JP2003173076A - Developing device and developing cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save space in a developing cartridge and an attaching part of an image forming apparatus to which the developing cartridge is loaded and to improve the operation efficiency and convenience when removing a developing roll cover and a toner seal. <P>SOLUTION: In the developing cartridge, the protective cover of the developing roll is constituted to be removable, and by having the toner seal joined to the protective cover, the toner seal can be removed simultaneously or in a series of operations in interlocking with the removal of the protective cover. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus to which the process cartridge can be attached and detached. Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium using an electrophotographic image forming process, and includes, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, an LED printer, a laser beam printer, etc.), an electrophotographic apparatus. Facsimile machine. Further, as the process cartridge, the charging means, the developing means or the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Further, the process cartridge includes a developing cartridge and a drum cartridge in which the developing device and the photosensitive drum unit are separated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge, and this cartridge is used as an image forming apparatus. A process cartridge system that can be attached to and detached from the main body is adopted. Further, as shown above, the toner cartridge is also included in this process cartridge. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without resorting to a serviceman, so that the operability can be markedly improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is widely used in image forming apparatuses.

In such a process cartridge, a photosensitive drum is provided, and a developing means is used to apply a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) to the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum. The developing means is composed of a developing frame body holding a developer carrying body (hereinafter referred to as a developing roller) for sending the toner to the photosensitive drum, and a toner frame body containing the toner.

As a constitution of a device for forming an image by an electrophotographic system, a photosensitive drum uniformly charged by a charging device is selectively exposed to form an electrostatic latent image, and a static electricity image is formed by a developing cartridge. The latent image is visualized with a toner, and the image formed by the toner is transferred to a recording medium to record an image.

Here, in the developing cartridge, the developer sealing member (hereinafter referred to as a toner seal) is generally removed from the developer container before use so that the toner can be supplied to the developing roller. Further, a member for protecting the developing roller when the developing cartridge is not attached to the image forming apparatus is required. Conventionally, a shutter member is automatically opened at the same time as it is mounted, and is automatically closed at the time of removal, or a cover for protecting the developing roller is removed before mounting and the shutter member is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

[0006]

However, when the shutter member and its opening / closing mechanism are attached to the developing cartridge, the user can easily attach the shutter member by removing the toner seal before using the image forming apparatus. An area for storing the shutter member is required in the main body. Further, since the opening / closing mechanism of the shutter member has to be incorporated, that area must be provided. On the other hand, the configuration that removes the cover from the developing cartridge before mounting and mounts it on the main body of the image forming apparatus does not require a mechanism and a cover area on the main body and saves space, but this is combined with the operation of removing the toner seal. Since two operations are required, the operability of the user may be greatly affected.

Therefore, the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to save space in the image forming apparatus and the developing cartridge and further improve the operability for the user.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to the present application will be shown below.

A first aspect of the invention is a developing device for developing a latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member, wherein the developing device has at least a developer carrying member and a developer regulating member. It has a detachable cover member for protecting the body and a developer sealing member for sealing the developer in the developing container, and the cover and the developer sealing member are joined together to interlock with the removal of the cover. The developing device sealing member can be removed simultaneously or in a series of operations.

A second invention is the developing device according to the first invention, wherein the cover member is a sheet member or a plastic member.

A third aspect of the present invention is a developing cartridge including the developing device according to the first or second aspect of the invention.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

In the following description, the front surface of the apparatus refers to a surface on the upstream side of conveyance of the recording medium from the transfer process to the fixing process (right side in FIG. 1), and the left and right sides of the apparatus main body and the process cartridge are front surfaces of the apparatus. Seen from the left or right. The longitudinal direction is a direction parallel to the surface of the recording medium and having a tolerance (substantially orthogonal) to the conveying direction of the recording medium.

{Outline of image forming operation of color image forming apparatus} FIG. 1 shows an electrophotographic image forming apparatus embodying the present invention.
It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a four-color full-color laser beam printer.

First, a general description of the overall structure of the image forming apparatus will be given with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 shows one mode of a color image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a color laser printer in which a developing cartridge, a drum cartridge, and an intermediate transfer body unit are mounted in an image forming apparatus main body. As shown in FIG. 1, the main body of the image forming apparatus irradiates a light image based on image information from an exposure unit 3 to form an image agent image (hereinafter referred to as a toner image) on the photosensitive drum 1 which is an image carrier. To do. Then, the transfer material is conveyed by the conveying means in synchronization with the formation of the toner image, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred to the intermediate transfer body 5a, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer body 5a is further transferred. The second transfer means transfers the transfer material to a transfer material, the transfer material is conveyed to a fixing means 8 having a pressure roller 8a and a heating roller 8b, and the transferred toner image is fixed and discharged to a discharge portion 10. is doing.

The image forming process will be described in more detail.

Next, the photosensitive drum 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise) in FIG. 1 in synchronization with the rotation of the intermediate transfer belt 5a, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by the charging device 2. At the same time, the exposure unit 3 irradiates light of, for example, a yellow image to form a yellow electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1.

The exposing means is performed through the following steps. The exposure unit 3 irradiates a light image on the photosensitive drum 1 by irradiating light based on image information read from an external device or the like, and includes a laser diode, a polygon mirror, a scanner motor, an imaging lens, and a reflection mirror. It is stored.

When an image signal is given from an external device or the like, the laser diode emits light according to the image signal and illuminates the polygon mirror as the image light. This polygon mirror is rotated at a high speed by a scanner motor, and the image light reflected by the polygon mirror irradiates the photosensitive drum 1 through an imaging lens and a reflection mirror, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is selectively exposed to electrostatic. Form a latent image.

Simultaneously with the formation of the electrostatic latent image, the developing device 4 is driven to rotationally move the yellow developing device 4Y to the developing position, and a predetermined bias is applied to attach the yellow toner to the electrostatic latent image for development. To do. Then, a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the pressing roller (primary transfer roller) 5j of the intermediate transfer belt 5a to primarily transfer the yellow toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 onto the intermediate transfer belt 5a.

When the primary transfer of the yellow toner image is completed as described above, the next developing device is rotationally moved and positioned at a position facing the photosensitive drum. By repeating the same process as that for yellow for each of magenta, cyan, and black, the intermediate transfer belt 5
The four color toner images are superposed on a.

During this time, the secondary transfer roller 11 is not in contact with the intermediate transfer belt 5a. At this time, the cleaning charging roller 5f as a cleaning unit is also positioned in a non-contact state with the intermediate transfer belt 5a.

After the formation of the four color toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 5a, the secondary transfer roller 11 is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt 5a as shown in FIG. 1 (state of FIG. 1), and the secondary transfer is further performed. In synchronism with the pressure contact of the roller 11, the transfer material that has been waiting at a predetermined position near the registration roller pair 7, which is a feeding unit, is sent to the nip portion between the intermediate transfer belt 5a and the secondary transfer roller 11.

Here, immediately before the registration roller pair 7, there is provided a pre-registration sensor 14 which detects the leading end of the transfer material to shut off the rotational driving force of the registration roller pair 7 and makes the transfer material stand by at a predetermined position. ing.

A bias voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner is applied to the secondary transfer roller 11, so that the toner images on the intermediate transfer belt 5a are collectively secondary-transferred onto the surface of the transfer material that has been collectively conveyed. Transfer it.

The transfer material on which the toner image has been secondarily transferred in this manner is conveyed to the fixing device 8 via the conveying belt unit 12 and fixed there, and is ejected by the post ejection roller pair 13 to the ejection guide. 15 discharge rollers pair 9
Then, the sheet is discharged to the sheet discharge tray 10 above the color image forming apparatus A, and the image formation is completed.

On the other hand, after the secondary transfer, the cleaning charging roller 5f is pressed against the intermediate transfer belt 5a, and a predetermined bias voltage is applied to the surface of the intermediate transfer belt and the residual toner remaining after the secondary transfer to eliminate the residual charge.

The discharged residual toner is electrostatically retransferred from the intermediate transfer belt 5a to the photosensitive drum 1 through the primary transfer nip, and the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 5a is cleaned. The residual toner remaining after the secondary transfer retransferred to the photosensitive drum 1 is removed and collected by the cleaning blade 6 for the photosensitive drum 1.

The collected residual toner follows a conveyance route for conveying the waste toner, which will be described later, and is collected and accumulated in the waste toner box 216.

{Structure of Developing Cartridge} A developing cartridge containing toner of each color of black, magenta, yellow and cyan is fixed at a predetermined position in the developing rotary. The rotary rotates about a central axis, and circular rotary flanges (not shown) are provided on both sides of the central axis, and the developing cartridge is fixed to the flanges. Even if the rotary rotates due to this fixing,
Do not remove the developing cartridge from the rotary. When the developing cartridge is to be removed from the main body, the developing cartridge is pulled out in the direction of arrow X in FIG. 5 with a grip (not shown). The developing cartridge is locked to both flanges of the rotary by, for example, a torsion coil spring, and can be detached and mounted by a user's operation.

Next, regarding the developing cartridge main body, the developing cartridge is roughly divided into a toner accommodating portion and a developing portion. The toner storage unit is filled with toner of a predetermined color, and the stirring unit rotates to convey the toner to the developing unit in the required amount. In the developing portion, the conveyed toner is supplied to the surface of the developing roller by the rotation of a sponge-like toner supply roller, and further, an electric charge is applied by the friction between the thin plate-shaped developing blade and the developing roller to form a thin layer. The thinned toner on the developing roller is conveyed to the developing unit by rotation, and by applying a predetermined developing bias, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum is visualized as a toner image.

The residual toner that has not contributed to the visualization of the latent image on the photosensitive drum by the toner on the surface of the developing roller is stripped off again by the toner supply roller section, and at the same time, new toner is supplied on the developing roller. Then, a new developing operation is continuously performed.

{Structure of Process Cartridge 5} In this embodiment, the portion including the photosensitive drum 1, the intermediate transfer belt 5a, and the waste toner box 216 is configured as an integrated process cartridge. FIG. 2 shows a vertical sectional view of the process cartridge 5 as viewed from the left side. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the process cartridge 5 as seen from the left side, and FIG. 4 shows a perspective view as seen from the right side. The process cartridge 5 further includes two units: a photoconductor drum unit 20 including the photoconductor drum 1 and an intermediate transfer body unit 21 including an intermediate transfer belt 5 a and a waste toner box 216. The photoconductor drum unit 20 is arranged in the upward projection direction of the intermediate transfer body unit 21, and the left and right side plates 260 and 261 of the intermediate transfer body unit 21 extend to both side surfaces of the photoconductor drum unit 20 and hold it from the side surface of the photoconductor drum unit 20. It is configured.

{Construction of Photosensitive Drum Unit 20} In the photosensitive drum unit 20, the photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably held at both ends by the right bearing 106 and the left rotary shaft 102, and the coupling 124 at the right end is interposed. A predetermined rotational driving force is transmitted from the device body.

The charging roller 2 is pressed against the photosensitive drum 1 by a predetermined force by a compression spring 126 via bearings 125 at both ends, and is driven to rotate.

At least one of the bearings 125 is made of a conductive material, and the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by applying a predetermined charging bias voltage to the charging roller 2. Incidentally, such a contact charging type charging device is disclosed in JP-A-63-149669.

Further, the photosensitive drum unit 20 is also provided with a drum shutter 119 which opens and closes in association with the operation of attaching to and detaching from the main body of the image forming apparatus.

Further, the photosensitive drum 1 is provided with a cleaning blade 6 at a predetermined position, and the residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 5a to which the reverse charge is applied is collected on the photosensitive drum 1 and It is configured to scrape with the residual toner on the drum 1.

Further, the scrape-off waste toner is prevented from falling onto the intermediate transfer belt 5a by the squeeze sheet 127, and the residual toner accumulated between the cleaning blade 6 and the squeeze sheet 127 is rotated by the feed blade 151. It is swept out to the inner side of the photosensitive drum container 129, that is, in the direction away from the photosensitive drum 1.

A first screw 128 is provided further on the inner side than the feed blade 151, and the first screw 12
When 8 rotates, the waste toner is conveyed to the left side when viewed from the front of the apparatus (in the front direction in FIG. 2).

In the photosensitive drum container 129, an opening 152 is provided downward at the left end of the groove portion in which the first screw 128 is arranged, and the waste toner is collected by the first screw 1
The waste toner conveyed to the left end by 28 drops from the opening 152, and the receiving port 153 of the intermediate transfer belt unit 21.
sent to a. A seal member 254 is provided on the lower surface of the opening 152 to prevent toner leakage at the joint with the receiving port 153a.

{Structure of Intermediate Transfer Belt Unit 21} Next, the structure of the intermediate transfer belt unit 21 will be described.

The intermediate transfer belt unit 21 has means for transferring the image transferred from the photosensitive drum 1 by the intermediate transfer belt 5a onto a transfer material, and means for collecting and storing waste toner. The structure of the intermediate transfer belt unit will be described below for each means.

{Intermediate Transfer Means} The intermediate transfer belt 5a is stretched around the intermediate transfer body frame 245 by two rollers, a driving roller 240 and a driven roller 241.

Both ends of the driving roller 240 are rotatably held by the right bearing 205 and the left bearing 201, and a predetermined rotational driving force is transmitted from the main body of the apparatus via a coupling 242 at the right end. .

A compression spring 244 is provided on the bearings 243 at both ends of the driven roller to apply a predetermined tension to the intermediate transfer belt 5a.

A primary transfer roller 5j is provided at a position facing the photosensitive drum 1 with the intermediate transfer belt 5a interposed therebetween, and is pressed by a predetermined force by a compression spring 247 via bearings 246 at both ends. It is driven to rotate.

At least one of the bearings 246 is made of a conductive material, and by applying a predetermined transfer bias voltage to the primary transfer roller 5j, the toner on the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 5a. Primary transfer is performed.

Further, at a position facing the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 240, a cleaning charging roller portion 223 is provided for applying a predetermined bias voltage to the residual toner on the intermediate transfer belt 5a to eliminate the residual charge. ing.

The cleaning charging roller 5f is pressed by a compression spring 212 with a predetermined force via the bearings 211 at both ends and is driven to rotate.

At least one of the bearings 211 is made of a conductive material, and the cleaning charging roller 5f applies a predetermined bias voltage to eliminate residual charges. Then, the residual toner is electrostatically retransferred onto the photosensitive drum 1, removed by the cleaning blade 6 and collected, and accumulated in the waste toner box 216 as described above.

{Waste Toner Collection / Storage Unit} The intermediate transfer body unit is provided with a waste toner box 216 on the opposite side of the photosensitive drum unit 20 with the intermediate transfer belt 5a as the center. The waste toner box 216 is formed in a box shape by joining the partition plate 250 to a part of the intermediate transfer body frame 245, and the residual toner on the photosensitive drum 1 is finally stored in the waste toner box 216. .

An impeller cover 253 is joined to the left side surface of the intermediate transfer member frame 245 with a seal member interposed therebetween. The impeller cover 253 has an opening 253a on the upper side, and is joined to the opening 152 provided at the lower left end of the photosensitive drum container 129 with the seal member 254 interposed therebetween. It falls inside.

An impeller 255 is provided inside the impeller cover 253.
Rotates counterclockwise as viewed from the left side surface and conveys the waste toner inside to the waste toner box 216. An impeller cover 253 is overlapped on the left side surface of the waste toner box 216, and a hole communicating with the inside of the impeller cover 253 is provided in the overlapped portion.

Further, a second screw 258 is provided at a position extending in the longitudinal direction from the hole, and the impeller 2
The waste toner conveyed by 55 is fed to the second screw 2
By rotating 58, the waste toner box is conveyed from the left side to the right side.

The waste toner box 216 is divided into a number of small chambers by a plurality of partition walls perpendicular to the second screw 258, and the small chambers at the left end are filled in order from the small chamber on the right side. Then, in the rightmost small room, a detection unit 269 that detects fullness of the waste toner box 216
Is provided.

{Method of Positioning Cartridge in Apparatus Main Body} Referring to FIG. 5, a method of attaching / detaching the process cartridge 5 to / from the main body A of the color image forming apparatus and fixing it to a predetermined position will be described.

When the upper lid 60 of the main body A of the color image forming apparatus is opened, the rotational driving force transmission coupling to the photoconductor drum 1 provided on the support portion 22 which supports the photoconductor drum bearing and the intermediate transfer belt drive shaft. Support part 2 for supporting the bearing part
The rotational drive force transmission coupling to the intermediate transfer belt drive roller provided in 3 slides in the axial direction and is retracted (disconnected state).

As for the retracting and connecting mechanism of the coupling, there is a method as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-109836, and the description thereof is omitted in this embodiment.

A photoconductor drum guide rail 30 and an intermediate transfer body guide rail 31 are provided on both sides of the apparatus main body with a step.

The photosensitive drum right bearing 106 and the left rotary shaft 102 of the process cartridge 5 are provided to the photosensitive drum guide line 30, the right bearing 205 and the left bearing 201 of the intermediate transfer belt driving roller 240, and the left and right side covers 260 and 261 are provided. The protrusions 203 and 204 provided are respectively placed on the intermediate transfer member guide rail 31 and slid and inserted.

Finally, the right side bearing 10 of the photosensitive drum
6. The left rotation shaft 102 falls into the support portion 22 that supports the photosensitive drum bearing, and the intermediate transfer belt drive roller 240
The right side bearing 205 and the left side bearing 201 fall into the support portion 23 that supports the bearing portion of the intermediate transfer belt drive shaft. The protrusions 203 and 204 provided on the left and right side covers respectively fall into the positioning groove 24, and are pressed and fixed by the torsion coil springs 25 for positioning the apparatus main body frame, respectively, as shown in FIG.

In the electrophotographic laser beam printer which is such an image forming apparatus, the main part of the present invention will be described below.

[Embodiment 1] Next, a developing roller protective sheet and a toner seal, which are the features of the present invention, will be described.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 6, 7, and 8.

First, as shown in FIG. 6, the toner seal 350 is attached to the opening portion 302a of the developing container 302 before toner filling. The toner seal has a surface 350a attached to the developing container and a surface 350e attached to the toner seal grip as shown in the figure.
There is a folded-back portion 350d for removing from the pasting end surface 350c on the side opposite to the direction of removing 0.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the developing container 302
The developing blade 303, the toner supply roller 304, the developing roller 305, the developing blade protecting member 370, the developing bearings 361 and 362, the holder members 363 and 364 are attached to the hole 302b of the developing container 302 and the hole 361a of the developing bearing 361. Through the hole 363 of the holder member 363
The surface 350e to be attached to the toner seal grip is passed through a.
The one assembled in this state is referred to as a developing unit 399.

On the other hand, FIG. 8 shows a protective sheet 370 for protecting the developing roller 305. The protective sheet has perforations 370a, 37 at four corners of the portion to be attached to the developing unit.
0b, 370c, 370d, and the developing unit 399 has corners 370aa, 370bb, 370c as shown in FIG.
c, 370dd is pasted. Further, a protective sheet 370
And a grip 375 for pulling the sticker is attached, and the grip sticking surface 3 of the toner seal 350 and the protective sheet 370 is attached.
50e and 370e are attached to the handle 375.

With the above-mentioned structure, the protective sheet 350 of the developing roller is perforated 370 by pulling the handle 375.
A, 370b, 370c, and 370d can be torn and removed, and the toner seal 350 can be removed.

By using the sheet as the protective member of the developing roller so that the developing cartridge can be detached from the developing cartridge, the developing cartridge and the developing cartridge insertion portion of the image forming apparatus can be saved, and the toner seal and the developing cartridge can be saved. Since the protective sheet of can be removed at the same time, the operability of the user could be improved.

[Second Embodiment] Next, FIG. 9 shows a protective cover and a toner seal of a developing roller as a second embodiment. The cover of FIG. 9 is a detailed view of a protective cover made of a synthetic resin such as polypropylene resin or polystyrene resin.

Further, the attachment of the toner seal to the developing container is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The protective cover 371 is provided with a guide rail shape (see the sectional view of FIG. 10) and a handle 371e. Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the developing unit 400 (having the same configuration as the developing unit 399 of the first embodiment) is also provided with rail shapes 400a and 400b, and the protective cover 371 can be slid to be attached / detached. It is like this. Then, the handle attaching surface 350e of the toner seal 350 is attached to the handle 371e of the protective cover.

With the above construction, by pulling the handle of the protective cover and sliding it, the protective cover can be removed without damaging the developing roller, and the toner seal can be removed at the same time, which improves the operability for the user. We were able to.

[Third Embodiment] Further, as a third embodiment, FIG. 11 shows a protective cover of a developing roller and a toner seal. FIG. 11 is a detailed view of a cover made of synthetic resin such as polypropylene or polystyrene.

Further, the attachment of the toner seal to the developing container is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

On the protective cover 372, as shown in FIG. 11, a surface 372e to which the end portion of the toner seal is attached and a claw portion 37.
2a. The protective cover is fixed (see FIG. 12) by hooking the claw portion 372a on the developing roller opening portion of the developing unit 401 (the same shape as the developing unit 399 of the first embodiment), and is removable. The handle sticking surface 350e of the toner seal 350 is joined to the toner seal sticking surface 372e of the protective cover.

With this structure, the protective cover 372 can be removed from the developing unit 401, and the toner seal 350 can be pulled by using the protective cover 372 as a handle, and the protective cover 372 and the toner seal 350 of the developing roller can be removed by a series of operations. be able to.

As described above, the toner seal can be removed by a series of operations by joining the toner seal to the protective cover of the developing roller and removing the cover to make it a grip. Therefore, the user can remove the toner seal with the toner with one hand. The seal can be removed. As a result, the operability for the user can be improved.

[0080]

As described above, by making it possible to remove the cover of the developing roller, it is not necessary to provide a cover accommodating portion in the developing cartridge, so that the developing cartridge and the developing cartridge inserting portion can be saved in space. I was able to.

Furthermore, by joining the cover of the developing roller and the toner seal and removing the two members simultaneously or in a series of operations, it is possible to insert the cover into the main body of the image forming apparatus in one operation. As a result, the user's operability was improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main body of an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a main cross-sectional view of a process cartridge mounted in an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left perspective view of the process cartridge.

FIG. 4 is a right perspective view of the process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the main body showing how to attach and detach the process cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing how a toner seal is attached to a developing container.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the assembling of the developing unit.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of main parts of the developing unit and the protective sheet according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of main parts of a developing unit and a protective cover according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a connecting portion between the developing unit and the protective cover according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of main parts of a developing unit and a protective cover according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a joint between a developing unit and a protective cover according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

302 developing container 302a opening 302b hole 303 developing blade 304 toner supply roller 305 developing roller 350 toner seal 350a affixing surface 350c affixing surface end 350d folding part 350e grip affixing surface 361, 362 developing bearing 361a hole 363, 364 Holder member 363a Hole 365 Developing blade protecting member 370 Protecting sheet 370a, 370b, 370c, 370d Perforation 370e Handle attaching portion 370aa, 370bb, 370cc, 370dd Attaching corner portion 371 Protecting cover 371a, 371b Rail guide portion 371e Part 372 Protective cover 372a Claw part 372e Toner seal attaching part 375 Handle 399 Developing unit 400 Developing units 400a, 400b Rail guide part 401 Developing unit The

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuki Mori             Kyano, 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Within the corporation F-term (reference) 2H071 BA13 BA23 BA35 DA08                 2H077 AA06 AC04 AD06 BA08 BA09                       GA04

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A developing device for developing a latent image formed on an electrophotographic photosensitive member, wherein the developing device has at least a developer carrying member and a developer regulating member, and protects the developer carrying member. The developer has a removable cover member and a developer sealing member that seals the developer in a developing container, the cover and the developer sealing member are joined, and the developer is interlocked with the removal of the cover. A developing device, wherein the sealing member can be removed simultaneously or in a series of operations. 2. The developing device according to claim 1, wherein the cover member is a sheet member or a synthetic resin member. 3. A developing cartridge, comprising the developing device according to claim 1.