CN219715934U - Developing cartridge and process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

The present utility model relates to a developing cartridge and a process cartridge detachably mounted in an image forming apparatus provided with a stylus, the developing cartridge including a housing accommodating a developer, a developing member rotatably provided in the housing, and a driving force receiving member and a chip assembly provided at one longitudinal end of the housing; the driving force receiving member may drive the rotating member to rotate about a rotation axis extending in the first direction; the chip assembly comprises a chip frame and an electric connection terminal directly or indirectly fixed on the chip frame; the chip frame and the shell can move relatively in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and the chip frame is immovable relative to the shell in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction; in the second direction, the developing member and the electric connection terminal are arranged at intervals, so that the contact of the contact pin and the electric connection terminal can reduce the restraint of the developing cartridge, the resistance to the developing cartridge is reduced, and good electric contact can be maintained between the contact pin and the electric connection terminal, thereby being beneficial to improving the imaging quality.

Description

Developing cartridge and process cartridge

Technical Field

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

Background

The developing cartridge is a necessary consumable for an electrophotographic image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as "image forming apparatus"), and when the image forming apparatus is operated, a developing member rotatably installed in the developing cartridge conveys a developer to a photosensitive member which is in contact with the developing member and has an electrostatic latent image formed on a surface thereof to develop the electrostatic latent image, thereby completing an image forming operation; in order to improve the development quality, the existing imaging equipment needs to clean the surface of the photosensitive element in the imaging process, at this time, the developing element and the photosensitive element are separated, and after the surface of the photosensitive element is cleaned, the developing element and the photosensitive element are contacted again.

Meanwhile, in order to establish a communication connection between a developing cartridge and an image forming apparatus, the existing developing cartridge is generally mounted with a chip provided with a storage portion in which information about the developing cartridge is stored and an electrical connection terminal for electrical contact with a contact pin in the image forming apparatus.

The longitudinal both ends of the existing developing cartridge are generally provided with a driving end for receiving driving force and a conductive end for receiving power, respectively, and in order to reduce the influence of the conductive end on the chip in the process of receiving power, a structure for fixedly mounting the chip at the driving end has been proposed.

However, the developing cartridge having this structure is liable to suffer from image forming defects such as a gear line or a lateral stripe, because when the developing member is separated from the photosensitive member or the developing member and the photosensitive member need to be brought into contact with each other again, the contact pin is brought into close contact with the electrical connection terminal, which may make the developing cartridge mounted with the developing member unable to move along a predetermined trajectory or a predetermined distance.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, an object of the present utility model is to provide a developing cartridge adopting the following technical scheme, so as to reduce the restraint of contact between a contact pin and an electrical connection terminal on the movement of the developing cartridge and improve the developing quality.

A developing cartridge detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus provided with the contact pin, the developing cartridge including a housing accommodating a developer, a developing member rotatably provided in the housing, and a driving force receiving member and a chip assembly provided at one longitudinal end of the housing; the driving force receiving member is for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the rotating member to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a first direction; the chip assembly comprises a chip frame and an electric connection terminal directly or indirectly fixed on the chip frame, wherein the electric connection terminal is used for forming electric contact with the contact pin; the chip frame and the shell can move in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and the chip frame is immovable relative to the shell in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction; in the second direction, the developing member and the electric connection terminal are arranged at intervals, so that the restraint of contact pins on the developing cartridge can be reduced by contact of the contact pins with the electric connection terminal, the resistance of the developing cartridge is reduced, good electric contact can be maintained between the contact pins and the electric connection terminal, and the imaging quality is improved.

Wherein the developing member is configured to supply the developer toward the photosensitive member disposed opposite thereto, the developing member and the photosensitive member being switched between contact with each other and separation from each other in the second direction depending on whether the developing cartridge is in a developing state; during the conversion, the chip carrier and the housing move relative to each other, the chip carrier does not move relative to the imaging device, and the electrical connection terminals are kept in electrical contact with the contact pins.

Further, the developing cartridge further includes a driving end cap provided at the same side as the driving force receiving member, the driving force receiving member is exposed through the driving end cap, and the chip carrier is coupled to the housing or the driving end cap.

Specifically, the shell or the driving end cover is provided with a guide part, the chip frame is provided with a guided part, one of the guide part and the guided part is provided with a guide protrusion extending in a first direction, the other one is provided with a guide groove/hole matched with the guide protrusion, and the guide groove/hole is elliptical in a second direction; the long sides of the guide grooves/holes extend along the second direction, the long sides have a larger dimension than the guide protrusions in the second direction, the short sides of the guide grooves/holes extend along the third direction, the dimensions of the short sides are substantially the same as the dimensions of the guide protrusions in the third direction, and the third direction intersects both the first direction and the second direction.

Preferably, the developing cartridge further includes a positioning member for restricting movement of the cartridge in the first direction, so that a movement locus of the cartridge in the second direction can be determined.

Preferably, the distance of movement of the chip carrier relative to the housing in the second direction is no more than 5mm.

Further, the developing cartridge further includes a counting assembly at the other longitudinal end of the casing, the counting assembly including a guide provided rotatably with rotation of the rotary, a movable member provided movable in a first direction away from the casing with rotation of the guide, and a detected member, during which the movable member forces the detected member to interact with the counted member in the image forming apparatus.

The present utility model also provides a process cartridge including a drum cartridge provided with a photosensitive member and a developing cartridge as described above, the developing cartridge being detachably combined with the drum cartridge.

In the second direction, the drum cartridge includes a drum frame including a first accommodating portion in which the photosensitive member is rotatably mounted and a second accommodating portion in which the developing cartridge is detachably mounted; in the second direction, the second accommodating portion includes a main mounting portion near the first accommodating portion and a sub-mounting portion away from the first accommodating portion, at least half of the length of the developing cartridge in the second direction is accommodated by the main accommodating portion, the sub-accommodating portion is inclined with respect to the second direction, and a side opposite to a side facing the developing cartridge in the sub-accommodating portion may be supported by the image forming apparatus.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a state diagram of the developing cartridge and the drum cartridge separated from each other according to the present utility model.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a drum cartridge according to the present utility model.

Fig. 3A is an exploded view of the cartridge of the present utility model after the chip assembly is separated from the housing.

Fig. 3B is an exploded view of the developing cartridge according to the present utility model after the components are separated from the casing.

Fig. 4A and 4B are schematic views showing a state in which a developing member and a photosensitive member are in contact with each other and separated from each other, respectively, in the process cartridge according to the present utility model.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 1 is a state diagram of a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge separated from each other according to the present utility model; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a drum cartridge in accordance with the present utility model; FIG. 3A is an exploded view of the cartridge of the present utility model with the chip assembly separated from the housing; FIG. 3B is an exploded view of the components of the cartridge of the present utility model shown separated from the housing; fig. 4A and 4B are schematic views showing a state in which a developing member and a photosensitive member are in contact with each other and separated from each other, respectively, in the process cartridge according to the present utility model.

The process cartridge 100 includes a developing unit C and an image forming unit D combined with each other, and the process cartridge 100 is detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus. Currently, the process cartridge 100 may be designed in an integral structure, i.e., the developing unit C and the image forming unit D must be sold and used together as one product, and the process cartridge 100 may be designed in a separate structure, i.e., the developing unit C and the image forming unit D may be sold as separate products, respectively, but may be detachably mounted to the image forming apparatus to be used after being combined with each other, and when the developer is consumed, the user replaces the developing unit C and the image forming unit D may be continuously used, at which time the developing unit C may be called a developing cartridge, the image forming unit D may be called a drum cartridge, and in some embodiments, the image forming unit D may be cured in the image forming apparatus, at which time the user directly detachably mounts the developing unit C to the image forming apparatus to be used.

Obviously, the process cartridge 100 is designed as a split structure capable of more effectively reducing the use cost of the user, and the process cartridge 100 having a split structure will be described below as an example.

[ developing Box ]

The developing cartridge C includes a casing 1 accommodating a developer, a rotary rotatably mounted in the casing 1, and a counting assembly 6, a driving force receiving member 2 and a chip assembly 4 provided at a longitudinal end of the casing 1, the driving force receiving member 2 for receiving a driving force from an image forming apparatus to drive the rotary to rotate, the chip assembly 4 for forming an electrical connection with a stylus in the image forming apparatus, the driving force receiving member 2 and the chip assembly 4 being commonly provided at a driving end C1 described below, the counting assembly 6 being provided at a conductive end C2 described below, the counting assembly 6 for interacting with the counted member in the image forming apparatus so that various parameter information of the developing cartridge C is known by the image forming apparatus.

For ease of understanding, the direction in which the rotation axis L11 of the rotary 11 is located is referred to as a first direction/longitudinal direction, the direction intersecting the first direction is referred to as a second direction, and specifically, the direction in which the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 are separated from each other and the direction in which the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 are close to each other are referred to as a second direction; the direction intersecting both the first direction and the second direction is referred to as a third direction, and the third direction is preferably perpendicular to a plane on which the sub-mount portion outer side 522b described below is located.

Alternatively, the rotary may be the developing member 11 for carrying the developer, a powder feeding member (not shown) for feeding the developer to the developing member 11, and a stirring member (not shown) for stirring the developer contained in the casing 1. As shown in the drawings, the developing cartridge C further includes a handle 12 coupled to the casing 1, and a user can mount and dismount the developing cartridge C by grasping the handle 12, and the developing member 11 and the handle 12 are respectively located at both sides of the casing 1 in the second direction; the driving force receiving member 2 and the chip assembly 4 are provided at the same longitudinal end of the housing, and the driving force received by the driving force receiving member 2 is transmitted to the rotating member through a driving force transmitting assembly (e.g., a gear set) provided adjacent to the driving force receiving member 2 while the driving force receiving member 2 rotates about the rotation axis L2; the side of the driving force receiving member 2 is referred to as a driving end C1 of the developing cartridge C, and the side opposite to the driving end in the first direction is a conductive end C2.

Further, the developing cartridge C further includes an end cap 3 coupled to the casing 1, the end cap 3 at the driving end is referred to as a driving end cap 31, the end cap 3 at the conductive end is referred to as a conductive end cap 32, the driving force receiving member 2 is exposed outward through the driving end cap 31, the counting assembly 6 is exposed outward through the conductive end cap 32, the chip assembly 4 is movably mounted with respect to the casing 1, it is possible to realize, the chip assembly 4 is movably mounted on the casing 1, or the chip assembly 4 is movably mounted on the driving end cap 31, specifically, the chip assembly 4 is arranged such that the chip assembly 4 is movable with respect to the casing 1 and/or the driving end cap 31, more specifically, the chip assembly 4 is arranged such that, in the second direction, the chip assembly 4 is movably mounted with respect to the casing 1 and/or the driving end cap 31, or in the second direction, the chip assembly 4 is arranged so as not to be movable with respect to the casing 1 and/or the driving end cap 31, by such arrangement, the state of the electrical connection of the chip cartridge casing 1/the driving end cap 31 with respect to the casing 1 and/or the driving end cap 31 is not movably mounted with respect to the developing pin is not changed in the second direction, that contact with the contact pin is inhibited against the contact pin is changed.

The counting assembly 6 comprises a guide 61, a movable member 62 and a detected member 64, the guide 61 being arranged rotatable with rotation of the rotating member, the movable member 62 being arranged movable in a first direction away from the housing 1 with rotation of the guide 61, during which movement the movable member 62 forces the detected member 64 to interact with the counted member in the imaging device.

Specifically, a guide 61 is installed at the longitudinal end of the stirring member, the guide 61 being provided as a screw rod including a large diameter portion 61a and a small diameter portion 61b connected to each other, wherein the large diameter portion 61a is provided with a spiral groove 611 and the small diameter portion 61b is provided with a flat portion 612; the movable member 62 includes a toggle piece 62a and a limit piece 62b combined with each other, the toggle piece 62a includes a toggle body 620 having a movable cavity 621 and a toggle portion 622 provided on the toggle body 620, the limit piece 62b enters the movable cavity 621 from a side wall of the toggle body 620, the screw rod 61 enters the movable cavity 621, and the limit piece 62b is combined with the screw groove 611; the detected member 64 includes a rotating portion 640 and a stirred portion 642, which are connected to each other, and the stirred portion 642 is configured as at least one protrusion protruding from the rotating portion 640, and the number of the stirred portions 642 can be correspondingly changed according to the counting requirement of the developing cartridge C, for example, the stirred portion 642 is configured as two adjacent protrusions, so that the stirred portion 642 is stirred by the stirred portion 622 twice during the counting process of the counting assembly 6, and accordingly, the detected member 64 also interacts with the counted piece twice.

In some embodiments, the rotating part 640 of the detected member 64 is provided with a rotating hole/groove, and the rotating part is directly or indirectly protruded from the housing 1 to form the supporting shaft 13, and the detected member 64 is rotatable through the combination of the supporting shaft 13 and the rotating hole/groove; conversely, the support shaft 13 may be provided on the rotating portion 640, and the rotation hole/groove may be provided directly or by detection on the housing 1.

Before the counting assembly 6 starts counting, the limiting piece 62b drives the stirring piece 62a to be located on one side, close to the shell 1, of the spiral groove 611, the guide piece 61 is driven to rotate by the stirring piece as the driving force receiving piece 2 receives the driving force to start rotating, meanwhile, the limiting piece 62b moves in the spiral groove 611 in the direction away from the shell 1 along the first direction, and then, the stirring piece 62a is driven by the limiting piece 62b to move in the direction away from the shell 1 along the first direction, in the moving process of the stirring piece 62a, the stirring part 622 abuts against the at least one stirred part 642, so that the detected member 64 rotates around the axis L64, and interaction between the detected member 64 and the counted piece is achieved.

[ Drum Box ]

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the drum cartridge D includes a drum frame 5 and a photosensitive member 50 rotatably mounted in the drum frame (as shown in fig. 4A and 4B), the drum frame 5 includes a first accommodating portion 51 and a second accommodating portion 52 adjacently arranged in the second direction, the photosensitive member 50 is rotatably mounted in the first accommodating portion 51, and the developing cartridge C is detachably mounted in the second accommodating portion 52; further, in the second direction, the drum frame 5 is also provided with a notch portion 54 through which the handle 12 is exposed outward in the second direction when the developing cartridge C is mounted, and through which notch portion 54 the user can grasp the handle 12 conveniently.

When the developing cartridge C is mounted to the drum cartridge D, the developing member 11 is opposed to the photosensitive member 50, and the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 are switched between contact/approaching with each other and separation from each other in the second direction depending on whether the developing cartridge C is in the developing state; further, in order to ensure that the developing member 11 is kept in contact with the photosensitive member 50, a urging member (not shown) for urging the developing cartridge C toward the photosensitive member 5, for example, a spring provided in abutment with the casing 1 is provided between the developing cartridge C and the drum cartridge D, and the drum cartridge D is further provided with a positioning portion 53 for positioning the urging member, preferably, in the second direction, the positioning portion 53 is located at an end of the second accommodating portion 52 away from the first accommodating portion 51, regardless of whether the urging member is provided at the developing cartridge C or the drum cartridge D.

In the second direction, the second receiving portion 52 may be further divided into a main mounting portion 521 adjacent to the first receiving portion 51 and a sub mounting portion 522 distant from the first receiving portion 51, at least half of the length of the developing cartridge C in the second direction being received by the main mounting portion 521 when the developing cartridge C is mounted, or at least half of the length of the developing cartridge C in the second direction being opposite to the main receiving portion 521 in the third direction, the sub mounting portion 522 being inclined with respect to the second direction, and the third direction passing through the sub mounting portion 522.

For ease of understanding, as the second accommodating portion 52, a side of the second accommodating portion 52 facing the developing cartridge C is defined as an inner side, a side opposite to the inner side is defined as an outer side, and accordingly, a side of the main mounting portion 521 facing the developing cartridge C is defined as a main mounting portion inner side 521a, a side opposite to the main mounting portion inner side is defined as a main mounting portion outer side 521b, a side of the sub mounting portion 522 facing the developing cartridge C is defined as a sub mounting portion inner side 522a, and a side opposite to the sub mounting portion inner side is defined as a sub mounting portion outer side 522b; preferably, the positioning portion 53 is provided at a longitudinal end of the sub-mount portion 522; when the drum cartridge D is mounted to the image forming apparatus, at least the sub mount outside 522b is supported by the image forming apparatus.

[ chip Assembly ]

As shown in fig. 1 and 3, the chip assembly 4 includes a chip frame 41 and a chip 42 at least partially disposed on the chip frame 41, the chip 42 includes a substrate 421, a storage part (not shown) disposed on the substrate 421, and an electrical connection terminal 422 electrically connected to the storage part, and it is possible that the electrical connection terminal 422 may be disposed directly on the substrate 421 or may be electrically connected to the storage part through a conductor, and the storage part may be disposed at other positions of the developing cartridge according to design requirements, and the chip frame 41 may be movably mounted on the housing 1 or the driving end cover 31; the chip frame 41 is further provided with a mounting portion 412, at least the electric connection terminals 422 of the chip 42 are directly or indirectly fixed in the mounting portion 412, the electric connection terminals 422 face the third direction, and in the second direction, the developing member 11 and the electric connection terminals 422 are located at both ends of the developing cartridge, respectively, that is, the developing member 11 and the electric connection terminals 422 are arranged at intervals in the second direction of the developing cartridge.

The plane in which the electrical connection terminals 422 are located may be maintained perpendicular to the third direction or may intersect, as described below, when the chip frame 41 is provided to be movable in the second direction with respect to the casing 1 or the driving end cap 31, but when not movable in the third direction, the electrical connection terminals 422 are always maintained stationary in the third direction during the process of approaching and separating the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 from each other, and in the second direction, the electrical connection terminals 422 are movable with respect to the casing 1 or the driving end cap 31 with the chip frame 41.

The following description will be given by taking the case where the chip holder 41 is movably mounted on the driving end cap 31 as an example.

The driving end cap 31 is provided with the guide parts 33, the chip frame 41 is provided with guided parts 411 that can be guided by the guide parts 33, the number of the guide parts 33 corresponds to the number of the guided parts 411, wherein one of the guide parts 33 and the guided parts 411 is provided with a guide protrusion extending in the first direction, the other is provided with a guide groove/hole that mates with the guide protrusion, as shown in fig. 3, the guide part 33 is provided with a guide protrusion extending in the first direction from the driving end cap 31, the guided part 411 is provided with a guide hole that penetrates the chip frame 41 in the first direction, wherein the guide hole 411 is formed as an elliptical hole extending in the second direction, the long side of the guide hole 411 extends in the second direction, the long side of the long side is larger in size than the guide protrusion 33 in the second direction, and the short side of the guide hole 411 is slightly larger in size or substantially the same as the guide protrusion 33 in the third direction, as long as the guide protrusion 33 can move in the second direction but cannot move in the third direction in the guide hole 411.

Further, the developing cartridge C further includes a positioning member 49 for positioning the chip carrier 41 to restrict movement of the chip carrier 41 in the first direction, the positioning member 49 having a small diameter portion 491 and a large diameter portion 492 which are coupled to each other, the guide projection 33 being provided with a positioning hole/groove, the small diameter portion 491 of the positioning member 49 passing through the guide hole 411 into the positioning hole/groove, the large diameter portion 492 abutting the chip carrier 41, whereby the chip carrier 41 and the housing 1/the driving end cap 31 are restricted to be relatively movable only in the second direction; in some embodiments, the positioning member 49 as a separate component may be omitted, and the positioning of the chip frame 41 in the first direction is achieved by combining the guide protrusion 33 with the guide hole 411, for example, an elastically deformable elastic buckle (an embodiment of the positioning member 49) is provided at the end of the guide protrusion 33, the elastic buckle elastically deforms and contracts during the process of the guide protrusion 33 entering the guide hole 411, and after the guide protrusion 33 passes through the guide hole 411, the elastic buckle resets and is engaged with the chip frame 41, or a buckle capable of being engaged with the driving end cover 31 is provided on the chip frame 41 (another embodiment of the positioning member 49), otherwise, a buckle capable of being engaged with the chip frame 41 is provided on the driving end cover 31.

Alternatively, the positions of the guide protrusion 33 and the guide hole 411 may be interchanged, that is, the guide protrusion 33 is provided on the chip carrier 41 and the guide hole 411 is provided on the driving end cap 31.

In some embodiments, the guided portion 411 may be further configured as a guide groove, that is, the guided portion 411 does not penetrate in the first direction, and at this time, the positioning member 49 as a separate component may be omitted, and the structure for positioning the chip frame 41 in the first direction may be implemented by the above-described clip.

In some embodiments, the guide protrusion is provided as a cylinder, and preferably, the guide protrusion 33 and the guide hole 411 are provided in plurality to ensure the stable movement trace of the chip carrier 41; alternatively, the guide protrusions may be provided in a block shape extending in the second direction, in which case the guide protrusions 33 may be provided one.

As shown in fig. 4A, when the process cartridge 100 is operated/developed, the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 are kept in a state of being in contact with each other, the developing member 11 is for supplying the developer toward the photosensitive member 50, the contact pins 99 of the image forming apparatus are brought into electrical contact with the electrical connection terminals 422, in the third direction, the contact pins 99 and the electrical connection terminals 422 are opposed to the sub-mount 522, the contact pins 99 and the electrical connection terminals 422 generate an interaction force in the third direction, and the electrical contact between the contact pins 99 and the electrical connection terminals 422 can be kept stable with the sub-mount 522 supported by the image forming apparatus; when the photosensitive member 50 needs to be cleaned, the image forming apparatus applies a separating force to the process cartridge 100 that is larger than the urging force applied by the urging member, which forces the casing 1 to move the driving end cap 31 together with the developing member 11 in the second direction with respect to the cartridge holder 41, while the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 are separated from each other (as shown in fig. 4B), that is, the cartridge holder 41 does not move with respect to the image forming apparatus during the movement of the developing member 11 away from the photosensitive member 50 in the second direction, the contact state of the stylus 99 with the electrical connection terminal 422 does not change, and therefore, not only is the resistance force applied to the developing cartridge C reduced when the developing member 11 is away from the photosensitive member 50 in the second direction, but also good electrical contact can be maintained between the stylus 99 and the electrical connection terminal 422.

When the separating force is removed, under the urging action of the urging member, the casing 1 drives the driving end cap 31 and the developing member 11 to move together in the second direction with respect to the cartridge holder 41, and the developing member 11 approaches the photosensitive member 50, that is, the cartridge holder 41 does not move with respect to the image forming apparatus during the approaching of the developing member 11 in the second direction to the photosensitive member 50, the contact state of the contact pin 99 with the electrical connection terminal 422 does not change, and not only does the resistance force applied to the developing cartridge C decrease when the developing member 11 approaches the photosensitive member 50 in the second direction, but also good electrical contact can be maintained between the contact pin 99 and the electrical connection terminal 422.

As for the counting assembly 6, since the resistance to the developing cartridge C is reduced, the counting assembly 6 does not generate unexpected shake or the generated shake amplitude is reduced, so that the position of the counting assembly 6 relative to the casing 1 can be effectively maintained during the movement of the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 between the mutually contacted state and the mutually separated state, the influence to which the counted member may be subjected is reduced regardless of whether the counting assembly 6 and the counted member are in the mutually contacted state, and accordingly, the risk of occurrence of counting failure of the counting assembly 6 is also reduced

Preferably, the chip carrier 41 further includes an abutting portion 413 extending in the third direction, and when the chip carrier 41 is mounted to the housing 1 or the driving end cap 31, the chip carrier 41 is arranged such that the abutting portion 413 abuts against the drum frame 5 to ensure stable contact between the electrical connection terminal 422 and the contact pin 99, while also reducing an influence of vibration generated when the driving force receiver 2 operates or vibration generated when the housing 1 moves the driving end cap 31 in the second direction on contact of the electrical connection terminal 422 and the contact pin 99.

In practice, the distance by which the casing 1/drive end cap 31 moves relative to the image forming apparatus in the second direction, i.e., the distance by which the casing 1/drive end cap 31 moves relative to the chip frame 41/electrical connection terminals 422 in the second direction, is not more than 5mm during the process of separating the developing member 11 from the photosensitive member 50 or during the process of bringing the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 closer to each other. If the moving distance is too large, the separation force applied by the image forming apparatus will also be required to be large, and the greater the deformation degree of the urging member, the higher the energy consumption of the image forming apparatus will be, and the higher the strength of the casing 1 will be, and at the same time, the greater the urging force applied by the urging member to the casing 1 will be when the separation force is cancelled, and the surface damage of the developing member 11 and the photosensitive member 50 will be easily caused.

As described above, the chip frame 41 for carrying at least the electric connection terminals 422 of the chip assembly is provided so as to be movable with respect to the casing 1 or the driving end cap 31, and in particular, the chip frame 41 and the casing 1 or the driving end cap 31 are relatively movable in the second direction but are not relatively movable in the third direction, and in the process in which the casing 1 drives the driving end cap 31 and the developing member 11 to move together in the second direction (including the process in which the developing member 11 is away from the photosensitive member 50 and the process in which the developing member 11 is close to the photosensitive member 50), the chip frame 41 is not moved with respect to the image forming apparatus, the contact state of the contact pins 99 with the electric connection terminals 422 is not changed, the movement restriction of the developing cartridge C by the contact pins 99 with the electric connection terminals 422 is reduced, the resistance to which the developing cartridge C is subjected is reduced, good electric contact can be maintained between the contact pins 99 and the electric connection terminals 422, and finally, the image forming quality is improved.

Claims (10)

1. A developing cartridge detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus provided with the contact pin, the developing cartridge including a housing accommodating a developer, a developing member rotatably provided in the housing, and a driving force receiving member and a chip assembly provided at one longitudinal end of the housing;

the driving force receiving member is for receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus to drive the rotating member to rotate about a rotation axis extending in a first direction;

the chip assembly comprises a chip frame and an electric connection terminal directly or indirectly fixed on the chip frame, wherein the electric connection terminal is used for forming electric contact with the contact pin;

it is characterized in that the method comprises the steps of,

the chip frame and the shell can move relatively in a second direction intersecting the first direction, and the chip frame is immovable relative to the shell in a third direction intersecting the first direction and the second direction;

the developing member and the electrical connection terminal are arranged at intervals in the second direction.

2. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said developing member is for supplying the developer toward a photosensitive member disposed opposite thereto, the developing member and the photosensitive member being switched between contact with each other and separation from each other in the second direction depending on whether the developing cartridge is in the developing state;

during the conversion, the chip carrier and the housing move relative to each other, the chip carrier does not move relative to the imaging device, and the electrical connection terminals are kept in electrical contact with the contact pins.

3. The developing cartridge according to claim 2, further comprising a driving end cap provided on the same side as the driving force receiving member, the driving force receiving member being exposed through the driving end cap, the chip carrier being coupled to the housing or the driving end cap.

4. A developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the housing or the driving end cap is provided with a guide portion, the chip frame is provided with a guided portion, one of the guide portion and the guided portion is provided with a guide projection extending in the first direction, and the other is provided with a guide groove/hole fitted with the guide projection, the guide groove/hole extending in an elliptical shape in the second direction.

5. The developing cartridge according to claim 4, wherein a long side of the guide groove/hole extends in the second direction, a dimension of the long side is larger than a dimension of the guide projection in the second direction, and a short side of the guide groove/hole extends in the third direction, the dimension of the short side being substantially the same as the dimension of the guide projection in the third direction.

6. The developer cartridge of claim 4, further comprising a positioning member for restricting movement of the cartridge in the first direction.

7. The developer cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the distance of movement of the cartridge relative to the housing in the second direction is no more than 5mm.

8. A developing cartridge according to any one of claims 1-7, further comprising a counting assembly at the other longitudinal end of the casing, said counting assembly including a guide, a movable member and a member-to-be-detected, the guide being arranged to be rotatable with rotation of the rotatable member, the movable member being arranged to be movable in a first direction away from the casing with rotation of the guide, during which movement the movable member forces the member-to-be-detected to interact with the member-to-be-counted in the image forming apparatus.

9. A process cartridge comprising a drum cartridge provided with a photosensitive member and a developing cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the developing cartridge being detachably combined with the drum cartridge.

10. A process cartridge according to claim 9, wherein in the second direction, the drum cartridge includes a drum frame of a first accommodating portion and a second accommodating portion adjacently arranged, the photosensitive member is rotatably mounted in the first accommodating portion, and the developing cartridge is detachably mounted in the second accommodating portion;

in the second direction, the second accommodating portion includes a main mounting portion near the first accommodating portion and a sub-mounting portion away from the first accommodating portion, at least half of the length of the developing cartridge in the second direction is accommodated by the main accommodating portion, the sub-accommodating portion is inclined with respect to the second direction, and a side opposite to a side facing the developing cartridge in the sub-accommodating portion may be supported by the image forming apparatus.