JP2016095334A - Image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the occurrence of failure that may occur in removing a photoreceptor module.SOLUTION: An interval regulating member 24 regulating the interval between a photoreceptor and a developing roll 31 has a step part 243 provided thereon, and in removing a photoreceptor module 20 from a frame body by lifting up the photoreceptor module 20 in a direction of removal, when one side in the rotation axis direction is lifted up first, the one side lifted up first is pressed against the step part 243 to be temporarily stopped so that both sides in the rotation axis direction can be simultaneously lifted up.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 15

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an image forming apparatus having a structure in which parts that need to be replaced are made into cartridges and can be replaced by being pulled out from the apparatus main body.

JP 2009-258279 A

  When removing the first assembly including the image carrier from the support, if one side in the axial direction of the image carrier is removed ahead of the other side, the image carrier is inclined with respect to the developer carrier. For example, the image holding member and the developer holding member come into contact with each other, and either one or both of the image holding member and the developer holding member are damaged.

  The present invention provides an image forming apparatus in which, when the first assembly including the image carrier is removed from the support, it is suppressed that one side in the axial direction of the image carrier is removed before the other side. For the purpose.

Claim 1
A first assembly including an image carrier that forms an electrostatic latent image while rotating and holds the formed electrostatic latent image;
The first assembly is detachably mounted, and a support for supporting the mounted first assembly;
A developer holder that develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier, and the developer carrier is brought into contact with and separated from the image carrier of the first assembly supported by the support; A second assembly supported by the support so as to be movable in an orientation,
The support includes a biasing member that biases the developer holder in a direction to approach the image holder;
The first assembly contacts the contacted portion of the developer holding body on both sides in the rotation axis direction of the image holding body when the first assembly is attached and detached, and the image holding body and the developing member are in a mounted state. An interval regulating member that regulates an interval with the agent holding body,
Each of the spacing regulating members discontinuously increases a resistance force against an operating force in the removal direction of the first assembly when the first assembly in the mounted state is moved halfway in the removal direction. An image forming apparatus having a stepped portion.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the developer holder is located obliquely above the image holder when the first assembly is mounted.
The support has a guide portion for guiding the first assembly obliquely upward in a direction in which the image holding member is separated from the developing holder when the first assembly is removed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the rotation axis of the developer holder is approximately 90 ° with respect to a line segment that extends in the guide direction by the guide when the step passes through the rotation axis of the image holder. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided at a position where the resistance force is discontinuously increased.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the first aspect, when removing the first assembly including the image carrier from the support, it is suppressed that one side in the axial direction of the image carrier is removed before the other side. The

  According to the image forming apparatus of the second aspect, it is possible to avoid interference between the first assembly and the second assembly.

  According to the image forming apparatus of the third aspect, when one side in the rotation axis direction of the image holding member is removed before the other side, the one side removed first can be put on standby at an appropriate position. .

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer as an embodiment of an image forming apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a frame body is pulled out from a printer main body. It is an external appearance perspective view of the frame which mounts four image formation engines. It is a perspective view of one photoconductor module. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one photoconductor module viewed from an angle different from that of FIG. 4. It is a perspective view of one developing device module. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing one developing device module viewed from an angle different from that in FIG. 6. It is a cross-sectional view of an image forming engine. It is the perspective view which showed the front guide groove provided in the frame. It is the perspective view which showed the guide groove of the back side provided in the frame. It is the perspective view which showed the pressing member of the front side provided in the frame. It is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the image forming engine that crosses the front pressing member. It is the perspective view which showed the press member provided in the back side of the frame. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the image forming engine that crosses a rear pressing member. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a positional relationship between a spacing regulating member provided in the photoreceptor module and a spacing regulating roller provided in the developing device module. It is a figure showing change of resistance which acts when taking out a photoconductor module. It is the figure which showed the experimental value of resistance.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a printer as an embodiment of the image forming apparatus of the present invention.

  The printer 1 is a printer that prints out an image by a so-called electrophotographic method.

  Two paper trays 2a and 2b are arranged at the bottom of the printer 1. These two paper trays 2a and 2b are of a drawer type, and the paper P is accommodated in these paper trays 2a and 2b so as to be stacked. The sheets P in the sheet trays 2a and 2b are taken out one by one for printing and are conveyed on the conveyance path indicated by the arrow A.

  Further, four image forming engines 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K are provided on the upper portion of the printer 1. These four image forming engines 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K are engines that form toner images of toners of yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K), respectively. In the following description, the common description for the image forming engines 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K is referred to as the image forming engine 3 while omitting the symbols Y, M, C, and K representing colors. The symbols Y, M, C, and K representing colors may be omitted in the drawings described later. The same applies to other components other than the image forming engine.

  Each image forming engine 3 includes a photoconductor 21 that rotates in the direction of arrow B, and a charger, a developing device, and a cleaner (not shown) arranged around the photoconductor 21. Here, the photoreceptor 21 is an example of an image carrier. An exposure unit 4 is provided above the image forming engine 3. Image data is input to the printer 1 from a personal computer (not shown), and the exposure device 4 exposes the image carrier 21 with exposure light 4a modulated in accordance with the image data.

  Each image carrier 21 is charged by a charger, and an electrostatic latent image is formed by exposure by the exposure device 4. The electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device, and a toner image is formed on the image carrier 21. Further, the toner image is transferred so as to sequentially overlap the intermediate transfer belt 6 by the action of the primary transfer unit 5. The intermediate transfer belt 6 circulates in the direction of arrow C, and the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 6 is transferred onto the paper P conveyed to that position by the action of the secondary transfer unit 7. The sheet P that has received the transfer of the toner image is further conveyed, fixed by heating and pressing by the fixing device 8, and discharged onto the paper discharge tray 9.

  Here, the four image forming engines 3 are incorporated in one drawer-type frame body 10 and have a structure in which the image forming engines 3 are integrally drawn out and stored in the printer main body 1A.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which the frame body is pulled out from the printer main body.

  Doors 1B and 1C that open and close in the directions of arrows x1-y1 and x2-y2 are provided on the front surface of the printer main body 1A. The doors 1B and 1C are opened, and the frame body 10 is pulled out in the X direction. Moreover, it is stored in the Y direction. As described above, four image forming engines 3Y, 3M, 3C, and 3K are incorporated in the frame 10.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view of a frame on which four image forming engines are mounted.

  Four image forming engines 3 are mounted on the frame 10. Each image forming engine 3 includes a photoreceptor module 20 and a developing device module 30. The photoreceptor module 20 and the developer module 30 are examples of a first assembly and a second assembly, respectively. In FIG. 3, the arrow F side is the front side and the arrow R side is the rear side (see arrow F-R in FIG. 2). The arrow FR shown in FIG. 4 and subsequent figures described below also indicates that the arrow F side is the front side and the arrow R side is the rear side.

  4 and 5 are perspective views showing one photoconductor module viewed from different angles.

  The photoconductor module 20 includes a photoconductor 21, a charger 22, and a cleaner 23. The photosensitive member 21 rotates in the direction of arrow B during the operation of the printer 1 (see FIG. 1) (see also FIG. 1). The photoconductor module 20 is a module that needs to be replaced due to wear of the photoconductor 21 while the printer 1 (see FIG. 1) is used for a long time. The structure can be exchanged.

  Space regulating members 24F and 24R are provided on both sides of the photoconductor module 20 in the rotation axis direction of the photoconductor 21. The spacing regulating members 24F and 24R have a constant spacing between the photoreceptor 21 provided in the photoreceptor module 20 and the developing roll 31 (see FIG. 7) incorporated in the developing device module 30. It is a member which regulates so that it may become. The present embodiment is characterized by the shapes of the interval regulating members 24F and 24R. Details of the spacing regulating members 24F and 24R will be described later.

  Further, the photoconductor module 20 is provided with ring-shaped handles 25F and 25R at the upper ends of both ends. These grips 25F and 25R can be rotated to be in a state where the ring is raised, and by putting a finger into the ring and lifting it, the photosensitive member module 20 is moved upward from the frame body 10 shown in FIG. Can be pulled out.

  Further, guide portions 26F and 26R are provided on both end faces of the photoreceptor module 20. These guide portions 26F and 26R are guided so as to be fitted into guide grooves 11F and 11R (see FIGS. 9 and 10) provided in the frame body 10, and the photoreceptor module 20 is mounted on the frame body 10. The

  6 and 7 are perspective views showing one developer module as seen from different angles.

  The developer module 30 is fixed to the frame 10 so that it cannot be easily replaced. A developing roll 31 (see FIG. 7) is incorporated in the developing module 30. The developing roll 31 is placed in a state close to the photoconductor 21 incorporated in the photoconductor module 20 mounted on the frame 10, and the portion facing the photoconductor 21 has the same orientation as the photoconductor 21. Rotate in the direction of an arrow D shown in FIG. This developing device module 30 is provided on both sides of the developing roll 31 with interval regulating rollers 32 </ b> F and 32 </ b> R that freely rotate coaxially with the developing roll 31. The spacing regulating rollers 32F and 32R come into contact with spacing regulating members 24F and 24R (see FIGS. 4 and 5) provided in the photoreceptor module 20, so that the spacing between the photoreceptor 21 and the developing roll 31 is reached. Is always kept constant. The developer module 30 is provided with a toner supply port 33 for receiving toner from a toner bottle (not shown). The toner supplied from the toner supply port 33 is conveyed to a position close to the photoconductor 21 by the developing roll 31, and the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 21 is developed with the toner and is applied to the photoconductor 21. A toner image is formed. Here, a film-like seal member 34 (see FIG. 7) is provided in the developing device module 30 so that the toner does not leak from the gap between the photosensitive member 21 and the developing roll 31. Further, the developing device module 30 is provided with two horizontally long slots 35 on the front end side thereof. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a support rod 26 is provided at the rear end, and two support rods 26 are arranged side by side, but only one is shown in FIG. Further, one protruding pin 37 is provided in the vicinity of the two long holes 35 on the front end side of the developing device module 30. The developing device module 30 is movable in a direction in which the long hole 3 and the support rod 36 are brought into and out of contact with the photosensitive member module 20, and the pressing member 12 </ b> F attached to the frame body 10. , 12R (see FIGS. 11 to 14), the photoconductor module 20 is pushed. Here, the pressing member 12F on the front side (arrow F side shown in FIG. 3) presses the pin 37 of the developing device module 30 toward the photoreceptor module 20 (see FIG. 12), and the rear side (arrow shown in FIG. 3). The R-side pressing member 12R presses one of the two support rods 36 of the developing device module 30 toward the photoreceptor module 20 (see FIG. 14). In this manner, the spacing regulating rollers 32F and 32R of the developing device module 30 are pressed against the spacing regulating members 24F and 24R of the photoreceptor module 20.

  FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the image forming engine.

  As described above, the image forming engine 3 includes the photoreceptor module 20 and the developing device module 30. The photosensitive member 21 incorporated in the photosensitive member module 20 and the developing roll 31 incorporated in the developing device module 30 rotate in the directions of arrows B and D, respectively, while maintaining a constant distance from each other. The developing device module 30 is provided with a film-like seal member 34. In FIG. 8, since the original shape of the seal member 34 when it does not interfere with the others is shown, the seal member 34 is drawn so as to bite into the photoconductor 21, but in reality, the seal member 34 faces the direction of the arrow B of the photoconductor 21. By rotating, it bends along the surface of the photosensitive member 21 to close the gap between the photosensitive member 21 and the developing roll 31 and prevents the toner from leaking out between them.

  9 and 10 are perspective views showing guide grooves on the front side and the rear side, respectively, provided on the frame.

  9 and 10 show a state in which the photoconductor module 20K constituting one image forming engine 3K among the four image forming engines 3 (see FIG. 3) mounted on the frame 10 is removed. The frame 10 is shown. The frame 10 is provided with a front guide groove 11F (FIG. 9) and a rear guide groove 11R (FIG. 10). The photoconductor module 20 is mounted on the frame 10 in a state where the guide portion 26F (FIG. 4) on the front end surface and the guide portion 26R (FIG. 5) on the rear end surface are fitted in the guide grooves 11F and 11R. . In the present embodiment, the guide grooves 11F and 11R provided in the frame body 10 correspond to an example of a guide portion.

  Here, the guide grooves 11F and 11R for guiding the photoreceptor module 20 with respect to one image forming engine 3K of the four image forming engines 3 have been described, but any of the four image forming engines 3 is described. Has the same configuration.

  FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a front pressing member provided in the frame.

  FIG. 11 shows the frame body in a state where both the photoreceptor module 20K and the developer module 30K constituting the image forming engine 3K of the four image forming engines mounted on the frame body 10 are removed. A portion of 10 is shown.

  FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the image forming engine that crosses the front pressing member.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the photoconductor module 20 constituting the image forming engine 3, a guide portion 26 </ b> F provided on the front end surface thereof is fitted in a guide groove 11 </ b> F provided on the frame body 10. And as shown in FIG. 11, the press member 12F is arrange | positioned in the position adjacent to the guide groove 11F of the frame 10. As shown in FIG. The pressing member 12 </ b> F is pressed by a pressing spring 13 </ b> F (FIG. 12) and plays a role of pressing the developing device module 30 toward the photoreceptor module 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the frame 10 is provided with support rods 14 on both sides of the pressing member 12F. As shown in FIG. 12, these support rods enter the elongated holes 35 (see also FIGS. 5 and 6) of the developing device module 30 to support the developing device module 30. Further, the pin 37 provided at a position adjacent to the long hole 35 of the developing device module 30 enters a position pressed by the pressing member 12F.

  By the pressing of the developing device module 30 by the pressing member 12F, the spacing regulating roller 32F provided coaxially with the developing roll 31 is pressed against the spacing regulating member 24F of the photoreceptor module 20, and the developing roll 31 and the photoreceptor 21 ( The distance from the head (see FIGS. 4 and 5) is kept constant.

  A structure similar to this is also provided on the rear side (arrow R side shown in FIG. 3).

  FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a pressing member provided on the rear side of the frame. Similarly to FIG. 11, in FIG. 13, both the photoconductor module 20K and the developing device module 30K constituting one image forming engine 3K among the four image forming engines 3 mounted on the frame 10 are removed. A part of the frame 10 is shown in a state where it has been removed.

  FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the image forming engine that crosses the pressing member on the rear side.

  As shown in FIG. 14, in the photoconductor module 20 constituting the image forming engine 3, the guide portion 26 </ b> R provided on the rear end surface thereof is fitted in the guide groove 11 </ b> R provided on the frame body 10. As shown in FIG. 13, the pressing member 12 </ b> R is disposed at a position adjacent to the guide groove 11 </ b> R provided in the frame body 10. The rear pressing member 12 </ b> R is disposed in a long groove 15 opened to the side facing the photoconductor module 20, and a horizontally long long hole 16 is formed at a position adjacent to the long groove 15. Two support rods 36 protrude from the rear end surface of the developing device module 30 (see FIG. 6, but only one appears in FIG. 6), and one of the two support rods 36. Is disposed in a state of being inserted into the long groove 15, and the other is disposed in a state of being inserted into the long hole 16. As a result, the developing device module 30 is also supported by the frame body 10 so that the rear end side thereof can also move in a direction in which the developing device module 30 contacts and separates from the photoreceptor module 20. The pressing member 12 </ b> R is pressed by the pressing spring 13 </ b> R shown in FIG. 14 and presses one of the two support rods 36 toward the photoconductor module 20. Due to the pressing of the developing unit module 30 by the pressing member 12 </ b> R, a spacing regulating roller 32 </ b> R (see FIG. 7) that is provided coaxially with the developing roll 31 is provided in the photoreceptor module 20. It is pressed against the interval regulating member 24R. Thereby, like the front side, the distance between the developing roll 31 (FIG. 7) and the photosensitive member 21 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is kept constant.

  Here, the guide grooves 11F and 11R extend slightly obliquely and have a structure for guiding the guide portions 26F and 26R slightly obliquely upward. As a result, the photosensitive member 21 is arranged so as to go obliquely below the developing roll 31, and accordingly, the four image forming units 3 are densely arranged, contributing to downsizing.

  FIG. 15 is a view showing the positional relationship between the spacing regulating member provided in the photosensitive member module and the spacing regulating roller provided in the developing device module.

  In FIG. 15, as the members on the developing device module side, a developing roll 31, a distance regulating roller 32, and a rotating shaft 311 of the developing roll 31 are shown. Further, in FIG. 15, for the photoconductor module 20, the interval regulating member 24 and the photoconductor rotating shaft 211 are shown. Since the relationship between the space regulating member 24 and the space regulating roller 32 is the same on the front side and the back side in the rotation axis direction, the front side and the back side are distinguished here without distinguishing the front side member and the back side member. Reference numerals F and R are omitted, and are expressed as a distance restriction member 24 and a distance restriction roller 32.

  As described above, the photoreceptor module 20 is removed from the frame body 10 (see FIG. 3) by lifting up. At this time, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 14, the front and rear guide portions 26F and 26R are fitted in the guide grooves 11F and 11R of the frame 10, so that the photoconductor module 20 has the guide grooves 11F and 11R. Is lifted in a slightly oblique upward guide direction (in the direction of arrow Z shown in FIG. 15).

  In FIG. 15, the interval regulating roller 32 is indicated by both a solid line and a broken line. The space regulation roller 32 indicated by a solid line represents the relative position of the space regulation roller 32 with respect to the photoconductor module 20 when the photoconductor module 20 is disposed at a normal position in the frame 10. On the other hand, the interval regulating roller 32 indicated by a broken line indicates the relative position of the interval regulating roller 32 with respect to the photoconductor module 20 in a state where the photoconductor module 20 is slightly lifted in the direction of the arrow Z.

  A portion of the interval regulating member 24 that is in contact with the interval regulating roller 32 indicated by a solid line is an interval regulating portion 241 that regulates the interval between the photosensitive member 21 and the developing roll 31 during operation.

  The interval restricting member 24 is provided with a small step 242 at a position adjacent to the lower portion of the interval restricting portion 241. In addition, the gap regulating member 24 is provided with a stepped portion 243 that is larger than the stepped portion 242. This larger step 243 is a characteristic step in the present embodiment.

  When the photosensitive member module 20 starts to be lifted in the direction of the arrow Z, the interval regulating roller 32 is pushed by the interval regulating member 24 with the small step portion 242 as a boundary, and the interval between the developing roll 31 and the photosensitive member 21 is expanded. .

  When the photosensitive member module 20 is further lifted, the distance regulating roller 32 reaches a position indicated by a broken line relative to the photosensitive member module 20, contacts the large stepped portion 243, and has an operating force for further lifting operation. On the other hand, it acts as a large non-continuous resistance force. At this time, the distance regulating roller 32 is at a position of 90 ° with respect to a straight line (straight line indicated by an arrow Z shown in FIG. 15) extending in the guiding direction through the rotation shaft 211 of the photosensitive member. That is, the larger step portion 243 passes through the rotation shaft 211 of the photosensitive member, and is a line segment (indicated by an arrow Z) extending in the guiding direction by the guide grooves 11F and 11R when the photosensitive member module 20 is removed from the frame member 10. When the rotation shaft 311 of the developing roll 31 is at a position of approximately 90 ° with respect to the line segment), the operation of further lifting the photoreceptor module 20 is discontinuous compared to the resistance force to the operation lifted up to that point. This is a step that generates a large resistance.

  Here, a case where the larger step portion 243 is not provided in the interval regulating member 24 will be considered. The spacing regulating member 24 and the spacing regulating rollers 32 that are abutted against the spacing regulating member 24 are provided at two locations on the front side and the rear side in the rotation axis direction. Since the photoconductor module 20 is manually operated by a user when the photoconductor module 20 is removed, one of the front side and the back side of the photoconductor module 20 may be lifted before the other. For this reason, when the stepped portion 243 is not present, there may occur a situation in which the photoconductor module 20 is detached from the frame body 10 while being inclined in the rotation axis direction. Then, the interval regulation between the photosensitive member 21 and the developing roll 31 due to the spacing regulating member 24 and the spacing regulating roller 32 does not work well, and the photosensitive member 21 and the developing roll 31 come into contact with each other. One or both of them may be scratched.

  The photosensitive member 21 is in contact with a film-like sealing member 34 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) provided in the developing device module 30. When the photosensitive member module 20 is lifted, the sealing member 34 is in contact with the photosensitive member 21. Receives a force in a direction in which the downward edge is lifted. For this reason, even if only one of the front side or the rear side of the photoconductor module 20 is lifted first, and the gap regulation does not work well, even if the photoconductor 21 and the developing roll 31 are not damaged. The seal member 34 may turn up. When the seal member 34 is turned up, the toner adhering to the inner surface (the surface on the developing roll 31 side) of the seal member 34 wraps around the outer surface, and the next time the photoreceptor module 20 is mounted. In addition, the entrained toner is sandwiched between the photosensitive member 21 and the sealing member 34, and a gap is formed between them. When the toner is next operated, the toner leaks and stains the photosensitive member 21 and its surroundings. A problem occurs.

  On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, a large step portion 243 is formed in the interval regulating member 24. For this reason, even if one of the front side and the rear side is lifted first, the distance regulating roller 32 hits one stepped portion 243 lifted ahead, and a large resistance force is generated.

  For this reason, the one lifted ahead stays at the position of this step 243 and waits for the other to be lifted. Thus, after both the front side and the rear side are lifted up to the step portion 243, both the front and rear sides are further lifted simultaneously. In this way, the presence of the stepped portion 243 prevents the occurrence of the above-described scratches and the occurrence of poor sealing of the seal member 34.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a change in resistance force that acts when the photoreceptor module is taken out.

  The vertical axis represents the pulling distance a [mm] in the arrow Z direction shown in FIG. The horizontal axis represents the amount of contraction b [mm] of the pressing springs 13F and 13R (see FIGS. 12 and 14) pressing the pressing members 12F and 12R when the photoreceptor module 20 is taken out. The amount of contraction b on the horizontal axis is substantially proportional to the resistance force experienced by the user when the photoreceptor module 20 is taken out.

  The solid line graph of the graph shown in FIG. 16 is a graph corresponding to the present embodiment, and the broken line graph is obtained when the interval regulating member having the shape without the step portion 243 (see FIG. 15) is used. It is a graph.

  In the case of the present embodiment indicated by a solid line, when the photoreceptor module 20 is lifted by about 10 mm in the direction of the arrow Z (see FIG. 15), the spacing regulating roller 32 hits the step 243 of the spacing regulating member 24, and thereafter the photosensitive module. When the body module 20 is further lifted, the resistance force (shrink amount b of the pressing spring) increases rapidly and discontinuously.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing experimental values of resistance.

  Here, each of the front side and the rear side is lifted via a spring balance, and the maximum value of the pulling force before the distance regulating rollers 32 reach the step portion 243 and the maximum value when the lift is further lifted beyond the step portion 243. Was measured 5 times each. As shown in the column of “average value”, when lifting beyond the step 243, a larger force is required than before reaching the step 243. As a result, as described above, even if one of the front side and the rear side is lifted first, the distance regulating roller 32 hits the stepped portion 243, temporarily stays in that position, and waits for the other to be lifted. When lifting over 243, the front and rear are lifted simultaneously.

  An interval regulating member (example) in which the resistance force changes as shown by a solid line in FIG. 16 and an interval regulating member (comparative example) in which the resistance changes as shown by a broken line in FIG. 16 are used, and other conditions are the same. The experiment was conducted. Here, the photosensitive member module 20 was pulled up twice by six people, and it was evaluated whether or not a phenomenon in which the toner wraps around the outer surface of the seal member 34 occurred.

  As a result, in the case of the comparative example, the wraparound of the toner occurred twice out of 6 people × 2 times = 12 times. On the other hand, in the case of the example, out of 12 times, the occurrence of toner wraparound never occurred.

  Here, a so-called tandem printer provided with four image forming engines 3 has been described as an example, but the present invention does not ask the number of image forming engines 3 and one image forming engine is provided. The present invention can also be applied to a printer having five or more image forming engines.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Printer 1B, 1C Door 2a, 2b Paper tray 3 Image formation engine 4 Exposure device 5 Primary transfer device 6 Intermediate transfer belt 7 Secondary transfer device 8 Fixing device 9 Paper discharge tray 10 Frame body 11, 11F, 11R Guide groove 12F , 12R pressing member 13F, 13R pressing spring 15 long groove 16 long hole 20 photoconductor module 21 photoconductor 22 charger 23 cleaner 24, 24F, 24R interval regulating member 25 grip 26, 26F, 26R guide section 30 developer module 31 Developing roller 32, 32F, 32R Interval regulating roller 33 Toner supply port 34 Seal member 35 Slot 36 Support rod 37 Pin 211, 311 Rotating shaft 241 Interval regulating portion 242, 243 Step portion

Claims (3)

A first assembly including an image carrier that forms an electrostatic latent image while rotating and holds the formed electrostatic latent image;
The first assembly is detachably mounted, and a support for supporting the mounted first assembly;
A developer holder that develops the electrostatic latent image on the image carrier, and the developer carrier is brought into contact with and separated from the image carrier of the first assembly supported by the support; A second assembly supported by the support so as to be movable in an orientation,
The support includes a biasing member that biases the developer holder in a direction to approach the image holder;
The first assembly contacts the contacted portion of the developer holding body on both sides in the rotation axis direction of the image holding body when the first assembly is attached and detached, and the image holding body and the developing member are in a mounted state. An interval regulating member that regulates an interval with the agent holding body,
Each of the spacing regulating members discontinuously increases a resistance force against an operating force in the removal direction of the first assembly when the first assembly in the mounted state is moved halfway in the removal direction. An image forming apparatus having a stepped portion. The developer holder is located obliquely above the image holder when the first assembly is mounted;
The support has a guide portion for guiding the first assembly obliquely upward in a direction in which the image holding member is separated from the developing holder when the first assembly is removed. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1.   When the rotation axis of the developer holding body is at a position of approximately 90 ° with respect to a line segment extending in the guiding direction by the guide portion when being removed through the rotation axis of the image holding body, The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image forming apparatus is provided at a position where the resistance force is discontinuously increased.

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