JP3359336B2 - Process cartridge and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus. Here, examples of the image forming apparatus include an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser beam printer, an LED printer, a facsimile machine, a word processor, and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The image forming apparatus described above selectively exposes a uniformly charged photosensitive drum to form a latent image, and develops the latent image with toner to visualize the latent image. Then, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to a recording medium to perform image recording.

Therefore, in such an image forming apparatus, the photosensitive drum must be rotated with high precision in order to improve the quality of the image. Therefore, the gear on the photosensitive drum side and the gear on the image forming apparatus main body mesh with each other to reliably transmit the driving force on the main body side to the photosensitive drum, thereby rotating the photosensitive drum with high accuracy. Is being done.

[0004] The present applicant has already made the following invention,
The specification describes a configuration related to such a technique.

The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 64-9631 (published on Feb. 17, 1989) uses a helical gear to transmit the driving force of the main body to an image carrier. is there. According to the present invention, it is possible to position the image carrier in the thrust direction and to rotate the image carrier with high accuracy.

[0006] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 03-240069 (October 2, 1991)
The invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) on the 5th is one in which first and second drive transmission units are provided on an image carrier. According to the present invention, the rotation speed of the developer carrier can be easily changed according to, for example, the type of the developer.

In each of these publications, a configuration is described in which a gear on the photosensitive drum side and a gear on the image forming apparatus main body mesh with each other to reliably transmit the driving force of the main body to the photosensitive drum. I have.

The present invention is a further development of each of the above-described configurations. An object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus capable of performing good image formation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus which can transmit a driving force satisfactorily.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a typical configuration according to the present invention comprises an image carrier, processing means acting on the image carrier, and an end portion of the image carrier. A first gear provided, coaxial with the first gear, and
A second gear provided on the outside and receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus, wherein the first gear and the second gear are integrally formed with a gear unit. The gear portion is provided with a through hole through which a rotating shaft fixed outside the gear portion passes, and a portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear includes the rotating shaft. And a portion of the through hole corresponding to the first gear has a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the rotating shaft.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A process cartridge using a photosensitive drum and an image forming apparatus using the process cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

{Overall Description of Process Cartridge and Image Forming Apparatus Mounted with Process Cartridge} First, the overall configuration of the image forming apparatus will be outlined. FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a cross-sectional configuration of a copier equipped with a process cartridge, which is one mode of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 2 is an external view of the copier with a tray opened, and FIG. 3 is a closed state of the tray. 4, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the cross-sectional configuration of the process cartridge, FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the external appearance of the process cartridge, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the external appearance of the process cartridge in an inverted state.

This image forming apparatus A is, as shown in FIG.
The image information of the original 2 is optically read by the original reading means 1, and the recording medium 4 loaded on the feeding tray 3 or manually inserted from the feeding tray 3 is transported by the transporting means 5, and is formed into a cartridge as the process cartridge B. In the formed image forming section, a developer (hereinafter referred to as toner) image formed based on the image information is transferred to the recording medium 4 by the transfer means 6, and the recording medium 4 is transported to the fixing means 7 to transfer the toner image. Is fixed and discharged to the discharge tray 8.

The process cartridge B constituting the image forming section rotates the photosensitive drum 9 serving as an image carrier and uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 by a charging means 10.
Then, the light image read by the reading unit 1 is exposed to form a latent image on the photosensitive drum 9, and the developing unit 12 forms a toner image corresponding to the latent image to be visualized. After the transfer unit 6 transfers the toner image to the recording medium 4,
The cleaning unit 13 is configured to remove toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 9.

The process cartridge B is a cartridge in which the photosensitive drum 9 and the like are housed in a frame.
The frame is constituted by an upper frame 14 as a first frame and a lower frame 15 as a second frame.

Next, the configuration of each part of the image forming apparatus A and the process cartridge B mounted thereon will be described in detail.

{Image Forming Apparatus} First, the image forming apparatus A
The configuration of each part will be described.

(Original Reading Means) Original reading means 1 includes original 2
As shown in FIG. 1, a document glass 1a on which a document 2 is placed is provided on an upper portion of an apparatus body 16, and a sponge 1b1 is adhered to an inner top surface. A holding plate 1b is mounted on the original glass 1a so as to be openable and closable. The original glass 1a and the original pressing plate 1b are attached to the apparatus main body 16 so as to be slidable in the left-right direction in FIG.

On the other hand, a lens unit 1c is provided above the apparatus main body 16 and below the original glass 1a, and a light source 1c1 and a short-focus imaging lens array 1c2 are provided in the unit 1c.

Thus, the original 2 is placed on the original glass 1a with the original writing surface facing down, the light source 1c1 is turned on, and the original glass 1a is slid in the left-right direction in FIG.
The light reflected from the original 2 is exposed to the photosensitive drum 9 of the process cartridge B via the lens array 1c2.

(Recording Medium Conveying Means) The conveying means 5 conveys the recording medium 4 placed on the feed tray 3 to the grinding and fixing means 7 when the recording medium 4 is conveyed to the image forming section. That is, a plurality of recording media 4 are placed on the feeding tray 3 or one recording medium 4 is manually inserted from the feeding tray 3 so that the leading end of the recording medium 4 is in contact with the feeding roller 5a and the friction against the feeding roller 5a. Pad 5
Copy button A3 after setting it to reach the nip of b
When the button is pressed, the feed roller 5a rotates to separate and feed the recording medium 4, and at the same time, the registration rollers 5c1 and 5c2 convey the recording medium 4 according to the image forming operation. The recording medium 4 after image formation is conveyed to the fixing unit 7 by the conveying belt 5d and the guide member 5e, and is discharged to the discharge tray 8 by the pair of discharge rollers 5f1 and 5f2.

(Transfer Means) The transfer means 6 is for transferring the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 9 in the image forming section to the recording medium 4, and the transfer means 6 of this embodiment is, as shown in FIG. The transfer roller 6 is used. That is, the recording medium 4 is pressed against the photosensitive drum 9 of the mounted process cartridge B by the transfer roller 6, and a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 9 is applied to the transfer roller 6. Thus, the toner on the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred to the recording medium 2.

(Fixing Means) The fixing means 7 fixes the toner image transferred onto the recording medium 4 by applying a voltage to the transfer roller 6, and as shown in FIG. A heat-resistant fixing film 7e is provided on the heating element 7c and the tension plate 7d held by the holder 7b.
Has been passed over. The tension plate 7d is urged by a tension spring 7f to apply tension to the fixing film 7e. A pressure roller 7g is pressed against the fixing film 7e at the heating element 7c, and presses the fixing film 7e against the heating element 7c with a force necessary for fixing.

The heating element 7c has a width of 160 μm and a length of 160 μm (in the direction of the front and back of the sheet of FIG. 1) on the lower surface of a heat-resistant and electrically insulating holder 7b such as alumina or a holder 7b composed of a composite member including the same. Length) 216 mm, for example, Ta
_It has a linear or millet heating surface made of 2N or the like, and further, for example, Ta ₂ O is formed on the surface as a sliding protection layer. The lower surface of the heating element 7c is smooth, and the front and rear ends are rounded to allow the fixing film 7e to slide. The fixing film 7e is made of polyester as a base material and is formed to a thickness of, for example, about 9 μm, which has been subjected to heat treatment, and is rotated clockwise by the rotation of the driving roller 7a.

When the recording medium 4 onto which the toner image has been transferred passes between the fixing film 7e and the pressure roller 7g,
The toner image is fixed on the recording medium 4 by applying heat and pressure.

In order to prevent the heat from being trapped in the apparatus main body due to the heating of the fixing means 7 as described above, the apparatus main body is
Inside the cooling fan 17 is provided. The fan 17 rotates when, for example, a copy button (not shown) is turned on, and generates an air flow flowing into the apparatus from the feed port and flowing out from the discharge port as shown by an arrow a in FIG. Each member including the cartridge B in the apparatus is cooled by the air flow,
Heat is not stored in the equipment.

(Recording medium supply / discharge tray) The feed tray 3 and the discharge tray 8 are pivotally moved in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 2 by the shafts 3a and 8a, respectively, as shown in FIGS. And is configured to rotate in the direction of arrow c by the shafts 3b and 8a. Locking projections 3c, 8c are provided on both sides of the rotating tip of each of the trays 3, 8, and the locking protrusions 3c, 8c are locked in locking grooves 1b2 formed on the upper surface of the document pressing plate 1b. It is configured to be possible.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the respective trays 3 and 8 are bent, and the locking projections 3c and 8c are
When locked to b2, the original glass 1a and the original pressing plate 1b
Cannot slide. Therefore, the image forming apparatus A can be easily carried by holding the handle 16a.

(Density setting button) The image forming apparatus A is provided with a density setting button. Briefly explaining this, in FIG. 2, A1 is a power switch, and the switch turns on and off the image forming apparatus. A2 is a density adjustment dial, which is used to perform basic density adjustment of the image forming apparatus. Then A
A copy button 3 is pressed to drive the image forming apparatus to start a copy operation. A4 is a copy clear button. Pressing this button interrupts copying,
Various settings such as copy density are released. A5 is a number counter button for setting the number of copies by pressing this button. A6 is an automatic density setting button, and when this button is pressed, the density is automatically set at the time of copying. A7 is a density setting dial for adjusting the density of the copy density by turning the dial as appropriate.

{Process Cartridge} Next, the structure of each part of the process cartridge B mounted on the image forming apparatus A will be described.

The process cartridge B has an image carrier and at least one process means. Here, examples of the processing means include a charging means for charging the surface of the image carrier, a developing means for forming a toner image on the image carrier, and a cleaning means for removing toner remaining on the surface of the image carrier. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the process cartridge B of this embodiment includes a charging unit 10, a developing unit 12 containing toner (developer), and a cleaning unit around an electrophotographic photosensitive drum 9 serving as an image carrier. 13 and these are covered with a housing composed of upper and lower frames 14 and 15 to form a cartridge as a unit.
It is configured to be detachable from 16.

The upper frame 14 has a charging means 10, an exposure means
11, the toner reservoir of the developing means 12 is provided, and the lower frame 15 is provided with the photosensitive drum 9, the developing sleeve of the developing means 12 and the cleaning means 13. Next, the configuration of each part of the process cartridge B is changed to the photosensitive drum 9, charging means 10, exposure means 1
1, the developing means 12, and the cleaning means 13 will be described in detail in this order. 7 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the process cartridge in a state where the upper and lower frames are divided, FIG. 8 is an internal perspective explanatory view of the lower frame side, and FIG. 9 is an internal perspective explanatory view of the upper frame side.

(Photosensitive Drum) The photosensitive drum 9 according to the present embodiment has an organic photosensitive layer 9b applied to the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical drum base 9a having a thickness of about 1 mm and made of aluminum.
It is configured as a 24 mm photosensitive drum 9. By transmitting the driving force of a driving motor (not shown) to a flange gear 9c (see FIG. 8) fixed to one end of the drum 9, the photosensitive drum 9 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. It is composed.

When an image is formed, the charging roller 10 is brought into contact with the photosensitive drum 9 as the photosensitive drum 9 rotates.
The surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is uniformly charged by applying an oscillating voltage obtained by superimposing a DC voltage and an AC voltage on the photosensitive drum 9. At this time, in order to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum, the frequency of the AC voltage applied to the charging roller 10 must be increased, but if the frequency exceeds about 200 Hz, the photosensitive drum 9 and the charging roller 10 vibrate. The so-called “charging noise” increases.

That is, when an AC voltage is applied to the charging roller 10, an attractive force due to an electrostatic force acts between the photosensitive drum 9 and the charging roller 10, and the mutual attraction between the maximum value and the minimum value of the AC voltage is large. The charging roller 10 is attracted to the photosensitive drum 9 while being elastically deformed. In the central part of the AC voltage, the mutual attracting force is small, and the charging roller 10 tends to separate from the photosensitive drum 9 by the recovery force of the elastic deformation of the charging roller 10. Therefore, the photosensitive drum 9 and the charging roller 10 generate vibration twice as high as the frequency of the applied AC voltage. Further, when the charging roller 10 is attracted to the photosensitive drum 9, the mutual rotation is braked, and vibrations due to stick-slip occur as if the wet glass surface were rubbed with a finger, and these became charging noises. appear.

In this embodiment, in order to reduce the vibration of the photosensitive drum 9, as shown in the sectional view of FIG.
d is provided. The material of the filler 9d may be a metal such as aluminum or brass, a ceramic such as cement or gypsum, or a rubber material such as natural rubber. Any of these may be appropriately selected in consideration of productivity, workability, weight effect, cost, and the like.

The shape of the filling 9 d is a column or a cylinder, for example, about 100 μm larger than the inner diameter of the photosensitive drum 9.
The filling material 9d having an outer diameter smaller by m is inserted and attached into the hollow drum base 9a. That is, the drum base 9a and the filler 9
An adhesive (for example, cyanoacrylate type, epoxy resin type, etc.) 9e is applied to the outer periphery of the filling or the inner periphery of the drum base 9a, and the filling 9d is inserted into the drum base 9a. And attach it.

Here, the results of the present inventor changing the position of the filler 9d in the photosensitive drum 9 and experimentally examining the relationship between the position of the filler 9d and the sound pressure are shown. In the experiment, as shown in FIG. 11, a microphone M was placed at a position 30 cm away from the front of the process cartridge B in a room with a background noise of 43 dB, and the sound pressure was measured. As a result, as shown in FIG.
However, the sound pressure became the minimum value at the position where the filler of 40 gr was shifted to the gear flange 9 c side by 30 mm from the center of the photosensitive drum 9 in the rotation axis direction. From this result, the filling material 9d is located inside the photosensitive drum 9 in the gear flange 9c.
It can be seen that it is more effective to attach to a position deviated to the side. This is because the support structure at both ends of the photosensitive drum 9 is supported on one side via a gear flange 9c,
This is because the other side is supported via a bearing member 26 having no flange, and has a configuration that is asymmetric with respect to the axial center position of the photosensitive drum 9.

For this reason, in this embodiment, FIG.
As described above, the filler 9 d is moved in the rotation axis direction of the photosensitive drum 9.
Flange gear 9c rather than center c, ie, photosensitive drum
9 at a position shifted toward the drive transmission side. still,
In this embodiment, the axial length L ₁= 257mm photosensitive drum
L from center c of 9_Two= 9mm flange gear 9c
The length L_Three= Solid part of 40mm aluminum
Material, weight about 20g-60g, preferably 35g-45
g, most preferably about 40 g of filling 9d.
You.

As described above, the filling material 9 d is contained in the photosensitive drum 9.
Is provided, the photosensitive drum 9 rotates stably, and the vibration accompanying the rotation of the photosensitive drum 9 during image formation is suppressed. Therefore, even if the frequency of the AC voltage applied to the charging roller 10 is increased, generation of charging noise can be suppressed.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the ground contact 18a is brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 9, and the other end is connected to the drum ground contact pin 35a on the apparatus main body side. Although the drum 9 is electrically grounded by contact, the grounding contact 18a contacts the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 9 at the end opposite to the side where the flange gear 9c is provided. Provided.

The ground contact 18a is made of spring stainless steel, spring phosphor bronze, or the like, and is attached to the bearing member 26. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, a bearing member is provided on a base 18a1.
A locking hole 18a2 for press-fitting and locking the boss provided on 26 is provided, and two arms 18a3 are provided on the base 18a1,
Further, a hemispherical projection 18a4 is provided at the tip of each of the arms 18a3 to protrude toward the back side in FIG.

When the bearing member 26 is attached to the photosensitive drum 9, the projection 18 a 4 comes into pressure contact with the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 9 by the elastic force of the arm 18 a 3. At this time, since there are a plurality of locations (two locations) in contact with the photosensitive drum 9, the reliability of the contacts is improved, and the contact portions have hemispherical convex portions.
Since 18a4 is formed, the contact with the photosensitive drum 9 is stabilized.

Incidentally, as shown in FIG.
The length of the arm 18a3 of the arm 18a may be made different.
In this case, the position where the hemispherical convex portion 18a4 contacts the photosensitive drum 9 is shifted in the circumferential direction. For example, even if the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 9 has an The part 18a4 does not run on the flaw at the same time. For this reason, the ground contact becomes more reliable.
However, if the length of the arm 18a3 is changed, the photosensitive drum 9
Because the amount of deformation of the arms 18a3 when pressed against the inner surface of the arm 18a3 is different, a difference may occur in the contact pressure of each arm 18a3, but this can be easily corrected by changing the bending angle of the arms 18a3 I can do it.

In this embodiment, the grounding contact 18a has two arms 18a3 as described above. However, the number of arms may be three or more. 15 and figure if they surely touch the inner surface of 9
As shown in FIG. 16, an arm 18a3 having one arm (not divided into two branches) and having no hemispherical projection at the end thereof may be used.

Here, if the contact pressure of the ground contact 18a on the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is too weak, the hemispherical projection 18a4 cannot follow the minute unevenness on the inner surface of the photosensitive drum, so that a contact failure is likely to occur and the arm portion Generates sound due to the vibration of 18a3. In order to prevent this poor contact and vibration noise, it is necessary to increase the contact pressure.However, if the contact pressure is excessively increased, the inner surface of the drum is scratched due to the pressure contact of the hemispherical convex portion 18a4 when the image forming apparatus is used for a long time. Then, on this flaw, the hemispherical convex part 18a4
Vibration occurs due to rubbing, which may cause poor contact or vibration noise.

Taking these into consideration, the contact pressure of the drum ground contact 18a to the inner surface of the photosensitive drum is about 10 g to 200 g.
Is preferably set in the range. That is, according to an experiment conducted by the inventor of the present invention, if the contact pressure is about 10 g or less, poor contact is likely to occur with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 9,
There is a possibility of causing radio interference to other electronic devices. When the contact pressure is about 200 g or more, the inner surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is scratched at the sliding portion in contact with the ground contact 18a when used for a long period of time, causing abnormal noise during rotation and poor contact. There was a fear.

The generation of the sound or the like cannot be completely removed because of the inner surface condition of the photosensitive drum 9 in some cases.
By attaching the filler 9d to the photosensitive drum 9, vibration of the drum 9 can be reduced, or if conductive grease is interposed in a contact sliding portion between the ground contact 18a and the inner surface of the drum, The generation of the scratches and the poor contact can be more reliably prevented.

Since the ground contact 18a is mounted on the bearing member 26 on the side opposite to the filler 9d provided near the flange gear 9c, the ground contact 18a can be easily mounted.

(Charging means) The charging means is the photosensitive drum 9
The present embodiment uses a so-called contact charging method as disclosed in JP-A-63-149669. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the charging roller 10 is rotatably provided on the inner surface of the upper frame body 14 via the sliding bearing 10c. The charging roller 10 is a metal roller shaft 10b.
(For example, conductive core metal such as iron and SUS), EPDM, N
An elastic rubber layer such as BR is provided, and a urethane rubber layer in which carbon is dispersed is further provided on a peripheral surface thereof, or a metal roller shaft is coated with a foamed urethane rubber layer in which carbon is dispersed. I have. And the charging roller 10
The roller shaft 10b is mounted via a sliding bearing 10c so as not to fall off by a bearing slide guide claw 10d of the upper frame 14, and is mounted so as to be slightly slidable toward the photosensitive drum 9. The charging roller 10 is configured to be urged toward the photosensitive drum 9 by a spring 10a so as to come into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 9. In this charging means, the charging roller 10 is directly incorporated into the upper frame 14 via a bearing 10c.

When an image is formed, the charging roller 10 is driven by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 9 to rotate.
The surface of the photosensitive drum 9 is uniformly charged by applying an AC voltage to the photosensitive drum 9 as described above.

The voltage applied to the charging roller 10 will be described in detail. The voltage applied to the charging roller 10 may be only a DC voltage. However, in order to make the charging uniform, the DC voltage and the AC voltage are superimposed as described above. It is preferable to apply the generated oscillation voltage. Preferably, the uniform charging property is improved by applying to the charging roller 10 a vibration voltage obtained by superimposing an AC voltage and a DC voltage having a peak-to-peak voltage that is at least twice the charging start voltage when only the DC voltage is applied. (JP-A-63-149669, etc.). The oscillating voltage here is a voltage whose voltage value periodically changes with time, and preferably has a peak-to-peak voltage that is twice or more the charging start voltage of the photosensitive drum surface when only a DC voltage is applied. The waveform is not limited to a sine wave, but may be a rectangular wave, a triangular wave, or a pulse wave. From the viewpoint of charging noise, a sine wave containing no harmonic component is preferable. The AC voltage also includes, for example, a rectangular wave voltage formed by periodically turning on and off a DC power supply.

As shown in FIG. 17, power is supplied to the charging roller 10 by pressing one end 18c1 of a charging bias contact 18c into contact with a charging bias contact pin of the apparatus main body, which will be described later. The other end 18c2 of the contact 18c is pressed against the metal roller shaft 10b to apply a voltage to the charging roller 10. Since the charging roller 10 is pressed to the right side in FIG. 17 by the contact 18c having a spring property, a stopper portion bent in a key shape is provided on the charging roller bearing 10c opposite to the contact 18c.
10c1 is provided. In order to prevent the charging roller 10 from moving excessively in the axial direction when the process cartridge B is dropped or vibrated, a stopper portion 10e hanging down from the upper frame body 14 is provided on the contact 18c side.

When the charging roller 10 is incorporated into the upper frame 14, the bearing 10c is first supported on the guide claw 10d of the upper frame 14, and the roller shaft 10b of the charging roller 10 is simply fitted into the bearing 10c. By combining the upper frame 14 with the lower frame 15, the charging roller 10 comes into pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 9 as shown in FIG.

The power supply side bearing 10c of the charging roller 10 uses a conductive bearing material containing a large amount of carbon filler.
a, the power is supplied to the charging roller 10 via
A stable charging bias can be applied.

(Exposure Means) The exposure means 11 is the charging roller
The surface of the photosensitive drum 9 uniformly charged by 10 is exposed to a light image from the reading means 1 as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 7, the upper frame 14 is provided with an opening 11a for irradiating the photosensitive drum 9 with light from the lens array 1c2. When the process cartridge B is removed from the apparatus main assembly A, if the photosensitive drum 9 is exposed to external light via the opening 11a, the photosensitive drum 9 is deteriorated. For this reason, a shutter member 11b is attached to the opening 11a. When the process cartridge B is removed from the apparatus main body A, the shutter member 11b closes the opening 11a, and when the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus main body A, the opening 11a opens. I have to.

The shutter member 11b is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), it is configured to be bent in the shape of a cross in a “C” shape, and the bent portion is turned to the outside of the cartridge so as to rotate with respect to the upper frame body 14 by the shaft 11b1. Mounted as possible. A torsion coil spring 11c is attached to the shaft 11b1, and when the process cartridge B is removed from the image forming apparatus A, the spring 11
The shutter member 11b is configured to close the opening 11a by the bias of c.

FIG. 18 shows the outer surface of the shutter member 11b.
When the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A when the abutting portion 11b2 is formed as shown in FIG.
When the upper opening / closing cover 19 (see FIG. 1) attached to the apparatus main body 16 is opened and closed, the projection 19a provided on the cover 19 abuts against the abutting portion 11b2, and the shutter member 11b is moved as shown in FIG. To open the opening 11a.

In opening and closing the shutter member 11b,
The shape of the shutter member 11b is formed to be bent in a cross-section of a "U" shape, and the abutting portion 11b2 is provided outside the outer shape of the cartridge B and in the vicinity of the rotating shaft 11b1. ,
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 18B, the shutter member 11b abuts on the projection 19a of the upper opening / closing cover 19 outside the outer shape of the process cartridge B. For this reason, the shutter member
Even if the opening / closing angle of the shutter 11b is small, the pivot portion of the shutter member 11b is surely opened, the light from the lens array 1c2 located above is reliably irradiated on the photosensitive drum 9, and the electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 9. When the process cartridge B is inserted into the apparatus main body, there is no need to retreat the cartridge B from the shutter push-opening projection on the main body side, and the projecting portion is formed. Can be shortened, and the size of the process cartridge B and the main body A can be reduced.

(Developing Means) Next, the developing means 12 will be described. The developing means 12 visualizes the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 9 by the exposure with toner. Although the image forming apparatus A can use either magnetic or non-magnetic toner as a toner for development, this embodiment shows an example in which a process cartridge B containing a magnetic toner as a one-component magnetic developer is mounted. ing.

The magnetic toner used for the development includes, as a binder resin, a homopolymer of styrene such as polystyrene and polyvinyltoluene and a substituted product thereof, a styrene-propylene copolymer, a styrene-vinyltoluene copolymer, and a styrene. -Styrene-based copolymers such as vinyl naphthalene copolymer, styrene-ethyl acrylate copolymer, styrene-butyl acrylate copolymer, polymethyl methacrylate, polybutyl methacrylate, polyvinyl acetate, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl butyral , Polyacrylic acid resin, rosin, modified rosin, tempel resin, phenolic resin, aliphatic or alicyclic hydrocarbon resin,
Aromatic petroleum resins, paraffin wax, carnauba wax and the like can be used alone or in combination.

As coloring materials which can be further added to the magnetic toner, conventionally known carbon black, copper phthalocyanine, iron black and the like can be used.

As the magnetic fine particles contained in the magnetic toner, a substance which is magnetized when placed in a magnetic field is used.
Powders of ferromagnetic metals such as iron, cobalt and nickel, or alloys and compounds such as magnetite and ferrite can be used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the developing means 12 for forming a toner image with the magnetic toner has a toner reservoir 12a for accommodating toner, and a toner feed mechanism for feeding toner into the toner reservoir 12a. 12b is provided. Furthermore, the developing toner 12d having a magnet 12c therein is rotated to form a thin toner layer on the surface of the developing sleeve 12d. When the toner layer is formed on the developing sleeve 12d, the toner and the developing sleeve 12d
By the friction with the above, a triboelectric charge capable of developing the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 9 is obtained. In order to regulate the layer thickness of the toner, a developing blade 12e is pressed against the surface of the developing sleeve 12d, and the developing sleeve 12d is mounted so as to face the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 with a gap width of about 100 to 400 μm. .

As shown in FIG. 4, the magnetic toner feed mechanism 12b includes a feed member 12b1 made of a material such as polypropylene (PP), acrylobutadiene styrene (ABS), and high impact styrene (HIPS). It is configured to be able to reciprocate in the direction of arrow f along the bottom surface of 12a. The feed member 12b1 is formed so that the cross-sectional shape becomes substantially triangular, and the direction of the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum (FIG.
(In the direction of the front and back) of the rod-shaped member, and both ends in the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped member are connected to form an integral member. Further, the feeding member 12b1 is composed of three pieces, and the reciprocating movement width is set to be equal to or larger than the width of the base of the substantially triangular shape so as to eliminate toner scraping on the bottom. Also, a protrusion 12b6 is provided at one end of the arm member.
Is formed to prevent the feeding member 12b1 from being lifted and undone when assembled.

The feed member 12b1 has a locking projection 12b4 formed at one end in the longitudinal direction, and the locking projection 12b4 is rotatably locked in a long hole 12b5 provided in the arm member 12b2. The arm member 12b2 is attached to the upper frame body 14 so as to be rotatable about an axis 12b3, and
a is connected to an arm (not shown) provided outside. Further, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, the arm member 12b2 is rotated about the shaft 12b3.
And a drive transmitting means for transmitting a driving force so as to swing at a constant angle. As shown in FIG. 7 and the like, the feed member 12b1 and the arm member 12b2 are integrally formed of a resin such as polypropylene or polyamide,
In addition, a configuration that can be bent at the connecting portion may be used.

Therefore, when the arm member 12b2 is swung at a predetermined angle during image formation, the feed member 12b1 is moved along the bottom of the toner reservoir 12a in the direction of arrow f as shown by the solid line and the broken line in FIG. Reciprocate to. As a result, the toner near the bottom of the toner reservoir 12a is sent toward the developing sleeve 12d by the feeding member 12b1. At this time, since the feed member 12b1 has a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape, the toner is gently sent along the inclined surface of the feed member 12b1.

Therefore, the magnetic toner in the vicinity of the developing sleeve 12d is hardly agitated, and the toner layer formed on the surface of the developing sleeve 12d is hardly deteriorated.

A hanging member 12f1 is provided on the inner top surface of the lid member 12f of the toner reservoir 12a as shown in FIG. The distance between the lower end of the hanging member 12f1 and the bottom surface of the toner reservoir is set to be slightly larger than the height of the triangular cross section of the toner feeding member 12b1. Therefore, the toner feeding member 12b1 reciprocates between the toner reservoir bottom surface and the hanging member 12f1, and at this time, even if the feeding member 12b1 tries to float up from the toner reservoir bottom surface, the hanging member 12f1
And the lifting of the feed member 12b1 is prevented.

The image forming apparatus A according to the present embodiment can also be mounted with a process cartridge containing non-magnetic toner. In this case, a toner feeding mechanism is provided to agitate the non-magnetic toner near the developing sleeve 12d. It is configured to be driven.

That is, when a non-magnetic toner is used, FIG.
As shown in (1), an elastic roller 12g rotating in the same direction as the developing sleeve 12d conveys the non-magnetic toner in the toner reservoir 12a sent by the toner feeding mechanism 12h to the developing sleeve 12d. At this time, the developing sleeve 12d and the elastic roller 12g
The toner on the elastic roller 12g is frictionally charged by being rubbed against the developing sleeve 12d at the contact portion where the toner is in contact with the developing roller 12g and electrostatically adheres to the developing sleeve 12d. Thereafter, with the rotation of the developing sleeve 12d, the non-magnetic toner adhering to the sleeve 12d enters a contact portion between the developing blade 12e and the developing sleeve 12d for forming a thin layer, and when passing therethrough. Due to the rubbing of the two, a triboelectric charge sufficient for the polarity for developing the electrostatic latent image is received. However, when the toner stays on the developing sleeve 12d, the toner is mixed with the toner newly supplied on the developing sleeve 12d and sent to the contact portion with the developing blade 12e, where the toner is transferred together with the new toner. Receive triboelectric charging between
While the new toner is charged and given an appropriate charge, the remaining toner is frictionally charged again from the state where it originally had the appropriate charge, and thus is excessively charged. The excessively charged toner has a stronger adhesive force to the developing sleeve 12d than the toner to which an appropriate charge has been applied, and is hardly used for development.

For this reason, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 19, the process cartridge containing the non-magnetic toner includes a non-magnetic toner feed mechanism 12h and a rotating member in the toner reservoir 12a.
A stirring blade made of an elastic sheet is provided on the member 12h1.
It is configured with 12h2 attached. When the non-magnetic toner cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, the drive transmitting means for transmitting a driving force so that the apparatus main body 16 rotates the rotating member 12h1 during image formation is connected.

Thus, when an image is formed by mounting a cartridge containing a non-magnetic toner, the stirring blade 12h2 greatly agitates the toner in the toner reservoir 12a. Therefore, the toner in the vicinity of the developing sleeve 12d is also stirred and mixed with the toner in the toner reservoir 12a, and the charged charges of the toner peeled off from the developing sleeve 12d are dispersed, thereby preventing the deterioration of the toner.

Next, the developing sleeve 12d on which the toner layer is formed and the photosensitive drum 9 are at a very small distance (about 300 μm in the process cartridge containing the magnetic toner,
(About 200 μm in a process cartridge containing the non-magnetic toner). For this reason, in the present embodiment, a contact ring portion having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the developing sleeve by the interval is provided near the axial end portions of the developing sleeve 12d and outside the toner layer forming region, and the ring portion is formed of a photosensitive drum. The latent image forming area 9 contacts the outside.

Here, the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d will be described. FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional explanatory view showing the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d and the method of pressing the developing sleeve 12d. FIG.
FIG. 21B is a longitudinal sectional view showing a section taken along line BB of FIG. 20.

As shown in FIG. 20, the developing sleeve 12d on which the toner layer is formed and the photosensitive drum 9 are arranged at a very small distance (200 μm).
m to about 300 μm). At this time, the photosensitive drum 9 has a rotating shaft of a flange gear 9c provided at one end thereof rotatably fixed to the lower frame 15 by a rotating shaft 9f, and the other end also has a lower frame 15
It is rotatably fixed by a bearing portion 26a of a bearing member 26 fitted and fixed to the shaft. The developing sleeve 12d is located near both ends in the axial direction and outside the toner layer forming region, and is fitted with a contact ring portion 12d1 having an outer diameter larger than the outer diameter of the developing sleeve 12d by the interval. Is in contact with the photosensitive drum 9 outside the latent image forming area.

The developing sleeve 12d is located inside the abutment ring portion 12d1 near both ends in the axial direction and outside the toner layer forming region of the developing sleeve 12d.
The sleeve bearing 12i is rotatably supported by the lower frame 15 so that the sleeve bearing 12i is slightly slidable in the direction of arrow g in the figure.
Attached to. The sleeve bearing 12i has a pressing spring 12j attached to a protruding portion extending rearward thereof, and this is pressed against the wall of the lower frame 15 to constantly urge the developing sleeve 12c toward the photosensitive drum 9 side. As a result, the contact ring portion 12d1 always contacts the photosensitive drum 9, and the developing sleeve 12
The distance between d and the photosensitive drum 9 is always ensured, and the driving force can be transmitted to the flange gear 9c of the photosensitive drum 9 and the sleeve gear 12k of the developing sleeve 12d meshing with the gear 9c.

Here, the slidable direction of the sleeve bearing 12i will be described with reference to FIG. First,
From the driving side of the developing sleeve 12d, when a driving force is transmitted from the driving source of the apparatus main body 16 to the flange gear 9c,
When the driving force is transmitted from the flange gear 9c to the sleeve gear 12k, the meshing force is a pressure angle (20 ° in the present embodiment) from the tangential direction of the meshing pitch circle of the flange gear 9c and the meshing pitch circle of the sleeve gear 12k. Head in the direction inclined by a minute. Therefore, the engagement force is directed in the direction of the arrow P (θ ≒ 20 °) shown in FIG. At this time, if the sleeve bearing 12i is slid in a direction parallel to a straight line connecting the rotation center of the photosensitive drum 9 and the rotation center of the developing sleeve 12d, the engagement force P is changed to the sliding direction and the horizontal component force Ps and the sliding direction. 22, the component force Ps in the sliding direction and the component force Ps in the horizontal direction are directed away from the photosensitive drum 9 as shown in FIG. Therefore, on the driving side of the developing sleeve 12d, the distance between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d is reduced by the flange gear 9c.
Therefore, the toner on the developing sleeve 12d is not accurately moved to the photosensitive drum 9, and the developing property is easily deteriorated.

Therefore, in this embodiment, the flange gear 9
Considering the transmission of driving force from c to the sleeve gear 12k,
As shown in FIG. 21 (a), the slidable direction of the sleeve bearing 12i on the drive side (the side on which the sleeve gear 12k is mounted) is set to the arrow Q direction. That is, the engagement force P between the flange gear 9c and the sleeve gear 12k and the drive-side sleeve bearing
The angle ψ between the slidable directions of 12i is set to about 90 ° (92 ° in the present embodiment). With this configuration,
Component force Ps between the sliding direction and the horizontal direction of the engagement force P
In the present embodiment, the component force Ps slightly acts on the developing sleeve 12d toward the photosensitive drum 9 side. In such a case, the developing sleeve 12d is pressurized substantially by the spring pressure α of the pressing spring 12j, the distance between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d is kept constant, and accurate development can be performed.

Next, the sliding direction of the sleeve bearing 12i on the non-drive side (the side on which the sleeve gear 12k is not mounted) will be described.

Since the non-driving side cannot receive a force from other parts, unlike the driving side described above, the sliding direction of the sleeve bearing 12i is, as shown in FIG.
Is substantially horizontal with respect to a straight line connecting the center of the developing sleeve 12d and the center of the developing sleeve 12d.

As described above, when the developing sleeve 12d is independently pressed against the photosensitive drum 9, the angle between the developing sleeve 12d and the photosensitive drum 9 can be changed by changing the pressing angle of the developing sleeve 12d between the driving side and the non-driving side. Since the positional relationship is always properly maintained, accurate development can be performed.

The slidable direction of the sleeve bearing 12i on the driving side may be set substantially parallel to the straight line connecting the center of the photosensitive drum 9 and the center of the developing sleeve 12d, similarly to the non-driving side. That is, as described in the above-described embodiment, on the driving side, a force is generated in a direction in which the developing sleeve 12d is separated from the photosensitive drum 9 by the component force Ps of the engagement force between the flange gear 9c and the sleeve gear 12k in the sliding direction of the sleeve bearing 12i. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the pressing force of the pressing spring 12j on the driving side is increased from the non-driving side by the component Ps so that the developing sleeve 12d can be pressed against the component Ps.
You only need to set it large by the minute. That is, the pressing force of the pressing spring 12j on the non-drive side to the developing sleeve 12d is P
When _1, the pressure P ₂ of the pressure spring 12j of the driving side, if you set the P ₂ = P ₁ + Ps, the developing sleeve 12d is always subjected to the proper pressure constant between the photosensitive drum 9 The distance is guaranteed.

(Cleaning Unit) Next, the cleaning unit 13 is for removing the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 9 after the toner image on the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred to the recording medium 4 by the transfer unit 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the cleaning means 13 comes into contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 to scrape off the toner remaining on the drum 9 and the cleaning blade 13a for scooping the scraped toner. A squeeze sheet 13b located below the photosensitive drum 9 and located below the photosensitive drum 9; and a waste toner reservoir 13c for storing the scooped waste toner.
It consists of:

Now, the method of mounting the squeeze sheet 13b will be described.
(c) is attached to the mounting surface (13d) with a double-sided tape. At this time, the waste toner reservoir 13c is made of a resin material, and has some irregularities and small deformation. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 23, simply attaching the double-sided tape 13e to the mounting surface 13d and pasting the squeeze sheet 13b to the tape 13e (the contact portion with the photosensitive drum 9).
Undulations x may occur. If the swell x is present at the end of the squeeze sheet 13b, the sheet 13b does not adhere to the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 and the cleaning blade 13a
Toner cannot be reliably scooped.

Therefore, when attaching the squeeze sheet 13b, as shown in FIG. 24 (a), the mounting surface 13d under the toner reservoir is pulled downward by the tension tool 20 to bend by elastic deformation. By releasing the curvature after attaching, the squeeze sheet 13
It is conceivable to apply tension to the tip of b to prevent the undulation.

However, in the case of the process cartridge B which has been downsized in recent years, the squeeze sheet 13
Since the dimension of the mounting surface 13d of b also becomes smaller, the mounting surface 13d
When the squeeze sheet 13b is pasted in a state where is curved,
As shown in FIG. 24 (a), both lower ends of the squeeze sheet 13b
13b1 protrudes from the mounting surface 13d and projects downward. When the squeeze sheet 13b protrudes below the mounting surface 13d, the recording medium 4 may be caught on the protruded squeeze sheet 13b, as is apparent from the cross-sectional view of FIG.

When the squeeze sheet 13b is adhered in a state where the mounting surface 13d is curved, the double-sided tape 13e protrudes from under the squeeze sheet 13b as shown in FIG. Therefore, in this state, as shown in FIG.
, The protruding tape 13e is stuck to the sticking tool 21, and as shown in FIG.
At the time of removal, the double-sided tape 13e may be peeled off from the mounting surface 13d, which may cause a defective mounting of the squeeze sheet 13b.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the lower end shape of the squeeze sheet 13b is made substantially the same as the shape obtained by pulling the mounting surface 13d by the pulling tool 20 and bending it, as shown in FIG. That is, the sheet width is formed such that the central portion in the sheet longitudinal direction is wider than both end portions. Thereby, when attaching the squeeze sheet 13b,
The curved double-sided tape 13e does not protrude from the squeeze sheet 13b. Further, when the tension by the tension tool 20 is released and the tension on the upper end of the squeeze sheet 13b is released by releasing the curvature of the mounting surface 13d as shown in FIG. 25 (b), the lower end of the sheet projects downward from the mounting surface 13d. No more. Therefore, the recording medium 4 is not caught by the squeeze sheet 13d,
The mounting failure of d can be eliminated.

In consideration of the simplification of the processing of the squeeze sheet 13d and the life of the processing tool, the lower end of the squeeze sheet 13d is desirably a linear shape. Because of this figure
As shown in FIG. 26, the lower end of the seat may be linearly configured so that the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the seat is wider than both end portions in accordance with the amount of curvature of the mounting surface 13d.

In this embodiment, when the squeeze sheet mounting surface 13d is bent, the squeeze sheet mounting surface 13d is pulled by the tension tool 20, but as shown in FIG. It is a matter of course that the squeeze sheet mounting surface 13d may be curved by pressing the upper portion with the pressing tool 20a.

Further, in this embodiment, the squeeze sheet mounting surface 13d is formed below the waste toner reservoir 13c. However, the squeeze sheet 13b is attached to a mounting surface such as a metal plate, which is a separate member from the waste toner reservoir 13c, and The same effect can be obtained even in a configuration in which the waste toner reservoir 13c is incorporated.

(Upper and Lower Frames) Next, process cartridge B
The upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 constituting the housing will be described. In addition to the photosensitive drum 9 as shown in FIGS.
d, a developing blade 12e and a cleaning means 13 are provided. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, a toner reservoir forming the charging roller 10 and the developing means 12 is provided on the upper frame body 14 side.
12a and a toner feeding mechanism 12b are provided.

In order to connect the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15, the upper frame member 14 is integrally formed with four pairs of locking claws 14a at substantially equal intervals in the longitudinal direction. A locking opening 15a and a locking projection for locking the locking claw 14a on the frame body 15.
15b is integrally formed with the lower frame 15. Therefore, the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 are forcibly fitted to each other so that the locking claws 14a are locked in the locking openings 15a.
And when it is locked to the locking projection 15b, the upper and lower frames 14, 15 are connected. In order to secure this connection state, locking pawls are provided near both ends in the longitudinal direction of the lower frame 15 as shown in FIG.
15c and a locking opening 15d are provided. In the vicinity of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the upper frame body 14, as shown in FIG. Stop claws 14
c is provided.

When the members constituting the process cartridge B are divided into the upper and lower frames 14 and 15 as described above, members which need to be positioned with respect to the photosensitive drum 9, for example, the developing sleeve 12d and the developing blade 12e By providing the cleaning blade 13a and the like on the same frame (the lower frame 15 in this embodiment), the positioning of each member can be performed with high accuracy, and the process cartridge B can be easily assembled. .

As shown in FIG. 8, the lower frame 15 of the present embodiment is provided with a fitting recess 15n near one end of the frame. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper frame body 14 is fitted near the one end of the frame body at a substantially intermediate position between the locking claws 14a, and is fitted near the locking claw 14a in the fitting recess 15n. Mating projections 14
h is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the lower frame 15 of this embodiment is provided with a fitting projection 15e near two corners of the frame and a fitting recess 15f near the other two corners. is there. As shown in FIG. 9, the upper frame 14 is provided with fitting recesses 14d near the two corners of the frame for fitting the fitting projections 15e. A fitting projection 14e for fitting the fitting recess 15f is provided near the corner.

Therefore, when the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 are connected, the fitting projections 14h, 14e and 15e provided on the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 are provided.
By fitting into the fitting recesses 15n, 15f and 14d,
The connection between the two frames 14 and 15 becomes strong, and the connection is not displaced even if a torsional force is applied to the upper and lower frames 14 and 15 in the connected state.

The positions of the fitting projections and the fitting recesses are not limited to those described above, but may be any other positions as long as they do not shift against the torsional force on the coupled upper and lower frames 14, 15. May be provided.

As shown in FIG. 9, the upper frame 14 has a shaft.
A protective cover 22 rotatable about 22a is attached. The protective cover 22 is urged in a direction indicated by an arrow h in FIG. 9 by a torsion coil spring (not shown) attached to the shaft 22a, and when the process cartridge B is removed from the image forming apparatus A, As shown in FIG. 4, the photosensitive drum 9 is configured to be covered.

That is, as shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum 9 is exposed from the opening 15g formed in the lower frame 15 so as to be opposed to the transfer roller 6 in order to transfer the developing toner to the recording medium 4. Make up. However, when the process cartridge B is detached from the image forming apparatus A, if the photosensitive drum 9 is exposed, the photosensitive drum 9 is exposed to external light and deteriorates. Will adhere. Therefore, when the process cartridge B is removed from the image forming apparatus A, the protective cover 22
By closing the 15 g, the photosensitive drum 9 is protected from external light, dust and the like. When the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, the protective cover 22 is rotated by a rotating mechanism (not shown) to expose the photosensitive drum 9 from the opening 15g as shown in FIG.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the lower surface of the lower frame 15 also serves as a guide for conveying the recording medium 4, and the lower surface has a central guide portion 15h2 with respect to both side guide portions 15h1. It is formed so as to have a step (FIG. 6).
The step of this central guide part 15h2 has a postcard size width (about 100
mm) (approximately 107 mm in the present embodiment), which is slightly wider than (mm), and has a depth of approximately 0.8 mm to 2 mm. As a result, the space for transporting the recording medium 4 is increased in the central guide portion 15h2, and when a thick and strong postcard, business card, envelope, or the like is used as the recording medium 4, the thick recording medium 4
Can be jammed by hitting the guide surface of the lower frame 15. When thin plain paper or the like having a postcard size width or more is used as the recording medium 4, the recording medium 4 is guided by the guide portions 15h1 on both sides of the lower frame 15, so that the recording medium 4 is conveyed without being lifted. Become.

Here, the lower surface of the lower frame 15 functioning as a recording medium conveyance guide will be described more specifically. As shown in FIG. 28, both side guide portions 15h1 are in _a state of being bent by a dimension of about La = 5 to 7 mm with respect to the tangential direction X at the nip position N between the photosensitive drum 9 and the transfer roller 6. Since both side guide portions 15h1 are the lower surface of the lower frame 15 configured to have a space necessary to supply the developing sleeve 12d and the toner to the sleeve 12d, the guide portions 15h1 are determined to obtain appropriate developing conditions. The position of the developing sleeve 12d is determined by the position of the developing sleeve 12d, and when the developing sleeve 12d is moved closer to the nip tangential direction X, the lower frame 15 becomes thinner, and there is a problem in the strength of the process cartridge B.

[0104] The lower end position 13f of the cleaning means 13 is determined by the arrangement required to construct the cleaning means 13 such as the cleaning blade 13a and dip sheet 13b to be described later, does not interfere with the recording medium 4 is conveyed a distance L _b = 3
It is configured to have a thickness of about 5 mm. In the present embodiment, the angle β between the perpendicular from the rotation center of the photosensitive drum 9 shown in FIG. 28 and the line connecting the rotation centers of the photosensitive drum 9 and the transfer roller 6 is set to β = 5 to 20 °.

[0105] The depth L _c only this order central guide portion 15h2
By providing a step of about 1 to 2 mm and bringing the portion closer to the nip tangential direction X, the thick and strong recording medium 4 such as a postcard can be smoothly conveyed without impairing the strength of the lower frame 15. Like that. The thick and stiff recording medium 4 is generally a business card, an envelope, or the like, and is generally narrower than the postcard size even under the general specification conditions of the image forming apparatus. If the width of the portion 15h2 is configured to be slightly wider than the postcard size, there is no practical problem.

On the outer surface of the lower frame 15, regulating protrusions 15 i projecting downward are provided on both sides in the longitudinal direction and outside the guide area of the recording medium 4. The projection 15i has a projection amount of about 1 mm with respect to the guide surface of the recording medium 4.
Therefore, even if the process cartridge B is slightly lowered for some reason during image formation, the restricting projection 15i abuts on the lower guide member 23 (see FIG. 1) of the apparatus main body 16, and further lowering is restricted. Therefore, a space of at least 1 mm is secured between the lower guide member 23 and the outer surface guide portion of the lower frame 15 as a conveyance path of the recording medium 4, and the recording medium 4 is conveyed without jamming.

Further, on the outer surface of the lower frame 15, as shown in FIG. 1, a relief recess 15j of the registration roller 5c2 is formed. Therefore, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, it can be mounted close to the registration roller 5c2, and the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced.

(Assembling Structure of Process Cartridge) Next, assembling of the process cartridge B having the above structure will be described. In FIG. 29, first, the developing means 12
A toner leak prevention seal S made of a standard malt plain (trade name) rubber for preventing toner leakage is attached to the end of the cleaning means 13 with a double-sided tape.
Even if the toner leak prevention seal S is not a fixed type, a recess may be formed in a portion where the seal is to be attached, and a liquid material which is solidified into an elastomer and injected into the recess may be attached to the toner leak prevention seal. You may do it.

The blade supporting member 12e1 having the developing blade 12e mounted on the lower frame 15 and the cleaning blade 13
a to each of the blade support members 13a1
a, 24b. At this time, in this embodiment, as shown by the broken line in FIG. 29, the blade mounting surfaces of the blade support members 12e1 and 13a1 are parallel or parallel so that the screws 24a and 24b can be screwed from the same direction. They are substantially parallel. Therefore, process cartridge B
In mass production, the screwing of the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a can be continuously performed by an automatic machine or the like. As a result, a space for a screw driver or the like can be secured to improve the assemblability of the two blades 12e and 13a, and the mold structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced by aligning the mold removing directions of the housing.

The developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a may be attached to the lower frame 15 by means of adhesives 24c and 24d, for example, as shown in FIG. good. Again,
If the bonding can be performed from the same direction, the mounting of the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a can be performed continuously by an automatic machine or the like as in the case of screwing.

After attaching the blades 12e and 13a as described above, the developing sleeve 12d is attached to the lower frame 15.
Next, the photosensitive drum 9 is attached to the lower frame 15. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the guide members 25a and 25b are provided on the photosensitive drum facing surface side of the developing blade support member 12e1 and the cleaning blade support member 13a1 and outside the longitudinal image forming region (region C in FIG. 32) of the photosensitive drum 9. It is attached (in addition,
In the present embodiment, the guide members 25a and 25b are formed integrally with the lower frame 15). And the two guide members 25a, 25b
Is set to be larger than the outer diameter D of the photosensitive drum 9.

For this reason, after the photosensitive drum 9 is attached with members such as blades 12e and 13a attached to the lower frame 15,
As shown at 31, the guide members 25a and 25b can be attached last while guiding the vicinity of both ends in the longitudinal direction (outside the image forming area). In other words, the photosensitive drum 9 is attached to the lower frame 15 while slightly bending the blade 13a and slightly releasing and rotating the developing sleeve 12d.

If the photosensitive drum 9 is first attached to the lower frame 15 and then the members such as the blades 12e and 13a are attached, the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 may be damaged when attaching the blades 12e and 13a. May be. At the time of assembly, the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13
There is an inconvenience that inspection such as measurement of the mounting position of a and the contact pressure on the photosensitive drum 9 cannot be performed. In addition, both blades 12
e, a lubricant is applied in order to prevent an increase in torque due to the close contact with the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d and a curling of the blades in the initial state where there is no toner on the blades 13a.
This operation must be performed before the e and 13a are attached to the lower frame 15, but at this time, there are problems such as inconvenience such as dropping of the lubricant during assembling. In this regard, the inconvenience can be solved by incorporating the photosensitive drum 9 last as in this embodiment.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, inspection such as measurement of the mounting position can be performed with the developing unit 12 and the cleaning unit 13 mounted on the frame, and further, the image at the time of assembling the photosensitive drum can be obtained. Scratches and dents in the formation region can be prevented. Further, it is possible to apply a lubricant to the developing unit 12 and the cleaning unit 13 in a state where the developing unit 12 and the cleaning unit 13 are attached to the frame body. 13a
This has the effect of preventing torque increase or blade turn-up due to close contact between the photosensitive drum 9 and the photosensitive drum 9.

In this embodiment, the drum guide members 25a and 25b are formed integrally with the lower frame 15, but as shown in FIG. 33, the photosensitive drums are located at both longitudinal ends of the blade support members 12e1 and 13a1. 9 is provided with projections 12e2 and 13a2 integral with the blade support members 12e1 and 13a1, or another guide member is attached, and functions as a guide member when the photosensitive drum 9 is incorporated. You may make it do.

After the developing sleeve 12d, the developing blade 12e, the cleaning blade 13a, and the photosensitive drum 9 are assembled in the lower frame 15 as described above, as shown in the perspective view of FIG. 34 and the sectional view of FIG. 26 is attached to support one end of the photosensitive drum 9 and one end of the developing sleeve 12d. The bearing member 26 is made of a sliding-resistant material such as polyacetal, and has a drum bearing portion 26a that fits into the photosensitive drum 9, a sleeve bearing portion 26b that fits on the outer surface of the developing sleeve 12d, and an end of the D-cut magnet 12c. D-cut hole 26c into which the part fits
And are integrally molded. Or sleeve bearing 26b
Is a sleeve bearing that slides on the outer surface of the developing sleeve 12d
The lower frame 15 may be fitted into the outer surface of the sleeve 12i or may be fitted into the slide surface 15Q of the lower frame 15 fitted into the outer surface of the sleeve bearing 12i.

Accordingly, the bearing 26a is connected to the cylindrical photosensitive drum 9
And the end of the magnet 12c is inserted into the D-cut hole 26.
c, the developing sleeve 12d is fitted into the bearing portion 26b, and the bearing member 26 is fitted into the side surface of the lower frame 15, and is provided so as to be slidable in the drum direction as described above. 12d is supported.
The bearing member 26 has a ground contact as shown in FIG.
A grounding contact 18a comes into contact with the aluminum drum base 9a of the photosensitive drum 9 when the bearing member 26 is fitted into the photosensitive drum 9 (see FIG. 10). A bias contact 18b is attached to the bearing member 26. When the bearing member 26 is attached to the developing sleeve 12d, the contact 18b comes into contact with the conductive member 18d that has contacted the inner surface of the developing sleeve 12d. .

As described above, the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12
By supporting d and d by a bearing member 26, which is one part, the mounting position accuracy of the two members 9, 12d can be improved, and the number of parts is reduced to facilitate assembly and reduce costs. I can do it.

Further, since the positioning of the photosensitive drum 9 and the positioning of the developing sleeve 12d or the magnet 12c are performed by one member, the positioning of the photosensitive drum 9 and the magnet 12c can be performed with high accuracy. The magnetic force on the surface can be kept constant, and a high-definition image can be obtained.

By providing the bearing member 26 with a drum ground contact 18a for grounding the photosensitive drum 9 and a developing bias contact 18b for applying a bias to the developing sleeve 12d, the size of the parts can be effectively reduced. Accordingly, the size of the process cartridge B can be effectively reduced.

Further, the bearing member 26 is provided with a supported portion for positioning the process cartridge B in the apparatus main body when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body, whereby the process cartridge B in the apparatus main body is provided. Positioning can be performed accurately.

5 and 6, the bearing member 26 is formed with a drum shaft 26d which is a U-shaped protrusion protruding outward. 26d
When the process cartridge B is mounted on the apparatus main body 16, the process cartridge B is
Perform positioning. As described above, the bearing member 26 that directly supports the photosensitive drum 9 connects the process cartridge B to the apparatus main body.
In order to perform positioning at the time of mounting on the member 16, the member is accurately positioned without picking up processing accuracy and assembly error of other members.

As shown in FIG. 35, the other end of the magnet 12c is received by a recess inside the sleeve gear 12k.
Is formed slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the recess. For this reason, on the side of the sleeve gear 12k, the magnet 12c is held with play. The magnet 12c is held on its lower side by its own weight, or the blade supporting member 12e1 made of a magnetic sheet metal such as gin coat is applied to the blade supporting member
It is biased and held on the 12e1 side.

By providing the sleeve gear 12k and the magnet 12c with play as described above, the friction torque between the magnet 12c and the sleeve gear 12k that slides and rotates can be reduced.
The torque of the process cartridge itself can be kept low.

On the other hand, the charging roller 10 is rotatably mounted on the upper frame 14 as shown in FIG.
11b and the protective cover 22 are attached, and the toner feed mechanism
Attach 12b. Then, a cover film 28 having a tear tape 27 shown in FIG. 36 is attached to the opening 12a1 for sending out the toner from the toner reservoir 12a to the developing sleeve 12d, the opening 12a1 is closed, and the lid member 12f is welded. The toner is stored in the reservoir 12a and the toner reservoir 12a is closed.

As shown in FIG. 36, the tear tape 27 provided on the cover film 28 adhered to the opening 12a1 extends from one end in the longitudinal direction of the opening 12a1 (the left end in FIG. 36) to the other end. (Right end in FIG. 36), and folded back at the other end to project outward along a handle 14f formed at a side end of the upper frame 14.

Next, the upper frame 14 and the lower frame 15 are mutually locked by the above-mentioned locking claws and locking openings and the like, and the two frames 14 and 15 are joined to assemble the process cartridge B. At this time, the tear tape 27 is exposed from between the handle 14f of the upper frame 14 and the handle 15k of the lower frame 15, as shown in FIG.
Therefore, when a new process cartridge B is used, the tear tape 27 exposed from the handles 14f and 15k is used.
Then, the tear tape 27 is peeled off from the cover film 28 to open the opening 12a1 so that the toner in the toner reservoir 12a can move in the direction of the developing sleeve 12d, and then is mounted on the image forming apparatus A.

As described above, the tear tape 27 is
The tape 27 can be easily exposed at the time of assembling the upper and lower frames 14, 15 by being configured to be exposed from between the 15 handle portions 14f, 15k. The handle portions 14f and 15k are used for attaching and detaching the process cartridge B to and from the apparatus main body. Even if the operator forgets to remove the tear tape 27, the handle portions are used when attaching the cartridge. By having that tape
It becomes easy to notice the presence of 27. Further, the color of the tear tape 27 is more conspicuous with respect to the colors of the frames 14, 15, for example, when the frame is black, the visibility is improved by making the tear tape 27 white or yellow, It is also possible to reduce forgetting to pull out.

Further, for example, if a U-shaped guide rib or the like is provided on the handle portion 14f of the upper frame body 14 so that the tear tape 27 can be temporarily fixed, the upper and lower frame bodies 14 and 15 can be joined together. The tear tape 27 can be reliably and easily exposed at a predetermined position.

Since the process cartridge B in which the upper and lower frames 14 and 15 are combined has the relief recess 15j of the registration roller 5c2 formed on the outer surface of the lower frame 15 as described above,
As shown in FIG. 38, the process cartridge B can be easily held by putting a finger on the concave portion 15j. Further, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, non-slip ribs 14i are provided in portions where fingers are hooked when the process cartridge B is held by hand, so that the process cartridge B can be easily held. Also, as described above, the process cartridge B
Since the relief of the registration roller 5c2 is provided in the lower frame 15, there is also an advantage that the apparatus main body 16 can be made thinner.

As shown in FIG. 6, the recess 15j is
A locking claw 14a, which is a connecting portion of the two frame members 14, 15, and a locking opening 15
When the process cartridge B is held by placing a finger on the concave portion 15j, the gripping force acts in the locking direction, and the locking claw 14a and the locking opening 15b are provided.
Is secured.

Here, the assembly and shipping line of the process cartridge B will be described with reference to FIG. 39A. The components are assembled into the lower frame 15 and the assembled lower frame 15 is inspected (for example, the photosensitive drum 9). And the developing sleeve 12d). Then, the lower frame 15 and the upper frame 14 incorporating the components such as the charging roller 10 are combined to assemble the process cartridge B, and after performing a comprehensive inspection of the entire cartridge B, ship it after a simple line. Become.

(Cartridge Mounting Configuration) Next, a configuration for mounting the process cartridge B in the image forming apparatus A will be described.

As shown in FIG. 40, the upper opening / closing cover 19 of the image forming apparatus A is provided with a loading member 29 having a fitting window 29a conforming to the outer shape of the process cartridge B. 14f and 15k are inserted into the fitting window 29a and mounted. At this time, the guide ridge 31 formed on the process cartridge B is guided by a guide groove (not shown) formed on the opening / closing cover 19, and the lower portion of the cartridge is guided by a guide plate 32 whose tip is bent in a key shape. Inserted.

Incidentally, the process cartridge B has
As shown in 40, a protrusion 30 for preventing erroneous mounting is provided,
The fitting window 29a is formed in a shape having a concave portion 29b into which the protrusion 30 can be inserted. Here, as shown in FIGS. 40 and 41, the shape of the protrusion 30 or the position where the protrusion 30 is provided is, for example, a process in which toner having a development sensitivity or the like suitable for the image forming apparatus A is filled. Each cartridge is different, so that even if an attempt is made to mount a process cartridge having a different developing sensitivity, the projection 30 is caught by the fitting window 29a and cannot be mounted. For this reason, erroneous mounting of the process cartridge B is prevented, and unclear image formation by toners having different developing sensitivities is prevented.
In addition, without being limited to the development sensitivity, for example, it is also possible to prevent the mounting of a process cartridge using a different type of photosensitive drum.

Since the recess 29b and the projection 30 are located at the front side when the process cartridge is mounted, the projection 30 is not required when the operator tries to mount it by mistake.
Can easily be visually recognized as being caught by the loading member 29. For this reason, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the image forming apparatus A or the process cartridge B is damaged by the operator forcibly pushing the process cartridge B as in the related art.

Next, after inserting the process cartridge B into the fitting window 29a of the opening / closing cover 19 and closing the opening / closing cover 19, the rotating shaft 9f of the photosensitive drum 9 protruding from one side of the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 bears. 46a and the developing sleeve 12
The rotating shaft 12d2 of d is supported by the shaft support member 33 shown in FIG. 40 via the slide bearing 46b and the bearing 46c (see FIG. 35). On the other hand, a drum shaft 26d (see FIG. 35) of a bearing member 26 attached to the other side of the photosensitive drum 9 is supported by a shaft support member 34 shown in FIG.

At this time, the protective cover 22 rotates to expose the photosensitive drum 9, and the drum 9 comes into contact with the transfer roller 6 of the image forming apparatus A. The process cartridge B has a drum ground contact 18a in contact with the photosensitive drum 9, a developing bias contact 18b in contact with the developing sleeve 12d, and a charging bias contact 18c in contact with the charging roller 10.
The contact points 18a, 18b, and 18c are provided so as to be exposed from the lower surface of the drum 15, and the drum ground contact pin 35a, the developing bias contact pin 35b,
The contact pin 35c is pressed against the charging bias contact pin 35c.

As shown in FIG. 42, the contact pins 35a, 35b and 35c have a drum ground contact pin 35a and a charging bias contact pin 35c arranged downstream of the transfer of the recording medium 4 with the transfer roller 6 interposed therebetween. Recording medium 4 rather than transfer roller 6
A developing bias contact pin 35b is arranged on the upstream side in the transport direction of the developing bias. Accordingly, the contacts 18a, 18b, and 18c provided on the process cartridge B are also provided with the drum ground contacts 18a and the charging bias contacts downstream of the photosensitive drum 9 in the recording medium transport direction, as shown in FIG. 18c, and a developing bias contact 18b is arranged upstream of the photosensitive drum 9 in the recording medium transport direction.

The arrangement of each electrical contact of the process cartridge B will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 51 is a plan view schematically showing the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 9 and the electrical contacts 18a, 18b, 18c.

As shown in FIG. 51, the contacts 18a, 18b and 18 are on the same side of the photosensitive drum 9 in the longitudinal direction and on the side opposite to the side where the flange gear 9c is provided.
The developing bias contact 18b is arranged on one side (developing means 12 side) where the photosensitive drum 9 is located, and the drum grounding contact 18a is arranged on the other side (cleaning means 13 side). And a charging bias contact 18c. The drum ground contact 18a and the charging bias contact 18c are arranged substantially on a straight line. The developing bias contact 18b is disposed slightly outside the photosensitive drum 9 in the longitudinal direction from the position where the drum ground contact 18a and the charging bias contact 18c are provided. Also, the drum ground contact 18a,
The developing bias contact 18b and the charging bias contact 18c are arranged away from the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 9 in this order. Further, the developing bias contact 18
The area b is larger than the area of the drum ground contact 18a and the area of the charging bias contact 18c. Further, the outer peripheral portion of the arm 18a3, which is an integral drum inner surface contact with the drum grounding contact 18a, is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 9 with respect to the longitudinal direction of the photosensitive drum 9,
The developing bias contact 18b, the drum ground contact
18a and the charging bias contact 18c.

As described above, the process cartridge detachable from the image forming apparatus and the electrical contact between the apparatus main body and
By positioning and abutting against the process cartridge body, it is possible to improve the positional accuracy between the device body contact part and the process cartridge contact part, prevent contact failure, and place the contact in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge. By providing it on the non-driving side, the shape of the contact portion on the device main body side can be simplified and downsized.

Further, by providing the contact position of the process cartridge inside the outer shape of the process cartridge, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the contact portion, rust of the contact due to this, and deformation of the contact due to external force.

Of the electrical contacts, a developing bias contact is provided at a position closer to the developing device than the photosensitive member, and a grounding contact and a charging bias contact of the photosensitive member are provided at a position closer to the cleaning means. The shape of the electrodes inside can be simplified, and the size of the process cartridge can be reduced.

Incidentally, each size of the present embodiment will be exemplified.
The present invention is not limited to this, but can be appropriately selected.

(1) Photosensitive Drum 9 and Drum Ground Contact
Distance from 18a (X1) → about 6.0mm

(2) Photosensitive drum 9 and charging bias contact
Distance to 18c (X2) → about 18.9mm

(3) Photosensitive drum 9 and contact for developing bias
Distance to 18b (X3) → about 13.5mm

(4) Horizontal length (Y1) of the charging bias contact 18c → about 4.9 mm

(5) The vertical length (Y2) of the charging bias contact 18c → about 6.5 mm

(6) Horizontal length (Y3) of the drum grounding contact 18a → about 5.2 mm

(7) The vertical length (Y4) of the drum grounding contact 18a → about 5.0 mm

(8) Horizontal length (Y5) of the developing bias contact 18b → about 7.2 mm

(9) The vertical length (Y6) of the developing bias contact 18b → about 8.0 mm

(10) Diameter (Z1) of flange gear 9c
→ about 28.6mm

(11) Diameter (Z2) of gear 9i → about 26.1
mm

(12) Width (Z3) of flange gear 9c →
About 6.7mm

(13) Width of gear 9i (Z4) → about 4.3m
m

(14) Number of teeth of flange gear 9c → 33 teeth

(15) Number of teeth of gear 9i → 30 teeth

Here, the flange gear 9c and the gear 9i will be described. The gears 9c and 9i are helical gears. When the gear 9c receives driving force from the main body, the lower frame 15
The photosensitive drum 9, which is attached with play, receives a thrust force in the direction of the gear 9c.

The gear 9c is used for a black image cartridge using a magnetic toner. When the black image cartridge is mounted on the apparatus main body, the gear 9c
Meshes with a gear on the apparatus main body side to receive a driving force for rotating the photosensitive drum 9, and
The developing sleeve 12d rotates by meshing with a gear provided in the developing sleeve 12d. The gear 9i meshes with a gear connected to the transfer roller 6 on the main body to rotate the transfer roller. At this time, the rotation load on the transfer roller 6 is not so large.

The gear 9i is used for a cartridge for a color image using non-magnetic toner. When the color image cartridge is mounted on the apparatus main body, the gear 9c is engaged with the gear on the apparatus main body side to receive a driving force for rotating the photosensitive drum 9. And gear 9i
Rotates the transfer roller 6 by meshing with a gear connected to the transfer roller 6 on the main body side, and meshes with a gear provided on the developing sleeve 12d for non-magnetic toner to form a developing sleeve.
Rotate 12d.

The gear 9c has a larger diameter, a wider width, and a larger number of teeth than the gear 9i, so that even if the load applied to the gear 9c is large, the photosensitive drum 9 is transmitted by receiving the driving force. In addition to rotating more reliably, a large driving force can be transmitted to more reliably rotate the developing sleeve 12d for magnetic toner.

The structure of the contact pins 35a to 35c is shown in FIG.
43, each contact pin 35a-35c is
Attached so that it cannot fall off and protrude into 36, holder cover
Wiring pattern of the electric board 37 to attach 36 and each contact pin
35a to 35c are electrically connected by a conductive compression spring 38. Each contact 18a pressed against the contact pins 35a to 35c
18c, the charging bias contact 18c is formed in an arc shape so that the rotation fulcrum 19b side of the upper opening / closing cover 19 has a curvature. When the opening / closing cover 19 on which the process cartridge B is mounted is closed in the direction of arrow R about the pivot 19b, the charging bias contact closest to the fulcrum 19b and having the smallest turning radius associated with the rotation of the opening / closing cover 19 is provided. 18c,
Good contact with the contact pin 35c is performed.

(Positioning Configuration) When the process cartridge B is mounted and the opening / closing cover 19 is closed, the distance between the photosensitive drum 9 and the lens unit 1c and the distance between the photosensitive drum 9 and the original glass 1a are always constant. The positioning will be described in the following.

A lower frame on which the photosensitive drum 9 is mounted
As shown in FIG. 8, positioning projections 15m are formed in the vicinity of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the projection 15, and when the upper frame 14 is connected to the upper frame 14 as shown in FIG. It is configured to protrude upward through a through-hole 14g formed in 14.

As shown in FIG. 44, the lens unit 1c containing the lens array 1c2 and the like for reading the original 2 can be slightly rotated about the shaft 1c3 on the upper opening / closing cover 19 on which the process cartridge B is mounted. , And is urged downward by a pressing spring 39 in FIG. Accordingly, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the upper opening / closing cover 19 and the cover 19 is closed, the lower surface of the lens unit 1c contacts the positioning projection 15m of the process cartridge B as shown in FIG. As a result, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, the distance between the lens array 1c2 provided on the lens unit 1c and the photosensitive drum 9 provided on the lower frame 15 is positioned with high precision, and the document 2 is placed. The optical image read optically accurately irradiates the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 via the lens array 1c2.

In the lens unit 1c, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
Are slightly protruded from the through hole 19c of the upper opening / closing cover 19 to the upper part of the cover. As shown in FIG. 46, the positioning pieces 40 are provided so as to slightly protrude from both sides of the document reading slit. Therefore, when the process cartridge B is mounted on the opening / closing cover 19 and the cover 19 is closed to form an image, the positioning protrusion of the lower frame 15 is formed as described above.
15m abuts on the lower surface of the lens unit 1c, and when the original glass 1a moves, the original glass 1a
Move to get on the forty. As a result, the distance between the original 2 placed on the original glass 1a and the photosensitive drum 9 provided on the lower frame 15 is always constant, and the reflected light from the original 2 is accurately irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 9. Become.

For this reason, the information written on the original 2 is optically read, and the exposure of the photosensitive drum 9 is performed accurately.
This enables high-quality image formation.

(Drive Transmission Structure) Next, the image forming apparatus A
The transmission of the driving force of the process cartridge B mounted on the photosensitive drum 9 will be described.

The process cartridge B is connected to the image forming apparatus A
When the photosensitive drum 9 is mounted on the
The support by the side shaft support member 33 has been described above. As shown in FIG. 47, the shaft support member 33 is formed integrally with a support portion 33a of the drum rotation shaft 9f and an abutment portion 33b of the sleeve rotation shaft 12d2. The L _D = 1.8 in said drum overlap portion (in this embodiment the upper portion of the support portion 33a
mm) 33c is formed and the mounted drum rotating shaft 9f
Are prevented from floating upward.

When the drum rotating shaft 9f is supported by the supporting portion 33a, the sleeve rotating shaft 12d2 abuts against the sleeve abutting portion 33b to prevent the sleeve rotating shaft 12d2 from falling downward. Further, when the upper opening / closing cover 19 is closed, the positioning projection 15p of the lower frame 15 protruding from the upper frame 14 of the process cartridge B comes into contact with the abutting portion 19c provided on the opening / closing cover 19.

Accordingly, the driving gear 41 on the apparatus main body 16 side is driven, and the flange gear 9 of the photosensitive drum 9 meshed with the gear 41 is driven.
When the driving force is transmitted to c, a reaction force is generated to rotate the process cartridge B in the direction of the arrow i in FIG. 47 around the drum rotation shaft 9f. However, the sleeve rotation axis 12
d2 abuts against the sleeve abutting portion 33b, and the positioning projection 15p of the lower frame 15 protruding from the upper frame 14 abuts against the abutting portion 19c, so that the rotation of the process cartridge B is restricted.

The lower surface of the lower frame 15 functions as a guide for the recording medium 4 as described above.
Is positioned against the apparatus main body as described above, the positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 9, the transfer roller 6, and the guide portions 15h1, 15h2 of the recording medium 4 is accurately maintained, and the recording medium 4
Transfer and image transfer are performed with high precision.

In transmitting the driving force, the developing sleeve 12d is urged downward not only by the rotational reaction force of the process cartridge B but also by the reaction force when the driving force is transmitted from the flange gear 9c to the sleeve gear 12j. You. At this time, if the sleeve rotation shaft 12d2 does not abut against the abutting portion 33b, the developing sleeve 12d is always urged downward during image formation, and thus the position of the developing sleeve 12d may shift downward. In some cases, the lower frame 15 to which the developing sleeve 12d is attached may be deformed. In this regard, in the present embodiment, the above-described inconvenience does not occur because the sleeve bearing 12d2 abuts against the abutting portion 33b during image formation.

As shown in FIG. 20, the developing sleeve 12d is urged against the photosensitive drum 9 by a spring 12j via a sleeve bearing 12i. At this time, the sleeve bearing 12i may be configured as shown in FIG. 48 so as to be easily slid. In this method, a bearing 12m for receiving a rotating shaft 12d2 is held by a bearing holder 12n, and the bearing
An elongated hole 12n1 is provided to allow 12m to slide. In this case, as shown in FIG. 49, the bearing holder 12n abuts against and is supported by the sleeve abutting portion 33b of the shaft support member 33. In this state, the bearing 12m can slide in the direction of the arrow within the range of the elongated hole 12n1. Things. In the present embodiment, the inclination angle (indicated by θ in FIG. 47) of the abutting portion 33b is set to about 40 °.

Even if the support of the developing sleeve 12d is not at the end of the sleeve shaft, as shown in FIGS. 52 (a) and 52 (b),
The lower end of the sleeve bearing 52 and the lower portion of the lower frame body 15 that abuts on the lower end of the sleeve bearing 52 may be received by the receiving portion 53 provided in the apparatus main body.

Further, in this embodiment, the flange gear 9c of the photosensitive drum 9 and the driving gear 41 for transmitting the driving force thereto.
47, the line connecting the center of rotation of the flange gear 9c from the center with respect to the vertical line from the center of rotation of the flange gear 9c is a small angle α (about 1 ° in the present embodiment), as shown in FIG. It is configured to shift only in the counterclockwise direction. The driving force transmission direction F from the driving gear 41 to the flange gear 9c is configured to be upward. Originally, by setting the angle α to 20 ° or more, lifting can be prevented by a downward force, but in the present embodiment, it is set to about 1 °.

By setting the angle α to about 1 ° in this manner, when the upper opening / closing cover 19 is rotated and opened in the direction of the arrow j to remove the process cartridge B from the image forming apparatus A, the flange gear 9c is driven by the driving gear. The meshing can be released smoothly without getting caught on the 41. When the drive transmission direction F is directed upward as described above, the drum rotating shaft 9f is pushed upward and tends to come off the drum support portion 33a. In the present embodiment, the overlap portion 33c is formed on the support portion 33a. The drum rotation shaft 9
f does not come off the drum support portion 33a.

(Recycling Configuration) The process cartridge B having the above configuration is configured to be recyclable. Next, the recycling configuration will be described. Generally, conventional process cartridges are discarded when the toner is used up. However, in order to protect the earth resources and the natural environment, the process cartridge B according to the present embodiment disassembles the upper and lower frames 14 and 15 when the toner in the toner reservoir 12a is used up, and refills the toner into the toner reservoir 12a. It is configured so that it can be stored and reused.

That is, the upper and lower frames shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 8 and FIG.
The locking claw 14a and the locking opening 15a connecting the locking claws 14 and 15; the locking claw 14a and the locking projection 15b; the locking claw 14c and the locking opening 15d; and the locking claw 15c and the locking opening 14b. The upper and lower frames 14, 15 can be disassembled by releasing the respective locked states. This unlocking can be easily performed, for example, by setting the used process cartridge B to the disassembling tool 42, protruding the rod 42a and pressing the locking claw 14a as shown in FIG. Even without using the disassembly tool 42, the disassembly can be performed by pressing the locking claws 14a, 14c, 15c.

After disassembly into the upper and lower frames 14 and 15 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 as described above, cleaning is performed by removing waste toner attached to the inside of the cartridge by blowing air or the like. At this time, since the photosensitive drum 9, the developing sleeve 12d, or the cleaning means 13 is a member that comes into direct contact with the toner, a large amount of waste toner adheres. On the other hand, since the charging roller 10 is a member that does not directly contact the toner, the degree to which the waste toner adheres is small.
Therefore, the cleaning of the charging roller 10 can be easily performed as compared with the cleaning of the photosensitive drum 9 and the cleaning unit 13, but in the present embodiment, the charging roller 10 is
Since the photosensitive drum 9, developing sleeve 12d, and cleaning means 13 provided on the upper frame 14 are provided separately from the lower frame 15, the upper frame 14 separated from the lower frame 15 can be easily cleaned. Can be done.

As shown in FIG. 39B, this disassembly line divides the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 as described above, and
Each of the parts 14 and 15 is disassembled and cleaned, and the level of each component such as the charging roller 10 and the like in the upper frame 14 and the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d, the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a in the lower frame 15 is shown. It is easy to disassemble and clean.

After the cleaning of the waste toner and the like, as shown in FIG. 9, a cover film 28 is attached to the opening 12a1 to close the opening 12a1, and the toner filling port provided on the side of the toner reservoir 12a. Is filled with fresh toner, and the filling port is covered with a lid 12a2. The upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 are fixed to the above-mentioned locking claw 14a and locking opening 15a, locking claw 14a and locking projection 15b, locking claw 14c and locking opening 15d, and locking claw 15c and locking opening. By locking each of the frames 14 and 15 by locking each of the frames 14b, the process cartridge B can be used again.

When the upper and lower frame members 14 and 15 are connected again, the locking claw 14a and the locking opening 15a, and the locking claw 14a and the locking projection
15b and the like are locked, but if the number of reuses of the process cartridge B increases, the locking between the locking claw and the locking opening may become impossible. Therefore, in this embodiment, screw grooves are provided near the four corners of the frame. That is,
The fitting recess 14d and the fitting protrusion of the upper frame 14 shown in FIGS.
14e and a thread groove penetrating the fitting convex portion 15e and the fitting concave portion 15f of the lower frame body 15 fitted with these. As a result, the upper and lower frame 1
By joining the fittings 4 and 15, the fitting projections and the fitting recesses are fitted respectively, and by screwing the screws into the screw grooves, the two frame bodies 14, 15 can be firmly connected.

{Image Forming Operation} Next, the operation when the process cartridge B is mounted on the image forming apparatus A to form an image will be described.

The original 2 is set on the original glass 1 a shown in FIG. 1, and the recording medium 4 is set on the feed tray 3. Next, when a copy button (not shown) is pressed, the light source 1c1 is turned on, and the original glass 1a moves right and left in the upper part of the image forming apparatus in FIG.

On the other hand, the feed roller 5a and the pair of registration rollers 5c1 and 5c2 rotate in synchronization with the reading to convey the recording medium 4 to the image forming section. The photosensitive drum 9 rotates in the direction of arrow d in FIG. 1 in synchronization with the transfer timing of the pair of registration rollers 5c1 and 5c2. The light image read by the means 1 is exposed on the photosensitive drum 9 via the exposure means 11 to form a latent image.

At the same time as the formation of the latent image, the developing means 12 of the process cartridge B is driven, and the toner feeding mechanism 12b is driven to send out the toner in the toner reservoir 12a in the direction of the developing sleeve 12d. A layer is formed. The photosensitive drum 9 is attached to the developing sleeve 12d.
The latent image on the photosensitive drum 9 is developed with toner by applying a voltage having the same polarity and substantially the same potential as the charging polarity. By conveying the recording medium 4 between the photosensitive drum 9 and the transfer roller 6 and applying a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner to the transfer roller 6,
The toner image on the photosensitive drum 9 is transferred to the recording medium 4.

The photosensitive drum 9 onto which the toner image has been transferred is rotated in the direction of arrow d, and the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum is scraped off by the cleaning blade 13a and collected in the waste toner reservoir 13c by the squeeze sheet 13b.

On the other hand, the recording medium 4 on which the toner image has been formed as described above is conveyed to the fixing means 7 by the conveying belt 5d, and the fixing means 7 applies heat and pressure to fix the toner on the recording medium 4. After the discharge rollers 5f1, 5f2
Thereby, the recording medium 4 is discharged to the discharge tray 8. Thus, the document description information is recorded on the recording medium 4.

In the above-described embodiment, the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a as parts are replaced with screws 24a,
An example of screwing with 24b was shown.
As shown in FIG. 53, fitting protrusions 43a formed on both ends in the longitudinal direction of the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a,
43b is forcibly fitted into the fitting portions 44a, 44b of the apparatus main body 16, and the developing blade 12e and the cleaning blade 13a are attached to the lower frame.
In the case of mounting on the projection 15, the fitting projection 43
Preferably, screw holes 45 for screwing the blades 12e and 13a are provided in the vicinity of a and 43b, and screw holes 45 corresponding to the screw holes are provided on the apparatus body 16 side. (Note that a configuration such as a half punch or a circular boss may be provided near both ends in the longitudinal direction of the blades 12e and 13a instead of the fitting projections 43a and 43b).

In this way, the process cartridge B is recycled and used repeatedly, and the blade 12
When the fitting portions of e and 13a become loose, both blades 12e and 13a can be firmly fixed by screws.

In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 29, in order to finally incorporate the photosensitive drum 9 into the lower frame 15, the outer diameter D of the photosensitive drum 9 is larger than the distance L between the drum guide members 25a and 25b. 54, this configuration is smaller than the distance L between the drum guide members 25a and 25b even when the photosensitive drum 9 is incorporated in the upper frame 14, as shown in FIG. If the diameter D is reduced and the photosensitive drum 9 is incorporated last, there is no possibility of damaging the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 as in the above-described embodiment. In FIG. 54, portions having the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the upper frame 14 and the lower frame 15 lock the locking projections 47a and the locking holes 47b. And screw
By 48.

In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 35, the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d are connected to the bearing member 26.
The photosensitive drum 9 is provided with a flange gear 9c at one end in the rotation axis direction, and a transfer roller gear 49 at the other end.
In the case where is provided, it may be configured as shown in FIG.
Note that, in this case, the portions having the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 55, the flange gear 9c and the transfer roller gear 49 are fixed to both ends of the photosensitive drum 9 by bonding, caulking, or the like. The drum of the bearing member 26 is positioned by using the projection 49a of the transfer roller gear 49 as a bearing. It is supported at 26a. In this case, in order to ground the photosensitive drum 9, a drum grounding plate 50 having a contact portion bent in a “C” shape at the center is fixed inside the photosensitive drum 9.
The drum grounding shaft 51 that fits into the hole at the center of the drum ground is always in contact with the drum grounding plate 50 at its tip. The drum ground shaft 51 is made of a conductive metal such as stainless steel, and the drum ground plate 49 is also made of a conductive metal such as phosphor bronze or a stainless steel plate. Process cartridge B
Is mounted on the image forming apparatus A, the drum ground shaft
The head portion 51a of 51 is supported by the shaft support member 26 of the apparatus main body. At this time, the head portion 51a of the drum ground shaft 51 comes into contact with the drum ground contact pin on the apparatus main body side, and becomes the drum ground. Even in this case, the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d
By using the bearing member 26, which is a single component, the positional accuracy between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d can be improved as in the above-described embodiment.

The process cartridge B according to the present invention
Is not only for forming a monochrome image as described above,
A plurality of developing means 12 are provided, and the present invention can be suitably applied to a cartridge that forms an image of a plurality of colors (for example, a two-color image, a three-color image, or a full-color image).

As the developing method, it is possible to use various developing methods such as a known two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touch-down developing method, and a cloud developing method.

In the above-described embodiment, a so-called contact charging method is used for the structure of the charging means. However, as another structure, a metal shield such as aluminum is provided around three sides of a conventionally used tungsten wire, and It goes without saying that a configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the wire are moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum 9 and the surface of the drum 9 is uniformly charged.

Incidentally, as the contact charging means, besides the roller type, a blade type (charging blade), a pad type,
It may be of a block type, a rod type, a wire type, or the like.

As a method of cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 9, the cleaning means may be constituted by using a blade, a fur brush, a magnetic brush or the like.

The above-described process cartridge B includes, for example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member or the like as an image carrier and at least one of processing means. Therefore, as an aspect of the process cartridge, in addition to the above-described embodiment, for example, an image carrier and a charging unit are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. A cartridge in which the image carrier and the developing means are integrated into a cartridge, and which is detachable from the apparatus main body. A device in which the image carrier and the cleaning means are integrally formed into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. Further, there is a type in which an image carrier and two or more of the above-mentioned process means are combined into a cartridge to be detachable from the apparatus main body.

In the above-described embodiment, an electrophotographic copying machine is exemplified as an image forming apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a laser beam printer, a facsimile apparatus, or another image forming apparatus such as a word processor may be used. Of course, it is also possible to use.

Here, the driving of the photosensitive drum 9 described above is performed.
The transmission of force will be described more specifically. Transmission of driving force
As shown in FIG. 56, the drive mode
Gear train G from tab 54₁~ G_FiveDrive gear G via₆Drive to
Transmitting the force to the drive gear G₆And process cartridge B
And the rotational force is applied to the photosensitive drum 9.
Is given. The driving force of the motor 54 is the gear G
_FourFrom gear train G₇~ G ₁₁The driving force is transmitted to the feed low
The torque is transmitted to the gear 5a. Further, the driving of the motor 54
Power is gear G₁From gear G₁₂And G₁₃Fixing means 7 via
To the drive roller 7a.

As shown in FIGS. 57 and 58, the flange gear 9c as the second gear and the gear 9i as the first gear are integrally formed, and a part of the two gears 9c and 9i
Is exposed from the opening 15q. When the mounting the process cartridge B into the image forming apparatus A, the driving gear G ₆ as shown in FIG. 59 is gear flange 9c meshes of the photosensitive drum 9, the gear 9c integral with the gear 9i transfer roller 6
Gear 55. In FIG. 59, solid lines indicate parts on the apparatus main body side, and two-dot chain lines indicate parts on the cartridge side.

The gear 9c and the gear 9i have different numbers of teeth. The gear 9c and the gear 9i have the same number of teeth as described above. The rotation speed of the developing sleeve 12d is made different between the case where the cartridge is mounted. That is, when a cartridge for recording a black image using magnetic toner is mounted, as shown in FIG.
The 12d gear 12k meshes. When a cartridge for recording a color image other than black using a non-magnetic toner is mounted, the gear 9k of the developing sleeve 12d is engaged with the gear 9i as shown in FIG. The torque is transmitted to 12d.

As described above, the gear 9c has a larger diameter, a wider width, and a larger number of teeth than the gear 9i, and receives the driving force even if the load on the gear 9c is large. The photosensitive drum 9 is rotated more reliably, and a large driving force is transmitted to the developing sleeve 12d for magnetic toner.
Is rotated more reliably.

Here, the photosensitive drum to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 61, 62, 63 and 64.

In each of the embodiments, an example is shown in which the photosensitive drum is incorporated in the process cartridge. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the photosensitive drum is directly incorporated in the image forming apparatus. It goes without saying that also applies.

FIG. 61 is a perspective view of a photosensitive drum to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIGS. 62 and 63 show a state in which the photosensitive drum is mounted on a mounting surface. FIG. FIG. 63 shows a case in which the body drum is set upright on the mounting surface, and FIG.

As shown in the figure, the photosensitive drum 9 to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied has an organic photosensitive layer on the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical aluminum drum base (cylinder) 9a having a thickness of about 1 mm. (Dipping) or the like. The above-described flange gear 9c and gear 9i are fixed to one end of the aluminum drum base 9a by caulking 9j or the like.

Here, the flange gear 9c and the gear 9i are integrally formed together with the drum flange portion.
The material is, for example, polyacetal / polycarbonate. The gear 9c and the gear 9i are both helical gears having a torsion angle of about 16 degrees, and the teeth are inclined in a direction in which a thrust force is applied to the gears 9c and 9i when receiving driving force. It is provided.

Nothing is provided at the other end of the aluminum drum base 9a, and the end surface of the aluminum drum base 9a is exposed. Further, the above-mentioned organic photosensitive layer is provided on the peripheral surface of the aluminum drum base 9a. For example, in the case of a photosensitive drum for forming an A4 size image, the total length of the drum base 9a is about 25
6.5 mm, the total length (X1) of the area where the organic photosensitive layer is coated is about 253 mm, and the total length (X2) of the gear-side non-coating area is about 3.5 mm. That is, the organic photosensitive layer is not applied over the entire length of the drum base 9a, but is provided with a non-application area on the gear side. As a result, an effect of preventing the photosensitive layer from peeling during caulking is obtained.

In this embodiment, as described above, the flange gear 9c and the gear 9i are provided side by side at the side end of the aluminum drum base 9a, and the flange gear 9c provided on the outside is replaced with the gear 9i provided on the inside. (For example, in this embodiment, the flange gear 9c
The diameter of the gear 9i is about 26.1 mm, and the diameter of the gear 9i is about 26.1 mm).
Therefore, in this embodiment, at least the following (1) and (2)
The effect has been obtained.

(1) As shown in FIG. 62, when performing maintenance work such as assembly or parts replacement, stability when the photosensitive drum 9 is placed upright on the mounting surface 60 such as a work desk or floor. The nature increases. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the drum is inadvertently knocked down and the photoreceptor surface is damaged.

(2) As shown in FIG. 63, even when the photosensitive drum 9 is placed sideways on the mounting surface 60 such as a work desk or a floor, the gear of the flange gear 9c is in contact with the mounting surface 60. 9i side end. Therefore, the drum 9 is placed in a state of being lifted diagonally with the side on which no gear is provided attached to the placement surface 60. Therefore, most of the photoconductor 9b does not come into contact with the mounting surface 60, so that the possibility of damaging the photoconductor surface can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, the portion where the flange gear 9c is particularly subjected to a load when the flange gear 9c comes into contact with the mounting surface 60 is the tooth tip of the flange gear 9c and the end of the gear 9i. Therefore, when meshing with the mating gear, the mating gear is usually provided with an interval to avoid interference with each other, and this portion is not normally used for meshing with the mating gear. Therefore, even if this portion is damaged (a dent or the like is made) by a load, drive transmission can be performed to such an extent that image formation is not hindered, and rotation of the photosensitive drum does not occur.

The above embodiment will be described in further detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 64 is a side sectional view showing a state where the photosensitive drum is supported on a shaft. As shown in the figure, one end of the photosensitive drum 9 has a flange gear 9 serving also as the drum flange.
The shaft 9f is supported by the shaft support member 34 via the gear c (gear 9i). The other end is supported by the shaft support member 33 by the bearing member 26. Then, the photosensitive drum 9
When the flange gear 9c is engaged with the gear G6 of the main body and rotates by receiving the driving force, the flange gear 9c can rotate with good precision and accuracy.

Here, a through-hole 9l through which the shaft 9f passes is provided in the gear portion 9k in which the flange gear 9c and the gear 9i are integrally formed. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 64, the diameter (g2) of the portion of the through hole 91 corresponding to the flange gear 9c provided on the outside is made substantially the same as the outer diameter of the shaft 9f (about 8 mm in this embodiment). The diameter (g3) of the portion corresponding to the gear 9i provided on the inside is made larger than the outer diameter of the shaft 9f (about 9 mm in the present embodiment). Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the through hole 91 is fitted to the shaft 9f at a portion 9m corresponding to the flange gear 9c provided on the outside. Therefore, when the flange gear 9c is driven from the apparatus main body side, the driving force 9n is applied to the root of the shaft 9f.
And the inclination of the shaft 9f can be reduced. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the photosensitive drum 9 does not swing between the shaft 9f and the drum 9 when the drum 9 rotates, so that the photosensitive drum 9 can also be rotated with good precision and accuracy.

[0221]

As described above, according to the present invention, the portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear has a diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the rotating shaft, and the first gear of the through hole has the same diameter. Is configured to have a diameter larger than the outer diameter of the rotating shaft. As a result, the diameter of the through hole is fitted to the portion corresponding to the second gear with substantially the same diameter as the rotation shaft, and the first gear is fitted.
In the portion corresponding to the gear, by preventing the fitting by making the diameter larger than the rotation shaft, the drive transmission from the rotation shaft will be performed only in the portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear, Only the accuracy of the portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear receiving a large load governs the rotational accuracy of the integrally molded gear portion, and at least even the portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear. If fitted properly, sufficient rotational accuracy can be ensured. In addition, a portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear has substantially the same diameter as an outer diameter of the rotating shaft, and a portion of the through hole corresponding to the first gear is located outside the rotating shaft. In addition to having a diameter larger than the diameter, the second gear is provided coaxially with the first gear and outside, and is configured to receive a driving force from the image forming apparatus. Thus, a load can be received at a position close to the fixed side of the rotating shaft, the inclination of the rotating shaft can be reduced, and the rotation accuracy can be secured. For this reason, the rotation accuracy of the gears can be ensured with a simple and easy-to-machine component configuration, and the image carrier can be accurately rotated by preventing the shaft from swinging when the image carrier is rotated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall sectional explanatory view of a copying machine in which a process cartridge is mounted.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the copier with a tray open.

FIG. 3 is an external explanatory view of the copying machine with a tray closed.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory sectional view of a process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of a process cartridge.

FIG. 6 is an external view illustrating the process cartridge upside down.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory cross-sectional view obtained by dividing the upper and lower frames of the process cartridge.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory internal perspective view of the lower frame side of the process cartridge.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory internal perspective view of the upper frame side of the process cartridge.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory sectional view of a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a measurement state of a charging noise.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a measurement result of a charging noise with respect to a position of a filling material.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a drum ground contact.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of a drum ground contact.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory sectional view of an embodiment using a drum ground that is not divided into two branches.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory perspective view of an embodiment using a drum ground that is not divided into two branches.

FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting configuration of a charging roller.

18A is an explanatory perspective view of an exposure shutter, and FIG.
FIG.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram of a non-magnetic toner feeding configuration using stirring blades.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory cross-sectional view showing a positional relationship between the photosensitive drum 9 and the developing sleeve 12d and a method of pressing the developing sleeve 12d.

21 (a) is a longitudinal sectional view showing the AA section of FIG. 12-1, and FIG. 21 (b) is a longitudinal sectional view showing the BB section of FIG. 12-1.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory diagram of a pressing force applied to a developing sleeve bearing.

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the upper end of the squeeze sheet is undulating.

24A is an explanatory view of a state in which the double-sided tape has protruded from the lower end of the squeeze sheet; FIGS.

FIG. 25 (a) is an explanatory view showing a state where a squeeze sheet having a curved lower end is attached to a curved mounting surface, and FIG. 25 (b) is a state where the curvature of the mounting surface is released and tension is applied to the upper end of the squeeze sheet. FIG.

FIG. 26 is an explanatory view in which the central portion of the lower end of the squeeze sheet is formed linearly wide.

FIG. 27 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a squeeze sheet mounting surface is pressed to bend.

FIG. 28 is an explanatory diagram for guiding a recording medium by the lower surface of the lower frame.

FIG. 29 is an explanatory diagram of a state where the photosensitive drum is incorporated last.

FIG. 30 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment in which a developing blade and a cleaning blade are attached.

FIG. 31 is an explanatory sectional view for assembling a process cartridge.

FIG. 32 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a mounting position of a guide member when a photosensitive drum of a process cartridge is incorporated.

FIG. 33 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which a drum guide is provided at an end of a blade support member.

FIG. 34 is an explanatory diagram of mounting a bearing member of a photosensitive drum and a developing sleeve.

FIG. 35 is an explanatory sectional view showing a state of the photosensitive drum and the developing sleeve in a state where the bearing member is attached.

FIG. 36 is an explanatory diagram of a cover film and a tear tape.

FIG. 37 is an explanatory view in which the tear tape is exposed from the handle.

FIG. 38 is an explanatory diagram of a state where the process cartridge is held by hand.

39A is an explanatory diagram of a process cartridge assembly and shipping line, and FIG. 39B is an explanatory diagram of a process cartridge disassembly cleaning line.

FIG. 40 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the process cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 41 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which different process cartridges shown in FIG. 24 are mounted.

FIG. 42 is an explanatory view of the arrangement of three contacts provided on the apparatus main body.

FIG. 43 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of three contact points.

FIG. 44 is an explanatory diagram of a positioning configuration of a lower frame and a lens unit.

FIG. 45 is an explanatory diagram of a positioning configuration of a lower frame and a document glass.

FIG. 46 is an explanatory diagram showing a mounting position of a positioning piece.

FIG. 47 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a drum rotation shaft and a sleeve rotation shaft and their shaft support members, and a direction in which a driving gear transmits a driving force to a flange gear of a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 48 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which the developing sleeve is easily slid.

FIG. 49 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which the developing sleeve is easily slid.

FIG. 50 is an explanatory diagram in the case where the connection between the upper frame and the lower frame is released.

FIG. 51 is an explanatory diagram of gears and electric contacts attached to the photosensitive drum.

FIG. 52 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment for receiving a developing sleeve.

FIG. 53 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration in which a developing blade and a cleaning blade are fitted to an apparatus main body, wherein each blade can be screwed;

FIG. 54 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment in which the photosensitive drum is incorporated last.

FIG. 55 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of the bearing member that supports the photosensitive drum and the developing sleeve.

FIG. 56 is a configuration explanatory view of driving force transmission from the driving motor of the apparatus main body to each member.

FIG. 57 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a flange gear attached to the photosensitive drum and an integral gear are exposed from the lower frame.

FIG. 58 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a flange gear attached to a photosensitive drum and an integral gear are exposed from a lower frame.

FIG. 59 is an explanatory diagram of a gear train showing a drive gear on the apparatus main body side and drive transmission to a photosensitive drum and a transfer roller.

FIG. 60 is an explanatory diagram showing that the drive transmission configuration to the developing sleeve differs depending on the magnetic toner and the non-magnetic toner.

FIG. 61 is a perspective view of a photosensitive drum to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 62 is a side view showing a case where the photosensitive drum to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied is set up on a mounting surface.

FIG. 63 is a side view showing a case where the photosensitive drum to which the embodiment of the present invention is applied is placed sideways on a placing surface.

FIG. 64 is a side sectional view showing a state where a photosensitive drum to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied is mounted.

[Description of Symbols] A: image forming apparatus, B: process cartridge, 1: original reading means, 1a: original glass, 1b: original pressing plate,
1b1 sponge, 1b2 locking groove, 1c lens unit, 1c1 light source, 1c2 short focus imaging lens array, 1c3
... axis, 2 ... original, 3 ... feeding tray, 3a, 3b ... axis, 3
c: locking projection, 4: recording medium, 5: transport means, 5a: feed roller, 5b: friction pad, 5c1, 5c2: registration roller, 5d: transport belt, 5e: guide member, 5f1, 5
f2: discharge roller, 6: transfer means, 7: fixing means, 7a ...
Driving roller, 7b: holder, 7c: heating element, 7d: tension plate, 7e: fixing film, 7f: tension spring, 7g
... pressure roller, 8 ... discharge tray, 8a, 8b ... shaft, 8c
... locking projections, 9 ... photosensitive drums, 9a ... drum base, 9b
... organic photosensitive layer, 9c ... flange gear, 9d ... filler, 9
e: adhesive, 9f: rotating shaft, 9i: gear, 10: charging means, 10a: spring, 10b: roller shaft, 10c: sliding bearing, 10c1: stopper part, 10d: slide guide claw, 10
e: stopper portion, 11: exposure means, 11a: opening, 11b
... Shutter member, 11b1 ... Shaft, 11b2 ... Abutting part, 11c ... Torsion coil spring, 12 ... Developing means, 12a ... Toner reservoir, 12a1 ...
Opening, 12a2 ... Filling lid, 12b ... Toner feed mechanism, 12b1 ...
Feeding member, 12b2 ... arm member, 12b3 ... shaft, 12b4 ... locking projection, 12b5 ... long hole, 12c ... magnet, 12d ... developing sleeve, 12
d1 ring contact portion, 12d2 rotary shaft, 12e developing blade, 12e1 blade support member, 12e2 projecting portion, 12f lid member, 12f1 hanging member, 12g elastic roller, 12h non-magnetic toner feed mechanism, 12i ... sleeve bearing, 12j ... spring, 12k ... sleeve gear, 12m ... bearing, 12n ... bearing holder, 12n1 ... long hole, 13 ... cleaning means, 13a ... cleaning blade, 13a1 ... blade support member, 13a2 ... projecting portion, 13b ... Squeeze sheet, 13c ... Waste toner reservoir, 13c1 ...
Partition plate, 13d: mounting surface, 13e: double-sided tape, 13f: lower end, 14: upper frame, 14a: locking claw, 14b: locking opening, 14c
... locking claw, 14d ... fitting concave part, 14e ... fitting convex part, 14f ... handle part, 14g ... through hole, 14h ... fitting convex part, 14i ... non-slip rib, 15 ... lower frame body, 15a ... Locking opening, 15b: locking projection, 15c: locking claw, 15d: locking opening, 15e: fitting projection,
15f: fitting recess, 15g: opening, 15h1: guide part on both sides, 15
h2: central guide portion, 15i: regulating protrusion, 15j: escape recess,
15k: handle, 15m: positioning projection, 15n: fitting recess,
15p: Positioning projection, 15q: Opening, 16: Device body, 16
a ... handle, 17 ... cooling fan, 18a ... drum ground contact, 18a1 ... base, 18a2 ... locking hole, 18a3 ... arm, 18a4 ... hemispherical protrusion, 18b ... development bias contact, 18c ... charging bias Contact point, 18c1 ... one end, 18c2 ... other end, 18d ... Conductive member, 19 ... Top opening / closing cover, 19a ... Protrusion, 19b ... Rotating fulcrum, 19c ... Abutment part, 20 ... Tension tool, 20a ... Pressing tool, twenty one
... Applying tool, 22 ... Protective cover, 22a ... Shaft, 23 ... Lower guide member, 24a, 24b ... Screw, 24c, 24d ... Adhesive, 25a
25b: drum guide member, 26: bearing member, 26a: bearing portion, 26b: bearing portion, 26c: D-cut hole portion, 26d: drum shaft portion, 26a: drum shaft portion, 27: tear tape, 28 cover film, 29 ... loading member, 29a ... fitting window, 29b ... recess,
30: erroneous mounting prevention protrusion, 31: guide protrusion, 32: guide plate, 33: shaft support member, 33a: drum support portion, 33b: sleeve abutment portion, 33c: overlap portion, 34: shaft support member 35a: Contact pin for drum ground, 35b: Contact pin for developing bias, 35c: Contact pin for charging bias, 36: Holder cover, 37: Electric board, 38: Conductive spring, 39: Press spring, 40: Positioning frame 41, drive gear, 42, disassembly tool, 42a, rod, 43a, 43b, fitting projection, 44a,
44b: Blade insertion part, 45: Screw hole, 46a: Bearing, 46b
... Slide bearing, 46c ... Bearing, 47a ... Locking projection, 47b ...
Locking hole, 48 screw, 49 transfer roller gear, 49a protrusion
50: drum earth plate, 51: drum earth shaft, 51a: head part, 52: sleeve bearing, 53: receiving part, 54: drive motor,
55: transfer roller gear, S: toner leakage prevention seal, M:
Microphone, G ₁ -G ₁₃ ... gear

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Kazumi Sekine 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Kazushi Watanabe 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon stock In-house (72) Inventor Kazunori Kobayashi 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Shinya 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72 ) Inventor Etsuichi Sasako 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Yasufumi Shimizu 3-30-2 Shimomaruko 3-chome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Isao Ikemoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Canon Inc. (56) References JP-A-3-240069 (JP, A) JP-A-4-107343 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 166470 (JP, A) JP-A-4-128849 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G03G 15/00 550 G0 3G 21/16-21/18 G03G 21/00 350 G03G 15/08

Claims (18)

(57) [Claims] An image carrier; a process unit acting on the image carrier; a first gear provided at an end of the image carrier; and a coaxial and external coaxial with the first gear. A second gear receiving a driving force from the image forming apparatus, and a process cartridge detachable from the image forming apparatus, wherein the first gear and the second gear constitute a integrally molded gear portion, The gear portion is provided with a through hole through which a rotating shaft fixed outside the gear portion passes. A portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear has an outer diameter of the rotating shaft. A process cartridge having substantially the same diameter, wherein a portion of the through hole corresponding to the first gear has a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the rotating shaft. 2. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said second gear has a larger diameter than said first gear. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 2, wherein said first gear transmits a driving force received via said second gear to a rotating body. 4. The process according to claim 3, wherein said processing means comprises a developing means for developing a latent image formed on said image carrier, and said rotating body is a developing sleeve of said developing means. cartridge. 5. The process cartridge according to claim 3, wherein said rotating body is a transfer roller for transferring an image formed on said image carrier to a recording medium. 6. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the first gear and the second gear are helical gears. 7. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said image bearing member is an electrophotographic photosensitive member. 8. The image processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said processing means includes a charging means for charging said image bearing member.
Any of the process cartridges. 9. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein said process means includes a cleaning means for cleaning said image bearing member. 10. An image carrier, processing means acting on the image carrier, a first gear provided at an end of the image carrier, and provided coaxially with and outside the first gear. And a second gear receiving a driving force from a drive motor, wherein the first gear and the second gear constitute a integrally molded gear portion, and the gear portion includes the gear A through hole is provided for a rotating shaft fixed outside the portion to penetrate, and a portion of the through hole corresponding to the second gear has a diameter substantially equal to an outer diameter of the rotating shaft. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the through hole corresponding to the first gear has a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the rotation shaft. 11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said second gear has a larger diameter than said first gear. 12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first gear transmits a driving force received via the second gear to a rotating body. 13. An image according to claim 12, wherein said processing means includes a developing means for developing a latent image formed on said image carrier, and said rotating body is a developing sleeve of said developing means. Forming equipment. 14. An image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said rotator is a transfer roller for transferring an image formed on said image carrier to a recording medium. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said first gear and said second gear are helical gears. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said image bearing member is an electrophotographic photosensitive member. 17. An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said processing means includes a charging means for charging said image bearing member. 18. An image forming apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said process means includes a cleaning means for cleaning said image bearing member.