JP2009244644A - Developing cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a developing cartridge allowing the specification thereof to be detected by means of a time difference with simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: The developing cartridge includes: a housing for storing developer; a coil spring (helical spring 82) the peripheral part 82B of which presses a detection actuator (detecting arm 122) disposed in the body of an image forming apparatus; a transmission gear 81 which is disposed in the housing so as to be rotatable and to which drive force is transmitted from outside; and a support part (support shaft 81C) located in the rotation center of the transmission gear 81 and supporting the one radially inside end 82A of the coil spring. While the peripheral part 82B of the coil spring abuts on the detection actuator, the drive force of the transmission gear 81 is transmitted to the one end 82A of the coil spring, thereby reducing the size of the coil spring in the direction of its diameter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing cartridge.

  In general, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a developing cartridge containing toner is detachably attached to the apparatus main body. As such an image forming apparatus, there has heretofore been known an apparatus capable of determining whether a mounted developing cartridge is new (detecting a new product) and determining the specifications of the developing cartridge (specification detection). (See Patent Document 1).

  Specifically, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a swingable arm-shaped detection actuator, a spring that biases the detection actuator to a neutral position, and a swing of the detection actuator are provided on the apparatus main body side. A sensor for detection and a control device for detecting a new article and detecting a specification based on a signal from the sensor are provided. The developing cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus includes one or two detection protrusions extending radially outward from a predetermined shaft portion, and a detection gear that rotates integrally with the detection protrusion about the shaft portion. A gear mechanism is provided that meshes with the detection gear and transmits a driving force to the developing roller.

  In this image forming apparatus, when the developing cartridge is mounted on the apparatus main body, the detection protrusion presses one end of the detection actuator, the detection actuator swings, and this swing is detected by the sensor. The signal detected by this sensor is transmitted to the control device as the first detection signal. When receiving the first detection signal, the control device determines that the developing cartridge is new.

  Further, in this image forming apparatus, for example, when the front cover is closed after the developing cartridge is mounted, a warming operation (rotating operation) is executed by the control device. Here, the glass turning operation refers to an operation of rotating a stirring plate (agitator) in the cartridge in order to stir the toner in the developing cartridge.

  In such a glass turning operation, the transmission force from the driving source provided on the apparatus main body side is transmitted to the agitator and the detection gear on the developing cartridge side via the gear mechanism. As a result, the stirring of the toner by the agitator is started, and the detection protrusion rotates to further press one end of the detection actuator, and comes off from the detection actuator at a predetermined position. Thereafter, the detection actuator returns to the neutral position by the biasing force of the spring. At this time, if there are two detection protrusions, the second detection protrusion again presses one end of the detection actuator, the detection actuator swings, and this swing is detected by the sensor. The signal detected by this sensor is transmitted to the control device as the second detection signal.

  When receiving the second detection signal, the control device determines that the specification of the developing cartridge is the A type (for example, the maximum image forming number is 6000 types). Note that if the second detection signal is not received, the control device determines that the specification of the developing cartridge is a type B different from the type A (for example, a type having a maximum image forming number of 3000).

JP 2006-267994 A

  By the way, the applicant of the present application has developed a method of performing specification detection by a method different from the above-described prior art. This method is a method of changing the timing at which the detection projection that presses the detection actuator when the developing cartridge is mounted retreats from the detection actuator by a loosening operation (the timing at which the detection actuator returns to the original position) according to specifications. Specifically, an engagement gear that rotates integrally with the detection protrusion and a rotating body that rotates coaxially with the engagement gear are provided, and these engaging gear and the rotating body are relatively rotatable in the initial state. However, when the rotating body rotates by a predetermined amount, the engaging portion of the rotating body engages with the engaged portion of the engaging gear, and these rotate integrally, so that the detection projection is rotated after the start of the rotation operation. The structure starts moving after a predetermined time. According to this, it is possible to detect the specification by the time difference from the start of the glass turning operation until the detection protrusion starts moving.

  However, in this structure, the engaging portion must be formed on the rotating body and the engaged portion must be formed on the engaging gear, and the shape and structure of the two parts may be complicated, and the manufacture may be complicated. there were.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides a developing cartridge capable of detecting specifications with a time difference with a simple structure.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a developing cartridge according to the present invention is wound around a housing for containing a developer and gradually spreads from the radially inner side to the radially outer side, and presses the detection actuator at the outer peripheral portion. A possible winding spring, a transmission gear that is rotatably provided on the housing and transmits a driving force from the outside, and is positioned at the rotation center of the transmission gear and supports one end portion on the radially inner side of the winding spring A supporting portion that transmits the driving force of the transmission gear to one end of the winding spring in a state where the outer peripheral portion of the winding spring is in contact with the detection actuator. It is configured to shrink in the direction.

  According to the present invention, when the developing cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, the sensor is turned on when the detection actuator is pressed and tilted at the outer peripheral portion of the winding spring. Then, when the transmission gear is rotated by starting the rotation operation, the driving force of the transmission gear is transmitted to the one end on the radially inner side of the winding spring whose outer peripheral portion is supported by the urging force of the detection actuator via the support portion. As a result, the winding spring shrinks in the radial direction. Thereby, the detection actuator gradually returns to the original position, and the sensor is turned off when the detection actuator is completely returned to the original position. At this time, by appropriately changing the properties and shape of the winding spring according to the specification, the time difference from the start of the rattling operation until the detection actuator fully returns to the original position is changed according to the specification. can do. That is, according to the present invention, a structure that enables specification detection by time difference can be easily configured by a winding spring.

  According to the present invention, since the time difference can be created by the winding spring, the specification detection based on the time difference can be performed with a simple structure.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the following description, first, the overall configuration of the laser printer will be briefly described, and then the details of the characteristic portions of the present invention will be described. Further, in the following description, the description will be made in the direction based on the user when the laser printer 1 is used. That is, in FIG. 1, the right side is referred to as “front side”, the left side is referred to as “back side”, the back side in the vertical direction of the paper surface is referred to as “right side”, and the front side in the vertical direction of the paper surface is referred to as “left side”. Called. As for the vertical direction, the vertical direction in the figure is referred to as the “vertical direction” as it is.

<Overall configuration of laser printer>
As shown in FIG. 1, the laser printer 1 includes a feeder unit 4 for feeding a sheet 3 into a main body casing 2 as an example of an image forming apparatus main body, and an image forming unit for forming an image on the sheet 3. 5 etc.

<Configuration of feeder section>
The feeder unit 4 has a known structure, and mainly includes a paper feed tray 6, a paper pressing plate 7, and a paper transport mechanism 9. In the feeder unit 4, the sheet 3 in the sheet feeding tray 6 is moved upward by the sheet pressing plate 7 and conveyed to the image forming unit 5 by the sheet conveying mechanism 9.

<Configuration of image forming unit>
The image forming unit 5 includes a scanner unit 16, a process cartridge 17, a fixing unit 18, and the like.

  The scanner unit 16 includes a laser light emitting unit, a polygon mirror, a lens, a reflecting mirror, and the like (not shown). In the scanner unit 16, the laser beam is irradiated on the surface of the photosensitive drum 27 by high-speed scanning through a path indicated by a chain line in the drawing.

  The process cartridge 17 can be attached to and detached from the main casing 2 by appropriately opening the front cover 2 </ b> A on the front side of the main casing 2. The process cartridge 17 is mainly composed of a developing cartridge 28 and a drum unit 51.

  The developing cartridge 28 is detachably attached to the main casing 2 via the drum unit 51 or is detachably attached to the drum unit 51 fixed to the main casing 2. The developing cartridge 28 mainly includes a developing roller 31, a layer thickness regulating blade 32, a supply roller 33, and a toner hopper 34.

  In the developing cartridge 28, toner as an example of the developer in the toner hopper 34 is stirred by the agitator 34A and then supplied to the developing roller 31 by the supply roller 33. At this time, the toner between the supply roller 33 and the developing roller 31 is supplied. Positively frictionally charged. The toner supplied onto the developing roller 31 enters between the layer thickness regulating blade 32 and the developing roller 31 as the developing roller 31 rotates, and is further developed as a thin layer having a constant thickness while being frictionally charged. It is carried on a roller 31. Details of the developing cartridge 28 will be described later.

  The drum unit 51 mainly includes a known photosensitive drum 27, a scorotron charger 29 and a transfer roller 30. In the drum unit 51, the surface of the photosensitive drum 27 is uniformly positively charged by the scorotron charger 29 and then exposed by high-speed scanning of the laser beam from the scanner unit 16. Thereby, the potential of the exposed portion is lowered, and an electrostatic latent image based on the image data is formed.

  Next, by the rotation of the developing roller 31, the toner carried on the developing roller 31 is supplied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 27, so that the toner image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 27. It is formed. Thereafter, the sheet 3 is conveyed between the photosensitive drum 27 and the transfer roller 30, whereby the toner image carried on the surface of the photosensitive drum 27 is transferred onto the sheet 3.

  The fixing unit 18 has a known structure and includes a heating roller 41 and a pressing roller 42. In the fixing unit 18, the toner transferred onto the paper 3 is thermally fixed while the paper 3 passes between the heating roller 41 and the pressing roller 42. The paper 3 thermally fixed by the fixing unit 18 is sent out onto the paper discharge tray 46 by the paper discharge roller 45.

<Detailed structure of developing cartridge>
Next, the detailed structure of the developing cartridge 28 which is a characteristic part of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the developing cartridge 28 includes the developing roller 31 and the like, and also includes a cartridge body 60 and a cover body 70 as an example of a housing. The cover body 70 is detachably attached to the left side surface of the cartridge main body 60. As shown in FIG. 2A, a driving force is applied to the developing roller 31 and the like between the cartridge main body 60 and the cover body 70. A gear mechanism 61 for transmission and a time difference adjusting mechanism 80 connected to the gear mechanism 61 (specifically, an agitator driving gear 66 described later) via a gear 67 are provided. Here, the gear mechanism 61, the gear 67, and the time difference adjusting mechanism 80 are rotatably provided on the outer surface (left side surface) of the cartridge body 60. Note that the gear 67 and the time difference adjusting mechanism 80 may be rotatably provided on the cover body 70.

  The gear mechanism 61 includes an input gear 62 to which a driving force is transmitted from a driving device 110 (see FIG. 4) provided on the main casing 2 side, a developing roller driving gear 63 and a supply roller driving gear 64 that directly mesh with the input gear 62. And an agitator drive gear 66 that meshes with the input gear 62 via an intermediate gear 65. Here, the developing roller driving gear 63, the supply roller driving gear 64, and the agitator driving gear 66 are gears for driving the developing roller 31, the supply roller 33, and the agitator 34A shown in FIG. 33 and the agitator 34A are integrally provided at the ends of the shafts.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the time difference adjusting mechanism 80 includes a transmission gear 81 and a spiral spring 82 as an example of a spiral spring.

  The transmission gear 81 includes a flat surface portion 81A, a plurality of gear tooth portions 81B, and a support shaft 81C as an example of a support portion. The planar portion 81A is a circular surface in a plan view orthogonal to the rotation axis of the transmission gear 81, and a bottomed cylindrical engagement hole 81D centering on the rotation axis of the transmission gear 81 is formed at the center thereof. Has been. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, the regulation wall 81 </ b> E that constitutes the outer peripheral portion of the engagement hole 81 </ b> D is formed in a cylindrical surface shape with the rotation axis of the transmission gear 81 as the center.

  The gear tooth portion 81B is formed around the flat portion 81A and meshes with the gear 67 described above (see FIG. 2A).

  The support shaft 81C is a columnar shaft formed so as to protrude outward in the left-right direction along the rotational axis from the center of the flat surface portion 81A, and supports the one end portion 82A of the spiral spring 82 at its tip. As a method for fixing the spiral spring 82 to the tip, any method such as fitting, adhesion, and welding can be adopted. As shown in FIG. 2B, the support shaft 81C protrudes from an opening 71 formed in the cover body 70 when the cover body 70 is attached to the cartridge body 60. Yes.

  The spiral spring 82 is formed by winding a linear or plate-like metal member a plurality of times in a spiral manner. Specifically, the linear or plate-like metal member gradually spreads from the radially inner side to the radially outer side. It is formed by winding. The spiral spring 82 is positioned on the outer side of the outer surface of the cover body 70 by fixing one end 82A positioned on the radially inner side to the tip of the support shaft 81C. Thus, when the developing cartridge 28 is mounted, the detection arm 122 as an example of a detection actuator described later can be pressed by the outer peripheral portion 82B of the spiral spring 82. In order to prevent the user from inadvertently touching the spiral spring 82, a part of the spiral spring 82 (a portion other than the portion in contact with the detection arm 122) is covered with the cover body 70. Also good.

  When the driving force is transmitted from the transmission gear 81 to the one end portion 82A of the spiral spring 82 in the state where the outer peripheral portion 82B of the spiral spring 82 is in contact with the detection arm 122 as described above, the outer peripheral portion 82B is detected. By being held in the original position by friction with the arm 122, the spiral spring 82 is wound around the support shaft 81C and contracts in the radial direction. Further, the other end portion 82C located on the radially outer side of the spiral spring 82 is bent toward the transmission gear 81 and is bent by a predetermined amount so as to press the plane portion 81A of the transmission gear 81. It is in contact with 81A. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, when the spiral spring 82 is contracted by a predetermined amount in the radial direction, the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 enters the engagement hole 81D, thereby restricting the restriction wall. 81E is engaged.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a drive device 110 and a new product specification detection device 120 are provided in the main body casing 2. These are briefly described below.

  In the portion of the main casing 2 where the developing cartridge 28 is mounted, there are a driving device 110 that transmits a driving force to the input gear 62 of the developing cartridge 28 and a new product specification detecting device 120 that can execute new product detection and specification detection. Is provided. In the present embodiment, a new (unused) developing cartridge refers to a cartridge in which the driving force is not yet applied to the input gear 62 and the developing roller 31 is not driven. Further, the old (used) developing cartridge refers to a cartridge in which a driving force has already been applied to the input gear 62 and the developing roller 31 has been driven.

  The drive device 110 includes a plurality of gears and a drive motor (not shown). Then, when the developing cartridge 28 is mounted in the main casing 2, the gear on the driving device 110 side meshes with the input gear 62, so that the driving force from the driving motor is transmitted to the input gear 62 via each gear. The In the drive device 110, a gear that meshes with the input gear 62 is configured to advance and retract with respect to the input gear 62 in conjunction with opening and closing of the front cover 2 </ b> A, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the new product specification detection device 120 mainly includes an optical sensor 121, a detection arm 122, a coil spring 123, and a control device 124.

  The optical sensor 121 is a sensor that detects the swing of the detection arm 122, and outputs a predetermined signal to the control device 124 when the light from the light emitting unit 121 </ b> A is received by the light receiving unit 121 </ b> B.

  The detection arm 122 includes a cylindrical portion 122A that is rotatably supported by the main body casing 2, a light shielding arm 122B that extends radially outward from the cylindrical portion 122A, and a contact arm 122C. It is configured to be swingable about the portion 122A. In addition, a coil spring 123 is attached to an appropriate position of the light shielding arm 122B of the detection arm 122, whereby the detection arm 122 is constantly biased to the neutral position by the coil spring 123. And in this neutral position, the front-end | tip part 122D of the arm 122B for light shielding is arrange | positioned between the light emission part 121A and the light-receiving part 121B. Further, in the neutral position, the distal end portion 122E of the contact arm 122C is disposed at a position where it can contact the spiral spring 82 protruding from the outer surface of the developing cartridge 28 attached to the main casing 2.

  The control device 124 determines whether or not the developing cartridge 28 is new according to the presence or absence of the swing of the detection arm 122 detected by the optical sensor 121, and the detection arm from the start of driving of the driving device 110. A function of discriminating the specifications of the developing cartridge 28 according to the time required for the 122 to return to the original position is provided. Specifically, the control device 124 executes a known glass turning operation based on a closing signal from a sensor for detecting the closing operation of the front cover 2A or a signal generated when the laser printer 1 is turned on. . The control device 124 determines whether the detection arm 122 is new by determining whether an ON signal output from the optical sensor 121 is received when the detection arm 122 is pressed by the spiral spring 82. I do. In addition, the control device 124 receives the ON signal that is continuously output from the optical sensor 121 when the detection arm 122 is tilted from the original posture (the detection arm 122 is restored from the start of the rattling operation). Based on the determination of whether the maximum number of images to be formed is 3000 or 6000, based on the time until the ON signal from the optical sensor 121 is turned off after returning to the posture. I do.

  Next, the operation of the time difference adjusting mechanism 80 when the developing cartridge 28 is mounted on the main casing 2 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when a new developing cartridge 28 is installed in the main casing 2, the spiral spring 82 is moved to the lower end (contact arm) of the detection arm 122 as shown in FIG. Abuts on the tip 122E) of 122C. Accordingly, the detection arm 122 is pressed by the spiral spring 82, and the lower end portion of the detection arm 122 moves to the back side together with the spiral spring 82 (developing cartridge 28).

  When the detection arm 122 swings in this way, an ON signal is output from the optical sensor 121 to the control device 124, and the control device 124 determines that it is new. Thereafter, when a known gear turning operation is executed by the control device 124, the driving force of the driving device 110 causes the input gear 62, the intermediate gear 65, the agitator driving gear 66, and the gear 67 to move as shown in FIG. To the transmission gear 81, and the transmission gear 81 rotates clockwise. When the transmission gear 81 rotates in this way, the spiral spring 82 is gradually retracted radially inward by being wound around the support shaft 81 </ b> C of the transmission gear 81. At this time, the spiral spring 82 is contracted so as to approach the support shaft 81C in order from a portion near the one end 82A on the center side in a state where the position of the outer peripheral portion 82B is maintained at substantially the same position. Therefore, until the spiral spring 82 is deformed by a predetermined amount, the detection arm 122 is maintained at substantially the same position, or swings only a small amount. As a result, the above-described ON signal continues to be output to the control device 124.

  When the spiral spring 82 is contracted by a predetermined amount, the detection arm 122 is returned to the neutral position by the coil spring 123 as shown in FIG. At this time, the light shielding arm 122B of the detection arm 122 returns to the original position and blocks the light from the light emitting unit 121A, whereby the optical sensor 121 is turned off and an ON signal is transmitted to the control device 124. Is canceled.

  As a result, the reception time of the ON signal from the optical sensor 121 is calculated, and the control device 124 determines the specification based on this reception time. The reception time can be changed by appropriately changing the number of turns of the spiral spring 82 and the urging force (material) according to the specifications, for example. By the way, without using the spiral spring 82 and using a component in which a detection projection that abuts on the detection arm 122 is formed integrally with the transmission gear 81, the detection projection can be moved simultaneously with the rotation operation. Therefore, a large time difference can be created by properly using this structure and the structure of this embodiment (the structure in which the detection arm 122 is pressed by the spiral spring 82) according to the specification.

  When the spiral spring 82 is contracted by a predetermined amount as described above, the other end 82C of the spiral spring 82 enters the engagement hole 81D and engages with the restriction wall 81E as shown in FIG. The spiral spring 82 is maintained in a contracted state. Thereby, the spiral spring 82 does not spread to the original state after the used developing cartridge 28 is removed from the main casing 2. Therefore, when the removed developing cartridge 28 is mounted on the main casing 2 again, the detection arm 122 is not pressed by the spiral spring 82, so that the control device 124 can determine that it is an old product.

According to the above, the following effects can be obtained in the present embodiment.
Since the time difference can be created by the spiral spring 82, the specification detection based on the time difference can be performed with a simple structure.

  Depending on the number of windings and the material of the spiral spring 82, the detection arm 122 can be returned to the original position after the transmission gear 81 has been rotated one or more times. The time difference until returning to the original position can be increased.

  Since the structure is such that a time difference is created by using the contraction deformation of the spiral spring 82 whose outer peripheral portion 82B is pressed by the detection arm 122, the state is not in contact with the detection arm 122, for example, the state before the development cartridge 28 is mounted. When the transmission gear 81 is rotated, the spiral spring 82 does not shrink radially inward. Therefore, for example, in a new state, even if the user accidentally rotates the gear of the gear mechanism 61 (for example, the input gear 62 exposed to the outside) with a finger, the spiral spring 82 does not contract, The outer peripheral portion 82B of the spiral spring 82 can be maintained at the initial position.

  The simple structure in which the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 is engaged with the engagement hole 81D and the spiral spring 82 is maintained in a contracted state to enable detection of a new article. The manufacturing cost can be reduced as compared with a structure in which the state is maintained.

  Since the restriction wall 81E that restricts the movement of the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 in the radially outward direction is formed in a cylindrical surface centered on the rotation axis of the transmission gear 81, the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 is Regardless of the position in the direction, the amount of movement in the radial direction of the other end 82C until the other end 82C of the spiral spring 82 enters the engagement hole 81D can be made the same. Therefore, the spiral spring 82 can always be held with the same deformation amount.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can utilize with various forms so that it may illustrate below.
In the embodiment, the spiral spring 82 is employed as an example of the spiral spring, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a wire or plate-like metal member is wound so as to gradually spread from the radially inner side to the radially outer side, and one end and the other end thereof are shifted in the axial direction (bamboo spring) ) Etc. may be adopted. That is, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, a spiral spring 83 in which one end and the other end of the spiral spring 82 according to the embodiment are shifted in the axial direction may be employed.

  In the above embodiment, the regulation wall 81E is a cylindrical surface, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a curved surface (arc surface) having an arc shape (semi-cylindrical surface or the like). Even in this case, the movement amount of the other end portion 82C until the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 enters the engagement hole 81D can be made the same as described above. However, in the case of an arc-shaped curved surface as compared with the case of a cylindrical surface, when the spiral spring 82 is assembled to the transmission gear 81, the position of the other end 82C must be positioned near the engagement hole. It is desirable to use a cylindrical surface as in the above embodiment.

  In the embodiment, the support shaft 81C is employed as the support portion, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a recess or a hole may be employed. In this case, it is only necessary to bend one end portion (center portion) of the winding spring toward the transmission gear and fit it into the recess. In addition, as the support portion, for example, a portion protruding from the position away from the rotation center of the transmission gear to the outside in the left-right direction (direction away from the transmission gear) and then bent toward the rotation center, a part thereof becomes the rotation center. You may employ | adopt the L-shaped member which is located. Also in this case, the winding spring can be contracted in the radial direction by fixing one end portion (center portion) of the winding spring to a portion located at the center of rotation.

  In the above-described embodiment, the other end portion 82C of the spiral spring 82 is engaged with the engagement hole 81D. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the other end portion of the winding spring is attached to the protrusion provided on the transmission gear. It may be engaged. In this case, the other end of the winding spring is formed by making one surface on the radially outer side of the protrusion inclined upward as it goes radially inward, and the other surface on the radially inner side of the protrusion as a surface orthogonal to the radial direction. After the part has smoothly passed over one surface of the protrusion, it is satisfactorily locked on the other surface of the protrusion.

  In the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to the laser printer 1. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as a copying machine and a multifunction machine.

  The number and layout of each gear in each embodiment can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the gear 67 and the transmission gear 81 are meshed, but a predetermined number of gears may be provided between them. Further, the transmission gear 81 may be coupled to the intermediate gear 65 directly or via a predetermined number of gears.

1 is a side sectional view showing a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a side view (a) showing a state where the cover body of the developing cartridge is removed, and a side view (b) showing a state where the cover body is attached. They are the perspective view (a) which shows a time difference adjustment mechanism, sectional drawing (b) which shows an engagement hole, and sectional drawing (c) which shows the state which the other end part of the spiral spring engaged with the engagement hole. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the developing cartridge is removed from the main body casing. It is a perspective view which shows each component of a new article specification detection apparatus. It is explanatory drawing explaining operation | movement of a time difference adjustment mechanism, explanatory drawing (a) which shows the relationship between a spiral spring when a developing cartridge is mounted in a main body casing, and a detection arm, and a state when a glass turning operation is started FIG. 5B is an explanatory view showing the state where the detection arm is restored by a predetermined amount of deformation of the spiral spring. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of a winding spring, and is sectional drawing (a) which shows the state at the time of a new article, and sectional drawing (b) which shows the state at the time of an old article.

Explanation of symbols

28 Developing cartridge 60 Cartridge body 61 Gear mechanism 70 Cover body 80 Time difference adjusting mechanism 81 Transmission gear 81A Plane portion 81C Support shaft 81D Engagement hole 81E Restriction wall 82 Spiral spring 82A One end portion 82B Outer peripheral portion 82C Other end portion 122 Detection arm

Claims (4)

A housing for containing the developer;
A winding spring wound so as to gradually spread from the radially inner side toward the radially outer side and capable of pressing the detection actuator at the outer peripheral portion;
A transmission gear that is rotatably provided in the housing and transmits a driving force from the outside;
A support portion positioned at the rotation center of the transmission gear and supporting one end portion on the radially inner side of the winding spring;
In a state where the outer peripheral portion of the winding spring is in contact with the detection actuator, the driving force of the transmission gear is transmitted to one end portion of the winding spring, so that the winding spring is contracted in the radial direction. A developing cartridge. The transmission gear has a plane portion orthogonal to the rotation axis thereof,
The support portion extends from the plane portion along the rotation axis of the transmission gear,
One end portion of the winding spring is supported by the support portion, and the other end portion of the winding spring is configured to press the flat portion of the transmission gear,
The engagement portion that engages with the other end of the winding spring when the winding spring is contracted by a predetermined amount in the radial direction is formed in the flat portion of the transmission gear. 2. The developing cartridge according to 1.   Of the walls forming the engagement hole, a restriction wall that restricts the movement of the other end of the coil spring to the outside in the radial direction is formed in a circular arc surface centered on the rotation axis of the transmission gear. The developing cartridge according to claim 2, wherein The developing cartridge according to claim 3, wherein the restriction wall is formed in a cylindrical surface centering on a rotation axis of the transmission gear.

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