shaft 24 is used which is parallel to the stirring member 23, and the rotation axis L24 of the transmission shaft 24 is also parallel to the rotation axis of the developing member 21. Preferably, the transmission shaft 24 is closer to the front 101 than the stirring members 23 in the front-rear direction, and the driving gear 44 is coaxially disposed with the transmission shaft 24, but the driving gear 44 and the first gear 41 still have a vacant area therebetween.

As shown in fig. 7, the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 in the counter assembly are separated from each other, and the driving gear 44 is provided to be movable in the moving direction, and the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 are separated from each other before the developing cartridge C is mounted, so that the driving gear 44 does not touch the first gear 41 nor the driven body 52 during transportation of the developing cartridge C, thereby reducing the risk of the driving gear 44, the first gear 41, and the driven body 52 being damaged; when the developing cartridge C is mounted to a predetermined position or when the developing cartridge C is mounted to a predetermined position and starts to operate, the driving gear 44 returns to a position where it is coupled to the driven body 52 so that the counting assembly 5 can receive a driving force required for counting, and after the counting is completed, the driving gear 44 returns to a position where it is separated from the driven body 52 again.

Also, in the present embodiment, the driving gear 44 is only required to be provided in one stage, and a space S4 is also formed between the driving gear 44 and the first urging portion 14a, and the space and the void provide a space for the movement of the driving gear 44, so that the device for moving the driving gear 44 will have a greater degree of freedom in design.

Alternatively, the driving shaft 24 may be controlled to transmit the driving force from the conductive end 104 to the driving end 103 according to the stage of the counting assembly 5, when the counting assembly 5 needs to count, the driving shaft 24 may transmit the driving force from the conductive end 104 to the driving end, and when the counting assembly 5 finishes counting, the driving process of the driving shaft 24 is cut off, and the cutting off may be performed at any position of the driving shaft 24, or between the driving shaft 24 and the left side gear thereof, or between the driving shaft 24 and the right side gear thereof.

[ third example ]

Fig. 8 is a partially exploded schematic view of a driving end of the developing cartridge relating to a third embodiment of the present invention; fig. 9A is a driving end side view of a developing cartridge relating to a third embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from below and above; fig. 9B is a side view of the developing cartridge according to the third embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the left to the right thereof.

Unlike the above-described embodiment, in the present embodiment, the driving force received by the driving force receiving member 3 is not transmitted to the conductive end 104 but is transmitted to the counter assembly 5 at the driving end 103 in such a manner that the belt 15 is combined as a kind of transmission member with the driving force receiving member 3 or the first gear 41 and the driving gear 44, respectively.

As shown in fig. 8, the driving force receiving member 3 or the first gear 41 is provided with a driving portion combined with the belt 15, and the driving gear 44 includes a driven portion 441 and a gear body 442 combined with each other, wherein the driven portion 441 is farther from the case 1 than the gear body 442; as shown in fig. 9A, the first urging portion 14a protrudes from the housing 1 to the left side, and the belt 15 is farther from the left side wall 1a1 than the first urging portion 14a in the left-right direction, and neither mounting nor running of the belt 15 is restricted by the first urging portion 14 a.

In the front-rear direction, the first pressing portion 14a is located between the driving portion and the driven portion 441, specifically, as shown in fig. 9B, the driving portion is disposed coaxially with the driving force receiving member 3/the first gear 41, the driven portion 441 is disposed coaxially with the gear body 442, so that the rotation center of the driving portion is M, the rotation center of the driven portion is N, the maximum distance between the driving portion and the driving gear 44 along the connecting line MN of the two rotation centers is S3, as in the first embodiment, the first pressing portion 14a is located at least in the region defined by the maximum distance S3, further, the first pressing portion 14a is located in the region defined by the distance S1 between the two rotation centers, and a part of the first urging portion 14a is opposed to the area defined by the minimum distance S2, the area defined by the minimum distance S2 is formed as a vacant area, the vacant area facilitates the first forced pushing part 14a to adjust the position and shape in the vacant area as required.

Further, when viewed in the left-right direction, the first urging portion 14a does not overlap at least the gear body 442 of the drive gear 44, and a space S4 is formed therebetween, and after the counting is completed, the interruption of the driving force between the drive gear 44 and the counter unit 5 can be achieved by arranging at least the gear body 442 of the drive gear 44 to be movable in the moving direction, and preferably, the drive gear 44 is entirely arranged to be movable in a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction, and since the belt 15 is farther from the housing 1 than the first urging portion 14a, the driven portion 441 does not interfere with the first urging portion 14a even when the drive gear 44 is entirely moved. As shown in fig. 9B, the present embodiment employs a tooth-missing gear in which the driven body 52 is provided with a tooth portion 521 and a tooth-missing portion 522 to achieve interruption of the transmission of the driving force between the driving gear 44 and the counter unit 5.

[ example four ]

Fig. 10 is a side view of the developing cartridge relating to the fourth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the left to the right thereof; fig. 11 is a side view of the driving end of the developing cartridge according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

The present embodiment is an alternative embodiment of the third embodiment, except that in the present embodiment, the driving portion and the third gear/powder feeding member gear 43 are coaxially arranged, and a void area still needs to be formed between the driving portion and the driven portion 441, and the driving portion and the driven portion transmit driving force through the belt 15; the plane of the belt 15 may be perpendicular to the rotation axis of the driving portion, or may be at an angle, as long as the belt 15 can transmit the driving force from the driving portion to the driven portion 441, and from the viewpoint of labor saving and stability of transmission of the driving force, it is preferable that the plane of the belt 15 is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the driving portion.

As shown in fig. 11, the belt 15 is farther from the left side wall 1a1 than the first urging portion 14a in the left-right direction, so that neither installation nor running of the belt 15 interferes with the first urging portion 14 a; as shown in fig. 10, the rotation center of the driving part is P, the driven part 441 is still coaxially arranged with the driving gear 44, the rotation center is N, the maximum distance between the driving part and the driven part 441 is S3, the minimum distance is S2, the distance between the two rotation centers is S1, the first pushing part 14a is located in the region defined by the maximum distance S3, further, the first pushing part 14a is located in the region defined by the distance S1, further, the first pushing parts 14a are all located in the region defined by the minimum distance S2, that is, the first pushing parts 14a are all located in the hollow region; meanwhile, the first urging portion 14a does not overlap at least with the gear body 442 of the drive gear 44 when viewed in the left-right direction, with a spacing space S4 formed therebetween. Compared to the above-described embodiment, the drive gear 44/gear body 441 in the present embodiment has a larger movable space, and the degree of freedom in design of the first urging portion 14a is also higher.

[ example five ]

Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the driving end of the developing cartridge according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention with the driving end cap hidden; fig. 13 is a side view of the developing cartridge according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from left to right in the left-right direction thereof.

In the present embodiment, the transmission of the driving force between the driving force receiving member 3/first gear 41/third gear 43 directly serving as the driving portion or provided with the driving portion and the driving gear 44 serving as the driven portion is replaced by the belt with the gear lever 16, that is, in the present embodiment, the transmission member is the gear lever 16. As shown in the figure, the gear lever 16 includes a lever body 163, and a first combining portion 161 and a second combining portion 162 respectively located at two ends of the lever body 163, the first combining portion 161 is used for combining with the driving portion, the second combining portion 162 is combined with the driving gear 44, and the lever body 163 is not in contact with the first pushing portion 14 a; similarly, the rotation axis of the gear lever 16 and the rotation axis of the driving portion may be perpendicular to each other or may be angled as long as the gear lever 16 can transmit the driving force from the driving portion to the driven portion, and preferably, the rotation axis of the gear lever 16/the lever body 163 is perpendicular to the rotation axis of the driving portion, and hereinafter, the first coupling portion 161 is described as being coupled to the first gear 41.

Preferably, the first coupling portion 161 and the second coupling portion 162 are each provided with a plurality of teeth in a rotation direction thereof, and the driving gear 44 includes a positioning portion 443 and a gear body 441 coupled to each other, the positioning portion 443 being used to position the driving gear 44 with respect to the driving end cap 11. As shown in fig. 13, the distance between the rotation center M of the driving force receiving member 3 and the rotation center N of the gear body 441 is S1, the minimum distance between the first gear 41 and the gear body 441 is S2 along the connecting line of the two rotation centers MN, a hollow area is formed between the two, the first pushing portion 14a is located in the hollow area, at least the rod 161 is located in the hollow area in the gear body 16, and the first pushing portion 14a is separated from the gear rod when viewed in the left-right direction, and a space area S4 is also formed between the first pushing portion 14a and the gear body 441. Like the fourth embodiment, the drive gear 44/gear body 441 in this embodiment has a larger movable space, and the degree of freedom in design of the first urging portion 14a is also higher. Alternatively, the first coupling portion 161 of the gear lever may also be coupled with the powder feeder gear/third gear 43, the rotational axis of the powder feeder gear/third gear 43 being parallel to the rotational axis of the driving force receiving member.

[ sixth example ]

Fig. 14 is a driving end side view of a developing cartridge according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from above downward; fig. 15 is a driving end side view of a developing cartridge according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention as viewed from below and upward.

Unlike the fifth embodiment, the positioning portion 443 is not provided in the driving gear 44 in the present embodiment, and therefore the driving gear 44 in the present embodiment is the gear body 441 in the fifth embodiment, and the second engaging portion 162 of the gear rod 16 is engaged with the driving gear 44. As in the fifth embodiment, a vacant area is still formed between the first gear 41 and the drive gear 44, the first urging portion 14a is entirely located in the vacant area, and at the same time, a spacing area S4 is also formed between the first urging portion 14a and the drive gear 44, and therefore, the drive gear 44 has a larger movable space, and the degree of freedom in design of the first urging portion 14a is also higher.

Further, since the positioning portions 443 are eliminated, the size of the drive gear 44 can be reduced in the left-right direction, and accordingly, the size of the developing cartridge C at the position corresponding to the drive gear 44 and the gear lever 16 can be reduced.

The region defined by the minimum distance S2, the region defined by the distance S1, and the region defined by the maximum distance S3 are spatially along a direction perpendicular to the straight line MN/PN, and the region corresponding to the distance S1/S2/S3, so that the vacancy area can be understood as a region corresponding to the minimum distance S2 spatially along a direction perpendicular to the straight line MN/PN, and a part of the transfer member 15/16 is located in the vacancy area; the space area can be understood as an area between a portion of the drive gear 44 coinciding/equal in size with the first urging portion 14a and the first urging portion 14a when viewed in the up-down direction.

[ advantageous effects ]

As described above, when the driving force transmission method according to the first and second embodiments is adopted, the driving force received by the driving force receiving member 3 from the image forming apparatus is transmitted from the driving end 103 to the conductive end 104, and then from the conductive end 104 to the driving end 103, although the gear for transmitting the driving force is also provided at the conductive end 104, the density of the gear at the side of the driving end 103 is effectively reduced, and the gears can be simultaneously installed at both sides no matter whether the developing cartridge C is manually assembled or mechanically assembled, compared with the existing developing cartridge C in which the gear at the side of the driving end is higher in density and the gears are overlapped in the left-right direction, the above-mentioned method of simultaneously installing the gears at both sides of the developing cartridge can improve the assembling efficiency.

The counting assembly 5 needs to be driven when counting, and does not need to be driven when counting is completed, when the driving force is transmitted from the conductive end 104 to the driving end 103 by the transmission shaft 24 parallel to the stirring frame 23, that is, the driving force required by the counting assembly 5 does not come from the stirring piece 23, the load of the stirring piece 23 during rotation is not suddenly reduced, and thus, the working stability of the stirring piece 23 is ensured. On the other hand, when the counting assembly 5 finishes counting, the transmission of the driving force of the transmission shaft 24 can be set to be interrupted, the interruption of the transmission of the driving force does not affect the operation of the stirring member 23, and the interruption position has more choices, for example, the interruption position can be on the conductive end 104, the driving end 103, and the body of the transmission shaft 24.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a vacant region is formed between the driving force receiving member 3/the first gear 41/the third gear 43 directly serving as the driving portion or provided with the driving portion and the driving gear 44 directly serving as the driven portion or provided with the driven portion, the driving portion is located in front of the driven portion in the front-rear direction, the driving force is transmitted between the driving portion and the driven portion in a non-gear combination manner, the position of the counting assembly 5 can be adjusted in the vacant region according to the requirement, or the radial dimension of the driven body 52 can be adjusted according to the requirement, and accordingly, the position of the driving gear 44 can be adjusted in the vacant region, so that the developing cartridge C can be used in various models.

The void provides sufficient space for the movement of the driving gear 44, and as described above, the interruption of the transmission of the driving force between the driving gear 44 and the counting assembly 5 is preferably such that at least one of the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 moves in the moving direction, and since the driven body 52 is a part of the counting assembly 5 and the counting assembly 5 needs to interact with a detecting member in the image forming apparatus, the manner in which the driving gear 44 moves in the moving direction is more preferable, and the presence of the void allows a higher degree of freedom in the design of the control device for controlling the movement of the driving gear 44.

As described above, at least a part of the first urging portion 14a is located in the vacant region, not only can the first urging portion 14a be made capable of position adjustment in the developing cartridge C in accordance with the position where the external urging force applying member is located, but also a reinforcing portion higher in strength can be provided for the first urging portion 14 a; for example, when the positions of only the first urging portions 14a of the two models of developing cartridges are slightly different, the presence of the vacant areas may enable the developing cartridges to become common; for example, when the urging force applied by the urging force applying member applied to a certain type of developing cartridge is large, the designer can design the reinforcing portion for the first urging portion 14a by making full use of the vacant region, and conversely, when the urging force applied by the urging force applying member is small, the designer can design the dispersing portion for the first urging portion 14a, which can disperse the urging force, by making full use of the vacant region.

The void region also simplifies the structure of the drive gear 44, and the drive gear 44 only needs to be provided in one stage regardless of whether it is provided coaxially with the stirring member 23, particularly in the first and second embodiments described above, and as described above, the sizes of the drive gear 44 and the counter unit 5 can be reduced in the left-right direction, and therefore, the sizes of the developing cartridges C corresponding to the positions of the drive gear 44 and the counter unit 5 can also be reduced.

For the embodiment using the belt 15 or the gear lever 16 to transmit the driving force from the driving portion to the driven portion, also, a vacant area is still formed between the driving force receiving member 3/the first gear 41/the third gear 43 as the driving portion and the driving gear 44 as the driven portion, on the one hand, the conductive end 104 does not need to be provided with a gear for transmitting the driving force, and on the other hand, the existence of the vacant area also enables the counting assembly 5 to have versatility, provides a space for the driving gear 44 to move, and enables the first urging portion 14a to have a higher degree of freedom in design.

Claims

1. A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus provided with a detecting member, the developing cartridge including a casing, a driving force receiving member provided on the same side of the casing for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the counting assembly to interact with the detecting member, and a counting assembly, characterized in that,

the developing cartridge further includes a driving part driven by the driving force receiving part in a front-rear direction and located in front of the driven part for coupling with the counting assembly to drive the counting assembly to rotate;

a hollow area is formed between the driving part and the driven part, and driving force is transmitted between the driving part and the driven part in a non-gear combination mode.

2. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising an urging portion for receiving an urging force for urging the developing cartridge to be held at a predetermined position, at least a part of said urging portion being located in the vacant region.

3. A developing cartridge according to claim 2, wherein a spacing area is formed between the urging portion and the driven portion.

4. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the driven portion and at least a part of the counting assembly is movable in a direction intersecting a left-right direction of the developing cartridge.

5. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the driving portion is a part or all of the driving force receiving member.

6. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a first gear provided coaxially with the driving force receiving member, the driving portion being a part or all of the first gear.

7. A developing cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the developing cartridge further comprises a plurality of rotating members rotatably mounted in the casing, the driving force receiving member is located at a side which is a driving end, and a side opposite to the driving end is a conductive end, and the driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through one of the rotating members and then from the conductive end to the driving end through the other rotating member.

8. The developing cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the rotary member includes an agitating member for agitating the carbon powder contained in the casing and supplying the carbon powder to the powder feeding member, and the powder feeding member is located in front of the agitating member in a front-rear direction of the developing cartridge, and the driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through the powder feeding member and then from the conductive end to the driving end through the agitating member.

9. A developing cartridge according to claim 8, wherein the driven portion is provided coaxially with the stirring member.

10. The developing cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the rotary member includes an agitating member for agitating the carbon powder contained in the casing and supplying the carbon powder to the powder feeding member, a powder feeding member located in front of the rotary shaft and the agitating member in a front-rear direction of the developing cartridge, and a driving force is transmitted from the driving end to the conductive end through the powder feeding member and then from the conductive end to the driving end through the agitating member.

11. A developing cartridge according to claim 10, wherein the driven portion is provided coaxially with the transmission shaft.

12. A developing cartridge according to claim 11, wherein the driven portion is disengaged from the counting assembly before the counting assembly counts, the driven portion is engaged with the counting assembly when the counting assembly starts counting, and the driven portion is disengaged from the counting assembly again when the counting assembly finishes counting.

13. A developing cartridge according to any one of claims 1-6, further comprising transmission members respectively coupled to the driving portion and the driven portion, the driving force being transmitted from the driving portion to the driven portion through the transmission members, a portion of the transmission members being located in the vacant regions.

14. A developing cartridge according to claim 13, wherein the transmitting member is a belt or a gear lever.