CN214252898U - Cartridge for electrophotographic image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model discloses a box for an electrophotographic imaging device, which comprises a frame, a rotating component arranged on the frame and a driving component connected with the rotating component, wherein the driving component comprises a connecting piece for inserting a driving shaft of the electrophotographic imaging device and a driving force receiving component matched with the driving shaft to receive the rotating driving force; wherein, the inner peripheral wall of the connecting piece is convexly provided with one or more limiting parts used for limiting the deflection of the driving shaft. The utility model discloses in, the unexpected deflection takes place for the drive shaft of electrophotography imaging device when the restriction portion can prevent the formation of image operation, guarantees drive power transmission's reliability between drive shaft and the drive power receiving component.

Description

Cartridge for electrophotographic image forming apparatus

Technical Field

The utility model relates to a box for electronic photograph imaging equipment.

Background

A cartridge is generally mounted in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copier, a multifunction machine, and the like. Typically, a cartridge includes a frame and a rotary member rotatably provided on the frame, for example, a developing cartridge includes a rotatable developing roller, a photosensitive drum cartridge includes a rotatable photosensitive drum, and a process cartridge integrates both the developing roller and the photosensitive drum. Wherein the rotating member may receive a rotational driving force from a driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus through the driving assembly.

Fig. 1 shows a drive shaft 100 of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus in the related art, the drive shaft 100 having a concave portion 101 and an abutting portion 102, the concave portion 101 being located on a front side of the abutting portion 102 in an axial direction of the drive shaft 100. Wherein the abutment portion 102 is arranged to circumferentially surround the drive shaft 100 and has a tapered surface 1021 at its front side. The recess 101 has an inclined surface 1011 inclined with respect to the axial direction of the drive shaft 100, and the inclined surface 1011 has an inclined direction opposite to the tapered surface 1021.

In the cartridge mounted to the above-described electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the drive assembly may include a coupling into which the drive shaft 100 is inserted, the coupling being provided therein with a drive force receiving member engageable with the recess 101 to receive the rotational drive force from the drive shaft 100. However, in the image forming operation, if the drive shaft 100 is unevenly stressed and radially deflected, the driving force receiving member may be disengaged from the recess 101, resulting in a failure to stably transmit the rotational driving force.

Disclosure of Invention

The main object of the present invention is to provide a cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which can solve the problem of undesirable deflection of a driving shaft in an image forming operation of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned primary object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, including a frame, a rotating member provided on the frame, and a driving assembly connected to the rotating member, the driving assembly including a coupling into which a driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is inserted, a driving force receiving member engaged with the driving shaft to receive a rotational driving force; wherein, the inner peripheral wall of the connecting piece is convexly provided with one or more limiting parts used for limiting the deflection of the driving shaft.

In the above-described aspect, the projecting restriction portion that restricts the undesired deflection of the drive shaft inserted into the coupling is provided on the inner peripheral wall of the coupling, so that the reliability of the drive force transmission between the drive shaft and the drive force receiving member at the time of the image forming operation can be ensured.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the restriction portion is fixedly provided on the inner circumferential wall of the coupling member. Preferably, the restricting portion is integrally formed with the coupling member so as to be fixedly provided on the inner peripheral wall of the coupling member. In addition, the restricting portion may be fixed to the inner peripheral wall of the coupling member by screws.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the restriction is movably connected to the coupling, the drive assembly further comprising an elastic compression element pushing the restriction at least radially inwards of the coupling. The resilient compression element may be a compression spring.

Further, a guide groove, an installation limiting part and an installation groove of the elastic compression element are formed on the inner peripheral wall of the connecting piece; wherein, the guide way communicates with mounting groove to along the axial extension of coupling piece to the insertion end of coupling piece, restriction portion and elastic compression element install to the mounting groove via the guide way, have simple, the convenient quick advantage of equipment of mounting structure.

Preferably, the restriction portion has an accommodation chamber in which the elastic compression element is partially disposed and abuts against a bottom surface of the mounting groove. When assembled, the elastic compression element can be compressed in the accommodating cavity and enters the mounting groove together with the limiting part through the guide groove.

When the limiting part is movably connected with the connecting piece, the connecting piece can further comprise a stopping part which is abutted with the limiting part to prevent the limiting part from moving inwards in the radial direction of the connecting piece, so that the distance of the limiting part protruding inwards in the radial direction of the connecting piece is controlled, and the limiting part is prevented from being separated from the mounting groove.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the driving force receiving member and the restricting portion are provided along a circumferential direction of the coupling to collectively restrict the driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus from deflecting. For example, the driving force receiving member and the restricting portion may be substantially uniformly triangularly distributed along the circumferential direction of the coupling, and the restricting portion may be annularly distributed along the circumferential direction of the coupling.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the side of the restriction portion away from the rotary member is formed with a guide slope which is disposed obliquely with respect to the rotation axis of the coupling member so that the drive shaft is smoothly inserted into the coupling member.

According to a specific embodiment of the present invention, the coupling member has a shaft hole in a chordwise direction, and the driving force receiving member is rotatable about a rotating shaft provided in the shaft hole;

the driving force receiving member includes an abutted end and a driving force receiving end, the abutted end is located on a front side of the driving force receiving end in the axial direction of the coupling, and the rotating shaft is located between the abutted end and the driving force receiving end in the axial direction of the coupling;

when the abutted end receives the external abutting force to rotate to the radial outside of the coupling, the driving force receiving end rotates to the radial inside of the coupling to the rotational driving force receiving position, thereby being capable of receiving the driving force for rotating the coupling.

In the above-described aspect, the driving force receiving member is rotatably provided in the coupling about the rotational axis, and is moved between the driving force receiving position and the non-driving force receiving position by a rotational manner, and has a preferable structural strength even in long-term use, and can stably receive the rotational driving force from the drive shaft.

To more clearly illustrate the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention, the present invention will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and detailed description.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an axial sectional view of a driving shaft of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus in the related art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the process cartridge of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of embodiment 1 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 4 is an axial projection view of embodiment 1 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view A-A of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an axial projection view of embodiment 2 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 7 is an axial projection view of embodiment 3 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 8 is an assembled view of a restricting portion in embodiment 3 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a restricting portion in embodiment 3 of the drive assembly;

FIG. 10 is an axial projection view of embodiment 4 of the drive assembly;

fig. 11 shows a moving state when the abutted end of the driving force receiving member is in contact with the driving shaft abutment portion in the process of mounting the process cartridge;

fig. 12 shows an engaged state of the driving force receiving end with the drive shaft recess portion after the process cartridge is mounted in place;

fig. 13 shows a process in which the driving force receiving member is removed from the driving shaft recess when the process cartridge is detached.

Detailed Description

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a developing cartridge including a developing roller, a photosensitive drum cartridge including a photosensitive drum, or a process cartridge including a developing roller and a photosensitive drum, wherein a rotary member may be a developing roller in a developing cartridge, a photosensitive drum in a photosensitive drum cartridge, or a developing roller or a photosensitive drum in a process cartridge, and a driving assembly is connected to the rotary member, receives a rotational driving force from a driving shaft of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and drives the rotary member to rotate.

Referring to fig. 2, the process cartridge of the embodiment includes a photosensitive drum 20, a frame 10 rotatably supporting the photosensitive drum 20, and a driving assembly 30 connected to an axial end of the photosensitive drum 20. After the process cartridge is mounted to the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the driving assembly 30 engages with a driving shaft 100 shown in fig. 1 in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and receives a driving force for rotating the photosensitive drum 20 from the driving shaft 100. The structure of the drive assembly 30 in various embodiments is described below.

Example 1

Fig. 3 to 5 show the structure of embodiment 1 of the drive assembly. As shown in fig. 3, in embodiment 1, the driving assembly 30 includes a coupling member 31 having a hollow cavity, the coupling member 31 having a front end 31a and a rear end 31b in the axial direction, the rear end 31b being a connection end connected to the photosensitive drum 20, the front end 31a being an insertion end into which the driving shaft 100 is inserted, and the front end 31a forming an opening portion 31c into which the driving shaft 100 is inserted into the coupling member 31.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the driving assembly 30 further includes a driving force receiving member 32, the driving force receiving member 32 being rotatably provided inside the coupling member 31 about a rotating shaft 33, and the rotating shaft 33 may be integrally formed with the driving force receiving member 32. The driving force receiving member 32 includes an abutted end 322 and a driving force receiving end 321, the abutted end 322 being located on the front side of the driving force receiving end 321 in the axial direction of the coupling 31, and the rotating shaft 33 being located between the abutted end 322 and the driving force receiving end 321 in the axial direction of the coupling 31.

The rotation shaft 33 is preferably provided in the chord direction of the coupling member 31. Specifically, the coupling 31 is formed with a shaft hole 311, the shaft hole 311 being disposed along the chord direction of the coupling 31, and the rotating shaft 33 being mounted in the shaft hole 311, thereby rotatably connecting the driving force receiving member 32 to the coupling 31. Preferably, the shaft hole 311 is located outside the inner circumferential wall 31d in the radial direction of the coupling 31 to facilitate miniaturization of the drive assembly 30.

As shown in fig. 5, the gap between the shaft 33 and the shaft hole 311 is preferably set, i.e. the diameter of the shaft hole 311 is larger than that of the shaft 33, so that the shaft 33 can be shifted along the radial direction of the shaft hole 311, and the axial center 33O of the shaft 33 is correspondingly shifted from the axial center 311O of the shaft hole 311. In other embodiments not shown, a shaft hole may be formed in the driving force receiving member 32, the rotating shaft 33 is assembled into the shaft hole in the driving force receiving member 32 and the shaft hole in the coupling 31, and a gap may be formed between the rotating shaft 33 and the shaft hole in the driving force receiving member 32.

The coupling 31 has a first rotation restricting portion 312, and the first rotation restricting portion 312 is located on the rear side of the rotation shaft 33 in the axial direction of the coupling 31. The first rotation restricting portion 312 is preferably recessed into the inner peripheral wall 31d of the coupling member 31 to facilitate miniaturization of the drive assembly 30. As shown in fig. 4, when the driving force receiving member 32 abuts with the first rotation restricting portion 312, the spacing d2 of the abutted end 322 from the rotational axis 31O of the coupling 31 is larger than the spacing d1 of the driving force receiving end 321 from the rotational axis 31O, i.e., the abutted end 322 is farther from the rotational axis 31O of the coupling 31 than the driving force receiving end 321. Thus, when the drive shaft 100 enters the coupling 31, the front end of the drive shaft 100 does not interfere with the abutted end 322, facilitating entry of the drive shaft 100 into the predetermined engagement position within the coupling 31.

The coupling 31 also has a second rotation restricting portion 313, and the second rotation restricting portion 313 is located on the front side of the rotating shaft 33 in the axial direction of the coupling 31. The second rotation restricting portion 313 may also be recessed into the inner circumferential wall 31d of the coupling 31 to facilitate miniaturization of the driving assembly 30. When the driving force receiving member 32 abuts with the second rotation restricting portion 313, as described later in detail, the driving force receiving end 321 is held at the rotational driving force receiving position. In this rotational driving force receiving position, the driving force receiving end 321 enters the recess 101 of the drive shaft 100, thereby being able to receive the rotational driving force from the drive shaft 100 to rotate the coupling 31 and the photosensitive drum 20.

As described above, if uneven force is applied during rotation of the driving shaft 100, the driving shaft 100 may deflect away from the driving force receiving member 32 along the radial direction thereof, and if the deflection is too large, the driving force receiving end 321 of the driving force receiving member 32 may be unhooked from the recess 101, so that the driving shaft 100 cannot continue to rotate the driving assembly 30.

In order to prevent the driving force receiving end 321 from coming out of the recess 101, in embodiment 1, one or more restricting portions 341 may be provided on the inner circumferential wall 31d of the coupling 31, and the restricting portions 341 protrude from the inner circumferential wall 31d of the coupling 31 in the radial direction, so that the driving shaft 100 can be prevented from deflecting, the driving force receiving end 321 is always held in the recess 101 of the driving shaft 100, and the rotational driving force can be stably received. As shown in fig. 5, a side of the restricting portion 341 remote from the rotary member (i.e., a side facing the front end 31 a) is formed with a guide slope 3411, and the guide slope 3411 is obliquely arranged with respect to the rotation axis 31O of the coupling 31 so as to facilitate entry of the drive shaft 100 into a predetermined engagement position in the coupling 31.

Wherein the restriction portion 341 may be fixedly provided on the inner circumferential wall 31d of the coupling 31; for example, the restricting portion 341 may be integrally molded with the coupling 31 so as to be fixedly provided on the inner peripheral wall 31d of the coupling 31. The restricting portion 341 may be fixedly connected to the coupling 31 by a connecting means such as a screw.

As shown in fig. 4, in embodiment 1, the restriction portions 341 and the driving force receiving member 32 are provided along the circumferential direction of the coupling 31, and the restriction portions 341 are annularly distributed along the inner circumference of the coupling 31, and the encircling angle is preferably larger than 180 degrees. Although fig. 4 shows that only one regulating portion 341 is provided in the coupling 31 in embodiment 1, it is easily understood that, in the case of one driving force receiving member 32, a plurality of regulating portions 341 may be provided in the coupling 31 in the circumferential direction thereof, and for example, one regulating portion 341 shown in fig. 4 may be divided into two or more.

Example 2

Fig. 6 is an axial projection view of embodiment 2 of the drive assembly. As shown in fig. 6, in embodiment 2, two driving force receiving members 32 and one regulating portion 341 are provided in the coupling 31, and the two driving force receiving members 32 and the one regulating portion 341 are substantially uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the coupling 31. The restricting portion 341 and the coupling 31 may be integrally molded in embodiment 2, as in embodiment 1.

Example 3

Fig. 7 is an axial projection view of embodiment 3 of the drive assembly. As shown in fig. 7, in the drive assembly 30 of embodiment 3, two drive force receiving members 32 and one restricting portion 342 are provided in the coupling 31, and the two drive force receiving members 32 and the one restricting portion 342 are distributed in the circumferential direction of the coupling 31 to restrict deflection of the drive shaft 100. The restricting portion 342 is movably connected to the coupling member 31 and protrudes from the inner circumferential wall of the coupling member 31.

The drive assembly 30 further comprises a resilient compression element 343, which urges the restriction 342 radially inwardly of the coupling 31, the resilient compression element 343 may be a spring. Further, a stopper may be provided in the coupling member 31, and the stopper may abut against the regulating portion 342 for controlling a projecting position of the regulating portion 342 in the radial direction of the coupling member 31.

Fig. 8 and 9 show an assembly step of the restricting part 342 and the elastic compression element 343, respectively, and a specific structure thereof. Specifically, the restricting portion 342 includes a main body portion 3420 protruding from the inner peripheral wall of the coupling member 31, and a mount 3422 connected to the main body portion 3420, and a guide inclined surface 3421 is formed on the side of the main body portion 3420 facing the front end 31 a; the mount 3422 is T-shaped, and has a receiving cavity 3423 formed therein, and the elastic compression element 343 is disposed in the receiving cavity 3423. The inner circumferential wall of the coupling member 31 is provided with a mounting groove 314 and a guide groove 315, and the guide groove 315 has a T-shape with one end communicating with the mounting groove 314 and the other end extending to the insertion end of the coupling member 31.

The restricting part 342 and the elastic compression member 343 are mounted to the mounting groove 314 through the guide groove 315, and when the mount 3422 passes through the guide groove 315, the elastic compression member 343 is compressed in the accommodation cavity 3423 of the mount 3422; after the mount 3422 enters the mount groove 314, one end of the elastic compression element 343 is ejected from the accommodation cavity 3423 to abut against the bottom wall of the mount groove 314, thereby pushing the restricting portion 342 inward in the radial direction of the coupling member 31.

Example 4

FIG. 10 is an axial projection view of embodiment 4. As can be seen from fig. 10, in embodiment 4, two regulating portions 342 and one driving force receiving member 32 are provided in the coupling 31, and the two regulating portions 342 and the one driving force receiving member 32 are substantially uniformly distributed in the circumferential direction of the coupling 31. Like embodiment 3, the restricting portion 342 is movably connected to the coupling member 31 in embodiment 4.

Engaging/disengaging process of driving force receiving member with driving shaft

When the process cartridge is mounted, the drive shaft 100 enters the coupling 31, and after the front end of the drive shaft 100 passes over the driving force receiving end 321 (abuts or does not abut against the driving force receiving end 321), as shown in fig. 11, the tapered surface 1021 of the abutting portion 102 abuts against the abutted end 322, the driving force receiving member 32 rotates in the direction of R1, and the driving force receiving end 321 rotates radially inward of the coupling 31. As shown in fig. 12, when the drive shaft 100 reaches the predetermined engagement position in the coupling 31, the drive force receiving end 321 rotates radially inward of the coupling 31 to the entry recess 101, and the drive force receiving member 32 rotates in the R1 direction to abut against the second rotation restricting portion 313. The driving force receiving member 32 is thereafter sandwiched by the abutting portion 102 and the second rotation restricting portion 313, the rotation of the driving force receiving member 32 about the rotating shaft 33 is prevented, and the driving force receiving end 321 is stably held in the recess 101.

When the process cartridge is detached, as shown in fig. 13, as the coupling 31 moves to the front side of the drive shaft 100, the driving force receiving end 321 of the driving force receiving member 32 abuts against the inclined surface 1011 of the recess 101, and due to the force between the rotating shaft 33 and the shaft hole 311, the abutted end 322 rotates in the R2 direction about the rotating shaft 33, and the driving force receiving end 321 rotates radially outward of the coupling 31. As the coupling 31 continues to move to the front side of the drive shaft 100, the driving force receiving end 321 will eventually move out of the recess 101, effecting separation of the driving force receiving member 32 from the drive shaft 100.

In summary, in the embodiment of the present invention, the convex restricting portion is provided on the inner peripheral wall of the coupling 31, and the restricting portion can restrict the driving shaft 100 inserted into the coupling 31 from being undesirably deflected, thereby ensuring reliability of the driving force transmission between the driving shaft 100 and the driving force receiving member 32 in the image forming operation. Further, the driving force receiving member 32 is rotatably provided in the coupling 31 about the rotation shaft 33, and is moved between the driving force receiving position and the non-driving force receiving position by a rotational manner, has a preferable structural strength even under long-term use, and can stably receive the rotational driving force from the drive shaft 100.

Although the present invention has been described above by way of examples, it should be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative of the possible embodiments of the present invention and should not be interpreted as limiting the scope of the present invention, i.e. all equivalent permutations or variations that can be made by those skilled in the art in accordance with the present invention are intended to be covered by the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising a frame, a rotary member provided on the frame, and a drive assembly connected to the rotary member, the drive assembly comprising a coupling into which a drive shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus is inserted, a drive force receiving member cooperating with the drive shaft to receive a rotational drive force; the method is characterized in that: one or more limiting parts for limiting the deflection of the driving shaft are convexly arranged on the inner peripheral wall of the connecting piece.

2. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: the restricting portion is fixedly provided on an inner peripheral wall of the coupling member.

3. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that: the restricting portion is formed integrally with the coupling member and is fixedly provided on an inner peripheral wall of the coupling member.

4. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: the restricting portion is movably connected to the coupling member, and the drive assembly further includes a resilient compression element urging the restricting portion at least radially inwardly of the coupling member.

5. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that: a guide groove and a mounting groove for mounting the limiting part and the elastic compression element are formed on the inner peripheral wall of the connecting piece; the guide groove communicates with the mounting groove and extends in the axial direction of the coupling member to the insertion end of the coupling member, and the restricting portion and the elastic compression member are mounted to the mounting groove via the guide groove.

6. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that: the limiting part is provided with an accommodating cavity, and the elastic compression element is partially arranged in the accommodating cavity and is abutted against the bottom surface of the mounting groove.

7. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 4, characterized in that: the coupling includes a stopper portion that abuts against the restricting portion to prevent the restricting portion from moving inward in a radial direction of the coupling.

8. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: the driving force receiving member and the restricting portion are provided along a circumferential direction of the coupling to collectively restrict deflection of a driving shaft of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

9. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: the restricting portion is formed with a guide slope on a side thereof remote from the rotary member, the guide slope being disposed obliquely with respect to the rotational axis of the coupling.

10. A cartridge for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that:

the coupling piece has a shaft hole in a chord direction thereof, and the driving force receiving member is rotatable about a rotating shaft provided in the shaft hole;

the driving force receiving member includes an abutted end and a driving force receiving end, the abutted end being located on a front side of the driving force receiving end in an axial direction of the coupling, the rotation shaft being located between the abutted end and the driving force receiving end in the axial direction of the coupling;

when the abutted end receives an external abutting force to rotate to the radially outer side of the coupling, the driving force receiving end rotates to a rotational driving force receiving position to the radially inner side of the coupling, thereby being able to receive a driving force for rotating the coupling.

Images