CN216696987U - Chip assembly, developing box and processing box - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a chip assembly, a developing box and a processing box with the chip assembly, wherein the chip assembly is used for being electrically connected with an external communicating piece, the chip assembly comprises a substrate, a storage device and a connecting piece which are positioned on the substrate, and the communicating piece comprises a contact part with a tip end and a side surface which is formed adjacent to the tip end; the chip assembly further includes a conductive member protruding from the substrate, the connecting member electrically connecting the conductive member and the storage device; when the chip assembly is electrically connected with the communicating piece, the conductive piece is in contact with the side face, the tip end cannot be in contact with the substrate, the conductive piece and the substrate cannot be scraped, and the stability of the communicating piece and the stability of the chip assembly are improved.

Description

Chip assembly, developing box and processing box

Technical Field

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

Background

The conventional process cartridge generally includes a developing unit and an image forming unit, which may be integrated with each other and sold as a unit product after being integrated, which is called an integrated process cartridge, and may be sold as two separate unit products after being separated, and when necessary, the developing unit and the image forming unit are combined, which is called a split process cartridge.

The developing unit is also called as a developing box, the imaging unit is also called as a drum stand, no matter the processing box is integrated or split, in order to enable the imaging device to know various parameter information of the developing box, a chip assembly capable of establishing communication connection with the imaging device is installed in the developing box, the chip assembly comprises a base plate, a storage device and an electric contact piece, the storage device and the electric contact piece are respectively located on two opposite side surfaces of the base plate and are communicated with each other, and when the developing box or the processing box is installed on the imaging device, the electric contact piece is contacted with an electric communication assembly arranged in the imaging device.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a state in which a developing cartridge and a drum frame are separated in a conventional process cartridge; fig. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional developing cartridge as viewed from below; fig. 3 is a schematic view of a state where a conventional chip assembly is in contact with an electrical communication assembly in an image forming apparatus.

Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional process cartridge of a divided type in which a developing cartridge 100 and a drum stand 200 are separated from each other, as shown in fig. 2, a chip assembly 7 is located below the developing cartridge 100 and near a front end and a left end of the developing cartridge 100, and an electrical communication assembly 300 provided in an image forming apparatus is located below the developing cartridge 100 when the developing cartridge 100 is mounted in a forward direction; as shown in fig. 2 and 3, the electrical communication assembly 300 includes a communicating member 301 and a pushing member 302, the pushing member 302 pushes the communicating member 301 upward, the communicating member 301 is a metal sheet formed integrally and has a main body portion 301a and a contact portion 301b located above the main body portion 301a, wherein the main body portion 301a is regular square, the contact portion 301b is tapered and has inclined surfaces 301c located at front and rear sides and a tip 301e located at the uppermost side, the inclined surfaces 301c are opposite to the tip 301e, and the main body portion 301a and the contact portion 301b have opposite side surfaces 301d in the left-right direction, and when the process cartridge is mounted to a predetermined position, the electrical contact 72 of the chip assembly 7 contacts the tip 301e and presses the communicating member 301 so that the pushing member 302 is elastically deformed, thereby ensuring that the electrical communication assembly 300 is in good electrical contact with the electrical contact 72.

The conventional electrical contact 72 is generally a metal sheet (copper sheet) laid on the substrate 71, and during the process of mounting and removing the process cartridge, the metal sheet 72 inevitably scrapes the tip 301e of the communicating member 301, which may cause disadvantages such as damage to the metal sheet 72 and deformation of the communicating member 301, especially after the process cartridge is mounted and dismounted for many times, the damage or deformation is more likely to occur.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In view of the above, the present invention provides a chip assembly in a developing cartridge or a process cartridge, wherein when the developing cartridge or the process cartridge is mounted to an image forming apparatus, a tip of a communicating member is in a suspended state to reduce the occurrence probability of the damage or deformation, and the specific scheme is as follows:

the chip assembly is used for being electrically connected with an external communicating piece, the chip assembly comprises a substrate, a storage device and a connecting piece, the storage device and the connecting piece are positioned on the substrate, and the communicating piece comprises a contact part with a tip end and a side surface adjacent to the tip end; the chip assembly further includes a conductive member protruding from the substrate, the connecting member electrically connecting the conductive member and the storage device; when the chip assembly is electrically connected with the communicating piece, the conducting piece is contacted with the side surface; the tip is in a suspended state. The space adjacent to the contact part of the conductive piece and the communicating piece forms an insertion space, and the tip enters the insertion space. As a first embodiment, the conductive member is a straight plate-shaped conductive member protruding from the substrate, the conductive member is in contact with a front side surface or a rear side surface of the contact portion, and a space adjacent to the front and rear of the conductive member is an insertion space.

As a second embodiment, the conductive member includes a base portion and side portions respectively located on both left and right sides of the base portion, an insertion space is formed between the two side portions, the two side portions are in contact with a side surface located in front and a side surface located in rear of the contact portion, and the base portion is connected to the substrate.

As a third embodiment, the conductive member includes a base portion and a plurality of side portions distributed in a left-right direction of the base portion, an insertion space is formed between adjacent two side portions, the two side portions are in contact with a front side surface and a rear side surface of the contact portion, and the base portion is connected to the substrate.

As a fourth embodiment, the conductive member includes a base portion and a side portion electrically connected to the base portion, the side portion contacts at least one of the left side surface and the right side surface of the communicating member, and the conductive member may be made of a conductive sheet or a conductive filament.

Preferably, the side portions are two side portions distributed in the left-right direction, and the communicating member is sandwiched by the two side portions.

The conductive member and the substrate may be detachably combined.

The utility model also provides a developing cartridge, which comprises a shell, a developing roller rotatably arranged on the shell, and an end cover and a counting assembly which are arranged at the tail end of the shell, wherein the counting assembly is exposed through the end cover, and the chip assembly is arranged on the end cover or the shell and is arranged below the shell along the installation direction of the developing cartridge.

The present invention also provides a process cartridge comprising a drum frame and the developing cartridge as described above, the developing cartridge being detachably combined with the drum frame.

The conductive piece protrudes from the substrate and is used for being in contact with the side face of the communicating piece, the tip cannot be in contact with the substrate, scraping cannot occur to the conductive piece and the substrate, and stability of the communicating piece and the chip assembly is improved.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a state in which a developing cartridge and a drum stand are separated in a conventional process cartridge.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the conventional developing cartridge as viewed from below.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view of a state where a conventional chip assembly is in contact with an electrical communication assembly in an image forming apparatus.

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of a chip assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a side view of a chip assembly in contact with an electrical communication assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a chip module according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a chip module according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a chip module according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 12 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a chip module according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 14 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a chip module according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Fig. 17 is a side view of a chip assembly according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the same components of the developing cartridge or the process cartridge referred to hereinafter as those of the developing cartridge or the process cartridge referred to in the background art will be given the same reference numerals and will not be described again in detail.

As shown in fig. 1, the developing cartridge 100 is detachably combined with the drum frame 200, the developing cartridge 100 has a left-right direction parallel to a length direction/longitudinal direction, a front-back direction parallel to a width direction/lateral direction, and an up-down direction parallel to a height direction/vertical direction, the developing cartridge 100 is mounted forward to the drum frame in the front-back direction to form a process cartridge, which is then mounted forward to the image forming apparatus, but of course, the developing cartridge 100 may also be mounted to the image forming apparatus as an independent component.

When the developing cartridge 100/process cartridge is operated, the developing cartridge 100 needs to receive driving force and power from the apparatus through the left and right ends, as shown in the figure, the installation direction of the developing cartridge 100 is the front 103, the removal direction is the rear 104, the side receiving the driving force is the driving end 101, the side receiving the power is the conductive end 102, the driving end 101 is located at the left side of the developing cartridge 100, and the conductive end 102 is located at the right side of the developing cartridge 100.

As shown in fig. 1, the developing cartridge 100 includes a housing 1 accommodating toner, a developing roller 2 rotatably mounted in the housing 1, a driving force receiver 15 located at a longitudinal end of the housing 1, the developing roller 2 being located in front of the housing 1, and a counting assembly 6, the driving force receiver 15 being for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the developing roller 2 and the counting assembly 6 to operate, wherein the developing roller 2 rotates about a rotational axis thereof for supplying the toner outward, and the counting assembly 6 is for interacting with a detecting member in the image forming apparatus so that the developing cartridge 100 can be recognized by the image forming apparatus.

Further, the developing cartridge 100 further includes a handle 13 at the rear of the casing, a conductive member 14 at a conductive end 102, and a driving cap 11 and a conductive cap 12 at both longitudinal ends of the casing 1, respectively, the driving force receiver 15 being exposed through the driving cap 11, a portion of the counter assembly 6 being exposed from the driving cap 11 when the counter assembly 6 is disposed on the same side as the driving force receiver 15, and a portion of the counter assembly 6 being exposed from the conductive cap 12 when the counter assembly 6 is disposed on a different side from the driving force receiver 15; the conductive member 14 is for receiving power from the apparatus to supply to the developing roller.

The drum rack 200 comprises a frame body 201 enclosing to form a developing box accommodating cavity 202 and a photosensitive drum 203 rotatably mounted in the frame body 201, wherein clamping grooves 204 are arranged on two side walls of the frame body 201 along the left-right direction, a bottom plate 208 of the frame extends along the front-back direction, an opening 209 is arranged on the bottom plate 208 and is used for allowing a chip component 7 positioned in the developing box 100 to be exposed, and the chip component 7 can be mounted on an end cover 11/12 or can be mounted on the shell 1; the catch groove 204 is used for engaging with the support portion 18L/18R at the end in the left-right direction of the developing cartridge 100 and allowing the developing cartridge to rotate relative to the drum stand 200 with the support portion 18L/18R as a fulcrum.

The utility model prevents at least one of the chip assembly or the communication piece 301 from being damaged or deformed and worn by arranging the protruded conductive piece on the chip substrate, wherein the conductive piece is contacted with the side surface of the communication piece 301, the side surface is adjacent to the tip 301e, and the tip 301e is suspended.

[ example one ]

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded view of a chip assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model; fig. 5 is a side view of a chip assembly in contact with an electrical communication assembly according to an embodiment of the utility model.

As shown in fig. 4, the chip module 7 includes a substrate 71, a storage device 73 and a connecting member 74 on the substrate 71, and a conductive member 75a protruding from one side surface of the substrate 71, the connecting member 74 electrically connects the conductive member 75a and the storage device 73, wherein the storage device 73 stores therein parameter information of the developing cartridge or the process cartridge, the conductive member 75a is used for contacting with a communicating member 301 in the image forming apparatus to form an electrical connection therebetween, and the connecting member 74 may be a conductor formed in the substrate 71 or may be a metal sheet 72 laid on the surface of the substrate 71 as in the conventional chip module.

The conductive member 75a is made of a conductive material, and includes a base portion 75a1 and side portions 75a2 respectively located at the left and right sides of the base portion 75a1, and an insertion space 75a3 is formed between the two side portions 75a2, and preferably, the conductive member 75a is integrally formed, for example, the conductive member 75a is formed by die-casting a metal sheet, or the conductive member 75a is formed by combining one base portion 75a1 and the two side portions 75a2 which are separate bodies; the base portion 75a1 is electrically connected to both side portions 75a2, and the base portion 75a1 is also electrically connected to the connecting member 74, preferably, the base portion 75a1 is fixed to the base plate 71.

The number of the conductive members 75a and the number of the connection members 74 are determined according to the number of the communication members 301 in the image forming apparatus, and generally, the number of the communication members 301 is set to be plural such as two or four, and thus, the number of the conductive members 75a and the number of the connection members 74 in the chip component 7 are also plural.

As shown in fig. 5, when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted to the image forming apparatus, the communicating member 301 is in contact with the conductive member 75a, and in particular, at least a portion of the contact portion 301b enters the insertion space 75a3, and the side surface of the communicating member 301 is in contact with the conductive member 75 a. As described in the background art, the communicating member 301 is an integrally formed metal sheet having a main body portion 301a and a contact portion 301b located above the main body portion 301a, and the contact portion 301b is tapered, and in the front-rear direction, the contact portion 301b has two side surfaces 301c located in front and rear, and in the left-right direction, the main body portion 301a and the contact portion 301b have a common side surface 301d located in left and right, the side surface 301c is inclined with respect to the up-down direction, and the side surface 301d is parallel with respect to the up-down direction, and both the side surface 301c and the side surface 301d can be regarded as side surfaces of the communicating member 301 as a whole, and both the side surface 301c and the side surface 301d are adjacent to the tip end 301 e.

The communication members 301 extend in the front-rear direction and the up-down direction, the plurality of communication members 301 are distributed in the left-right direction, the two side surfaces 301c are inclined in opposite directions with respect to the front-rear direction and intersect at a point when viewed from the angle shown in fig. 5, and the two side portions 75a2 are distributed in the front-rear direction; in the process of mounting the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge to the image forming apparatus, the conductive member 75a contacts the rear side surface 301c first to force the communicating member 301 to move downward, the urging member 302 is elastically deformed until the communicating member 301 is completely below the conductive member 75a, when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is moved forward, the tip 301e is opposite to the insertion space 75a3, the communicating member 301 moves upward under the urging action of the urging member 302, the tip 301e enters the insertion space 75a3, the two side edges 301c contact with the corresponding side portions 75a2 respectively, at this time, the tip 301e is in a suspended state of not contacting with the base portion 75a 1/the substrate 71, and finally, the storage device 73 is electrically connected to the communicating member 301 through the connecting member 74 and the conductive member 75 a.

[ example two ]

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a chip assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention; fig. 7 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

The chip assembly 7 in the present embodiment is still provided with the conductive members 75b corresponding to the number of the communicating members 301, and unlike the first embodiment, each conductive member 75b includes a plurality of conductive members 75a electrically connected, that is, the conductive member 75b in the present embodiment is formed by electrically connecting the plurality of conductive members 75a in the first embodiment.

As shown in fig. 6, the plurality of conductive members 75a share a base portion 75a1, and a plurality of side portions 75a2 protrude from the base portion 75a1 and are distributed in the left-right direction. Taking one of the conductive members 75b as an example, a plurality of conductive members 75a are distributed in the front-rear direction, the adjacent conductive members 75a are electrically connected, each conductive member 75a still has a base portion 75a1 and side portions 75a2 at both sides, the base portion 75a1 is electrically connected to the side portions 75a2 and fixed on the substrate 71, and an insertion space 75a3 is formed between the two side portions 75a2, so that each conductive member 75b in this embodiment has a plurality of insertion spaces 75a 3. It is realized that each of the conductive members 75b in the present embodiment may be formed integrally by a metal sheet, or may be formed by connecting a plurality of metal sheets.

As shown in fig. 7, when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted to the image forming apparatus, the contact portion 301b of the communicating member 301 comes into contact with the side portion 75a2 of one of the conductive members 75a, and the tip 301e enters the insertion space 75a3 of the conductive member 75a and is in a suspended state. The conductive member 75b in this embodiment is provided with the plurality of conductive members 75 a/insertion spaces 75a3, and the positional accuracy requirement of the communicating members 301 in the image forming apparatus can be lowered, and even if the plurality of communicating members 301 are misaligned in the left-right direction, each communicating member 301 can be brought into contact with the corresponding conductive member 75a after the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted.

[ third example ]

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a chip assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention; fig. 9 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a third embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

As shown in fig. 8, contrary to the embodiment, the conductive members 75c in the present embodiment are simplified with respect to the conductive members 75a in the first embodiment, and specifically, each conductive member 75c is a side portion protruding from the substrate 71, and the side portion is a straight plate-shaped conductor. Although the conductive member 75c does not form the insertion space 75a3 sandwiched by the two side portions 75a2 as shown in the first and second embodiments, the space adjacent to the front and rear of each conductive member 75c may be regarded as the insertion space 75c3, as shown in fig. 9, when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, the side 301c located at the front is in contact with the conductive member 75c, and the tip 301e is still in a suspended state not in contact with the substrate 71, and at this time, the space adjacent to the rear of the conductive member 75c may be regarded as the insertion space 75c 3.

Alternatively, the conductive member 75c may be disposed rearward, and the side 301c located rearward may be in contact with the conductive member 75c when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, and at this time, a space adjacent in front of the conductive member 75c may be regarded as an insertion space 75c3 in which the tip 301e is located.

[ example four ]

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a chip assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; fig. 11 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

In this embodiment, the conductive piece 75d is not in contact with the inclined side surface 301c any more, but is in contact with the side surface 301d, as shown in fig. 10, the conductive piece 75d includes a base portion 75d1 and two side portions 75d2 electrically connected to the base portion 75d1, an insertion space 75d3 is formed between the two side portions 75d2, and the two side portions 75d2 are distributed in the left-right direction, that is, the distribution direction of the two side portions 75d2 is the same as the distribution direction of the communicating piece 301 in the imaging device.

As shown in fig. 11, when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, the two side portions 75d2 are in contact with the two side surfaces 301d of the communicating member 301, respectively, the tip 301e enters the insertion space 75d3, and the tip 301e is in a suspended state without being in contact with the base 75d 1/the base plate 71. Preferably, the two side portions 75d2 are made of conductive sheets and formed as holding members for holding the communicating member 301, so that the tip 301e can be in a suspended state without contacting the base 75d 1/the substrate 71 while ensuring a stable electrical connection between the communicating member 301 and the conductive member 75d, in a case where the conductive member 75d is small in size to be integrally protruded.

[ example five ]

Fig. 12 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

The structure of the conductive element 75e in this embodiment is the same as that of the conductive element 75d in the fourth embodiment, but the conductive element 75e in this embodiment is no longer made of a conductive sheet but made of a conductive filament, and similarly, the two side portions 75e2 of the conductive element 75e are distributed in the left-right direction and form a holding member capable of holding the communicating member 301. When the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, the side 75e2 comes into contact with the side 301d of the communicating member 301, and the tip 301e enters the insertion space 75e3 and is in the suspended state.

It should be noted that, only one side portion 75e2 in the present embodiment and only one side portion 75d2 in the fourth embodiment may be provided as in the third embodiment, the side portions 75d2/75e2 are in contact with the side surface 301d on the left or right of the communicating member 301, the insertion space 75d3/75e3 is formed in the left or right space adjacent to the side portions 75d2/75e2, and the tip 301e may be in a suspended state by disposing the base plate 71 further upward so that the tip 301e cannot be in contact with the base plate 71.

[ sixth example ]

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a chip assembly according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention; fig. 14 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

The chip assembly 7 of the above embodiment requires modification of the existing chip assembly, for example, at least fixing the conductive members 75a/75b/75c/75d/75e to the substrate 71 and electrically connecting the conductive members 75a/75b/75c/75d/75e with the connecting members 74 or the electrical contact members 72.

The chip component 7 related to the embodiment does not need to be transformed from the existing chip component, so that the purpose of fully utilizing the existing chip component is achieved.

As shown in fig. 13, the driving end cap 11 is provided with a mounting portion 111, a fixing plate 115 and a through hole 116 provided in the fixing plate 115, the through hole 116 communicating with the mounting portion 111, and the chip assembly 7 includes a base plate 71, a storage device (not shown) and an electrical contact 72 provided on the base plate 71, and a conductive member 75f electrically connected to the electrical contact 72, the conductive member 75f being not fixed to the base plate 71 but detachably combined with the base plate as a separate component, or the conductive member 75f being electrically connected to the electrical contact 72 as a separate component.

The conductive element 75f is similar to the conductive element 75a of the first embodiment, and includes a base portion 75f1 and side portions 75f2 located at two sides of the base portion 75f1, the two side portions 75f2 are distributed along the front-back direction, an insertion space 75f3 is formed between the two side portions, the substrate 71 is inserted into the mounting portion 111, the conductive element 75f is combined with the driving end cap 11 through the two side portions 75f2 to fix the conductive element 75f, and meanwhile, the base portion 75f1 is electrically connected to the electrical contact 72.

Alternatively, each conductive element 75f is further provided with an elastic element 75f4, and the elastic element 75f4 is located on the side portion 75f2, so that the elastic element 75f4 can expand under the action of elastic force after the side portion 75f2 passes through the through hole 116, so that the conductive element 75f is clamped on the fixing plate 115.

When the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, the conductive member 75f is coupled to the communicating member 301 in the same manner as the conductive member 75a is coupled to the communicating member 301 in the first embodiment, as shown in fig. 14, the side surface 301c of the communicating member 301 is in contact with the side portion 75f2, the tip 301e is located in the insertion space 75f3, and is in a suspended state without being in contact with the base portion 75f 1/the substrate 71, and the tip 301e is not in contact with the electrical contact 72.

[ seventh example ]

Fig. 15 is a perspective view of a chip assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention; fig. 16 is a side view of a chip assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

The present embodiment further describes the communicating member 301 to which the conductive member according to the above embodiment is applied. As shown in fig. 15, the electrical communication assembly 300 includes a communicating member 301 and a resilient urging member 302 connected to each other, the communicating member 301 includes a cylindrical main body portion 301a and a conical contact portion 301b, the contact portion 301b has a tip 301e and a side/surface 301c adjacent to the tip 301e, the main body portion 301a has a side/surface 301d, the side/surface 301c and the side/surface 301d are connected as a whole to form a side/surface of the communicating member 301, although the side/surface 301d extends over the whole circumference of the main body portion 301a and the side/surface 301c extends over the whole circumference of the contact portion 301b, the contact portion 301b still has a front side/surface 301c and a rear side/surface 301c, and the main body portion 301a still has a left side/surface 310c and a right side/surface 301d, according to the above definition of the orientation.

The chip assembly 7 in this embodiment is substantially the same as the first embodiment except that the connecting member 74/electrical contact 72 is located in front of the conductive member 75g, however, regardless of the relative positions of the connecting member 74/electrical contact 72 and the conductive member 75g, it is only necessary to make the connecting member 74/electrical contact 72 electrically connect the conductive member 75g with the storage device 73.

A cross section formed by cutting the communication member 301 along a plane including the center line of the body portion 301a has a shape as shown in fig. 5 together with the side surface of the communication member 301 according to the first embodiment. The conductive member 75g used in this embodiment has the same structure as the conductive member 75a according to the first embodiment, and includes a base portion 75g1 and two side portions 75g2 electrically connected to the base portion 75g1, and an insertion space 75g3 is formed between the two side portions 75g2, as shown in fig. 16, when the developing cartridge 100/process cartridge is mounted, the contact portion 301b is inserted into the insertion space 75g3, the two side portions 75g2 are in contact with the side surface/surface 301c, and the tip 301e is in a suspended state, and at this time, the tip 301e is not in contact with the connecting member 74/electrical contact 72.

[ eighth example ]

Fig. 17 is a side view of a chip assembly according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention in contact with an electrical communication assembly.

The present embodiment further describes the communicating member 301 to which the conductive member according to the above embodiment is applied. In this embodiment, the communication member 301 itself is an elastic member, for example, the communication member 301 is formed by a conductive filament or a conductive sheet, as shown in fig. 17, the communication member 301 includes a contact portion 301b having a tip 301e, and a side/surface 301c is adjacent to the tip 301 e.

The conductive member 75h used in this embodiment has the same structure as the conductive member 75a according to the first embodiment, and includes a base portion 75h1 and two side portions 75h2 electrically connected to the base portion 75h1, and an insertion space 75h3 is formed between the two side portions 75h2, as shown in fig. 17, when the developing cartridge 100/process cartridge is mounted, the contact portion 301b is inserted into the insertion space 75h3, the two side portions 75h2 are in contact with the side surface/surface 301c, and the tip 301e is in a suspended state, and at this time, the tip 301e is not in contact with the connecting member 74/electrical contact 72.

The conductive members 75a/75b/75c/75d/75e/75f according to the above-described embodiment are provided to protrude from the base plate 71 regardless of whether they are fixedly connected to the base plate 71, and "protruding" herein may be understood as a conductive member located on the base plate 71 to be able to contact with a side surface of the communicating member 301 in the image forming apparatus when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, and the tip 301e of the communicating member 301 enters an insertion space adjacent to the conductive member and is in a suspended state, and a specific size and shape of the conductive member is not necessarily limited.

As described above, the chip module 7 of the present invention has the insertion space formed at a position adjacent to the conductive member by providing the conductive member 75a/75b/75c/75d/75e/75f protruding from the substrate 71 therein, and when the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge is mounted, the conductive member contacts the side 301c/301d of the communicating member 301 of the image forming apparatus, the tip 301e of the communicating member 301 enters the insertion space and is in a suspended state, and the tip 301e does not scratch the conductive member or the substrate 71 during the mounting and removal of the developing cartridge 100 or the process cartridge, so that the probability of deformation of the communicating member 301 or the probability of breakage of the metal sheet 72 is effectively reduced, and the stability of the communicating member 301 and the chip module 7 is improved. On the other hand, when the conductive member protruding from the base plate 71 is deformed or worn, the user can find it more easily and perform maintenance more conveniently than the electrical contact 72 laid on the base plate 71 in the conventional chip assembly.

Claims (15)

1. The chip assembly is used for being electrically connected with an external communicating piece, the chip assembly comprises a substrate, and a storage device and a connecting piece which are arranged on the substrate, and the communicating piece comprises a contact part with a tip end, and a side surface is formed adjacent to the tip end; it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the chip assembly further includes a conductive member protruding from the substrate, the connecting member electrically connecting the conductive member and the storage device;

when the chip assembly is electrically connected with the communicating piece, the conducting piece is contacted with the side surface.

2. The chip assembly of claim 1, wherein the tip is in a floating state when the chip assembly is electrically connected to the via.

3. The chip assembly of claim 2, wherein a space of the conductive member adjacent to a portion where the communicating member contacts forms an insertion space, and the tip enters the insertion space.

4. The chip assembly of claim 3, wherein the conductive member is fixedly connected to the substrate.

5. The chip assembly of claim 3, wherein the conductive member is detachably coupled to the substrate.

6. The chip assembly according to claim 4, wherein the conductive member is a straight plate-shaped conductive member protruding from the substrate, the conductive member is in contact with a front side or a rear side of the contact portion, and a space adjacent to the front and rear of the conductive member is an insertion space.

7. The chip assembly according to claim 4, wherein the conductive member includes a base portion and side portions respectively located at left and right sides of the base portion, an insertion space is formed between the two side portions, the two side portions are in contact with a front side and a rear side of the contact portion, and the base portion is connected to the substrate.

8. The chip assembly according to claim 4, wherein the conductive member includes a base portion and a plurality of side portions distributed in a left-right direction of the base portion, an insertion space is formed between adjacent two side portions, the two side portions are in contact with a front side surface and a rear side surface of the contact portion, and the base portion is connected to the substrate.

9. The chip assembly according to claim 4, wherein the conductive member includes a base portion and a side portion electrically connected to the base portion, the side portion being in contact with at least one of a left side surface and a right side surface of the communicating member.

10. The chip assembly according to claim 9, wherein the side portions are two, which are arranged in the left-right direction, and the communication member is held by the two side portions.

11. A developing cartridge comprising a casing, a developing roller rotatably mounted on the casing, and an end cap and a counter member at an end of the casing, the counter member being exposed through the end cap, wherein the developing cartridge further comprises a chip assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 10 mounted on the casing or the end cap, the chip assembly being located below the casing in a mounting direction of the developing cartridge.

12. A developing cartridge including a casing, a developing roller rotatably mounted on the casing, and an end cap and a counting assembly at an end of the casing, the counting assembly being exposed through the end cap, wherein the developing cartridge further includes a chip assembly according to claim 11 mounted on the casing or the end cap, the chip assembly being located below the casing in a mounting direction of the developing cartridge; the conductive member is fixed to the end cap.

13. A developing cartridge according to claim 12, wherein the end cap is provided with a mounting portion, a fixing portion, and a through hole provided in the fixing plate, the through hole communicating with the mounting portion;

the conductive piece comprises a base part, a side part and an elastic piece, wherein the side part is located in the front-back direction of the base part, the elastic piece is located on the base part, the base part is connected with the substrate, the side part is in contact with at least one of the side surface located in the front and the side surface located in the rear in the contact part, and the elastic piece can be opened along with the side part after passing through the through hole under the action of elastic force.

14. A process cartridge, characterized by comprising a drum frame and the developing cartridge according to claim 12 or 13, which is detachably incorporated with the drum frame.

15. A process cartridge according to claim 14, wherein the drum frame includes a frame enclosing a developing cartridge accommodating chamber, a bottom plate of the frame extending in the front-rear direction and being provided with an opening allowing the chip component to be exposed.

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