JP2005037520A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image forming apparatus capable of positioning and attaching a drive unit more easily and highly precisely to the main body of the apparatus by actively using the its gravity of a drive motor. <P>SOLUTION: The drive unit 19 is disposed inside the side plate 1a of the main body of the apparatus. The drive motor 20 is passed through the opening 27 of the side plate 1a from inside. Also, the lower ends 26a<SB>1</SB>and 26a<SB>2</SB>of the side plate 26a of a housing 26 are engaged with pawl members 29a and 29b, respectively, in vertically downward directions. Thus, the drive unit 19 can be positioned to the side plate 1a almost vertically. At the time, the drive unit 19 is turned and pressed clockwise by its own weight W, so that the side plate 26a of the housing 26 is pressed to the side plate 1a of the main body of the apparatus. Thus, even when stopped from being held with hands, the drive unit 19 does not come out of the pawl members 29a and 29b and fall. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention belongs to the technical field of an image forming apparatus including a drive unit for rotationally driving a rotating member that controls image formation such as a photoconductor, a developing roller, or a transfer roller.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, in an image forming apparatus such as an electrostatic copying machine or a printer, a photosensitive member and its peripheral parts (for example, a charger or a cleaner that removes toner remaining on the photosensitive member) are integrated into a photosensitive cartridge, An image of an image forming apparatus, such as a developer unit that is detachable from the main body of the apparatus, or a unit that allows the user to easily replace those related to the image forming process as a process cartridge. Many image forming units in which the forming portion (image forming system) is made into a cartridge have been proposed.
[0003]
Such an image forming unit is positioned and supported in a pair of side plates arranged in the vertical direction and opposed to each other in the apparatus main body, and the rotation axis direction of a rotating member such as a photoreceptor or a developing roller (hereinafter, It is configured so that it can be inserted and removed in the longitudinal direction), or is detachable vertically above the apparatus main body. Further, in a drive transmission system for driving motor rotation to a rotating member such as a photoconductor and a developing roller in the cartridge, drive input means on the cartridge side (image forming unit side) and drive output means on the apparatus body side (drive unit side) In general, a connecting portion (for example, a meshing portion of a gear) is provided inside the pair of side plates described above.
By unitizing the image forming system in this way, it becomes easy to attach each component of the image forming system to the apparatus main body, and assembling workability and maintainability are improved.
[0004]
Conventionally, for example, a driving motor that is a driving source of a rotating member that controls image formation, such as a photoconductor, a developing roller, or a transfer roller, a driving output gear that outputs a rotating torque of the driving motor to the rotating member, these driving motors, and A gear train arranged between the drive output gears to reduce the rotation of the drive motor and transmit it to the drive output gear, and a drive transmission cutoff member such as an electromagnetic clutch for controlling transmission or cutoff of the drive motor rotation to the drive output gear Various drive units have been developed in which the components of the drive system are integrated into a single unit by supporting the above with a support member.
[0005]
By unitizing the drive system in this way, it becomes easy to attach each component of the drive system to the apparatus main body, as in the above-described image forming system, and assembly workability and maintainability are improved.
In many cases, high precision is required for the drive gear itself that transmits the rotation of the drive motor to the rotation member of the image forming system involved in image formation and the attachment of these gears. For example, if the tooth surface of the gear is scratched when the gear is attached or the like, there is a problem that it leads to an image defect such as banding. Therefore, it is necessary to pay sufficient attention to its handling. Therefore, by making the drive system as a unit as described above, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of such a problem as compared with the case where a single gear is attached or detached.
[0006]
As a unitization of a drive system, a drive unit aimed at low noise and low vibration has been conventionally proposed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In addition, a drive unit provided with electrical parts such as an electromagnetic clutch for controlling power transmission has been proposed in the past. However, as such a drive unit, a drive unit devised so that the electrical parts can be easily replaced is provided. Has also been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
[0007]
On the other hand, in the drive unit in which the drive unit is attached to the vertical side plate of the device main body, the problem of the drive motor's own weight is dealt with, that is, the motor mounting vibration-proof member is damaged due to the drooping of the drive motor's own weight. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
[Patent Document 1]
[Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 14-258563]
[Patent Document 2]
[Patent No. 3376234]
[Patent Document 3]
[JP-A-13-337502]
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the case of a drive unit including a drive motor as disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is common to arrange the entire unit inside a pair of side plates of the apparatus main body.
However, if the entire unit is arranged inside the pair of side plates in this way, the distance between the pair of side plates needs to be larger than the dimension in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge, which leads to an increase in the size of the entire apparatus. . In order to avoid this, only the minimum necessary drive transmission connection portion is disposed inside the side plate of the apparatus main body, and the drive motor portion of the drive unit is provided outside the side plate through an opening formed in the side plate of the apparatus main body. Although it is conceivable, the drive motor is overwhelmingly heavy compared to other drive parts such as gears of the drive transmission connection part, so the weight balance when attaching to the vertical surface of the side plate of the main body of the device due to its own weight is very bad.
[0009]
When attaching the drive unit to the side plate, the operator is required to tighten the screw while holding the drive unit with one hand and engaging the positioning unit of the drive unit and the positioning unit of the side plate. Therefore, when the weight balance is poor as described above, the assembly workability is remarkably deteriorated, and the drive unit may not be positioned with high accuracy with respect to the side plate and may be assembled in a state where it is not in a proper position. Thus, if the drive unit is not assembled at the proper position, an abnormal image such as banding may occur and the image quality may be deteriorated.
[0010]
Further, when the drive output gear on the drive unit side in the drive transmission connecting portion is passed through the opening of the side plate of the apparatus main body, the gear may come into contact with the edge portion of the opening of the side plate and damage the tooth surface or the like. As a result, not only the assembly workability is deteriorated but also the image quality may be deteriorated.
Further, although Patent Document 3 discloses a countermeasure for the problem caused by the weight of the drive motor, the assembly of the drive unit to the apparatus main body by positively utilizing the weight of the drive motor and the gears can be improved. There is no disclosure or suggestion of tooth surface protection.
[0011]
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to position the drive unit easily and with high accuracy by the main body of the image forming apparatus by actively utilizing the weight of the drive motor. Thus, an image forming apparatus that can be assembled is provided.
[0012]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention of claim 1 is directed to a rotating member of an image forming system that is detachably supported on a pair of side plates that are arranged opposite to each other and are erected in the vertical direction, and the pair of side plates. At least a drive unit including a drive motor and a drive wheel train including a plurality of gears that transmit a drive force of the drive motor to the rotating member. In the image forming apparatus, an opening through which the drive motor can pass is formed in one side plate of the pair of side plates, and a lower end portion of the support member is formed on a side surface of the rotating member of the one side plate. Is engaged, and the drive motor is placed in the opening of the one side plate with the drive unit positioned on the side of the rotation member of the one side plate. It is characterized by being adapted to substantially position the lower end of the support member together pass through it to engage with the engaging portion, the driving unit to said one side plate from.
[0013]
The invention of claim 2 is characterized in that positioning means for properly positioning the drive unit with respect to the one side plate is provided between the one side plate and the support member.
Further, in the invention of claim 3, the image forming system is constituted by a plurality of image forming units, and among these image forming units, at least one rotation member of the image forming unit is the drive motor. It is characterized by being driven by a driving force of.
[0014]
Operation and effect of the invention
According to the image forming apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, in the state where the drive unit is positioned on the rotating member side of one side plate in the apparatus main body, only the driving motor enters the opening of one side plate from the rotating member side. While being penetrated, the lower end portion of the support member of the drive unit is engaged with the engaging portion of the side plate on the rotating member side, so that the drive unit is substantially positioned with respect to one side plate.
[0015]
At this time, most of the drive motor is located on the side opposite to the rotation member side of one side plate, but the drive wheel train of the drive unit does not penetrate the opening of the side plate and is located on the rotation member side of one side plate. Since the weight of the drive motor is much larger than the total weight of the drive wheel train and the support member, and the center of gravity of the drive unit is located on the drive motor side, the drive unit is substantially positioned with respect to one side plate as described above. In this state, the center of gravity of the drive unit is located on the side opposite to the rotating member side of one side plate. As a result, the support member of the drive unit is rotationally biased and pressed against one of the side plates, so that even if the assembly operator releases the drive unit, the drive unit does not fall out of the engaging portion and is positioned approximately. Stable support in the state. Therefore, the subsequent fastening with a fastener such as a screw of the drive unit can be easily performed, and the assembling workability is improved.
[0016]
In addition, only the drive motor passes through the opening of one side plate, but the drive wheel train of the drive unit does not pass through the opening of the side plate, so the drive wheel train at the edge of the side plate opening in a series of assembly operations of the drive unit. The tooth surface of each gear is not damaged. As a result, it is possible to prevent problems such as banding that may lead to image defects.
Since the assembly workability is improved and the gears are prevented from being damaged, the rotation member of the image forming system can be controlled with high accuracy, so that the image quality can be improved as compared with the prior art. .
[0017]
In particular, according to the invention of claim 2, after the drive unit is substantially positioned, it is positioned with high accuracy with respect to one side plate by the positioning means. Thereby, since the rotation member of the image forming system can be controlled to be rotated with higher accuracy, the image quality can be further improved.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view schematically showing a photosensitive member and its drive unit used in the image forming apparatus of this example. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 1 of this example is an image forming apparatus of a rotary development type, and is roughly exposed by an exposure device 2, a rotary development device 3, and an exposure device 2 to be electrostatic latent. An intermediate transfer medium comprising an endless transfer belt, and a photosensitive member 4 on which an electrostatic latent image is formed with a toner from the rotary developing device 3 and a visible toner image is formed. 5. A primary transfer device 6 that primarily transfers a toner image on the photosensitive member 4 to the intermediate transfer medium 5. A toner image primarily transferred onto the intermediate transfer medium 5 is recorded on a recording medium such as paper (hereinafter, paper is taken as an example). ) Secondary transfer device 8 for secondary transfer to paper 7, paper 7 accommodated in paper feed cassette 9 is fed to paper feed device 10 for feeding to secondary transfer device 8 by paper feed roller 10a, and secondarily transferred to paper 7. Fixing unit 11 for fixing the toner image, and fixing It is fixed by knitting 11 formed of a sheet discharge tray 12 for accommodating the paper 7 in which a predetermined image is formed.
[0020]
The image forming type rotary developing device 3 includes a rotary 13 having a rotary frame 13 a rotatably provided, and yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and cyan mounted on the rotary 13. Black (K) developing cartridges 14, 15, 16, and 17 are provided. Each of the developing cartridges 14, 15, 16, and 17 includes developing rollers 14a, 15a, 16a, and 17a that are rotating members. Then, the rotation of the rotary 13 is controlled so that the developing cartridges 14, 15, 16, 17 are sequentially set to the developing position (in the state shown in FIG. 1, the yellow (Y) developing cartridge 14 is set to the developing position. The developing roller 14a is in contact with the photosensitive member 4). The rotary developing device 3 is configured as an image forming unit in which the developing cartridges 14, 15, 16, and 17 are integrally attached to the rotary frame 13 a of the rotary 13.
[0021]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on one end side of the photosensitive member 4 which is a rotating member of the image forming system, a photosensitive member driving input gear 4a and a rotating shaft 4b are both provided coaxially and integrally with the photosensitive member 4. Further, on the other end side of the photoconductor 4, a rotation shaft 4 c is provided coaxially and integrally with the photoconductor 4. The photosensitive member 4, the photosensitive member driving input gear 4a, the rotating shafts 4b and 4c, and a charger and a cleaner (not shown) are integrally assembled to form a photosensitive member cartridge (photosensitive unit; one of image forming units) 18. It is configured. The photoreceptor cartridge 18 is detachable by moving in the longitudinal direction of the photoreceptor 4 indicated by an arrow A in FIG. 2 from the front side (user side) of the image forming apparatus 1 (hereinafter referred to as an apparatus). A pair of side plates 1a, 1b is also mounted. The pair of side plates 1a and 1b are disposed to face each other and are erected in the vertical direction.
[0022]
In a state where the photoconductor cartridge 18 is mounted on the apparatus main body, one rotation shaft 4 b is rotatably supported by one side plate 18 a of the photoconductor unit 18 and the other rotation shaft 4 c is supported by the photoconductor unit 18. The other side plate 18b is rotatably supported. Further, the rotary shaft 4b is rotatably supported on one side plate 1a of the apparatus main body, and the side plate 18b on the other end side of the photosensitive unit 18 is attached to the other side plate 1b of the apparatus main body.
[0023]
A drive unit 19 that rotationally drives the photoreceptor 4 is attached to the side plate 1a that supports the rotation shaft 4b. The drive unit 19 includes a drive motor 20 that outputs a rotational torque (driving force) for rotating the photoconductor 4, a drive motor gear 21 fixed to the rotary shaft 20 a of the drive motor 20, and a photoconductor drive output gear. 22, a reduction gear pair 25 composed of a large-diameter gear 23 and a small-diameter gear 24, and a U-shaped casing 26 made of sheet metal and having two side plates 26 a and 26 b.
[0024]
The photoconductor drive output gear 22 can mesh with the photoconductor drive input gear 4 a, the large diameter gear 23 meshes with the drive motor gear 21, and the small diameter gear 24 meshes with the photoconductor drive output gear 22. The drive motor 20 is fixed to one side plate 26a of the housing 26 so that the rotary shaft 20a can rotate through a hole (not shown) of the side plate 26a, and both side plates 26a, 26b of the housing 26 are fixed. The photosensitive member drive output gear 22 and the reduction gear pair 25 are rotatably supported. That is, the drive motor 19, the drive motor gear 21, the photosensitive member drive output gear 22, and the reduction gear pair 25 are integrally attached to the housing 26 that is a support member, whereby the drive unit 19 is configured.
[0025]
The inner surface of the side plate 1a (i.e., the photosensitive member unit 18 side) has a mounting surface 1a ₁ of the drive unit 19. The side plate 1a has an opening 27 through which the drive motor 20 can pass, and two positioning holes 28a and 28b. One positioning hole 28a is positioned with high accuracy in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The other positioning hole 28b is formed as a long hole extending in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the photoreceptor 4 and in the horizontal direction. The upper and lower edges of the long hole are positioned with high accuracy in the vertical direction (vertical direction).
[0026]
On the inner surface of the side plate 1a, an L-shaped claw member 29a is provided, which is an engaging portion with which the lower end portion 26a1 of _one side plate 26a of the housing 26 can be engaged vertically downward, and also the side plate 26a. L-shaped pawl member 29b is provided lower portion 26a ₂ of is capable of engaging the engaging portion downward in the vertical direction. The two claw members 29a and 29b are claw members having the same shape, and can be provided by cutting and raising the side plate 1a, or can be provided by fixing the side plate 1a and another member to the side plate 1a. In this case, the lower end portions 26a ₁ and 26a _{2 of the one} side plate 26a are engaged with the claw members 29a and 29b so that the lower end portions 26a ₁ and 26a ₂ can move in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the photoconductor 4 and in the horizontal direction. It is supposed to be.
[0027]
On the other hand, on one side plate 26a of the housing 26, two positioning bosses 30a and 30b that can be fitted in the positioning holes 28a and 28b are provided upright. One positioning boss 30a is fitted into the one positioning hole 28a, so that the positioning boss 30a is positioned with high accuracy in the vertical and horizontal directions with respect to the side plate 1a. The other positioning boss 30b is positioned in the vertical direction with high accuracy by being fitted into the other positioning hole 28b. That is, the positioning holes 28a and 28b and the positioning bosses 30a and 30b constitute positioning means for properly positioning the drive unit 19 with respect to the one side plate 26a between the one side plate 1a and the housing 26. ing.
[0028]
Next, attachment of the drive unit 19 in which the drive motors 20, 21, 22, and 25 are assembled to the housing 26 to the side plate 1a of the apparatus main body will be described.
The drive unit 19 is positioned inside the side plate 1a (on the photoconductor unit 18 side). In this state, the drive motor 20 of the drive unit 19 is passed through the opening 27 of the side plate 1a from the inside as shown in FIG. The lower end portions 26a ₁ and 26a ₂ of 26a are engaged with the claw members 29a and 29b, respectively, downward in the vertical direction. As a result, the drive unit 19 is positioned substantially (substantially) in the vertical direction on the side plate 1a. In this state, most of the drive motor 20 is located outside the side plate 1a (on the side opposite to the photosensitive unit 18 side), and A drive wheel train composed of the drive motor gear 21, the photoreceptor drive output gear 22 and the reduction gear pair 25 is located inside the side plate 1a (on the photoreceptor unit 18 side).
[0029]
By the way, since the weight of the drive motor 20 is much larger than the total weight of the drive wheel train including the drive motor gear 21, the photosensitive member drive output gear 22 and the reduction gear pair 25 and the housing 26, the center of gravity G of the drive unit 19 is driven. Located on the motor 20 side. Therefore, in the state where the drive unit 19 is substantially positioned in the vertical direction as described above, the center of gravity G of the drive unit 19 is positioned outside the side plate 1a (opposite to the photosensitive unit 18 side) as shown in FIG. become. Therefore, a clockwise rotational moment M in FIG. 4 due to its own weight W is applied to the drive unit 19, and the drive unit 19 has the lower end portions 26 a ₁ and 26 a _{2 of} the side plates 26 a supported by the claw members 29 a and 29 b. (Specifically, around a straight line connecting both lower end portions 26a ₁ and 26a ₂ ), the rotation is biased clockwise. Therefore, even if the hand is released from the drive unit 19, the drive unit 19 is stable without falling off the claw members 29a and 29b.
[0030]
Then, the drive unit 19 is moved up and down in the vertical direction so that the other positioning boss 30b is completely fitted into the long positioning hole 28b and is moved horizontally in the horizontal direction so that the one positioning boss 30a is moved to one side. Are completely fitted in the positioning holes 28a. Thereby, the drive unit 19 is positioned with high accuracy at the normal position in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction with respect to the side plate 1a. At this time, since the lower end portions 26a ₁ and 26a _{2 of} the side plate 26a are respectively supported by the claw members 29a and 29b and the drive unit 19 is urged to rotate clockwise, the drive unit 19 is stable. By using both hands by the assembly operator, this positioning operation can be performed easily and reliably. In the state in which the drive unit 19 is positioned with high accuracy, the mounting surface 26a ₂ of the side plate 26a of the housing 26 comes into close contact with the mounting surface 1a ₁ of the side plate 1a of the device. Finally, the drive unit 19 is positioned and attached to the side plate 1a with high accuracy by fastening and fixing the housing 26 to the side plate 1a with fasteners 31a and 31b such as screws or bolts.
As described above, when the drive unit 19 is attached to the side plate 1 a, the photosensitive member drive output gear 22 of the drive unit 19 is engaged with the photosensitive member drive input gear 4 a of the photosensitive member 4.
[0031]
According to the image forming apparatus 1 of this example, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, when the drive unit positioned on the side plate of the apparatus body is held by hand and screwed as in the prior art, the positioning boss is positioned in the positioning hole while supporting the drive unit having a heavy heavy drive motor with one hand. Therefore, it is difficult to perform screw tightening without displacement of the drive unit, and the drive unit cannot be positioned with high accuracy and attached to the side plate. On the other hand, according to the image forming apparatus 1 of this example, after the side plate 26a of the housing 26 is supported by the claw members 29a and 29b, the weight of the drive unit 19 (mostly the weight of the drive motor 20). ), The drive unit 19 is pressed against the side plate of the apparatus main body, so that the drive unit 19 does not fall off the claw members 29a and 29b even if the assembly operator releases the hand from the drive unit 19. In this way, by actively using the dead weight W of the drive unit 19, the drive unit 19 is stably supported in a substantially positioned state. Thereby, the subsequent fastening by the fasteners 31a and 31b of the drive unit 19 can be easily performed, and the assembly workability is improved. Moreover, the drive unit 19 can be positioned with high accuracy and attached to the normal position of the side plate 1a of the apparatus main body.
[0032]
Further, the drive unit 19 is driven from the inside of the side plate 1a and only the drive motor 20 is passed through the opening 17 of the side plate 1a, but each gear 21, 22, 23, 24 of the drive wheel train is driven without passing through the opening 17. Since the attachment of the unit 19 to the side plate 1a is completed, the tooth surfaces of the gears 21, 22, 23, 24 are not damaged at the edge portion of the opening 17 in a series of assembly operations. As a result, it is possible to prevent problems such as banding that may lead to image defects.
Since the assembly workability is improved and the gears 21, 22, 23, and 24 are prevented from being damaged, the photoconductor 4 can be rotationally controlled with high accuracy. Can be good.
[0033]
In the above-described example, the positioning holes 28a and 28b, the claw members 29a and 29b, the positioning bosses 30a and 30b, and the fasteners 31a and 31b are all provided in two. There is no limitation and one or more arbitrary numbers can be provided.
[0034]
In the above-described example, the present invention is applied to the rotary developing type image forming apparatus 1 and the photosensitive member 4 that is a rotating member of the image forming system. However, the present invention is not limited to these rotary developing types. The image forming apparatus 1 and the photoconductor 4 are not limited to the above, but include at least a rotating member that controls image formation such as a developing roller and a transfer roller, and a driving unit that rotationally drives the rotating member of the image forming system. As long as the image forming apparatus includes the image forming apparatus, the present invention can be applied to any image forming apparatus. In addition, the drive unit may be configured to rotationally drive a plurality of rotating members of the image forming system.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an example of an embodiment of an image forming apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a photoreceptor and its drive unit used in the image forming apparatus of this example.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating attachment of a drive unit to the apparatus main body.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Image forming apparatus, 1a, 1b ... Side plate, 1a ₁ ... Mounting surface of side plate 1a, 2 ... Exposure device, 3 ... Rotary developing device, 4 ... Photoconductor, 4a ... Photoconductor drive input gear, 4b, 4c ... Rotating shaft, 5 ... Intermediate transfer medium, 6 ... Primary transfer device, 7 ... Recording medium, 8 ... Secondary transfer device, 10 ... Paper feed device, 11 ... Fixing unit, 13 ... Rotary, 14, 15, 16, 17 ... Yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K) developing cartridges, 18: photosensitive unit, 18a, 18b ... side plates, 19 ... driving unit, 20 ... driving motor, 20a ... driving the rotating shaft of the motor 20, 21 ... drive motor gear 22 ... photoconductor drive output gear, 23 ... large diameter gear, 24 ... small-diameter gear, 25 ... gear pair, 26 ... housing, 26a, 26b ... side plate, 26a 1 _... plate the lower end of the 26a, 26a The mounting surface of the ... side plate 26a, 27 ... opening, 28a, 28b ... positioning holes (positioning means), 29a, 29b ... pawl member (engaging portion), 30a, 30b ... positioning boss (positioning means), 31a, 31b ... fasteners

Claims (3)

A rotating member of an image forming system that is detachably supported on a pair of side plates that are arranged opposite to each other and are vertically installed, and is attached to one side plate of the pair of side plates. An image forming apparatus comprising at least a drive unit formed by integrally supporting a drive wheel train composed of a plurality of gears for transmitting a drive force to the rotating member, respectively on a support member,
An opening through which the drive motor can pass is formed in one side plate of the pair of side plates, and an engaging portion with which a lower end portion of the support member is engaged with a side surface of the rotating member of the one side plate. Provided,
With the drive unit positioned on the rotating member side of the one side plate, the drive motor is passed through the opening of the one side plate from the rotating member side, and the lower end portion of the support member is used as the engaging portion. An image forming apparatus, wherein the drive unit is substantially positioned with respect to the one side plate by being engaged. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein positioning means for properly positioning the drive unit with respect to the one side plate is provided between the one side plate and the support member. The image forming system is composed of a plurality of image forming units, and among the plurality of image forming units, at least one rotation member of the image forming unit is driven by the driving force of the drive motor. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is an image forming apparatus.

Images