JP2002341637A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming device capable of preventing the scattering of developer from occurring when driving a developing device as an image forming device having a process cartridge equipped with a shutter member for opening/closing a developer receiving port from its inside. SOLUTION: A toner receiving port 48 is formed at the upper part of a cartridge case 11, and a shutter member 55 is inserted from the front of the case and energized by a cover member 57 to the inner side in figure and stopped at a closed position where it closes the toner receiving port. A lever insertion port 61 functioning as an aperture part in which a lever member 60 functioning as a moving force transmitting member is advanced is formed on the surface of the case 11 inclined at the angle of about 90 deg. to a process cartridge inserting direction. When the process cartridge is inserted in an electrophotographic device main body, the wall part 55e of the shutter member is pressed to a front side, and a pressuring spring is compressed so that the shutter member is stopped at a position where it opens the toner receiving port.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention develops a latent image formed on a latent image carrier such as a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, and a multifunction machine thereof, and transfers the obtained image using a developer. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus for transferring images onto an image carrier such as paper.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an image forming apparatus of this type, for convenience of maintenance, etc., an image carrier of a developing device is provided in a single cartridge case to constitute an integral process cartridge. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a process cartridge configured to be detachable from an image forming apparatus main body.

In this type of image forming apparatus, a toner receiving port is provided in a process cartridge, and toner supplied from a toner replenishing section provided separately from the process cartridge is taken into a developing device in the process cartridge through the toner receiving port. There are those that have been configured.

When a process cartridge provided with a toner receiving port is taken out of the main body of the image forming apparatus for maintenance, for example, the toner receiving port is kept closed to prevent the toner inside from dropping out. For this purpose, a shutter member for opening and closing the toner receiving port has been provided.

First, the applicant of the present invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-1946.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 99-1999 proposes a device in which a shutter member for opening and closing a toner receiving port is provided inside a cartridge case of a process cartridge.

FIG. 5 shows the structure of a shutter member 55 for opening and closing the toner receiving port 48 described in the above publication, and is a partially enlarged view of the vicinity of the toner receiving port 48 in the process cartridge. The shutter member 55 has a vertical edge 55b on one side of the top 55a and a curved edge 55 on the other side.
c is integrally formed, and an upward projection 55d is formed on the top 55a.
have. Then, a coil spring 56 having a natural length longer than the longitudinal length of the shutter member is disposed on the curved edge 55c, and one end of the coil spring 56 is applied to a wall on the curved edge.
The boss of the wall is press-fitted into one end. On the other hand, the toner receiving port 48 is provided on the upper surface of the cartridge case, is connected to a notch-shaped opening 59 extending to the front end of the cartridge case, and is integrally formed therewith. , That is, an area corresponding to a toner supply position from the toner supply unit is a toner receiving port 48. As a result, the notch-shaped opening portion 59 is composed of two regions: an opening for receiving the toner and a groove for sliding the shutter member.

When the shutter member 55 is mounted on the process cartridge, the upward projection 55d is inserted into the notch-shaped opening 59 from the front and the vertical edge 5d.
5b is placed on the guide step 11a of the cartridge case 11, and the curved edge 55c is placed on the guide edge 11b. Thereafter, when the shutter member 55 is inserted in the direction of the arrow i in the drawing, the notch-shaped opening 59 moves in the direction of the arrow i in the drawing while the upward projection 55d protrudes from the cartridge case. Next, the cover member 57 is attached so as to cover the front side of the cartridge case 11 including the notch-shaped opening portion 59 and the front end portion, thereby preventing the shutter member 55 from falling off. When the cover member 57 is attached, the free end of the coil spring 56 is pressed by the cover member and the coil spring 56 is compressed, and the elasticity of the coil spring 56 urges the shutter member toward the back (in the direction of the arrow i in the drawing). Along with this,
The shutter member 55 slides from the inside to the wall surface of the cartridge case forming the peripheral edge of the cutout opening 59 while making surface contact, and stops at a position where the toner receiving port 48 is closed.

Next, when the process cartridge 10 in which the toner receiving port 48 is closed by the shutter member is inserted into the apparatus main body, when the process cartridge 10 is inserted to some extent, the upwardly projecting portion 55d has the toner introduction cover of the second hopper provided in the apparatus. (Not shown), and the shutter member cannot be advanced further. When the process cartridge 10 is further inserted as it is, the shutter member 55 relatively moves, that is, slides toward the front of the cartridge case (the direction opposite to the direction of the arrow i in the drawing) against the elasticity of the coil spring 56. . As a result, the shutter member 55 moves from the inside to the cartridge case wall surface while making surface contact, and the toner receiving port 48 is opened.

According to such a configuration, the shutter member can be opened and closed with the attachment and detachment of the process cartridge to and from the apparatus main body. Therefore, a process which may occur when the shutter member is provided outside the cartridge case. The toner can be prevented from scattering when the cartridge is attached or detached.

[0010]

However, even in the image forming apparatus described in JP-A-11-194699, toner scattering sometimes occurred.

When the shutter member opening / closing mechanism is configured as described above, it is necessary to provide an opening extending in the sliding direction for sliding the upward projection 55d together with the shutter member 55. This means that the contact distance between the peripheral wall surface of the notch-shaped opening 59 and the shutter member 55 is longer than when only the toner receiving port is open. Cartridge case wall and shutter member 5
Since a minute gap is easily generated between the developing device and the toner cartridge 5, the toner inside the developing device may leak out of the cartridge case through the gap. If the notch-shaped opening becomes longer,
As a result, gaps are easily generated, and the risk of toner leakage is increased.

In the case where the process cartridge 10 having such an opening / closing mechanism is used, when the developing device is driven to generate an air current inside the cartridge, the toner inside the cartridge leaks through the gap and toner scattering occurs. is there. Such toner scattering is more likely to occur with toner having higher fluidity.

The above-mentioned problem of toner scattering is caused by moving a force transmitting member such as an upward projecting portion 55d for transmitting a force for slidingly moving the shutter member 55 to the shutter member 55 in the process cartridge together with the shutter member 55. The opening extending in the sliding direction is not limited to one that is formed continuously from the toner receiving port 48, but may also occur in a configuration provided separately from the toner receiving port 48.

In the case of an apparatus using a two-component developer composed of toner and magnetic particles, the two-component developer may be scattered, or at least one of them may be scattered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a shutter for opening and closing a developer inlet from the inside thereof in synchronization with the attachment and detachment of a process cartridge to and from an image forming apparatus main body. In an image forming apparatus having a member, an image forming apparatus capable of preventing the developer from being scattered when the developing device is driven as compared with a configuration in which an opening extending in a sliding direction of a shutter member is formed in a cartridge case is provided. It is to be.

[0016]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising: a latent image carrier; and a developing device for developing a latent image on the latent image carrier. An image forming apparatus comprising: a process cartridge detachably mountable to a forming apparatus main body; and a developer replenishing device for replenishing developer to the developing device via a developer receiving port of the process cartridge. A shutter member for opening and closing the developer receiving port from the inside of the process cartridge, and an opening for communicating the shutter member and the outside of the process cartridge with respect to an insertion direction of the cartridge case into the image forming apparatus main body. The shutter member is formed on a surface inclined at an angle in accordance with the operation of inserting the process cartridge into the image forming apparatus main body. The shutter member is provided with a movement force for sliding the shutter member relatively to the cartridge case in a direction parallel to the cartridge case through the opening, and the sliding movement causes the shutter member to open at the opening of the developer receiving port. And moving the shutter member to a closed position of the developer receiving port by releasing at least the moving force in conjunction with the detachment operation of the process cartridge from the image forming apparatus main body. It is assumed that.
Here, the above-mentioned developer refers to one itself or both when using a one-component developer, and when using a two-component developer composed of toner and magnetic particles, one or both of the toner and the magnetic particles. Shall say. In order to open the developer receiving port when the process cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, for example, a protrusion that enters the process cartridge from the opening formed in the end wall surface by insertion of the process cartridge is used. It is conceivable to provide such a projection on the main body side at a certain insertion position so that the projection abuts on the shutter member, thereby preventing the shutter member from moving any more in the insertion direction in the apparatus main body. Then, by further inserting the process cartridge into the apparatus main body, the relative position of the shutter member to the process cartridge is moved in the insertion direction, and is moved to the opening position where the developer inlet is opened. Further, when the process cartridge is detached from the apparatus main body, the movement restriction on the shutter member is released, and the shutter member moves to a closing position for closing the developer receiving port.
The protrusion is not only provided outside the process cartridge as described above, but also configured to protrude from the inside of the process cartridge via an opening. The relative position of the shutter member with respect to the process cartridge may be moved in the insertion direction by abutting against an inner wall or the like.

In the image forming apparatus according to the first aspect, a moving force is applied to the shutter member via the opening in conjunction with the operation of inserting the process cartridge into the image forming apparatus main body.
Move to the opening position in the direction parallel to the insertion direction. Further, the shutter member is moved to the closed position of the developer receiving port in conjunction with the detachment operation of the process cartridge from the image forming apparatus main body. This opening is not formed on the wall surface parallel to the insertion direction of the cartridge case, but is formed on a surface inclined at an angle with respect to the insertion direction of the process cartridge. It is not necessary to form an existing opening. Therefore, the gap where the developer inside the developing device leaks out of the developing device can be shortened, and when any member inside the developing device is driven and an airflow is generated inside, the developer leaking along this gap can be reduced. Can be.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, a moving force transmitting member for transmitting the moving force to the shutter member through the opening is provided. The process cartridge is configured to be detachably attached to the image forming apparatus together with the process cartridge when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body.

In the image forming apparatus according to the second aspect, when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body, the moving force transmitting member together with the process cartridge can be attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body. Since the moving force transmitting member is not necessary when the process cartridge is not mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, by making it detachable together with the process cartridge, it is not necessary to detach the moving force transmitting member alone. This moving force transmitting member may be configured integrally with the process cartridge, or may be configured to be detachable from the process cartridge.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, the moving force transmitting member is configured to be detachable from the process cartridge.

In the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect, the moving force transmitting member can be removed from the process cartridge and replaced with another moving force transmitting member. This allows
A moving force transmitting member provided in one process cartridge can be selected from a plurality of types, and can be used as identification means for a plurality of types of process cartridges that need to be identified.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an electrophotographic apparatus as an image forming apparatus will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a main part of an electrophotographic apparatus to which the present invention can be applied. FIG. 1 shows a process cartridge 10 and a toner replenishing device 30 for replenishing the developing device 14 in the process cartridge 10 with toner as a developer.

The process cartridge 10 includes a photosensitive drum 12 as a latent image carrier in a cartridge case 11,
A charging device 13 that is arranged close to or in contact with the periphery of the photosensitive drum 12 to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum, a developing device 14 that develops an electrostatic latent image, and removes residual toner on the photosensitive drum 12 A cleaning device 15 for removing is provided.

The developing devices include transport screws 20 and 2
1, a developing sleeve 22, a doctor blade 23, and a toner density sensor 24.

An optical writing device (not shown) for irradiating a laser beam a for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 12 around the process cartridge 10 and a toner image on the photosensitive drum 12 A transfer roller 25 for transferring to a transfer sheet as a recording medium, and a charge removing device (not shown) for irradiating a charge removing light b to remove charges remaining on the photosensitive drum 12 are provided.

With the rotation of the photosensitive drum 12,
First, the surface potential is averaged to a reference potential of 0 to -100 V by irradiating a neutralization light b with a neutralization device (not shown). Next, the surface is charged by the charging roller 13 to make the surface potential -1100V.

Then, laser light a is irradiated by an optical writing device (not shown) so that the surface potential of only the irradiated part is 0 to 0.
-290 V to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 12. After that, toner is attached by the developing sleeve 22 to which a bias potential of about -800 V is applied, and the electrostatic latent image is developed to form a toner image on the photosensitive drum 12.

Next, along with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 12, transfer paper is fed from a paper supply unit (not shown) in synchronization with the toner image on the photosensitive drum 12, and is transferred onto the photosensitive drum 12 by the transfer roller 25. The toner image is transferred to transfer paper.

The transfer paper after the transfer of the toner image is separated from the photosensitive drum 12 and sent to a fixing device (not shown), where heat and pressure are applied to fix the transferred toner image. The paper is discharged onto the paper discharge stack.

On the other hand, the photosensitive drum 12 after the transfer of the toner image
The residual toner remaining on the surface is scraped and removed by a cleaning blade 26 of a cleaning device. Thereafter, the charge is removed again by irradiating the charge removing light b with a charge removing device (not shown) to prepare for the next image formation.

The residual toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 26 is conveyed in the axial direction by a toner conveying coil 27, and is put into a conveying pipe 28 shown by a two-dot chain line in the figure. Return to the device for recycling.

The developing sleeve 22 has a fixed shaft in which five-pole magnets are arranged, and is formed by covering the outer peripheral surface with a non-magnetic pipe material. And by rotating the pipe material,
The developer moves on the developing sleeve 22.

The developer is a two-component developer composed of a small iron ball called a carrier and a toner, and circulates while being agitated by the conveying screws 20 and 21, so that the charged toner adheres to the carrier. . Thereafter, the developer is carried to the surface of the photosensitive drum 12, and the toner is attached to the surface of the photosensitive drum by the action of electrostatic force.

If the supply amount of the developer to the photosensitive drum 12 is not constant, an image density unevenness occurs. Therefore, the inflow amount of the developer is regulated by the doctor blade 23.

Next, the toner supply device 30 will be described. The toner supply device 30 includes a first hopper (not shown) and a second hopper 32 (not shown).

In the second hopper 32, the toner supplied from the first hopper is pushed up by an internally rotating push-up member 43, and is sent out in a direction F in the drawing through a slit of a supply regulating member provided in the opening. The toner entering the toner introduction cover 45 is transferred to a toner receiving port 48 as a developer receiving port.
, And falls in the direction of arrow G.

Next, the features of this embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, the process cartridge 10
Inside the cartridge case 11, a toner receiving port 48 is provided.
And a shutter member 55 for opening and closing the shutter.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a structure for opening and closing the shutter member 55 and the toner receiving port 48. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the toner receiving port 48 and its peripheral portion as viewed from the front of the process cartridge 10. Cartridge case 11
The upper part is formed with a toner receiving port 48. The shutter member 55 is provided with a vertical edge 55b on one side of a top 55a and a curved edge 55c on the other side. Its curved edge 5
A coil spring 56 is arranged in 5c, one end of which is brought into contact with a wall 55e on the end of the curved edge 55c, and a boss provided on the wall is press-fitted.

Then, the shutter member 55 is inserted into the cartridge case 11 from the front, and the vertical edge 55b is placed on the guide step 11a of the cartridge case 11 so as to have the curved edge 55b.
c Place each on the guide edge 11b. Thereafter, a cover member 57 that covers the front surface of the cartridge case 11 is attached to prevent the shutter member 55 from falling off. As a result, the free end of the coil spring 56 is compressed by the cover member 57, and the elasticity of the
Is urged to the rear side in the figure, and stops at a closing position where it comes into contact with the peripheral wall surface of the toner receiving port 48 to close the toner receiving port 48. This is the state when the process cartridge 10 is detached from the electrophotographic apparatus main body.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the process cartridge 10 as viewed from the rear. The cartridge case 11 of the present embodiment is provided with a lever insertion opening 61 as an opening through which a lever member 60 as a moving force transmitting member for transmitting a moving force to the shutter member 55 enters the case 11. The lever member 60 includes a shaft portion 60a having substantially the same diameter as the inner diameter of the lever insertion port 61, a cover portion 60b that completely covers the lever insertion port 61 in front of the lever member 60, and a cartridge extending from the cover portion. Case 11
And a sliding claw 60c which slides by engaging with the discharge lamp irradiation opening 62, and an engaging portion 60d which is fixed at the tip of the shaft portion in the same shape as the shaft portion and which is fixed to the shaft portion with an inclination. . When the lever member 60 is mounted, the distal end of the lever member 60 is inserted into the lever insertion opening 61 at an angle at which the engaging portion 60d enters, and the slide claw 60c is engaged with the discharge lamp irradiation opening 62 to slide. Then, the lever is returned to the angle at which the shaft portion enters, and the lever member 60 is caused to enter by sliding movement until the shaft portion comes into contact with the wall portion 55e of the shutter member 55 inside the process cartridge 10.

In this state, the toner receiving port 48 is closed, and the process cartridge 10 and the shutter member 55 are integrated.
FIG. 4A illustrates the shutter member 55 in the closed position.
FIG.

When the above process cartridge 10 is inserted into the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus, the shutter member 55 is pushed against the inner wall of the main body of the apparatus, so that the engaging portion 60d is pressed forward in the cartridge case 11. Along with this, the wall portion 55e of the shutter member 55 is pressed toward the near side, the compression spring is compressed, and the shutter member 55 slides relative to the process cartridge toward the front of the apparatus. When the position of the process cartridge 10 in the apparatus main body is determined, the shutter member 55 is no longer pressed forward, and the position is fixed. At this time, the stop position of the shutter member 55 is set to an opening position such that the top portion 55a of the shutter member 55 does not contact the peripheral wall surface of the toner receiving port 48. FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an opening position of the shutter member 55. The lever insertion opening 61 formed in the wall surface on the back side of the cartridge case 11 is completely covered with the cover portion 60b of the lever member 60, so that there is no gap. As a result, the toner receiving port 48 is connected to the toner supply port 47 located above it without any gap, and the toner supplied from the toner replenishing section can be taken into the developing device from the toner receiving port 48. Become.

According to the configuration of the present embodiment, the lever insertion opening 61 is formed on the surface of the cartridge case 11 inclined at an angle of substantially 90 ° with respect to the process cartridge insertion direction. The sliding movement of the shutter member 55 can be performed without forming an opening extending in the direction. Therefore, there is no gap between the sliding opening and the shutter member 55,
When the gap occurs, the problem that the developer leaks from the gap does not occur. Accordingly, even if the transport screws 20, 21 and the developing sleeve 22 of the developing device are driven to generate an airflow inside the developing device, it is possible to prevent the developer from scattering due to leakage of the developer. it can. Further, even when the process cartridge 10 is pulled out of the electrophotographic apparatus main body, no gap is similarly formed between the sliding opening and the shutter member 55, so that the scattering of the developer due to the developer leakage is prevented. be able to.

When the process cartridge 10 is pulled out from the main body of the electrophotographic apparatus, the lever member 60 slides in the direction pushed out by the coil spring 56, so that the shutter member 55 can be automatically moved to the closing position. This makes it possible to automatically prevent the developer inside from leaking out of the cartridge case 11 from the developer receiving port when the process cartridge 10 is detached from the apparatus main body.

Further, the lever member 60 is engaged with the cartridge case 11 by the engaging portion 60d, so that the lever member 60 can be detached from the apparatus main body together with the process cartridge 10. For this reason, it is not necessary to attach / detach only the shutter member 55 to / from the apparatus main body, and handling becomes easy.

The lever member 60 can be detached from the cartridge case 11 by rotating the lever 60 by a predetermined angle so as to pass through the lever insertion opening 61 and pulling out the lever member 60. Thereby, the lever member 6 is changed according to the configuration of the developing device and other members inside the process cartridge 10.
By changing 0, it becomes possible to use the process cartridge 10 as identification means.

For example, a detecting portion is provided at a position where the lever member 60 abuts when the process cartridge 10 is mounted, and the lever member 60 is provided with a different detection result to the detecting portion for each type requiring identification. A method of providing a detection unit is conceivable. Thereby, the information inside the process cartridge 10 can be notified to the apparatus main body and the operator.

In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the developing device in the process cartridge 10 is provided with the toner supply port as the developer receiving port has been described, but the image forming apparatus to which the present invention can be applied is However, the present invention is not limited to this. As long as it has a shutter member 55 for opening and closing the developer supply port from the inside of the housing of the developing device, the present invention can be applied to a device having another configuration. Further, the moving force for opening and closing the shutter member 55 is transmitted by the lever member 60, but the structure for opening and closing is not limited to this.

[0050]

According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, the length of the opening in the shutter moving direction is smaller than when the opening is formed on a surface parallel to the insertion direction of the process cartridge. Since the length of the opening can be shortened and the gap between the peripheral edge of the opening and the shutter member can be shortened, the driving of the developing device can be performed in comparison with the case where the opening extending in the sliding direction of the shutter member is formed in the cartridge case. There is an excellent effect that it is possible to prevent the developer from scattering at times.

According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, there is an excellent effect that the moving force transmitting member can be easily attached to and detached from the image forming apparatus main body.

According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, there is an excellent effect that the moving force transmitting member can be used as the identification means of the process cartridge. Further, when the moving force transmitting member is mounted in the image forming apparatus so that the type thereof can be identified in the apparatus and the identification result can be displayed, the notification of the identification result to the operator can be more reliably performed. There is also an excellent effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of an electrophotographic apparatus to which the present invention can be applied.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure for opening and closing a shutter member and a toner receiving port according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the process cartridge according to the embodiment as viewed from the rear.

FIG. 4A is an explanatory view of a shutter member at a closed position. (B) is an explanatory view of the shutter member at the opening position.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a conventionally proposed shutter member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Process cartridge 11 Cartridge case 12 Photoconductor drum 13 Charging device 14 Developing device 15 Cleaning device 22 Developing sleeve 25 Transfer roller 30 Toner replenishing device 48 Toner receiving port 55 Shutter member 55b Vertical edge 55c Curved edge 55d Upward projection 56 Coil spring 59 Notched opening 60 Lever member 61 Lever insertion port

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2H071 BA04 BA13 BA23 BA27 BA29 BA35 CA01 CA05 DA08 DA15 EA10 2H077 AA02 AA09 AA12 AA18 AA20 AA35 AB03 AB13 AC02 AD06 AD13 AD18 BA09 CA11 EA03

Claims (3)

[Claims] A process cartridge having a latent image carrier, a developing device for developing a latent image on the latent image carrier, and being detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus main body; and a developer receiving port of the process cartridge. An image forming apparatus having a developer replenishing device for replenishing developer to the developing device via the developing device, wherein a shutter member for opening and closing the developer receiving port from inside the process cartridge is provided in the process cartridge; An opening for communicating the shutter member with the outside of the process cartridge is formed on a surface inclined at an angle with respect to a direction in which the cartridge case is inserted into the image forming apparatus main body, and an operation of inserting the process cartridge into the image forming apparatus main body. Interlocking with this, the shutter member is slid relative to the cartridge case in a direction parallel to the insertion direction. Such a moving force is applied to the shutter member through the opening, and the sliding movement moves the shutter member to an opening position of the developer receiving port,
An image forming apparatus for moving the shutter member to a closed position of the developer receiving port by releasing at least the moving force in conjunction with an operation of detaching the process cartridge from the image forming apparatus main body. . 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a moving force transmitting member that transmits the moving force to the shutter member through the opening, wherein the moving force transmitting member is used for forming an image of the process cartridge. An image forming apparatus, wherein the image forming apparatus is configured to be detachable from the image forming apparatus together with the process cartridge when the image forming apparatus is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the moving force transmitting member is configured to be detachable from the process cartridge.