JP4561857B2 - Developer cartridge - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a developing cartridge.

  In general, in an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a developing cartridge containing toner is detachably attached to the apparatus main body. As such an image forming apparatus, there is conventionally known an apparatus capable of determining whether a mounted developing cartridge is new (new article detection) (see Patent Document 1).

  Specifically, in the image forming apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, a swingable arm-shaped detection actuator, a spring that biases the detection actuator to a neutral position, and a swing of the detection actuator are provided on the apparatus main body side. A sensor for detection and a control device for detecting a new article based on a signal from the sensor are provided. Further, a developing cartridge mounted on the image forming apparatus includes a detection protrusion that extends radially outward from a predetermined shaft portion, a detection gear that rotates integrally with the detection protrusion about the shaft portion, and the detection gear. And a plurality of gears for transmitting a driving force to the developing roller and the agitator.

  In this image forming apparatus, when a new development cartridge is mounted on the apparatus main body, the detection projection presses one end of the detection actuator, the detection actuator swings, and this swing is detected by the sensor. The sensor that has detected the swing in this way transmits a detection signal indicating that to the control device, and the control device determines that the developing cartridge is new based on the received detection signal.

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

  In such a glass turning operation, a driving force from a driving source provided on the apparatus main body side is transmitted to the agitator and the detection gear via a plurality of gears. As a result, the stirring of the toner by the agitator is started, and the detection protrusion rotates to further press one end of the detection actuator, and comes off from the detection actuator at a predetermined position. Thereafter, the detection actuator returns to the neutral position by the biasing force of the spring.

  Therefore, in the used developing cartridge, the position of the detection projection is located at a position different from the initial position. As a result, when the used developing cartridge is removed from the apparatus main body and mounted on the image forming apparatus again, the detection actuator is not pressed by the detection protrusion in the image forming apparatus, so that the control apparatus that does not receive the detection signal is mounted. It is determined that the developed cartridge is an old product.

JP 2006-267994 A

  However, in the above-described conventional developing cartridge, when a plurality of gears that transmit driving force to the developing roller and the agitator are operated before using the developing cartridge, detection is performed in conjunction with the rotation of each gear. There is a possibility that the gear rotates and the position of the detection projection moves to an unintended position. If it does so, a detection protrusion will not be correctly detected by the detection actuator of a main body side, but the problem which becomes unable to detect a new article favorably arises.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a developing cartridge that can detect a new article satisfactorily even when an erroneous driving force is slightly transmitted to a gear.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a developing cartridge according to the present invention includes a housing having a cartridge main body that contains a developer, a cover body that is attached to the cartridge main body, and a detection protrusion that protrudes outward from the cover body. A detection projection having a planar contact surface capable of contacting a swingable detection actuator, and disposed between the cartridge body and the cover body, and the detection projection and the cartridge body an engaging engagement portion includes the a linear direction to the movable mobile along the contact surface, and a transmission gear for transmitting a driving force input from the outside to the movable body, wherein The cartridge main body is formed with a first guide portion that is slidably supported in the linear direction with the engaging portion interposed therebetween, and on the opposite side of the cartridge main body with the movable body interposed therebetween. The said cover body to be kicked, wherein the second guide portion slidably supported in a state to said linear direction sandwiching the detection projection is formed.

According to the present invention, when an erroneous driving force is slightly transmitted to the transmission gear, the moving body slightly moves in the direction along the contact surface of the detection protrusion. At this time, the position of the portion where the contact surface before the movement and the contact surface after the movement overlap does not change. Therefore, by setting the wrapping portion as a portion that comes into contact with the detection actuator, the position of the portion that comes into contact with the detection actuator does not change even if the detection protrusion is moved slightly, so that new article detection can be performed satisfactorily. Moreover, since the moving body is supported by the first guide portion and the second guide portion, the moving body can be moved in a stable posture.

According to the present invention, since the detection protrusion moves in the direction along the contact surface, the position of the portion where the contact surface before the movement and the contact surface after the movement wrap does not change. Even if a wrong driving force is transmitted slightly, new article detection can be performed satisfactorily. Moreover, since the moving body is supported by the first guide portion and the second guide portion, the moving body can be moved in a stable posture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

<Detailed structure of developing cartridge>
Next, the detailed structure of the developing cartridge 28 which is a characteristic part of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the developing cartridge 28 includes the developing roller 31 and the like, and further includes a cartridge body 60 and a cover body 70 as an example of a housing. Is detachably mounted on the left side surface of the cartridge body 60. A gear mechanism 61 and a moving body 80 are provided between the cartridge body 60 and the cover body 70.

  The gear mechanism 61 is a mechanism for transmitting a driving force input from the outside to the developing roller 31, the supply roller 33, and the agitator 34A. Specifically, the gear mechanism 61 includes an input gear 62 to which driving force is transmitted from a driving device 110 (see FIG. 6) provided on the main casing 2 side, a developing roller driving gear 63 that directly meshes with the input gear 62, and a supply. The roller driving gear 64 and an agitator driving gear 66 as an example of a transmission gear meshing with the input gear 62 via an intermediate gear 65 are provided. Here, the developing roller driving gear 63, the supply roller driving gear 64, and the agitator driving gear 66 are gears for driving the developing roller 31, the supply roller 33, and the agitator 34A shown in FIG. 33 and the agitator 34A are integrally provided at the ends of the shafts.

  The moving body 80 is configured to be movable in a linear direction along an abutting surface 82A of a detection projection 82 described later (specifically, an obliquely downward direction from the appropriate position at the upper front side of the cartridge main body 60 toward the lower back side). . Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3A, the moving body 80 includes a plate-shaped main body portion 81, a detection protrusion 82 that is integrally formed with the main body portion 81, a rack portion 83, and an engaging portion 84. And is configured.

  The detection protrusion 82 is a rectangular parallelepiped protrusion that protrudes outward in the left-right direction from the upper part of the inner surface of the main body 81, and as shown in FIG. 3B, a second guide part formed on the cover body 70. As an example, the cover 71 projects outside through a long groove 71. In this way, the inner surface of the detection protrusion 82 protruding outward from the long groove 71 is a flat contact surface 82A that can contact a detection arm 122 as an example of a detection actuator described later. . As shown in FIG. 2B, the long groove 71 is formed along the moving direction of the moving body 80, and supports the detection protrusion 82 so as to be slidable.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the rack portion 83 is formed in the lower portion of the back surface of the main body portion 81, and has a plurality of gear tooth portions 83 </ b> A that can be engaged with the agitator drive gear 66. Yes.

  The engaging portion 84 is formed so as to protrude inward in the left-right direction from the front side surface of the main body portion 81 and to extend along the moving direction of the moving body 80. As shown in FIG. 3B, the engaging portion 84 can be engaged with a pair of guide rails 67 as an example of a first guide portion formed in the cartridge main body 60, and these guide rails 67. Is slidably supported between the two. The pair of guide rails 67 and the long groove 71 of the cover body 70 described above are disposed on both sides of the body portion 81 of the moving body 80 to support the moving body 80 from both the left and right sides and the front and rear sides.

  The moving body 80 configured as described above detects the initial position (see FIG. 8A) where the contact surface 82A of the detection projection 82 contacts a detection arm 122 described later, and the contact surface 82A detects the moving body 80. It is possible to move between the retracted position (see FIG. 8C) that is disengaged from the arm 122. More specifically, when the moving body 80 moves from the initial position toward the retracted position, the moving body 80 moves in a direction away from a swing center portion (a cylindrical portion 122A described later; see FIG. 7) of the detection arm 122. It is configured.

  Further, the length of the contact surface 82A of the detection protrusion 82 (the length in the moving direction of the moving body 80) is appropriately set according to the specification. For example, when a developing cartridge having a different specification from the developing cartridge 28 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is manufactured, the structure of the moving body 90 and the like may be changed according to the specification as shown in FIGS. .

  Specifically, the developing cartridge 128 shown in FIG. 4 includes a gear mechanism 61 similar to the structure shown in FIG. 2, and includes a moving body 90, a cartridge body 160, and a cover body 170 different from the structure shown in FIG. .

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the moving body 90 includes a main body portion 81 and an engaging portion 84 similar to the structure shown in FIG. 2, and a detection projection 92 and a rack portion 93 different from the structure shown in FIG. It has. The detection protrusion 92 is formed in a shape in which the upper surface of the detection protrusion 82 shown in FIG. 2 extends obliquely upward along the contact surface 82A, so that the length of the contact surface 92A is the contact surface of FIG. It is formed longer than 82A. Specifically, the detection protrusion 92 includes a protruding portion 92C that protrudes outward in the left-right direction from the upper portion of the back surface of the main body 81, and an extending portion 92D that extends along the outer surface of the cover body 170 from the tip of the protruding portion 92C. 5 (see FIG. 5B).

  The rack portion 93 is formed longer in the moving direction of the moving body 90 than the rack portion 83 shown in FIG. Thereby, the moving amount of the moving body 90 becomes larger than that of the moving body 80 shown in FIG. 2, and the longer abutting surface 92 </ b> A can be removed from the detection arm 122. The pair of guide rails 167 formed on the cartridge main body 160 and the long groove 171 formed on the cover body 170 have the structure shown in FIG. 2 so as to correspond to the amount of movement of the moving body 90 which has increased as described above. Is also formed longer.

<Detailed structure inside main casing>
As shown in FIG. 6, a drive device 110 and a new product specification detection device 120 are provided in the main body casing 2. These are briefly described below.

  In the portion of the main casing 2 where the developing cartridge 28 is mounted, there are a driving device 110 that transmits a driving force to the input gear 62 of the developing cartridge 28 and a new product specification detecting device 120 that can execute new product detection and specification detection. Is provided.

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

  As shown in FIG. 7, the new product specification detection device 120 mainly includes an optical sensor 121, a detection arm 122, a coil spring 123, and a control device 124.

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

  The detection arm 122 includes a cylindrical portion 122A that is rotatably supported by the main body casing 2, a light shielding arm 122B that extends radially outward from the cylindrical portion 122A, and a contact arm 122C. It is configured to be swingable about the portion 122A. In addition, a coil spring 123 is attached to an appropriate position of the light shielding arm 122B of the detection arm 122, whereby the detection arm 122 is constantly biased to the neutral position by the coil spring 123. And in this neutral position, the front-end | tip part 122D of the arm 122B for light shielding is arrange | positioned between the light emission part 121A and the light-receiving part 121B. Further, in the neutral position, the front end 122E of the contact arm 122C is disposed at a position where it can contact the detection protrusion 82 (92) protruding from the outer surface of the developing cartridge 28 (128) attached to the main body casing 2. The

  The control device 124 determines whether or not the developing cartridge 28 is new according to the presence or absence of the swing of the detection arm 122 detected by the optical sensor 121, and the detection arm from the start of driving of the driving device 110. A function of discriminating the specifications of the developing cartridge 28 according to the time required for the 122 to return to the original position is provided. Specifically, the control device 124 executes a known glass turning operation based on a closing signal from a sensor for detecting the closing operation of the front cover 2A or a signal generated when the laser printer 1 is turned on. . Then, the control device 124 determines whether or not the detection arm 122 is a new one by determining whether or not the ON signal output from the optical sensor 121 is received when the detection arm 122 is pressed by the detection protrusion 82 (92). Judgment is made. In addition, the control device 124 receives the ON signal that is continuously output from the optical sensor 121 when the detection arm 122 is tilted from the original posture (the detection arm 122 is restored from the start of the rattling operation). Based on the determination of whether the maximum number of images to be formed is 3000 or 6000, based on the time until the ON signal from the optical sensor 121 is turned off after returning to the posture. I do.

  Next, the operation of the moving bodies 80 and 90 when the developing cartridges 28 and 128 are mounted on the main casing 2 will be described. In the following description, it is assumed that the developing cartridge 28 including the moving body 80 is a type having a maximum image forming number of 3000 sheets, and the developing cartridge 128 including the moving body 90 is a type having a maximum image forming number of 6000 sheets.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when 3000 types of developing cartridges 28 in a new state are mounted in the main casing 2, as shown in FIG. It contacts the lower end of the detection arm 122. As a result, the detection arm 122 is pressed by the detection protrusion 82, and the lower end portion of the detection arm 122 moves to the back side together with the detection protrusion 82 (developing cartridge 28).

  When the detection arm 122 swings in this way, an ON signal is output from the optical sensor 121 to the control device 124, and the control device 124 determines that it is new. Thereafter, when a known gear turning operation is executed by the control device 124, the driving force of the driving device 110 moves through the input gear 62, the intermediate gear 65, and the agitator driving gear 66 as shown in FIG. It is transmitted to the body 80, and the moving body 80 moves linearly along the contact surface 82A. At this time, since the position of the portion R where the contact surface 82A before movement and the contact surface 82A after movement wrap (overlap) does not change, the detection arm 122 supported by the wrapped portion R is It remains supported by the contact surface 82A. Therefore, the detection arm 122 is maintained at that position, and the above-described ON signal is continuously output to the control device 124.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, when the contact surface 82 </ b> A comes off the detection arm 122, the support of the detection arm 122 by the contact surface 82 </ b> A is released, and the detection arm 122 is moved by the coil spring 123. Return to neutral position. At this time, the light shielding arm 122B of the detection arm 122 returns to the original position and blocks the light from the light emitting unit 121A, whereby the optical sensor 121 is turned off and an ON signal is transmitted to the control device 124. Is canceled.

  Thereby, the reception time of the ON signal from the optical sensor 121 is calculated, and the control device 124 determines that the type is 3000 sheets based on the reception time.

  On the other hand, when 6000 types of developing cartridges 128 which are in a new state are mounted in the main body casing 2, as shown in FIG. The lower end of the arm 122 is pressed, and the controller 124 determines that it is new. Thereafter, when the glass turning operation is performed and the moving body 90 moves along the contact surface 92A, as shown in FIGS. 9B and 9C, the detection arm is longer than the 3000-sheet type. 122 is supported by the contact surface 92A. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9D, when the contact surface 92A is detached from the detection arm 122 and the optical sensor 121 is turned off, the control device 124 responds to a longer reception time than in the 3000-sheet type. Thus, it is determined that the type is 6000 sheets.

  Further, for example, when a 3000-type developing cartridge 28 as shown in FIG. 8A is not used, an erroneous driving force is slightly transmitted to the gear mechanism 61 due to an erroneous operation by the user. ), (B), the moving body 80 slightly moves in the direction along the contact surface 82A of the detection protrusion 82. At this time, the position of the portion R where the contact surface 82A before movement and the contact surface 82A after movement wrap does not change. For this reason, by arranging the overlapping portion R at a position where it can come into contact with the detection arm 122, the portion R is maintained at a position where it can come into contact with the detection arm 122 only by a slight movement of the detection protrusion 82. When the developing cartridge 28 is attached, the detection arm 122 can be favorably pressed at the portion R.

According to the above, the following effects can be obtained in the present embodiment.
By adopting a structure in which the detection protrusion 82 is moved in the direction along the contact surface 82A, the position of the portion R where the contact surface 82A before the movement and the contact surface 82A after the movement wrap are detected with the detection arm 122. Since it can be maintained at a position where it can come into contact, even if a wrong driving force is slightly transmitted to the gear mechanism 61 due to an erroneous operation by the user, a new article can be detected satisfactorily.

  By adopting a structure in which the detection protrusion 82 is moved in the direction along the contact surface 82A, the detection arm 122 is maintained in an inclined state only by changing the length of the contact surface 82A according to the specification. The time to keep can be changed according to the specifications. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily realize specification detection based on a time difference.

  Since the contact surface 82A of the detection protrusion 82 is formed in a flat shape and the moving body 80 is movable in a linear direction along the contact surface 82A, the structure is simplified and the developing cartridge 28 is downsized. Can be achieved. Incidentally, for example, the detection arm 122 can be supported at the same position by the contact surface 82A before and after the movement by rotating the detection protrusion 82 in a curved direction along the contact surface 82A. The detection protrusion 82 must be rotated so as to be tilted outward from the cartridge body 60 toward the left and right direction, and the developing cartridge 28 is enlarged in the left and right direction.

  When the moving body 80 moves from the initial position shown in FIG. 8A toward the retracted position shown in FIG. 8C, it moves in a direction (downward) away from the cylindrical portion 122A of the detection arm 122. Therefore, at the moment when the contact surface 82A is detached from the detection arm 122, the detection arm 122 is immediately returned to the original position. Thereby, the error in the time from when the contact surface 82A is detached from the detection arm 122 to when the detection arm 122 completely blocks the light of the optical sensor 121 can be made extremely small. Therefore, the time from the start of the glass turning operation to the return of the detection arm 122 is set to a very short time (time difference) such as 0.5 seconds for the 3000 sheet type and 1 second for the 6000 sheet type. be able to. When the moving body 80 shown in FIG. 8A is moved in the direction approaching the cylindrical portion 122A of the detection arm 122 (upward), the detection is performed after the contact surface 82A is detached from the detection arm 122. The arm 122 returns slowly to the original position while being supported by the corners on the lower side of the detection protrusion 82. Therefore, in this case, an error in time from when the contact surface 82A is detached from the detection arm 122 to when the detection arm 122 completely blocks the light of the optical sensor 121 becomes large. There is a possibility that the time until the detection arm 122 returns must be set to a long time (time difference) such as 5 seconds for the 3000 sheet type and 10 seconds for the 6000 sheet type.

  Since the movable body 80 is supported from both the left and right sides and the front and rear sides by the pair of guide rails 67 and the long groove 71 of the cover body 70 described above, the movable body 80 can be moved in a stable posture.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, It can utilize with various forms so that it may illustrate below.
In the embodiment described above, the contact surface 82A is a complete surface, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a surface having a plurality of recesses may be used as the contact surface 82A. For example, a virtual surface formed at the tip of each gear tooth portion of the gear can be considered as a surface in which a plurality of V-shaped concave portions are formed on the surface. The tip of the tooth) may be the contact surface. However, in the case where the contact surface is constituted by the tip portions of a plurality of gear teeth, the detection arm 122 vibrates finely along each gear tooth when the tip portion of the gear teeth moves along the arrangement direction. As in the above embodiment, it is desirable that the contact surface be a complete surface.

  In the embodiment, the detection protrusion 82 is moved from the position on the upper oblique front side to the lower oblique rear direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the detection protrusion 82 may be moved in the left-right direction, for example. Further, the contact surface may be a curved surface, and the moving body may be moved along an arc-shaped rail along the curved surface.

  In the above embodiment, the moving body 80 is moved using the rack and pinion structure, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, a protrusion 66A protruding in the axial direction is formed at a position shifted from the rotation center on the end face of the agitator drive gear 66, and the protrusion is formed on the moving body 800. An engagement arm 801 that engages with 66A may be formed. Even in this case, the movable body 800 can be moved in the linear direction along the contact surface 82A by pressing the engagement arm 801 by the protrusion 66A that moves as the agitator drive gear 66 rotates. it can.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pair of guide rails 67 is employed as the first guide portion. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, a groove or one rail may be employed as the first guide portion. Further, the second guide portion may be, for example, a guide wall that guides the surface opposite to the contact surface 82 </ b> A of the detection protrusion 82 instead of the long groove 71.

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

1 is a side sectional view showing a laser printer to which a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted. FIG. 4 is a side view (a) showing a state where a cover body of a 3000 sheet type developing cartridge is removed, and a side view (b) showing a state where the cover body is attached. They are the perspective view (a) which shows the detail of a 3000 sheet type moving body, and XX sectional drawing (b) of FIG.2 (b). FIG. 6 is a side view (a) showing a state where a cover body of a 6000-sheet type developing cartridge is removed, and a side view (b) showing a state where the cover body is attached. They are the perspective view (a) which shows the detail of a 6000-sheet type moving body, and YY sectional drawing (b) of FIG.4 (b). FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state where the developing cartridge is removed from the main body casing. It is a perspective view which shows each component of a new article specification detection apparatus. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the moving body at the time of mounting | wearing a main body casing with 3000 sheets type developing cartridge, explanatory drawing (a) which shows the state immediately after mounting | wearing, and a moving body moves while supporting a detection arm. It is explanatory drawing (b) which shows a state, and explanatory drawing (c) which shows the state which a detection protrusion remove | deviates from a detection arm and a detection arm returns to an original position. It is a figure explaining operation | movement of the moving body at the time of mounting | wearing a main body casing with a 6000 sheet type developing cartridge, explanatory drawing (a) which shows the state immediately after mounting | wearing, and a moving body moves while supporting a detection arm. It is explanatory drawing (b) which shows a state, (c), and explanatory drawing (d) which shows the state which a detection protrusion remove | deviates from a detection arm and a detection arm returns to an original position. It is a figure which shows the modification of the structure which transmits a driving force from an agitator drive gear to a moving body, explanatory drawing (a) which shows the state immediately after mounting | wearing, and a detection protrusion remove | deviate from a detection arm and a detection arm is original. It is explanatory drawing (b) which shows the state which returns to a position.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser printer 28 Developing cartridge 60 Cartridge main body 61 Gear mechanism 62 Input gear 63 Developing roller driving gear 64 Supply roller driving gear 65 Intermediate gear 66 Agitator driving gear 67 Guide rail 70 Cover body 71 Long groove 80 Moving body 81 Main body portion 82 Detection projection 82A Contact surface 83 Rack portion 83A Gear tooth portion 84 Engagement portion 122 Detection arm

Claims (3)

A housing having a cartridge body for containing the developer, and a cover body mounted on the cartridge body ;
A detection protrusion protruding outward from the cover body , the detection protrusion having a planar contact surface capable of contacting a swingable detection actuator;
A movable body that is disposed between the cartridge main body and the cover body and has the detection protrusion and an engaging portion that can be engaged with the cartridge main body, and is movable in a linear direction along the contact surface. When,
A transmission gear for transmitting a driving force input from the outside to the moving body ,
The cartridge body is formed with a first guide portion that is slidably supported in the linear direction with the engaging portion interposed therebetween,
The cover body provided on the opposite side of the cartridge main body with the movable body interposed therebetween is provided with a second guide portion that is slidably supported in the linear direction with the detection protrusion interposed therebetween. A developing cartridge. The moving body is
It is movable between an initial position where the contact surface comes into contact with the detection actuator and a retreat position where the contact surface comes off from the detection actuator,
2. The developing cartridge according to claim 1 , wherein the developing cartridge is configured to move in a direction away from a swinging center portion of the detection actuator when moving from the initial position toward the retracted position. The second guide portion, the developing cartridge according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized by being formed by a groove.

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