JP4847600B2 - Cartridge and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same.

  In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, according to the process cartridge system in which the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and the process means are integrally formed as a cartridge, maintenance of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus can be performed by the user himself / herself without depending on the service person. Therefore, the operability can be remarkably improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is widely used in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses.

  Today, some process cartridges are equipped with a memory (such as an IC memory) that stores information to be transmitted to the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. When the process cartridge is mounted on the apparatus main body, the apparatus main body and the process cartridge can exchange information. Accordingly, there has been proposed one that notifies the controller of the apparatus main body of the state of use or the like of the cartridge (Patent Document 1).

  Information such as the process cartridge lot number, the characteristics of the image forming apparatus, and the characteristics of the process means is registered in the memory mounted on the process cartridge. This facilitates maintenance of the apparatus main body or the process cartridge. Further, image formation is controlled according to information recorded in the memory. As a result, image formation has been performed under the best conditions.

  In the image forming apparatus, as an electrical connection method for electrically connecting the memory mounted on the process cartridge and the image forming apparatus main body, a contact-type electrical connection method for connecting using a contact using a connector or a spring material It has been known. This is because the configuration is simple and advantageous in terms of cost (Patent Document 2).

  Various methods are known as a method for fixing the memory to the process cartridge. One of them is a method of fixing the memory to the frame of the process cartridge with a double-sided tape or the like. This is effective when a relatively wide surface can be provided on the pasting surface. In addition, when the signal exchange between the process cartridge and the image forming apparatus is performed in a non-contact manner, there are known a method in which a memory is directly inserted into a frame body and a method in which the memory is fixed by thermal welding (Patent Document 3). .

US Pat. No. 5,937,239 US Publication No. 2003-0123896 JP2002-229415A

  The present invention is a further development of the above prior art.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the process cartridge in which cartridge electrical contacts can be easily provided on the process cartridge.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge which can be electrically connected to a main body contact by reliably exposing a cartridge electrical contact provided on the process cartridge to the surface of the cartridge, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the process cartridge. is there.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge in which a contact member can be easily assembled and disassembled to a process cartridge, and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the process cartridge.

Typical means of the present invention for solving the above problems, have a body electrical contact, in a cartridge which is provided detachably on the image forming an image forming apparatus main body to the recording medium, stores information about the cartridge A contact member having a memory, a cartridge electrical contact that can be electrically connected to the body electrical contact for transmitting information of the memory to the image forming apparatus body, and a contact support means for supporting the contact member at a support position The thickness direction of the contact member is the thickness direction, and the direction along the direction in which the contact member is inserted into the support position is the height direction , and the contact support means is A second restricting portion for restricting movement of the contact member in the thickness direction; and an opening portion for inserting the contact member into the support position. The contact member mounted in a position which is restricted by the second restricting portion passed, characterized in that it comprises a suppressing shift suppressing portion from moving in the direction of the opening.

  In the present invention, when the contact member is inserted from the opening of the contact support means, the movement of the contact member is restricted by the first restricting portion and the second restricting portion. For this reason, a contact member can be easily attached.

1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an example of a multicolor image forming apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the cartridge which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the cartridge which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the time of cartridge mounting of the apparatus main body which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a single item perspective view of the memory concerning a 1st embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the attachment and disassembly method of the memory which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the memory and the main body side contact according to the first embodiment. It is sectional drawing showing positioning of the memory and the main body side electrical contact which concern on 1st Embodiment in the longitudinal direction. It is sectional drawing showing the connection of the main body side electrical contact and cartridge electrical contact which concern on 1st Embodiment. It is a perspective view showing the memory periphery which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Next, a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Overall configuration of multicolor image forming apparatus]
First, the overall configuration of the multicolor image forming apparatus will be outlined with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration of a full-color laser beam printer which is an embodiment of a multicolor image forming apparatus.

  An image forming apparatus main body (hereinafter referred to as “apparatus main body”) 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes four electrophotographic photosensitive drums 1 (1a, 1b, 1c) which are four drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive bodies arranged in parallel in the vertical direction. , 1d). This electrophotographic photosensitive drum (hereinafter referred to as “photosensitive drum”) 1 is rotationally driven counterclockwise in the drawing by a driving means (not shown). Around the photosensitive drum 1, an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 and a charging device 2 (2 a, 2 b, 2 c, 2 d) that uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 in order according to the rotation direction. Developing device 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) for developing toner image by attaching toner, electrostatic transfer device 5 for transferring toner image on photosensitive drum 1 to recording medium S, photosensitive drum after transfer A cleaning device 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d) for removing transfer residual toner remaining on one surface is disposed.

  Here, the photosensitive drum 1, the charging device 2, the developing device 4, and the cleaning device 6 are integrally formed as a cartridge to form a process cartridge (hereinafter referred to as “cartridge”) 7.

  A scanner unit 3 (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) for selectively exposing the photosensitive drum 1 based on image information and forming a latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 is provided on the back side of the apparatus main body. Is provided.

  The electrostatic transfer device 5 is provided with an electrostatic transfer belt 11 that circulates and moves so as to face and contact all the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d. For the electrostatic transfer belt 11, a resin film or a multilayer film-like member having a resin layer provided on a rubber base layer is used. The electrostatic transfer belt 11 is stretched around a driving roller 13, driven rollers 14a and 14b, and a tension roller 15. The recording medium S is electrostatically attracted to the outer peripheral surface of the electrostatic transfer belt 11 by applying a bias to the electrostatic attraction roller 22 and circulates and moves so as to bring the recording medium S into contact with the photosensitive drum 1. As a result, the recording medium S is conveyed to the transfer position by the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred.

  Transfer rollers 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) are arranged side by side in contact with the inside of the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and facing the four photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d. A bias having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is applied to the transfer roller 12 during transfer, whereby the toner image on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred to the recording medium S.

  The feeding unit 16 feeds and conveys the recording medium S to the image forming unit, and constitutes a conveying unit that conveys the recording medium S together with the electrostatic transfer belt 11. A feeding cassette 17 that stores a plurality of recording media S is attached to the feeding unit 16. At the time of image formation, the feeding roller 18 (half-moon roller) and the registration roller 19 are driven and rotated according to the image forming operation. Thereby, the recording media S in the feeding cassette 17 are separated and fed one by one. The registration roller 19 feeds the electrostatic transfer belt 11 in synchronization with the rotation of the electrostatic transfer belt 11 and the image writing position.

  The fixing unit 20 fixes the toner images of a plurality of colors transferred to the recording medium S, a heating roller 21a that rotates, and a pressure roller 21b that presses and applies heat and pressure to the recording medium S. Consists of.

  As an image forming operation, the cartridges 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d are sequentially driven in accordance with the print timing. In response to the drive, the photosensitive drums 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d are driven to rotate counterclockwise. Then, the scanner units 3 corresponding to the respective cartridges 7 are sequentially driven. By this driving, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 whose peripheral surface is uniformly charged. The latent image is developed with toner by the developing device 4.

  In synchronization with the image formation, the recording medium S is conveyed to a position facing the photosensitive drum 1 by the conveying means. Then, by applying a transfer bias to the transfer roller 12 (12a, 12b, 12c, 12d) facing each photoconductor drum 1 with the electrostatic transfer belt 11 in between, each color developer image on each photoconductor drum 1 is applied. Is superimposed and transferred to the recording medium S. As a result, a color image is formed on the recording medium S.

  The recording medium S to which the four color toner images are transferred is separated from the electrostatic transfer belt 11 by the curvature of the belt driving roller 13 and is carried into the fixing unit 20. After the toner image is heat-fixed by the fixing unit 20, the recording medium S is discharged out of the main body by the discharge roller 23 with the image surface down.

[Cartridge configuration]
Next, the cartridge according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 show a main cross section and a perspective view of the cartridge 7 containing the toner. The yellow, magenta, cyan, and black cartridges 7a, 7b, 7c, and 7d have the same configuration.

  The cartridge 7 is divided into a photosensitive drum 1, a cleaner unit 50 having a charging unit and a cleaning unit, and a developing unit 4 constituting a developing device that develops an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 1.

  In the cleaner unit 50, the photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably attached to the cleaning frame 51 via a bearing member. A primary charging device 2 for uniformly charging the photosensitive layer provided on the outer peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 1 is provided on the periphery of the photosensitive drum 1. A cleaning blade (hereinafter referred to as “blade”) 60 for removing the developer (residual toner) remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer is disposed on the periphery of the photosensitive drum 1. Yes. Further, the residual toner removed from the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 by the blade 60 is stored in a residual toner storage portion 55 provided above the blade 60.

  The developing unit 4 includes a photosensitive sleeve 1 and a developing sleeve 40 that rotates in the direction of the arrow while maintaining a small gap, and developing frame members 45a and 45b that store toner.

  The developing frame bodies 45a and 45b are coupled (coupled by ultrasonic welding or the like) to form the developing container unit 46.

  The developing sleeve 40 is rotatably supported by the developing container unit 46 via a bearing member. On the circumference of the developing sleeve 40, a toner supply roller 43 and a developing blade 44 that are in contact with the developing sleeve 40 and rotate in the direction of the arrow are arranged. Further, a toner transport mechanism 42 for stirring the toner stored in the developer container unit 46 and transporting the toner to the toner supply roller 43 is provided.

  In the developing unit 4, the coupling holes 47 provided at both ends of the developing container unit 46 and the support holes 52 provided at both ends of the cleaning frame 51 of the cleaner unit 50 are aligned, and the pins 49 are inserted from both ends of the cleaner unit 50. As a result, the entire developing unit 4 has a suspended structure that is swingably supported with respect to the cleaner unit 50.

  Further, the developing unit 4 is always urged by a pressure spring (not shown) so that the developing sleeve 40 contacts the photosensitive drum 1 around the support hole 52.

[Installation configuration of cartridge in the main unit]
Next, the mounting portion of the cartridge 7 with respect to the apparatus main body 100 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the apparatus main body 100 is provided with a front door 101, which is rotatably provided. In addition, an electrostatic transfer device 5 is rotatably provided behind the front door 101. With the front door 101 and the electrostatic transfer device 5 opened, the cartridge 7 can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 100. A handle member 90 is provided in the vicinity of the photosensitive drum support at both ends of the cartridge 7 and protrudes toward the front door of the main body when the cartridge is attached or detached.

  In the cartridge 7, the guide rail portions 102 and 103 provided in the apparatus main body 100 are engaged with the insertion guide portions 53 (see also FIG. 3) provided on both side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge 7. Thus, the apparatus can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body 100.

  When the user completes the mounting of the cartridge 7 and closes the front door 101, a pressure (not shown) is applied to the cartridge 7. Further, the position of the cartridge 7 relative to the apparatus main body 100 is determined by the driving force when the image is formed.

[memory]
The cartridge 7 of the present embodiment is provided with a memory 200 for storing information such as the lot number of the cartridge 7, the characteristics of the image forming apparatus, and the characteristics of the process means. Next, the memory will be described with reference to FIG. 3, FIG. 5, and FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a single memory, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the periphery of the electrical contacts on the apparatus main body side.

  The cartridge 7 according to the present embodiment communicates information stored in the memory 200 with the apparatus main body 100, thereby informing a control unit (not shown) provided in the apparatus main body 100 of the usage status and the like of the cartridge 7. Then, image formation is controlled according to the information. Thus, image formation is performed under the best conditions.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the memory 200 of the present embodiment is attached to one side of the memory substrate 202. The memory substrate 202 is a rectangular plate member, and is a contact member having a pair of cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b on the other side. The memory substrate 202 is attached to contact support means (described later) provided in the cleaning unit 50.

  The cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are electrically connected to the body electrical contacts 104a and 104b on the apparatus body side when the cartridge 7 is mounted on the apparatus body 100. Then, the information stored in the memory 200 is transmitted to the apparatus main body 100 through the electrical contacts 104a and 104b.

  The memory substrate 202 is attached to the cleaning frame 51 so that the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 202b are on the outside. The cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are arranged so as to face substantially downstream with respect to the mounting direction of the cartridge 7.

  In the present embodiment, a fitting groove 203 is provided in the vicinity of the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 202b in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning unit 50 to which the memory substrate 202 is attached. The fitting groove 203 is associated with a positioning member provided in the cartridge 7 for positioning the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 202b with respect to the body electrical contacts 104a and 104b when the cartridge 7 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100. It becomes a positioned part to be matched.

[Memory board installation and removal configuration]
Next, a configuration for attaching and detaching the memory substrate 202 to / from the cartridge will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective explanatory view showing the attachment and disassembly method of the memory board 202 to the cartridge 7 in order. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the cartridge and part of the electrical contact unit cut in the longitudinal direction following the cartridge mounting process.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the drum longitudinal direction (arrow X direction), which is the rotational axis direction of the photosensitive drum, is the width direction of the memory substrate 202. The cartridge insertion / removal direction (arrow Y direction) orthogonal to the width direction is the thickness direction of the memory substrate 202. Further, a direction (arrow Z direction) orthogonal to the width direction and the thickness direction is a height direction of the memory substrate 202.

  The cleaning frame 51 is formed with contact support means 204 for supporting the memory substrate 202. An escape recess 205 for escaping the memory 200 provided on one surface side of the memory substrate 202 is formed near the center of the contact support means 204. Around the relief recess 205, a receiving surface 206 that receives contact pressure when the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b come into contact with the main body side electrical contacts 104a and 104b and restricts the memory substrate 202 from moving in the thickness direction. Is provided.

  Further, a pair of restricting members 220a and 220b having an L-shaped cross section are provided integrally with the cleaning frame 51 on the outer side of the receiving surface 206 in the drum longitudinal direction (see the cross-sectional view in FIG. 8). Thus, a pair of slit portions 207a and 207b are formed with the receiving surface 206 interposed therebetween. The contact support means of the present embodiment constituted by the slit portions 207a and 207b has a slit shape having openings 211a and 211b opened on the upper side which is one side in the substrate height direction.

  When the memory substrate 202 is attached to the cartridge 7, the ridgelines 202a and 202b at both ends sandwiching the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b of the memory substrate 202 from the openings 211a and 211b are engaged with the slit portions 207a and 207b, respectively. Insert. In this embodiment, the memory board 202 is rectangular, but the engagement configuration does not depend on the shape of the memory board 202. That is, it is only necessary that the pair of ridge lines of the memory substrate 202 sandwiching the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b can be engaged with the pair of slit portions 207a and 207b formed in the cleaning frame 51.

  When the memory substrate 202 is inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b as described above, the movement of the memory substrate 202 in the width direction is restricted by the first restricting portion having a predetermined interval. Further, the movement of the memory substrate 202 in the thickness direction is restricted by the second restriction part having a predetermined interval.

  That is, a first restricting portion having a predetermined interval is formed by the opposing inner surfaces in the substrate width direction of the pair of restricting members 220a and 220b provided facing each other. Further, a second restricting portion having a predetermined interval is formed by the receiving surface 206 and the inner surfaces in the thickness direction of the restricting members 220a and 220b.

  Accordingly, when the memory substrate 202 is inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b, the movement of the memory substrate 202 in the substrate width direction is restricted by the inner surfaces facing the width direction of the restriction members 220a and 220b. Further, the movement of the memory substrate 202 in the substrate thickness direction is regulated by the receiving surface 206 and the inner surfaces in the thickness direction of the regulating members 220a and 220b.

  Here, the interval between the second restricting portions, that is, the interval W1 between the receiving surface 206 and the inner surfaces in the thickness direction of the restricting members 220a and 220b is configured to be slightly wider than the length W2 in the thickness direction of the memory substrate 202. (W1> W2). Further, the interval between the first restricting portions, that is, the interval W5 between the inner surfaces facing the width direction of the restricting members 220a and 220b is configured to be wider than the width W6 of the memory substrate 202 in the width direction. Therefore, the memory substrate 202 can be inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b without resistance.

  Further, the relationship between the interval W1 of the second restricting portion and the substrate thickness W2 is W2 <W1 and (W1−W2) <U, where U is a contact stroke amount of main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b described later. , In a relationship.

  That is, the amount of play in the thickness direction Y of the memory substrate 202 is 0 or more, and the memory substrate 202 is configured to reliably contact the receiving surface 206 with the stroke of the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b.

  Further, the position of the receiving surface 206 is such that when the memory substrate 202 abuts, a reliable contact pressure is received from the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b so that a stable electrical connection is made, and the position of the second restricting portion is based on that position. W1 is decided.

  Further, between the pair of regulating members 220a and 220b is an exposed portion where the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b of the memory substrate 202 inserted and mounted in the slit portions 207a and 207b are exposed. The length W3 of the exposed portion is set wider than the substrate width direction length W4 of the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b of the memory substrate 202.

  Here, the relationship between the lengths W3, W4, W5, and W6 is configured such that W3> W4, W5> W6, and (W3−W4)> (W5−W6).

  In other words, even if the amount of play in the substrate width direction X of the memory substrate 202 is 0 or more and the memory substrate 202 is displaced in the substrate width direction X, the cartridge electrical contact portions 201a and 201b are not hidden by the regulating members 220a and 220b. It is configured.

Protrusions 208a and 208b are provided above the slits 207a and 207b and at the ends of the openings 211a and 211b. When the memory substrate 202 is attached to the cleaning frame 51, the memory substrate 202 is inserted from the direction of the arrow P in FIG. 6A (see FIG. 6A). The memory substrate 202 is inserted until it abuts against the abutting surface 209 formed at the lower ends of the slit portions 207a and 207b (see FIG. 6B). Thereafter, the projections 208a and 208b formed at both ends of the slits 207a and 207b are also melted by heat welding, ultrasonic welding, and the like from the arrow P direction. Thereby, the opening part of slit part 207a, 207b is covered (FIG.6 (c)). Therefore, the protrusions 208a and 208b serve as retaining portions 210a and 210b for retaining the memory substrate 202, and the memory substrate 202 is attached without falling off the cleaning frame 51.

In the present embodiment, the memory substrate 202 is prevented from dropping from the cartridge 7 by melting the protrusions 208a and 208b. However, other than this, for example, a protrusion may be provided on the downstream side in the insertion direction of the memory substrate 202 so that the interval in the substrate width direction of the slit portions 207a and 207b is slightly narrower than the width direction length of the memory substrate 202. . In this method, a slight insertion force is required when inserting the memory substrate 202, but when the insertion is completed, the memory substrate 202 cannot be removed due to the protrusion without any particular post-process.

  In the present embodiment, the ridgelines 202a and 202b of the memory substrate 202 are covered with the slit portions 207a and 207b, and the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are arranged inside thereof. For this reason, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are arranged at positions recessed from the surface of the surrounding cleaning frame 51. Therefore, when the cartridge 7 is handled, the user is prevented from touching the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b.

Next, removal of the memory substrate 202 when the cartridge 7 is recycled will be described. When taking out the memory substrate 202 from the cartridge 7, as shown in FIG. 6D, a tool such as a nipper is used to cut and remove the melted retaining portions 210a and 210b. Then, openings 211a and 211b are formed in the slit portions 207a and 207b. Thereby, the memory substrate 202 can be easily removed. Further, when a new memory board 202 is attached to the recycled cartridge, the memory board 202 is again inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b. Then, if the slit portions 207a and 207b are welded again as they are or if they are melted together with another member, it is completed if the memory substrate 202 is not removed. In this way, it can be recycled many times.

{Connection configuration of cartridge electrical contacts and body electrical contacts}
Next, the connection configuration of the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 202b of the memory 200 provided in the cartridge 7 and the body electrical contacts 104a and 104b provided in the apparatus main body 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, the memory substrate 202 is attached to the cleaning frame 51 on the back side of the cartridge 7. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, a contact holding portion 105 that supports the main body electrical contact portions 104a and 104b and a support member 106 that supports the contact holding portion 105 are provided. The contact holding part 105 and the support member 106 are integrally attached to the main body frame 109 as a contact unit 108 so as to be movable only in the drum longitudinal direction (memory substrate width direction).

  The cartridge 7 is inserted into the mounting portion of the apparatus main body 100 with the back side first (see FIG. 4). Then, immediately before the cartridge 7 reaches a predetermined position of the apparatus main body, a fitting groove 203 which is a positioned portion provided in the cartridge 7 is a positioning member provided in the support member 106 provided in the apparatus main body 100. Engages with the positioning boss 107. The position of the contact unit 108 is determined with respect to the cartridge 7 in the drum longitudinal direction.

  Thereafter, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b provided on the memory substrate 202 and the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b come into contact with each other and become electrically conductive.

  As a result, electrical information can be exchanged between the memory 200 and a control circuit unit (not shown) provided in the apparatus main body 100. The cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b and the body electrical contacts 104a and 104b are gold-plated electrical contacts for the reliability of electrical connection. This improves the reliability of the electrical connection. Specifically, the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b and cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b used in this embodiment are made of copper plated with gold.

  Note that the fitting between the positioning boss 107 and the fitting groove 203 in this embodiment may not be a firm fitting. Therefore, it only needs to be fitted to such an extent that it is inserted and positioned. Further, the positioning boss 107 and the fitting groove 203 are not positioned in the height direction Z and are free. That is, the contact unit 108 and the cartridge 7 are positioned with respect to the main body frame 109 separately in the height direction (the arrow Z direction in FIG. 6A).

  Here, the mounting process of the cartridge 7 will be described from a different angle with reference to FIG. When the user moves the cartridge 7 in the mounting direction (arrow Q direction) (see FIG. 8A), the tip of the positioning boss 107 is attached to the cleaning frame 51 when the cartridge 7 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100. Inserted into the fitting groove 203 (FIG. 8 (b). When the cartridge 7 is further inserted, the positioning boss 107 is fitted. Thereafter, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b come into contact with the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b.

  The positioning boss 107 of the support member 106 has a tip that is guided to the fitting groove 203 even when the cartridge 7 is mounted in the apparatus main body 100 even if it is mounted offset in the drum longitudinal direction. The part is sharp. Thus, the center of the positioning boss 107 is always arranged in the fitting groove 203 when the cartridge 7 is mounted. Therefore, as described above, even if the memory substrate 202 has a certain amount of play in the drum longitudinal direction, the contact unit 108 is positioned directly in the drum longitudinal direction (memory substrate width direction) in the immediate vicinity of the memory substrate 202. Has been. For this reason, the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b and the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are reliably electrically connected.

  Next, the positioning of the memory substrate 202 in the thickness direction will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, the memory substrate 202 is arranged with a backlash with respect to the slit portion 207 (207a, 207b). That is, it is not known where the memory substrate 202 is in the slit portion 207.

  The main body electrical contacts 104 (104a, 104b) provided on the apparatus main body are elastic springs. As a result, the main body electrical contact 104 is biased so as to protrude from the contact holding portion 105 (the state of the solid line in FIG. 9). When the cartridge 7 is mounted to a predetermined position, the main body electrical contact 104 is pushed into the contact holding portion 105 as indicated by a broken line in FIG. That is, the main body electrical contact 104 is movable with a predetermined stroke amount along the cartridge mounting direction. For this reason, when the cartridge 7 is mounted, the main body electrical contact 104 and the cartridge electrical contact 201 (201a, 201b) receive a force while being in contact with each other.

  That is, the main body electrical contact portion 104 is deflected by a predetermined amount, and the memory substrate 202 is pressed against the receiving surface 206 of the cartridge 7 by the elastic force (moves from the broken line state in FIG. 9 to the solid line state). As a result, the position in the slit 207 of the memory substrate 202 is determined, and the electrical contacts are connected to each other with a predetermined contact pressure to be electrically stabilized.

  Further, as described above, when the main body electrical contact 104 comes into contact with the cartridge electrical contact 201, the contact position of the main body electrical contact 104 moves relative to the cartridge electrical contact 201 by the mounting operation of the cartridge 7. As a result, the contacts are wiped. For this reason, even if dust or the like adheres to the contacts, they are removed by the wiping, and the contacts and connections between the contacts are stabilized.

  When wiping is performed here, the cartridge electrical contact 201 and the main body electrical contact 104 are rubbed. However, the number of times wiping is performed is the number of times the cartridge 7 is replaced. For this reason, the number of times of replacement is very small compared to the number of images to be formed during the life of the apparatus main body 100. Therefore, there is no possibility that the main body electrical contact 104 is scraped by the replacement of the normal cartridge 7. Simply wiping.

  When the cartridge 7 is mounted on the apparatus main body 100, the support member 105 is integrally supported with respect to the cleaning unit 50 in the drum longitudinal direction. In this state, the support member 106 follows the cleaning frame 51 even when the cartridge 7 moves in the longitudinal direction within the apparatus main body 100. As shown in FIG. 7, the main body electrical contact 104 is a plate-like spring member, and when a shearing force acts in the drum longitudinal direction, the contact spring is loaded and easily broken. However, since the support member 106 of the present embodiment follows the cleaning frame 51 as described above, the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b and the cartridge electrical contacts 94a and 94b can be prevented from sliding.

  As described above, in the cartridge 7 of this embodiment, the cleaning frame 51 is formed with a pair of slit portions having openings in one direction, and among the ridge lines forming the memory substrate 202, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b. A pair of ridge lines that sandwich the pair are sandwiched by a pair of slit portions. As a result, the memory substrate 202 is supported by the cartridge 7. Thus, it is possible to attach the memory board 202 by a very simple method.

In addition, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b of the memory substrate 202 are arranged in a place recessed from the surface of the surrounding cartridge frame. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the cause of contact failure that is difficult for the user to touch with a finger or the like. The substrate 202 is positioned by the pressure applied by the springs of the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b. Thereby, the insertion property of the memory substrate 202 to the slit portions 207a and 207b is improved, and the assembling property is improved.

  Further, the memory board 202 has a backlash in the board width direction so that the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are not hidden from the regulating members 220a and 220b that support the memory board 202. Has improved.

  Further, the memory substrate 202 is inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b, and the openings 211a and 211b of the slit portion are filled to form a retaining portion. In this way, the memory substrate 202 can be assembled by a simple method. The insertion direction of the memory substrate 202 into the slit portions 207a and 207b and the operation of filling the slit portion can be performed from one direction (upper portion in the present embodiment), and the assemblability is improved also in this respect.

  In addition, when the cartridge 7 is recycled, when the memory substrate 202 is removed and reattached, the cartridge 7 can be easily removed by notching the retaining portion. Then, the memory substrate 202 can be reattached by filling the notched portion again. For this reason, it becomes recyclable with a simple work process, and the efficiency of recycling is improved considerably.

  In the configuration in which the memory substrate 202 is inserted into the slit portions 207a and 207b and attached as described above, the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b are arranged on one side of the substrate on one side and the memory 200 on the other side. Place. Therefore, the memory substrate 202 is effective for downsizing. That is, even if the sticking surface or the adhesive surface of the double-sided tape with projections on both surfaces of the substrate is difficult to make, the mounting operation can be easily performed.

  Further, a unit supporting the main body electrical contacts 104a and 104b is directly positioned at least in the drum longitudinal direction with respect to the cartridge frame in the vicinity of the memory substrate 202. Therefore, the amount of backlash of the memory board 202 can be increased, which leads to further improvement in assemblability.

  In addition, the contact range can be narrowed by sandwiching the two opposing sides of the memory substrate 202 with the slit portion and disposing the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b other than the portion sandwiched between the slit portions 207a and 207b. Therefore, the amount of expensive gold plating used can be reduced as much as possible.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, an apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the basic configuration of the apparatus of this embodiment is the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and thus a duplicate description is omitted. Here, a configuration that is a feature of this embodiment will be described. Moreover, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the member which has the same function as embodiment mentioned above.

  In the first embodiment described above, the memory substrate 202 in which the cartridge electrical contacts 201a and 201b and the memory 200 are integrated has been described. However, in this embodiment, a case where the substrate on which only the memory is mounted and the cartridge electrical contact are not integrated will be described. In FIG. 10, the substrate on which the memory is mounted is omitted.

  In this embodiment, a memory storing cartridge information is arranged in any part of the cartridge. A substrate 302 which is a contact member having cartridge electrical contacts 301a and 301b is provided separately from the memory, and is electrically connected to the memory by a wiring (not shown). The mounting structure of the substrate 302 is the same as that of the above-described embodiment.

  In this manner, by configuring the memory and the cartridge electrical contacts separately, the arrangement of the memory and the cartridge electrical contacts in the cartridge can be made more efficient.

[Other Embodiments]
In the above-described embodiments, the contact developing type color electrophotographic image forming apparatus and the cartridge have been described as examples. However, the present invention can also be applied to a monochrome electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a non-contact development method, or a developer unit having a developer unit and a developer that can be attached to the apparatus main body.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cartridge has a photosensitive drum and at least one process means. Examples of the process means include a charging means, a developing means, and a cleaning means. Accordingly, the cartridge means that the charging means, the developing means or the cleaning means and the photosensitive drum are integrated into a cartridge, and this cartridge can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. In addition, at least one of the charging unit, the developing unit, and the cleaning unit and the photosensitive drum are integrally formed into a cartridge that can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. Further, it means that at least the developing means and the photosensitive drum are integrated into a cartridge so as to be detachable from the apparatus main body.

  The electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium using an electrophotographic image forming system. Examples of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus include an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, a laser beam printer, an LED printer, etc.), a facsimile apparatus, a word processor, and the like.

S: Recording medium 1 ... Photosensitive drum 4 ... Developing unit 7 ... Cartridge
16… Feeding department
24… discharge section
45a, 45b ... Development frame
46… Developer container unit
50… Cleaner unit
51… Cleaning frame
100 ... Main unit
101… Front door
102, 103 ... guide rail
104a, 104b ... Body electrical contacts
105… Contact holding part
106… Support member
107… Boss
108… Contact unit
109… Body frame
200 ... memory
201a, 201b ... cartridge electrical contacts
202 ... Memory board
202a, 202b ... ridgeline
203… Mating groove
204… Contact support means
205… relief recess
206… receiving surface
207a, 207b ... slit part
208a, 208b ... Projection
209… for the time being
210a, 210b ... retaining part
211a, 211b ... opening
220a, 220b ... restriction member
301a, 301b ... Cartridge electrical contacts
302… Board

Claims (12)

Have a body electrical contact, in a cartridge which is provided detachably on the image forming an image forming apparatus main body in a recording medium,
A memory for storing information about the cartridge;
A contact member having a cartridge electrical contact that is electrically connectable to the main body electrical contact for transmitting information in the memory to the image forming apparatus main body;
Contact support means for supporting the contact member at a support position;
Have
The thickness direction of the contact member is the thickness direction,
The direction along the direction of insertion of the contact member to the support position and the height direction,
The contact support means has a second restricting portion for restricting the movement of the contact member in the thickness direction at the support position, and an opening for inserting the contact member into the support position.
A cartridge comprising: a movement suppressing portion that suppresses movement of the contact member that has been passed through the opening and is regulated by the second restricting portion in the direction of the opening. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the movement suppressing unit is configured by melting a protrusion provided at an end of the opening. The cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the contact member can be extracted by removing the movement suppressing portion configured by melting the protrusion. The direction intersecting the direction in which the contact member is inserted into the support position is the width direction,
The contact support means includes a first restricting portion for restricting the contact member from moving in the width direction,
The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the movement suppressing unit is configured by narrowing an interval between the first restricting units.   The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the memory is provided on a contact member.   The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the contact member is configured separately from the memory. The contact member includes a memory on the back surface of the electrical contact,
When the contact member comes into contact with the main body electrical contact, the second restricting portion comes into contact with a non-existent surface of the memory on the back side of the contact member, and the memory is formed in a recessed portion that is recessed from the second restricting portion. The cartridge according to claim 5, wherein the cartridge is arranged.   The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the contact support means has a slit shape.   9. The cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge electrical contact of the contact member mounted on the contact support means is in a position recessed from the surface of the cartridge frame.   10. The cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a positioned portion that engages with a positioning member provided in the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, in the vicinity of the contact support means. The cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the memory stores information for controlling image formation. In an image forming apparatus in which a cartridge is detachable and forms an image on a recording medium.
A cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 11 ,
A mounting portion for mounting the cartridge;
A body electrical contact electrically connectable to the electrical contact of the cartridge;
An image forming apparatus comprising:

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