JP2006195490A - Process cartridge and color image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process cartridge and a color image forming apparatus that can improve the operability of loading and unloading. <P>SOLUTION: The process cartridge 31 has a photoreceptor belt 1, and an endless intermediate transfer belt 10 extended between rotary rollers 11 and 12 in contact with the photoreceptor belt 1, and is provided with a handle 33 nearby the rotary roller 12, and freely loaded in and unloaded from an intermediate frame 40 provided to a primary body frame 9 from above in the direction wherein the intermediate transfer belt 10 is extended between the rotary rollers 11 and 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a process cartridge and a color image forming apparatus, for example, a process cartridge that overlaps a photosensitive member or has an intermediate transfer member, and a color image forming apparatus such as a color copying machine, a color printer, and a color facsimile including the process cartridge. Relates to the device.

  As a typical conventional color image forming apparatus, a photosensitive drum that forms a latent image and a transfer drum that holds a transfer paper and transfers a toner image on the photosensitive member, or a photosensitive drum is used. A method in which a plurality of toners are superimposed and transferred onto a transfer sheet, or toner images of respective colors formed on a photosensitive drum are sequentially superimposed and transferred, for example, to the same position on an intermediate transfer belt, and the transferred image is transferred. A method of transferring to paper has been put into practical use.

  In the method using the transfer drum, the transfer paper must be held electrostatically or mechanically on the transfer drum, so it is difficult to use small-size paper such as postcards or thick paper as transfer paper. It is not so-called paper-free.

  Also, with the method of mechanically holding the leading edge of the transfer paper, the image cannot be transferred to the entire transfer paper. Furthermore, a device that can use A4 size transfer paper as a transfer drum requires a drum diameter of about φ100 mm or more, and a device that can use A3 size transfer paper requires a drum diameter of about φ150 mm or more. Was inviting.

  On the other hand, the photosensitive belt superposition method and the intermediate transfer belt method also have paper-free properties that allow postcards and thick paper to be used as transfer paper as the transfer method. Depending on the configuration of the transfer belt, the device body can be downsized. It is also possible to do.

  As a conventional color image forming apparatus of this type of intermediate transfer system, a latent image corresponding to an image of each color is formed on a photosensitive member by a latent image forming unit, and a plurality of developing units using different color developers are movable supported. The latent image is developed by sequentially facing the photosensitive member by the body, and the developed image is transferred to the transfer paper via the intermediate transfer belt installed so as to extend in the lateral direction, and the transferred image transferred to the transfer paper In a color image forming apparatus in which a fixing device is fixed, a photosensitive cartridge is provided in which at least the photosensitive member and the intermediate transfer belt are mounted on a common support, and a holding portion for detachably holding the photosensitive member cartridge is provided in the color. One provided in the main body of an image forming apparatus is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-6-110261

  However, in such a conventional color image forming apparatus, when attaching or detaching the photosensitive cartridge, the position and holding method of the photosensitive cartridge must be taken care of each time. The operability at the time is low.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and provides a process cartridge and a color image forming apparatus capable of improving the operability during attachment and detachment.

  The process cartridge of the present invention has a photosensitive member and an endless intermediate transfer member stretched between two rollers so as to be in contact with the photosensitive member, and is disposed in the vicinity of one of the two rollers. A handle is provided, and the intermediate transfer member is stretched between the two rollers and is detachably attached to the color image forming apparatus main body from above.

  With this configuration, a handle is provided near one of the two rollers, and the process cartridge can be attached to and detached from the color image forming apparatus main body in the direction in which the intermediate transfer member is stretched between the two rollers and from above. In addition, the operability when attaching / detaching the process cartridge can be improved.

A color image forming apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described process cartridge.
With this configuration, it is possible to improve operability when the process cartridge is attached or detached.

  As described above, the present invention can provide a process cartridge and a color image forming apparatus that can improve the operability during attachment and detachment.

Embodiments of a process cartridge and a color image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a color image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a flexible belt-shaped photosensitive member (hereinafter referred to as a photosensitive member or a photosensitive belt) which is a belt-shaped image carrier, and the photosensitive belt 1 is stretched between rotating rollers 2 and 3. It is rotated and conveyed in the clockwise direction in the figure by driving the rotating rollers 2 and 3. 4 is a charging charger as a charging means, 5 is a laser writing system unit as an image exposure means, 6 is three developing means containing yellow, magenta and cyan color developers, that is, a rotary color developing device, 7 is This is a black developing device which is a developing unit containing a black developer provided separately from the color developing device 6.

  The laser writing system unit 5 has a laser beam generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) rotated and scanned by a polygon mirror 5B rotated by a drive motor 5A, an optical path is bent by a mirror through an fθ lens 5C, and charged in advance. It is exposed on the circumference of the photosensitive belt 1 uniformly charged by the charging charger 4 to form an electrostatic latent image.

  For this reason, the laser writing system unit 5 is housed in a holding housing having a slit-shaped exposure opening on the upper surface and is incorporated in the apparatus main body. A bottom plate (not shown) is provided above the paper feed cassette 17 and below the laser writing system unit 5. The laser writing system unit 5 is incorporated therein, and the side plate of the apparatus main body is attached in the roller axis direction to support each unit. It is provided on the left and right sides and assembled to the bottom plate.

  In addition to the laser writing system unit 5 shown in the figure, an optical system in which a light emitting unit and a convergent light transmission body are integrated is also used. The charging charger 4, the laser writing light 5D, and the photoconductor cleaning blade 15A are provided on the rotating roller 2 side on which the photoconductor belt 1 is stretched.

  The color developing unit 6 and the black developing unit 7 are each provided with a developing roller that comes close to or in contact with the photosensitive belt 1 at a predetermined position, and the latent image on the photosensitive belt 1 is developed by non-contact development or contact development. It has a function of imaging.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes an intermediate transfer belt as an intermediate transfer member. The intermediate transfer belt 10 is placed between the rotating rollers 11 and 12 so as to be inclined and is rotated in the drawing by driving the rotating rollers 11 and 12. It is rotated and conveyed clockwise.

  The lower inclined belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 is in contact with the photosensitive belt 1 and the intermediate transfer belt 10 at the part of the rotating roller 3, and the first visible image on the photosensitive belt 1 is intermediate. The image is transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 10 by the bias brush 13 provided in the transfer belt (primary transfer position), and the same process is repeated, so that the second image, the third image, The fourth visible image is superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 10 and transferred so as not to cause a positional shift.

  A transfer roller 14 serving as a secondary transfer member is provided on the rotation roller 11 of the intermediate transfer belt 10 so as to be in contact with and away from the intermediate transfer belt 10. The distance on the intermediate transfer belt 10 from the primary transfer position to the secondary transfer position is set to be equal to or longer than the maximum image output length.

  In the figure, 15 is a waste toner collecting container including a cleaning blade 15A for the photosensitive belt 1, 16 is a cleaning device for the intermediate transfer belt 10, and the blade 16A of the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 16 is an intermediate transfer belt during image formation. 10 is maintained at a position spaced apart from the surface of the sheet 10, and is brought into pressure contact with the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 as shown in the figure only during cleaning after the secondary image transfer.

  FIG. 2 shows the internal configuration of the color and black developing units 6 and 7, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the color developing unit 6. The rotary type color developing device 6 is provided with a casing 21 which is a rotating body so as to be rotatable about a rotation center O. The casing 21 can be rotated in the clockwise direction in the drawing by driving a drive mechanism (not shown). It has become.

  The casing 21 integrally holds yellow, magenta, and cyan color developing units 22 (-Y, M, C). The color developing units 22 (-Y, M, C) for the respective colors take the same form and the same operation.

  The photosensitive belt 1 stretched between the rotating rollers 2 and 3 is provided with a backup roller 35 so as to push one of the two extended portions between the rotating rollers 2 and 3 outward. The black developing device 7 is arranged at the upper part and the color developing device 6 is arranged at the lower part so that the belt surface is vertical and the lower belt surface is slightly inclined. That is, since the intermediate transfer belt 10 is inclined and the photosensitive belt 1 is substantially vertical, the waste toner collection container 15 can secure a certain capacity space.

  At the developing position in the color developing unit 6, the developing roller 23 is disposed to face the photosensitive belt 1 so that the developing roller 23 rotates in the same direction as the moving direction of the photosensitive belt 1 with a predetermined linear velocity ratio. Is done.

  Below the developing roller 23, a supply roller 25 made of an elastic material such as polyurethane foam slides on the rubbing portion with the developing roller 23 and rotates with a predetermined linear velocity ratio in the same direction as the developing roller 23. Is provided. A developing blade 26 made of a thin plate having a spring property such as stainless steel is provided on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the supply roller 25 so that one end thereof is in contact with the developing roller 23.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a toner storage unit 29 is provided on the front side of the color developing unit 6, and the screw-like first toner transport member 27 is disposed behind the color developing unit 6 from the toner storage unit 29. Arranged in parallel with the developing roller 23 and the supply roller 25 up to the side plate of the developing unit 22, the toner is conveyed from the front side to the rear side in the figure.

  Then, the roller rotates in conjunction with the developing roller 23 and the supply roller 25 and with a predetermined linear velocity ratio. A part of the partition plate 24 is disposed so as to be in contact with the supply roller 25, and a toner transport space surrounding the first toner transport member 27 is formed by the developing roller 23, the supply roller 25, and the like.

  The toner supplied onto the supply roller 25 is supplied to the surface of the developing roller 23 by the supply roller 25 and charged, and is carried on the surface of the developing roller 23. The toner carried on the surface of the developing roller 23 is thinned by the developing blade 26 to develop the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor belt 1.

  By the way, the toner that has not been used in the developing step is transported by the first toner transport member 27 to the rear end portion of the color developing device 6 on the side facing the toner containing portion 29, and the shafts of the developing roller 23 and the supply roller 25. The toner reaches a toner circulation portion provided outside the effective direction diameter portion, and the toner falls to the lower portion of the color developing unit 22 due to gravity.

  Below the color developing unit 22, a screw-like second toner conveying member 28 is disposed in parallel with the developing roller 23, the supply roller 25 and the first toner conveying member 27, and is opposite to the first toner conveying member 27. The toner is rotated so as to convey the toner in the direction, and the toner not used in the developing process is conveyed to the toner storage unit 29.

  By appropriately setting the toner conveyance amounts of the first toner conveyance member 27 and the second toner conveyance member 28, the toner amount in the color developing unit 22 is not detected and complicated toner supply amount control is performed on the supply roller 25. The small color developing device 6 can supply toner, has a high degree of layout freedom, and has a small cross-sectional occupation ratio with respect to the photosensitive belt 1.

  Note that the color toner cartridge 30 of FIG. 3 is detachable from the toner accommodating portion 29, and the color toner cartridge 30 is replaced when the toner is replenished.

  The black developing device 7 is a developing device in which black toner is contained in the developing container 41, and is a developing device integrally formed as a so-called developing cartridge in which the life of the developing device is replaced when the toner ends. Similar to the color developing unit 22 of the color developing unit 6, the developing roller 23 faces the photosensitive belt 1 so that the developing roller 23 rotates in the same direction as the moving direction of the photosensitive belt 1 with a predetermined linear velocity ratio. Arranged.

  Above the developing roller 23, a supply roller 25 made of an elastic material such as polyurethane foam slides on the rubbing portion with the developing roller 23 and rotates in the same direction as the developing roller 23 with a predetermined linear velocity ratio. Further, a developing blade 26 made of a thin plate having a spring property such as stainless steel is provided so that one end thereof is in contact with the developing roller 23.

In the developing container 41, a first agitator 42 and a second agitator 43 are provided for conveying and stirring the toner toward the supply roller 25 and the developing roller 23. Although the developing cartridge of the type including the toner is used here, it is a matter of course that a developing device in which the toner cartridge is replaced and replenished like a color developing device may be used.
Further, the black developing device 7 can swing in the horizontal direction with respect to the photosensitive belt 1, and moves away from the photosensitive belt 1 when not developing, and approaches or contacts the photosensitive belt 1 when developing.

  As the process cartridge 31, the photosensitive belt 1, the charging charger 4, the intermediate transfer belt 10, the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 16, the registration roller 50 </ b> B, and the conveyance roller 20 </ b> B are integrated, and the waste toner collection container 15 is a process cartridge. 31 is incorporated in a replaceable manner. The surface of the registration roller 50B in the case exterior portion of the process cartridge 31 also has a function as a conveyance guide.

  Here, the waste toner scraped off from the intermediate transfer belt 10 by the cleaning blade 16A is conveyed in the cross sectional front direction by the auger 16B provided in the intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 16, and further, in front of the process cartridge 31. The toner is transported to the waste toner collection container 15 by a transport member (not shown) provided on the side surface and collected. As a result, the waste toner can be collected without replacing the process cartridge 31, so that the life of the process cartridge can be extended.

  Further, the conveying rollers 20A and 20B, the registration rollers 50A and 50B, the transfer roller 14, and the conveying path of the fixing device 49 to the fixing rollers 49A and 49B are arranged substantially parallel to the inclined belt surface of the intermediate transfer belt 10 and the apparatus main body. The miniaturization is aimed at.

  The image forming process by the color image forming apparatus described above is performed as follows. First, the formation of a multicolor image is performed according to an image forming system described below. That is, image data is created by processing the data obtained by the color image data input unit, which scans the original image by the image sensor, in the image data processing unit, which is temporarily stored in the image memory. Next, the image memory is taken out at the time of recording and input to a color image forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as a recording unit.

  That is, when a color signal output from an image reading apparatus separate from the printer is input to the laser writing system unit 5, a laser generated by a semiconductor laser (not shown) in the laser writing system unit 5. The beam is rotated and scanned by a polygon mirror 5B rotated by a drive motor 5A, the optical path is bent by a mirror through an fθ lens 5C, and is uniformly charged in advance by a charging charger 4 as charging means. Exposure on the circumference forms an electrostatic latent image.

  Here, the image pattern to be exposed is a single-color image pattern when a desired full-color image is color-separated into yellow, magenta, cyan, and black. The formed three-color electrostatic latent image is developed by rotating the rotary color developing device 6 with the yellow, magenta, and cyan developing units sequentially facing the photosensitive belt 1, and is developed and made monochromatic. A single color image is formed (at this time, the black developing device 7 is retracted to the non-developing position with respect to the photosensitive belt 1), and the black electrostatic latent image is developed by the black developing device 7 to develop the color. Then, it is monochromatic to form a monochromatic image.

  The single-color image formed on the photosensitive belt 1 is sequentially superimposed and transferred onto an intermediate transfer belt 10 that rotates counterclockwise in the drawing while being in contact with the photosensitive belt 1. The yellow, magenta, cyan, and black images superimposed on the intermediate transfer belt 10 are conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 17 to the transfer section via the sheet feeding roller 18, the conveying rollers 19A and 19B, and the registration rollers 50A and 50B. The roller 14 comes into contact with the rotating roller 11 portion of the intermediate transfer belt 10 via the transfer paper, and is transferred.

  At this time, when the transfer roller 14 comes into contact, the image rear end primary transfer portion on the intermediate transfer belt has passed through as described above. After the transfer is completed, the transfer paper is fixed by the fixing device 49 to complete a full color image.

  Next, the configuration of the apparatus main body will be described with reference to FIGS. The apparatus main body structure is constituted by a main body frame 9 that is a stationary part housing and a front frame 8 that is a front housing that can open a transfer paper conveyance path, and a paper feed cassette 17 is disposed below the main body frame 9. Each developing device and the process cartridge 31 are replaceably disposed in the central portion, and a fixing device 49 is disposed above the developing device and the process cartridge 31 to form a paper discharge stack portion.

  The front frame 8 is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation support shaft 9A provided on the main body frame 9 serving as a rotation fulcrum. At the time of image formation output, the front frame 8 is supported on the main body frame 9 as shown in FIG. Is retained. By releasing the holding at the time of jam processing, it can be released in the clockwise direction, and the open state can be maintained by the power of a tension spring or the like.

  The front frame 8 holds a registration roller 50 </ b> A, a transfer roller 14, and the like that are part of the conveyance path. As a result, when the front frame 8 is opened, the conveyance path is opened as shown in FIG. 4, and paper jam processing is performed. At this time, only the jam processing can be performed without operating the image forming unit, so there is no problem such as toner dropping.

  Furthermore, the main body frame 9 holds the process cartridge 31 in a configuration described later, and is supported by the intermediate frame 40 so as to be rotatable about a rotation support shaft 9B provided on the main body frame 9 serving as a rotation fulcrum. Are provided on the left and right as shown in FIG. The intermediate frame 40 is held by the main body frame 9 during normal times (except when the process cartridge and each developing device are replaced), and can be opened clockwise in the figure by releasing the holding.

FIG. 6 shows the attachment / detachment position of the process cartridge 31, and FIG. 7 shows the attachment / detachment state of the process cartridge 31. Rail projections 32 are provided on both side surfaces of the process cartridge 31 so as to be parallel to the attaching / detaching operation direction. Correspondingly, the intermediate frame 40 is similarly provided with rail-like grooves 40A for paralleling the attaching / detaching operation direction. Is provided. For this reason, the process cartridge 31 is held by the intermediate frame 40 during mounting.
Further, if the process cartridge 31 is operated in the direction of the arrow with the intermediate frame 40 supported and fixed at the position of FIG. 6, the process cartridge 31 can be easily attached and detached from the intermediate frame 40. In particular, when the handle 33 is provided at the end of the process cartridge 31, the operability is further increased. Further, the groove 40A can be mounted without any problem if the process cartridge 31 insertion side is opened in a trumpet shape.

  Here, the operation direction of the process cartridge 31 is a direction stretched between two rollers of the intermediate transfer belt 10, and the belt surface on which the photosensitive belt 1 is stretched is substantially parallel to the intermediate transfer belt surface. Therefore, the space between development and transfer can be reduced, and the cross section of the apparatus main body can be reduced.

  That is, the process cartridge 31 of the present embodiment is detachable from the intermediate frame 40 in the direction in which the intermediate transfer belt 10 is stretched and from above.

  The intermediate frame 40 can be further opened with respect to the attachment / detachment position of the process cartridge 31, and reaches the same position as the opening position of the front frame as shown in FIG. By supporting and fixing the intermediate frame 40 while the process cartridge is mounted at this position, the developing units 6 and 7 disposed on the back side of the process cartridge are made large without having to retract the process cartridge to the outside of the apparatus main body. Since it is opened, the detachability operability of the developing units 6 and 7 is good.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 7 as an example of a mechanism for supporting and fixing the intermediate frame 40 in two stages, two grooves are provided below the rotation fulcrum of the intermediate frame 40, and the leaf spring 34 is an arrow in the figure. It is incorporated in the main body frame so as to swing in a direction with a constant spring force.

  The swinging tip 34A of the leaf spring 34 is rotated by the intermediate frame 40 so as to correspond to the grooves 40B and 40C, and latches and supports and fixes the intermediate frame 40 in two stages.

  At this time, the position of the process cartridge 31 in the attaching / detaching rotation direction is supported and fixed so that the center of gravity G of the process cartridge is on the substantially vertical line of the rotation center position of the intermediate frame 40, and the attaching / detaching movement direction is on the substantially vertical line. By aligning the position of the handle 33, the spring force of the leaf spring 34 for supporting and fixing the process cartridge is very small, a sense of stability is obtained when the intermediate frame 40 is rotated, and the process cartridge is gravitational. It can be operated without falling into an unstable state.

  Further, if the intermediate frame 40 is used as a stopper member for preventing rotation at a second supporting and fixing position of the intermediate frame 40, the groove 40C of the intermediate frame 40 can be eliminated.

  A manual sheet feeding unit 51 as a second sheet feeding unit will be described with reference to FIGS. When not in use, the manual paper feed unit 51 is folded on the front frame 8 so as to be substantially parallel to the conveyance path as shown in FIG. 1, and is stored so as not to protrude in the front surface or height direction of the apparatus.

  The manual sheet feeding unit 51 is set to open in the clockwise direction in the drawing when used (FIG. 9), and the sheet feeding method is configured by a friction pad method. In the figure, reference numeral 52 denotes a transfer paper bottom plate which can be rotated around a rotation shaft 52A and is pressed toward the manual feed roller 53 by a spring 52B. In the figure, reference numeral 54 denotes a side guide that aligns both sides of the transfer paper, and is slidable laterally with respect to the bottom plate 52.

  Further, a friction pad 55A incorporated in the pad base 55 is pressed against the manual feed roller 53 by a spring 55B to the manual feed roller 53, and only the first sheet of transfer paper set in the manual feed unit 51 is manually fed. It is configured to be conveyed by the rotation of the roller 53.

  That is, in the present embodiment, the normal paper that is normally used frequently is transported from a paper feed cassette disposed inside the main body of the apparatus, and when a special paper such as thick paper is occasionally passed, a manual paper feed unit is used. These are used properly so as to be transported from 51.

  Here, it is necessary for the separation performance that the surface of the friction pad 55A is inclined by an appropriate angle with respect to the transfer paper entering direction (angle θ in FIG. 11). That is, the friction pad sheet feeding capable of feeding a large number of sheets is the simplest configuration in the friction separation system, and a wide range of separable paper quality can be taken, but the angle between the transfer sheet entering direction and the pad surface is 20 to 40 degrees. It is desirable to set it at 20 to 35 degrees.

  Further, depending on the conveyance direction of the roller next to the manual feed roller 53, the separation performance of the friction pad 55A is affected. In FIG. 11, when the transfer paper P is conveyed in the direction of the arrow H in the drawing, the transfer paper P pushes down the friction pad 55A, and the separation pressure is lowered to cause double feeding. The next roller transport direction must be aligned several degrees upward.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the direction in which the transfer paper P enters and the direction of the conveyance path from the pad separation to the registration roller 50 are set to form an angle of about 20 to 40 degrees. The direction of the conveyance path to the registration roller 50, the transfer roller 14, and the fixing device 49 is arranged so as to be substantially in a straight line.

  Note that when the transfer roller 14 and the rollers 49A and 49B of the fixing device 49 are also compatible with transfer paper with a low stiffness, the entry position is slightly shifted downward, so the positions of the fixing rollers 49A and 49B are slightly more than on the straight line. Sometimes it goes down.

  As described above, the process cartridge 31 of the present embodiment includes the photosensitive belt 1 and the endless intermediate transfer belt 10 stretched around the rotation rollers 11 and 12 so as to be in contact with the photosensitive belt 1. A handle 33 is provided in the vicinity of the rotation roller 12 so that the intermediate transfer belt 10 is stretched around the rotation rollers 11 and 12 and is detachable from the intermediate frame 40 provided on the main body frame 9 from above. Therefore, the operability when the process cartridge 31 is attached to and detached from the intermediate frame 40 can be improved.

  Although the embodiment described above is of the intermediate transfer belt type, four colors are superimposed on the photosensitive belt 1 ′ as in the apparatus of the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. Even in the method of performing the above, the same shape and the same configuration can be taken with respect to the transport unit.

  In this case, the charging charger 4 is disposed below the waste toner collecting container 15, the laser writing system unit 5 is disposed below the charging toner container 15, and the color and black developing units 6 and 7 are disposed below the charging unit 4. Arrange.

  This is a difference only due to the difference between using an intermediate transfer belt or a photosensitive belt as a toner image carrier. As shown in the figure, the photoconductor belt system can be further reduced in size, but in this system, a process is performed in which a latent image is formed by developing a latent image by charging and exposing the photoconductor again from a previously transferred toner image. Is carried out a plurality of times, it is difficult to maintain good charging uniformity, and the image quality is inferior to that of the intermediate transfer belt system.

  As described above, the process cartridge and the color image forming apparatus according to the present invention have an effect that the operability at the time of attachment and detachment can be improved. It is useful as a color image forming apparatus such as a color copying machine, a color printer, and a color facsimile equipped with the process cartridge.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of a color image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal configuration of a color and black developing device of the color image forming apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a color developer of the color image forming apparatus in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the color image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 with a front frame opened. It is a perspective view of a process cartridge and an intermediate frame for supporting the process cartridge. It is sectional drawing which shows the attachment or detachment position of a process cartridge. It is a side view which shows the attachment or detachment state of a process cartridge. It is sectional drawing of the open state of an intermediate | middle frame. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state in which a manual sheet feeding unit as a second sheet feeding unit of the color image forming apparatus of FIG. 1 is opened and used. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a transfer paper conveyance state in the state of FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a transfer sheet conveyance direction and separation performance in the state of FIG. 9. FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a transfer paper conveyance state in the state of FIG. 9. It is sectional drawing which shows 2nd Embodiment of the color image forming apparatus of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Photoreceptor belt (photoreceptor)
2, 3 Rotating roller 4 Charging charger 5 Laser writing system unit 6 Color developing unit 7 Black developing unit 8 Front frame 9 Body frame 10 Intermediate transfer belt (intermediate transfer member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 12 Rotating roller 13 Bias brush 14 Transfer roller 15 Waste toner collection container 16 Intermediate transfer belt cleaning device 17 Paper feed cassette 18 Paper feed roller 19A, 19B, 20A, 20B Carrying roller 21 Casing 22 Color developing unit 23 Developing roller 24 Partition Plate 25 Supply Roller 26 Developing Blade 27 First Toner Conveying Member 28 Second Toner Conveying Member 29 Toner Container 30 Color Toner Cartridge 31 Process Cartridge 32 Rail Protrusion 33 Handle 34 Plate Spring 35 Backup Roller 40 Intermediate Frame 41 Developing Container 42 First agitator 43 Second agitator 49 Fixing device 49A, 49B Fixing roller 50A, 50B Registration roller 51 Manual paper feed unit 52 Bottom plate 53 Manual roller 54 Side Guide 55 Pad base 55A Friction pad

Claims (2)

A photosensitive member and an endless intermediate transfer member stretched between two rollers so as to come into contact with the photosensitive member; a handle is provided near one of the two rollers; A process cartridge characterized in that it is detachably attached to the color image forming apparatus main body from above in a direction in which the intermediate transfer member is stretched around a roller. A color image forming apparatus comprising the process cartridge according to claim 1.

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