CN216956676U

CN216956676U - Developing box

Info

Publication number: CN216956676U
Application number: CN202123276024.4U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 黄景宏
Original assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Current assignee: Topjet Technology Co ltd
Priority date: 2021-11-19
Filing date: 2021-12-22
Publication date: 2022-07-12
Anticipated expiration: 2031-12-22
Also published as: CN116149152A; CN118151507A; CN116149151A; CN114296328A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge adapted to an image forming apparatus provided with a detecting member, the developing cartridge including a casing, and a driving force receiving member, a driving member, and a counting assembly at a distal end of the casing, wherein the driving force receiving member transmits a driving force received from the outside to the driving member and the counting assembly in this order; the counting assembly comprises a rotating body and a counting piece which are combined with each other, the rotating body can be driven by the driving piece, the counting piece comprises a first counting protrusion and a second counting protrusion which are arranged at intervals along the rotating direction of the counting piece, a driving part which can receive driving force from the driving piece is adjacently arranged along the circumferential direction of the rotating body, the driving part is arranged in a way that along the rotating direction of the rotating body, when the driving piece rotates from a position opposite to the upstream end of the driving part to a position opposite to the downstream end of the driving part, the detection part is separated from the first counting protrusion and starts to abut against the second counting protrusion, and the position precision requirement between the first counting protrusion and the second counting protrusion can be reduced.

Description

Developing box

The present invention claims priority from a chinese prior application having application number CN202122860826.3, entitled "developer cartridge" filed by the applicant at 11/19/2021, and the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

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 the toner to a surface of the developing member and a developing member for supplying the toner to a surface of a photosensitive member on which an electrostatic latent image is formed are both rotated at a predetermined speed in a predetermined direction, 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.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

The counting assembly performs counting through interaction of the counting protrusions arranged therein with the detecting member, and when the counting protrusions are arranged in plurality, the position accuracy requirement between the counting protrusions is high, for this reason, the present invention provides a developing cartridge capable of reducing the position accuracy requirement between the counting protrusions, the developing cartridge being suitable for an image forming apparatus provided with the detecting member, comprising a casing, and a driving force receiving member, a driving member and a counting assembly at the end of the casing, wherein the driving force receiving member sequentially transmits a driving force received from the outside to the driving member and the counting assembly; the counting assembly comprises a rotating body and a counting piece which are combined with each other, the rotating body can be driven by a driving piece, the counting piece comprises a first counting protrusion arranged along the rotating direction of the counting piece, a driving part which can receive driving force from the driving piece is adjacently arranged along the circumferential direction of the rotating body, the driving part is arranged along the rotating direction of the rotating body, and when the driving piece rotates from a position opposite to the upstream end of the driving part to a position opposite to the downstream end of the driving part, the detection part is separated from the abutting joint with the first counting protrusion; further, the developing cartridge further includes a second count projection arranged at an interval from the first count projection in the rotational direction of the count member, wherein a count time period of the first count projection does not exceed a count time period of the second count projection, and the detecting member starts to abut against the second count projection when the driving member reaches a position opposed to the downstream end of the driving portion.

Preferably, the rotating body further includes a cutting portion disposed adjacent to the driving portion, the rotating body being driven when the driving portion opposes the driving member, and the rotating body not being driven when the cutting portion opposes the driving member, wherein the driving portion opposes the driving member prior to the cutting portion; when the driving member and the driving portion are engaged with each other to transmit the driving force, the cutting portion is formed as a portion where no teeth are provided in the circumferential direction of the rotating body, and further, the minimum number of teeth of the driving portion is 2 to 6, and more preferably, the number of teeth of the driving portion is 7.

In the embodiment of the utility model, the developing box further comprises a triggered piece combined with the rotating body, the driving piece is provided with a triggering piece for triggering the triggered piece, in the counting process of the counting assembly, the triggering piece and the triggered piece both move towards the area of the driving piece opposite to the rotating body, and the triggering piece reaches the area before the triggered piece.

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 a developing cartridge according to a 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.

Fig. 16A and 16B are perspective views of a counting portion of a counting assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 17A is a plan view of a counting assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention, as viewed along the rotational axis thereof.

Fig. 17B is a bottom view of the counting assembly according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention, when viewed along the rotational axis thereof.

Fig. 18 is a perspective view of the gear of the stirring member according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 19A to 19F are schematic diagrams illustrating a counting process of a counting portion in the counting assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a perspective view of a counting portion of the counting assembly according to the eighth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a perspective view of a counting portion of the counting assembly according to the ninth embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a plan view of a counter assembly according to a tenth embodiment of the present invention in combination with a driving member.

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 utility model; 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, so that when the toner in the toner chamber 10 is consumed, a user can fill the toner chamber 10 with new toner 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 comprises a counting member 51 and a driven body 52 which are combined with each other, and an urging member 57 for urging the driven body 52, wherein the driving gear 44 is combined with the driven body 52, the driving force is transmitted to the counting member 51 through the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 in sequence, the counting member 51 interacts with a detection part in the imaging device during rotation, and the driven body 52 is well combined with the driving gear 44 under the action of the urging member 57; further, the counting assembly 5 further includes a supporting body 53 coupled to the driven body 52, the supporting body 53 and the counting member 51 are respectively located on two sides of the driven body 52 along the left-right direction, the supporting body 53, the driven body 52 and the counting member 51 can be collectively referred to as a counting portion of the counting assembly 5, and the urging member 57 can be referred to as an urging portion of the counting assembly 5, wherein the counting portion can be integrally formed or separately formed, which is not limited herein. In the present embodiment, the counting section is mounted by means of point support, as shown in the figure, the left side wall 1a1 is protrudingly formed with a plurality of positioning protrusions 17, the plurality of positioning protrusions 17 are arranged along the circumferential direction of the counting section/driven body 52, the circumferential inner surface or outer surface of the supporting body 53 is in contact with the positioning protrusions 17 to realize the positioning of the counting section in the housing 1, and the circumferential area where the supporting body 53 is positioned is larger than the existing shaft hole fitting manner to make the rotation smoother.

As further shown in fig. 2, the end cap 11 has an end cap main body 110 and a first through hole 111, a second through hole 112 and an extension plate 113 provided on the end cap main body, the driving force receiving member 3 is exposed through the first through hole 111, at least the counting member 51 of the counting assembly 5 is exposed through the second through hole 112, and further, a plurality of auxiliary protrusions 114 are further provided on a side of the extension plate 113 facing the housing 1, and when the end cap 11 is mounted, the auxiliary protrusions 114 are combined with the counting member 51, at which time, both left and right sides of the counting part are positioned, and thus, stability of the counting part during counting is ensured.

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, and for the counter unit 5, the driving gear 44 can be regarded as a driving member of the counter unit, and therefore, in the left-right direction, 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 can be shortened to the maximum extent, and the left-right direction dimension of the developing cartridge C and 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 member 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 a 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, the area is formed as a void area, which facilitates the position and shape of the first forced pushing part 14a to be adjusted as required in the void area. For example, when the positions of only the first urging portions 14a of the two models of developing cartridges are slightly different, the production mold of the developing cartridges 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 driving end cap 11, the overlapping area of the first urging portion 14a and the driving gear 44 can be reduced or even eliminated in the left-right direction, and the interference between the driving end cap 11 and the driving gear 44 can be reduced or eliminated during the assembly of the developing cartridge C; 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, where 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; a third mode is 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, in which the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 are engaged with each other during counting, and at the time of completion of counting, at least one of the driving gear 44 and the driven body 52 is moved in the moving direction so as to be disengaged from each other.

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 ]

The present embodiment differs from the first 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 driving shaft 24 parallel to the stirring member 23 is used, and the rotational axis L24 of the driving shaft 24 is also parallel to the rotational 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 only needs to be provided at one stage, and a space S4 is 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 urging portion 14a to adjust the position and shape as required in the vacant area.

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 portion is P, the driven portion 441 is still coaxially arranged with the driving gear 44, the rotation center is N, the maximum distance between the driving portion and the driven portion 441 is S3, the minimum distance between the driving portion and the driven portion 441 is S2, the distance between the two rotation centers is S1, the first pushing-forcing portion 14a is located in the region defined by the maximum distance S3, further, the first pushing-forcing portion 14a is located in the region defined by the distance S1, further, the first pushing-forcing portions 14a are all located in the region defined by the minimum distance S2, that is, the first pushing-forcing portions 14a are all located in the void 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 push-forcing 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, a 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, a minimum distance between the first gear 41 and the gear body 441 is S2 along a direction connecting the two rotation centers MN, a hollow area is formed between the two, the first pushing portion 14a is entirely located in the hollow area, the gear body 16 is at least located in the hollow area, 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 refer to regions 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 spatially along a direction perpendicular to the straight line MN/PN, corresponding to the minimum distance S2, 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.

[ seventh example ]

Fig. 16A and 16B are perspective views of a counting portion of a counting assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention; fig. 17A is a plan view of a counting assembly according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention, viewed along the rotational axis thereof, of a counting section; fig. 17B is a bottom view of the counting assembly according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention, when viewed along the rotation axis thereof.

As described above, the transmission of the driving force from the driving force receiving member 3 to the driving gear 44 is no longer achieved by the gear provided between the driving force receiving member 3 and the driving gear 44, and therefore, the driving gear 44 in the present invention may not coincide with the predetermined rotational speed, or the rotational speed of the driving gear 44 may be faster or slower than the predetermined rotational speed, and further the counting assembly 5 may be faster or slower than the predetermined rotational speed, relative to the manner of using the gear for transmission, so that the counting assembly 5 cannot achieve the counting function; alternatively, the diameter of the counter element 5 is reduced to reduce its manufacturing cost, and at this time, the rotational speed of the counter element 5 becomes faster.

To this end, the present invention further provides a speed adjusting assembly located between the driving gear 44 and the counting assembly 5 for adjusting the rotation speed of the counting assembly 5 when driven by the driving gear 44 according to the counting requirements of the counting assembly 5, eventually enabling the counting assembly 5 to achieve its counting function. When the rotation speed of the driving gear 44 is slower than the predetermined rotation speed, in this case, it is necessary to increase the rotation speed of the counter unit 5, which is conventionally achieved in a simple manner such as increasing the diameter of the driving gear 44 while reducing the diameter of the driven body 52.

In the present embodiment, the case that the rotation speed of the driving gear 44 is faster than the predetermined rotation speed is taken as an example, and in this case, the speed adjusting assembly is actually a time delay device, and the average speed of the counting assembly 5 during counting is reduced without changing the rotation speed of the driving gear 44, so that the time required for the counting member 51 to rotate by the predetermined angle during counting of the counting assembly 5 is lengthened.

As shown in fig. 16A and 16B, in the present embodiment, the counting part of the counting assembly 5 includes a counting member 51 and a driven member 52 which are combined with each other, and similarly, the counting member 51 and the driven member 52 may be formed integrally or separately, and the driven member 52 is used for receiving the driving force of the driven part, so as to drive the counting member 51 to rotate around a rotation axis L5 along the direction indicated by r1 and interact with the detecting part in the image forming apparatus; in the present embodiment, the counter member 51 is directly or indirectly provided on the left side surface 52a of the driven body 52.

The counting member 51 includes a cylinder 510 connected to the driven body 52 and at least one counting protrusion formed to extend radially outward along the cylinder 510, the counting protrusion pokes or presses a detection part in the image forming apparatus during counting of the counting assembly 5, and in the present embodiment, the counting member 51 is provided with a first counting protrusion 511 and a second counting protrusion 512 arranged at intervals in a rotation direction r 1; it will be appreciated that the cylinder 510 may be omitted, and the first and

second counting protrusions

511 and 512 are directly coupled with the driven body 52 and rotate as the driven body 52 rotates.

The counting part further includes a triggered member 55 for driving the driven body 52 to rotate, and when the driven body 52 stops rotating, the triggered member 55 is triggered by an external trigger member 445 (shown in fig. 18) to drive the driven body 52 to rotate continuously. Preferably, the triggered piece 55 is a force-receiving protrusion combined with at least one of the driven body 55 and the supporting body 53, and more preferably, the triggered piece 55 is combined with both the driven body 55 and the supporting body 53, and the triggered piece 55 protrudes from the circumferential surface of the supporting body 53 to the outside in the radial direction, but the triggered piece 55 does not protrude beyond the driven body 52, preventing the triggered piece 55 from generating unnecessary interference. When the counting portion is arranged to rotate about a rotational axis, the counting portion further includes a sleeve 54 coupled to the driven body 52, the sleeve 54 extending from the right side surface 52b of the driven body 52 along the rotational axis L5.

The driven body 52 is provided as a rotary body rotatable about the rotation axis L5, and the driving portion 521 and the non-driving portion 522 are arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotary body, wherein the driving portion 521 is used for receiving an external driving force to rotate the rotary body 52, the non-driving portion 522 is used for cutting off the driving force transmitted to the rotary body 52 to prevent the rotary body 52 from rotating, in this embodiment, the driving portion 521 is provided as a toothed portion arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotary body, and the non-driving portion 522 is provided as a toothed portion arranged in the circumferential direction of the rotary body.

When the counting assembly 5 is disengaged from the driving gear 44 in the first manner, the driving portion 521 includes at least a first driving portion 521a and a second driving portion 521b spaced along the rotation direction of the rotating body, the non-driving portion 522 includes at least a first non-driving portion 522a and a second non-driving portion 522b spaced along the rotation direction of the rotating body, and when the counting assembly 5 is in the counting state, the first driving portion 521a, the second driving portion 521b and the second non-driving portion 522b are opposite to the driving gear 44; when the counting assembly 5 completes counting, the first non-driving portion 522a is opposed to the driving gear 44.

As shown in fig. 17A and 17B, the first driving portion 521a, the second non-driving portion 522B, the second driving portion 521B and the first non-driving portion 522a are disposed adjacent to each other in sequence along the rotating direction r1 of the rotating body, and during the counting process of the counting assembly 5, when the second driving portion 521B is opposite to the driving gear 44, the rotating body 52 receives the driving force to rotate, and as the second non-driving portion 522B is opposite to the driving gear 44, the rotating body 52 stops rotating without receiving the driving force, and thus, the second non-driving portion 522B may be regarded as an embodiment of a cutting portion for temporarily cutting off the transmission of the driving force between the driving gear 44 and the rotating body 52; when the triggered member 55 is triggered by the external member, the rotating body 52 starts to rotate again until the first driving part 521a is opposite to the driving gear 44, and then, the rotating body 52 continues to rotate, and the counting assembly 5 finishes counting when the first non-driving part 522a is opposite to the driving gear 44, and the rotating body 52 remains stationary, which may be regarded as one embodiment of the formality for completely cutting off the transmission of the driving force between the driving gear 44 and the rotating body 52, and the rotating body 52 remains stationary regardless of whether the driving gear 44 continues to rotate.

Regarding the position of the triggered piece 55, based on the inventive concept of the present invention, when the triggering piece 445 triggers the triggered piece 55, the triggered piece 55 can drive the rotating body 52 to start rotating again; preferably, the triggered element 55 is opposite to the second non-driving portion 522b when viewed along the rotation axis L5, and more preferably, the triggered element 55 is located at a position substantially in the middle of the arc corresponding to the second non-driving portion 522b along the rotation direction r1, so that the first driving portion 521a and the driving gear 44 can be smoothly engaged with each other when the triggered element 55 is triggered.

The driving gear 44 includes a main body 440, teeth 441 arranged in a circumferential direction of the main body, a D-shaped portion 444 positioned in the main body 440, and a trigger 445 extending radially outward along a circumferential surface of the main body, and the stirring member 23 or the transmission shaft 24 is combined with the D-shaped portion 444, so that the driving gear 44 can obtain a driving force transmitted from the stirring member 23 or the transmission shaft 24; the trigger 445 is provided as an extended projection capable of pushing the triggered piece 55.

Before describing the operation process of the counting assembly, the structure of the second counting protrusion 512 according to the present embodiment is described with reference to fig. 16A and 17A, as shown in the drawing, the first counting protrusion 511 and the second counting protrusion 512 are arranged at intervals along the rotation direction r1, the second counting protrusion 512 is formed as a fan-shaped extension body, and has an upper side plate 5121 located at the upstream, a lower side plate 5122 located at the downstream, and an arc plate 5123 located between the upper side plate and the lower side plate, the arc plate 5123 has a front end point 512a located at the upstream end and a rear end point 512b located at the downstream end, and the radial outer side of the arc plate 5123 forms an arc surface 512c with an arc length m.

The counting process of the counting assembly 5 will be described below with reference to fig. 19A-19F, in which only the driving gear 44 and the counting section are shown for the sake of a clearer description of the working process of the counting section.

The speed regulating assembly according to the present invention is applicable when the developing cartridge C is mounted to the image forming apparatus but has not yet started to operate, regardless of the relative positions of the counting protrusion and the detecting member 9 in the image forming apparatus, and may or may not be in contact with each other. In fig. 19A, before the operation of the developing cartridge C is started, the first counting protrusion 511 and the detecting member 9 abut against each other, the teeth 441 of the driving gear 44 engage with the second driving portion 521b, and when the driving gear 44 starts to rotate in the direction indicated by r2 due to the driving force of the driving force receiving member 3, the rotary body 52 is driven to rotate in the direction indicated by r1, and the detecting member 9 and the first counting protrusion 511 continue to interact with each other.

As shown in fig. 19B, when the first counting projection 511 moves to be disengaged from the detection member 9, the detection member 9 starts to abut against the distal end point 512a of the second counting projection 512, and the drive gear 44 faces the second non-drive portion/cut-off portion 522B, and at this time, the rotating body 52 is kept stationary, and accordingly, the second counting projection 512 is kept in abutment against the detection member 9. In the process of meshing the drive gear 44 with the second drive portion 521b, both the triggering member 445 and the triggered member 55 move toward the region where the drive gear 44 opposes the rotating body 52, but the triggering member 445 reaches the region before the triggered member 55, and therefore, the triggered member 55 does not interfere with the triggering member 445.

As the driving gear 44 continues to rotate in the direction indicated by r2, as shown in fig. 19C, the trigger 445 reaches upstream of the triggered piece 55 in the rotational direction r1, and then, the triggered piece 55 is triggered, the rotating body 52 starts to rotate again in the direction indicated by r1, as shown in fig. 19D and 19E, the driving gear 44 starts to mesh with the first driving portion 521a, the arc-shaped face 512C abuts against the detection member 9 until the driving gear 44 is opposite to the first non-driving portion/main portion 522a, as shown in fig. 19F, the counting assembly 5 finishes counting and stops rotating, and the driving gear 44 still rotates in the direction indicated by r2, at which time, the detection member 9 is out of contact with the rear end point 512b of the second counting protrusion 511.

When the driving gear 44 starts to oppose the cut-off portion 522B or the driving gear 44 just disengages from the second driving portion 521B, the trigger member 445 is located at the first position shown in fig. 19B, and when the trigger member 445 reaches to start triggering the triggered member 55 as the driving gear 44 rotates, the trigger member 445 is located at the second position shown in fig. 19C, and for the sake of clarity of description of the first position and the second position, both the trigger member 445 located at the first position and the trigger member 445 located at the second position are shown in fig. 19C, wherein the dotted lines indicate that the trigger member 445 located at the first position is pointed out, the solid lines indicate that the trigger member 445 located at the second position is pointed out, the trigger members 445 at the two positions are respectively located on both sides of the triggered member 55 in the rotation direction r1, and in the rotation direction r2, during the rotation of the trigger member 445 from the first position to the second position, the rotation angle is beta, beta is less than 360 degrees, the second counting protrusion 512 is always in contact with the detection part 9, and the process that the detection part 9 always interacts with the second counting protrusion 512 is simulated.

The detection member 9 abuts against the arc-shaped surface 512c in the process of meshing the driving gear 44 with the first driving portion 521a, when the driving gear 44 is about to reach the position opposite to the first non-driving portion 522a, the detection member 9 reaches the rear end point 512b of the arc-shaped surface 512c, and when the driving gear 44 is opposite to the first non-driving portion 522a, the detection member 9 is out of contact with the arc-shaped surface 512c, and at this time, counting is completed.

Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the contact time of the detecting member 9 and the second counting protrusion 512 is equal to the sum of the time required for the driving body 52 to rotate by the angle α (as shown in fig. 17A) and the time required for the driving gear 44 to rotate by the angle β, where the angle α is the included angle between the front end point 512a and the rear end point 512b, and corresponds to the arc length of the arc plate 5123 extending along the direction r1, and the angle β corresponds to the arc length of the trigger 445 rotating from the first position to the second position. With the existing counting member, the time for which the second counting projection 512 abuts against the detecting member 9 in the present embodiment is extended, which is the time required for the driving gear 44 to rotate by the angle β, and therefore, the second non-driving portion/cut-off portion 522b for temporarily cutting off the driving force received by the rotating body 52 so that the rotating body 52 remains stationary for a time delay can be regarded as one embodiment of the time delay means; the triggered piece 55 is used to be triggered by the external triggering piece 445, so that the rotating body 52 obtains the driving force again to rotate, and thus the triggered piece 55 can be regarded as one embodiment of the restart means; the process of the rotating body 52 from being temporarily cut off the driving force until the driving force is obtained again is a time-lag phase in which the counting assembly 5 is still in the counting state, specifically, the detection member 9 is kept in abutment with the second counting projection 512; therefore, even if the rotation speed of the driving teeth 44 is increased, the counting assembly 5 can still realize the counting function without changing the structure of the second counting protrusion 512.

For the second driving portion 521b, the position of the teeth 441 of the driving gear in engagement with the upstream end of the second driving portion 521b before the operation of the developing cartridge C is started is advantageous for reducing the arc length of the second driving portion 521b, and when the teeth 411 are disengaged from the downstream end of the second driving portion 521b, the detecting member 9 has at least come out of abutment with the first counting protrusion 511 or has reached a position in abutment with the second counting protrusion 512, that is, the arc length of the second driving portion 521b is at least sufficient for the first counting protrusion 511 to rotate out of abutment with the detecting member 9. When the second driving portion 521b is a tooth, the number of teeth is 6 at the minimum, so that when the driving gear 44 is disengaged from the second driving portion 521b or when the driving gear 44 is opposed to the cutting portion 522b, the first counting protrusion 511 is disengaged from the contact with the detecting member 9, and preferably, the number of teeth is 7 at the minimum, which can prevent the detecting member 9 from being disengaged from the contact with the first counting protrusion 511 due to a manufacturing error, but the detecting member 9 cannot reach a position where the second counting protrusion 512 is contacted, that is, the position accuracy requirements of the first counting protrusion 511 and the second counting protrusion 512 are lowered.

Based on the technical idea of the present embodiment, the time delay device disposed on the rotating body 52 can achieve the purpose of slowing down the rotating speed of the counting assembly 5/the rotating body 52/the counting protrusion 511/512, thereby ensuring that the counting function of the counting assembly 5 is realized.

When the trigger 445 is provided only one and the relative position of the drive gear 44 is not changed, the position and shape of the count projection may be set according to the total length of time and/or the interval length of time for which the counting assembly 5 needs to make the detection member 9 abut, for example, when the total length of time for which the second count projection 512 abuts the detection member 9 in the present embodiment needs to be further increased/decreased, this may be achieved by lengthening/shortening the arc length of the arc-shaped face 512 c; when the total length of time that the first count projection 511 abuts against the detection member 9 needs to be increased in the present embodiment, it may be realized that an arc-shaped face that can abut against the detection member 9 is provided to the first count projection 511, and accordingly, the number of teeth of the second driving portion 521b needs to be increased, or it may be realized that the arc length of the second driving portion 521b is shortened, at this time, the cut-off portion 522b is already opposed to the driving gear 44, but the first count projection 511 still remains in the abutting state against the detection member 9, it is also possible to provide a cut-off portion upstream of the second driving portion 521b, so that the driving gear 44 is equivalent to idling until the triggering member 445 triggers the triggered member 55, and further, if the total length of time that the second count projection 512 abuts against the detection member 9 does not need to be changed, there is no need to provide a separate cut-off portion between the first driving portion 521a and the second driving portion 521b, and the first driving portion 521a and the second driving portion 521b are integrated, the driving gear 44 is coupled to the first and second driving parts 521a and 521b until the counting is completed, and at this time, only one driving part and one cutting part are provided on the circumference of the rotating body 52.

When the shape of the count projection 511/512 is not changed but it is necessary to reduce the length of time that the count projection abuts against the detection member 9, one or more triggering members may be additionally provided on the drive gear 44, which will trigger the triggered member 55 earlier than the triggering member 445 in the present embodiment when the drive gear 44 rotates, and the rotating body 52 may be switched from the state in which the driving force is temporarily cut off to the state in which the driving force is received again earlier, and the total length of time that the second count projection 512 abuts against the detection member 9 is reduced.

For the counting member 51 having a plurality of counting protrusions, if it is necessary to control the length of the interval between two adjacent counting protrusions abutting against the detection member 9 to be longer, this can be achieved by reducing the arc length of the second driving portion 521b, at which time the length of time that the second driving portion 521b receives the driving force from the driving gear 44 is shortened, that is, the arc length of the second driving portion 521b only needs to ensure that the former counting protrusion rotates out of abutment against the detection member 9, without causing the latter counting protrusion to reach the position of abutment against the detection member 9.

[ eighth example ]

On the basis of the seventh embodiment, the present embodiment will further describe a counting section provided with a plurality of cut portions, that is, the time delay device in the present embodiment includes a plurality of cut portions. As shown in fig. 20, the structure of the counting member 51 is not changed in the present embodiment, but two cut-off portions are provided on the rotating body 52, so that the total counting time period of the counting member 51 is longer, and therefore, the present embodiment can also be considered as another embodiment of the seventh embodiment in which the total abutting time period of the second counting protrusion 512 with the detecting member 9 is prolonged.

In the rotation direction r1, the rotating body 52 includes a first driving portion 521a, a second driving portion 521b, a third driving portion 521c, a first non-driving portion 522a, a second non-driving portion 522b and a third non-driving portion 522c, when the counting assembly 5 is in the counting state, the driving gear 44 is opposite to at least one of the first driving portion 521a, the second driving portion 521b, the third driving portion 521c, the second non-driving portion 522b and the third non-driving portion 522c, when the counting assembly 5 is completed, the driving gear 44 is opposite to the first non-driving portion 522a, and thus, an area where the first driving portion 521a, the second driving portion 521b, the third driving portion 521c, the second non-driving portion 522b and the third non-driving portion 522c are located may be referred to as a counting area of the rotating body 52, and an area where the first non-driving portion 522a is located may be referred to as a non-counting area of the rotating body 52; likewise, with the seventh embodiment, the area where the first driving part 521a, the second driving part 521b, and the second non-driving part 522b are located may be referred to as a counting area, the area where the first non-driving part 522a is located may be referred to as a non-counting area, and the counting area and the non-counting area are adjacently disposed on the circumference of the rotating body in the rotation direction of the rotating body 52.

It should be noted that the counting area and the non-counting area are divided according to whether the counting assembly 5 is in the counting state, not according to the shape or arc length of the respective driving part and non-driving part, that is, even if the arc length of the first driving part 521a is set such that the counting assembly 5 has completed counting, but the driving gear 44 still faces/engages with the first driving part 521a, the part of the first driving part 521a that has not yet faced/engaged with the driving gear 44 should still be regarded as a part of the first non-driving part 522 a.

In the counting area, the second driven part 521b, the second non-driven part 522b, the third driven part 521c, the third non-driven part 522c and the first driven part 521a are arranged in this order from upstream to downstream in the rotation direction r1, the rotating body 52 may receive the driving force to rotate when the driving gear 44 is opposed to/engaged with the second driven part 521b, the third driven part 521c and the first driven part 521a, and the rotating body 52 may not receive the driving force to remain stationary when the driving gear 44 is opposed to/engaged with the second non-driven part 522b, the third non-driven part 522c, and thus, the second non-driven part 522b and the third non-driven part 522c may be regarded as the first cut-off part and the second cut-off part, respectively.

As shown in fig. 20, the restart means in the present embodiment includes a first trigger 55 and a second trigger 56 opposed to the first cut-off portion 522b and the second cut-off portion 522c, respectively, wherein the first trigger 55 is configured to rotate the rotating body 52 again until the driving gear 44 is opposed to/meshed with the third driving portion 521c after being triggered, the second trigger 55 is configured to rotate the rotating body 52 again until the driving gear 44 is opposed to/meshed with the first driving portion 521a after being triggered, and the third driving portion 521c is located between the first trigger 55 and the second trigger 56 in the rotation direction r 1.

As described above, the counting area in the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of cut-off portions, so that the total length of abutment/non-abutment between the counting projection and the detecting member 9 is lengthened in the counting process of the counting assembly 5, and the counting function of the counting assembly 5 is smoothly realized.

[ example nine ]

The present embodiment is further evolved from the eighth embodiment, in which the counting member 51 is still provided with the first and

second counting protrusions

511 and 512 separated from each other in the rotating direction r1, the second counting protrusion 512 is provided in the same shape as the first counting protrusion 511, compared to the seventh embodiment, instead of an arc-shaped plate extending in the rotation direction r1, and, in this embodiment, for two counting protrusions, the counting time period of the first counting protrusion 511 is the same as the counting time period of the second counting protrusion 512, however, the time delay means located in the counting area will cause the counting assembly 5 to be lengthened in the interval between the first and

second counting protrusions

511 and 512 abutting against the detecting member 9 during the counting process, thus, this embodiment can be regarded as another embodiment for lengthening the interval period for which two adjacent counting protrusions abut against the detection member 9 in the seventh embodiment.

[ example ten ]

In the present embodiment, the diameter of the counter unit 5 is reduced, and in this case, the rotating body 52 and the counter 51 are both reduced in diameter and the rotating speed thereof is increased, so that the counter unit 5 after the diameter reduction can be used in a developing cartridge to which the counter unit before the diameter reduction is applied, and similarly, the counter unit 5 needs to be provided with the above-described time delay device.

As shown in fig. 22, the first driving part 521a, the second non-driving part 522 b/the delay means/the cut-off part, the second driving part 521b and the first non-driving part 522a are arranged in this order on the circumference of the rotating body 52 in the rotating direction r1 of the rotating body 52, the second non-driving part 522b is located between the first driving part 521a and the second driving part 521b, and since the rotating speed of the rotating body 52 is increased, when the second driving part 521b is provided with teeth, the number of teeth can be reduced by not less than 2, that is, when the number of teeth of the second driving part 521b is 2, the first count protrusion 511 can be disengaged from the detecting member 5 as the rotating body 52 rotates from a position opposite to the upstream of the second driving part 521b to a position opposite to the downstream of the second driving part 521 b; due to the setting of the cut-off portion 522b, the counting time period of the counting assembly 5 is lengthened.

It can be seen that the minimum number of teeth of the second driving part 521b may vary from 2 to 6, and the specific number thereof may vary according to the diameter of the rotating body 52.

When the counting assembly 5 described in the seventh to ninth embodiments completes counting, the rotating body 52 does not receive driving force any more by the way that the first non-driving portion 522a provided therein is opposite to/engaged with the driving gear 44, that is, the first disengagement way described in the first embodiment, for the seventh to ninth embodiments, the arc length of the first non-driving portion 522a is not less than the circumference length of the triggering member 445 when rotating with the driving gear 44, and therefore, when the driving gear 44 is opposite to/engaged with the first non-driving portion 522a, even if the driving gear 44 continues to rotate, the triggering member 445 does not trigger the triggered member 55 to cause the rotating body 52 to continue to rotate.

However, when the counting assembly 5 finishes counting, and the rotating body 52 and the driving gear 44 adopt the second or third disengagement manner described in the first embodiment, the specific structure of the first non-driving part 522a becomes unimportant, and at this time, the first non-driving part 522a may be provided with a non-toothed portion as described above, or may be provided with a toothed portion, however, regardless of the specific structure of the first non-driving portion 522a, when the counting assembly 5 completes counting, the counting member 51 and the rotating body 52 are disengaged, even if the rotary body 52 is still driven to rotate by the drive gear 44, the counting member 51 will remain stationary, or, at least one of the rotating body 52 and the driving gear 44 is moved in a direction crossing the left-right direction, at which time, the rotation center of the driving gear 44 and the rotation center of the rotating body 52 are distant from each other, even if the drive gear 44 continues to rotate, the rotary body 52 cannot receive the driving force and remains stationary.

[ 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, and particularly, in the above-described first and second embodiments, as described above, the sizes of the drive gear 44 and the counter assembly 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 assembly 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.

When the rotation speed of the driving gear 44 is faster or slower than the expected rotation speed, the counting assembly 5 can smoothly complete the counting process by arranging the speed adjusting assembly in the developing cartridge without changing the structure of the driving gear 44 or the counting member 51, and meanwhile, the structure of the speed adjusting assembly can be adjusted according to the counting requirement of the counting member 51 in the target developing cartridge, so that the same counting member 51 can be used for multiple models.

For the developing cartridge in which the speed adjusting assembly is configured as the time delay device, the time delay device is directly arranged on the rotating body 52, no additional space for arranging the time delay device is required in the developing cartridge C, the whole structure of the developing cartridge C is simplified, and the time delay device can be integrated with the rotating body 52, so that the time delay device can be installed along with the installation of the rotating body 52, and the installation steps of the developing cartridge cannot be increased.

Specifically, the time delay device in the present invention is to make the rotating body 52 stay for a predetermined time to realize time delay by disengaging the rotating body 52 from the driving body 44, and then to make the rotating body 52 and the driving body 44 re-engage by the re-starting device, so it can be seen that, in the whole counting process of the counting assembly 5, the average speed of the counting assembly 5 is reduced, the time required for the counting assembly to rotate for a predetermined angle is lengthened, but the rotating speed of the driving gear 44 is not changed, and the rotating speed of the rotating body 52 during rotation is also not changed, so that the structure of the driving gear 44 does not need to be changed, the counting assembly 5 only needs to add the time delay device which can be integrally formed with the rotating body 52, and the overall cost of the developing cartridge C can be controlled.

Claims

1. A developing cartridge adapted to an image forming apparatus provided with a detecting part, the developing cartridge including a housing, and a driving force receiving member, a driving member, and a counting assembly at an end of the housing, wherein the driving force receiving member sequentially transmits a driving force received from the outside to the driving member and the counting assembly; the counting assembly comprises a rotating body and a counting member which are combined with each other, the rotating body can be driven by a driving member, the counting member comprises a first counting protrusion arranged along the rotating direction of the counting member,

it is characterized in that the preparation method is characterized in that,

the drive portion that can receive a driving force from the driver is provided adjacent to the circumferential direction of the rotating body, and the drive portion is provided such that the detection member comes out of abutment with the first count projection when the driver rotates from a position opposite to the upstream end of the drive portion to a position opposite to the downstream end of the drive portion in the rotational direction of the rotating body.

2. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the rotary further includes a cut-off portion provided adjacent to the driving portion, the rotary being driven when the driving portion opposes the driving member, and the rotary not being driven when the cut-off portion opposes the driving member.

3. A developing cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the driving portion opposes the driving member prior to the cut-off portion.

4. A developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the driving member and the driving portion are engaged with each other through an inter-tooth engagement to transmit the driving force, and the cut-off portion is formed as a portion where no tooth is provided in a circumferential direction of the rotary.

5. A developing cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the minimum value of the number of teeth of the driving portion is between 2 and 6.

6. A developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the number of teeth of the driving portion is 7.

7. A cartridge according to any one of claims 1-6, wherein the cartridge further comprises a triggered member coupled to the rotary, the driving member is provided with a triggering member for triggering the triggered member, and the counting assembly moves the triggering member and the triggered member toward a region of the driving member opposite to the rotary during counting.

8. A developing cartridge according to claim 7, wherein the triggering member reaches the area before the triggered member.

9. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a second counting protrusion arranged at a spacing from the first counting protrusion in the rotational direction of the counting member, a counting period of the first counting protrusion not exceeding a counting period of the second counting protrusion.

10. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a second counting protrusion arranged at a spacing from the first counting protrusion in a rotational direction of the counting member, the detecting member coming into abutment with the second counting protrusion when the driving member reaches a position opposite to a downstream end of the driving portion.