JP4967749B2 - Sheet metal processing apparatus, sheet metal processing method, developing apparatus, and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sheet metal processing apparatus, a sheet metal processing method, a developing apparatus, and an image forming apparatus.

An image forming apparatus such as a laser printer includes a blade that comes into contact with the developing roller in order to charge the toner carried on the developing roller and to regulate the layer thickness of the toner carried on the developing roller. . By controlling the toner layer thickness with this blade, the printing quality is improved and stabilized.
In order to regulate the layer thickness of the toner carried on the developing roller to be constant, it is necessary to position and assemble the blade with high accuracy with respect to the developing roller. For this reason, the processing accuracy of the roller holder sheet metal to which both ends of the developing roller are pivotally supported and one end of the blade is fixed is important. That is, it is necessary to form the roller shaft supporting hole provided in the main body of the roller holder sheet metal so that the positional relationship between the bent piece to which the blade is fixed is highly accurate.
For example, Patent Document 1 is disclosed as a technique for performing bending and drilling on a sheet metal. The technique of Patent Document 1 significantly reduces processing time and processing cost.
JP-A-8-117880

  However, as a conventional method for manufacturing a roller holder sheet metal, a reference hole serving as a processing reference is formed in advance on a sheet metal material, and the roller shaft support hole part is folded so that the distance from the reference hole has a predetermined accuracy. A piece of music is being processed. That is, the positional relationship between the roller shaft support hole and the bent piece is indirectly defined through the reference hole. For this reason, there is a problem that the required accuracy cannot always be achieved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and a sheet metal processing apparatus and a sheet metal processing method capable of forming a punch hole with a predetermined positional accuracy with respect to a sheet metal material on which a main body portion and a bent piece are formed. The purpose is to propose.
It is another object of the present invention to propose a developing device and an image forming apparatus including a sheet metal manufactured by the apparatus and method.

The sheet metal processing apparatus, sheet metal processing method, developing apparatus, and image forming apparatus according to the present invention employ the following means in order to solve the above-described problems.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet metal processing apparatus for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body portion with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body portion and the bent piece are formed. move toward the die side and having a die having a corner which contacts the die side piece is brought into close contact with the proximal end of the body portion and the bent piece, the pressing surface parallel and opposite to the die side A slider that holds the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface, and a stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and holds the main body between the upper surface of the die. A first cam that is disposed on the stripper and abuts against a portion facing away from the side surface of the die as the stripper moves, and defines the position of the die relative to the stripper, and moves with respect to the stripper to be able to guide Characterized in that it and a punch subjected to piercing the body part that is sandwiched between the die and the stripper with the.
Thereby, it is possible to perform a punching process on the main body portion with reference to the main body portion of the sheet metal material and the base end of the bent piece. The die can be moved to reliably define the position with respect to the punch.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet metal processing apparatus for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body portion with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body portion and the bent piece are formed. The die has a die side surface to which the piece is in close contact and a corner portion that contacts the base end of the main body and the bent piece, and has a pressing surface that is parallel to and faces the die side surface and moves toward the die side surface. A slider that holds the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface, and a stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and holds the main body between the upper surface of the die and The bent piece is disposed between the pressing surface and the side surface of the die by moving the slider in contact with a portion facing the pressing surface with the movement of the stripper along with the movement of the stripper. A second cam to be clamped and the strike Tsu and the stripper with is movably guided relative to the path and a punch subjected to piercing the body part that is sandwiched between the die, characterized in that it comprises a.
Thereby, it is possible to perform a punching process on the main body portion with reference to the main body portion of the sheet metal material and the base end of the bent piece. The bending part can be pressed between the die by moving the slider.

Moreover, it is provided with the elastic member which is arrange | positioned in a part of said pressing surface and is crushed between the said bending pieces.
As a result, even if there is variation in the sheet thickness of the sheet metal material, the bent portion can be reliably pressed against the die and the base end can be brought into contact with the corner of the die.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet metal processing method for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body portion with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body portion and the bent piece are formed. A die having a die side surface to which a curved piece is in close contact and a corner part contacting the base end of the main body and the bent piece, a pressing surface parallel to and opposite to the die side surface, and moving toward the die side surface Then, the body part can be sandwiched between the slider capable of sandwiching the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface, and moving toward the die while supporting the body part. A stripper, and a first cam disposed on the stripper and abutting against a portion facing the die side as the stripper moves to define a position of the die with respect to the stripper, The main body and the bent piece A first step of holding the main body and the base end of the bent piece in close contact with the die at the same time, and being guided movably with respect to the stripper and between the stripper and the die And a second step of forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body with reference to the base end by using a punch for punching the sandwiched main body.
  Thereby, the position of the base end of a main-body part and a bending piece, and a punch hole can be formed with high precision. The die can be moved to reliably define the position with respect to the punch.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sheet metal processing method for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body portion with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body portion and the bent piece are formed. A die having a die side surface to which a curved piece is in close contact and a corner part contacting the base end of the main body and the bent piece, a pressing surface parallel to and opposite to the die side surface, and moving toward the die side surface Then, the body part can be sandwiched between the slider capable of sandwiching the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface, and moving toward the die while supporting the body part. And a stripper disposed on the stripper and in contact with a portion facing away from the pressing surface as the stripper moves, and the slider is moved to move the folding between the pressing surface and the side surface of the die. A second cam that holds the piece of music, A first step of holding the main body portion, the bent piece, and a base end of the main body portion and the bent piece in close contact with the die at the same time, and being guided to be movable with respect to the stripper. And forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body with reference to the base end by using a punch for punching the main body held between the stripper and the die. It is characterized by having.
Thereby, it is possible to perform a punching process on the main body portion with reference to the main body portion of the sheet metal material and the base end of the bent piece. The bending part can be pressed between the die by moving the slider.

Further, the sheet metal material has a bending angle of the bending piece with respect to the main body portion formed in advance wider than a desired angle, and in the first step, the bending angle is formed at a desired angle. To do.
Thereby, what is called a springback can be suppressed and the perpendicularity of a bending angle can be formed with high precision.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a main body having a developing roller, a blade that is in contact with the developing roller and that regulates a layer thickness of the developer carried on the developing roller, and a hole portion that supports the roller. And a roller holder sheet metal having a bent piece to which one end of the blade is fixed, wherein the roller holder sheet metal is a sheet metal manufactured by the sheet metal processing apparatus according to the first invention, or a second A sheet metal manufactured by the sheet metal processing method according to the invention is used.
As a result, the distance between the developing roller and the blade can be assembled with no variation, so that a developer having a uniform layer thickness can be carried on the developing roller.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a photosensitive member, a charger for charging the photosensitive member, an exposure unit for exposing the photosensitive member charged by the charger to form an electrostatic latent image, and the exposed photosensitive member. In the image forming apparatus having a developing unit that develops and visualizes a body and a transfer unit that transfers an image developed on the photosensitive member to a recording material, the developing unit according to the third invention is used as the developing unit. An apparatus is used.
Thereby, a high-quality image can be formed on the recording material.

Embodiments of a sheet metal processing apparatus, a sheet metal processing method, a developing apparatus, and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a laser printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The laser printer (image forming apparatus) 10 includes an exposure unit 20, a photosensitive drum 30, an attaching / detaching unit (developing device) 40, a primary transfer unit 51, an intermediate transfer body 55, a cleaning unit 35, a secondary transfer unit 64, and a fixing unit 65. The operation panel 80 and the control unit 90 are configured.

  The exposure unit 20 is located below the photosensitive drum 30 and includes a semiconductor laser, a polygon mirror, an F-θ lens, and the like. Image data to be printed input from the host side is subjected to image processing and the like by the control unit 90, and then converted to pulse data for driving laser light. The exposure unit 20 irradiates the photosensitive drum 30 with a laser based on the pulse data.

  The photosensitive drum 30 is composed of a cylindrical conductive substrate and a photosensitive layer formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and is provided in the laser printer 10 so as to be rotatable about a central axis. In addition, a charging unit 31 is provided below the photosensitive drum 30 to charge the photosensitive drum 30. By irradiating the charged photosensitive drum 30 with the laser from the exposure unit 20, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. As a result, the photosensitive drum 30 carries a latent image.

  The developing device 40 is configured such that a plurality of developing units (toner cartridges) 41, 42, 43, and 44 can be attached and detached. In the laser printer 10, toner cartridges 41, 42, 43, 44 containing four color (C, M, Y, K) developers (toner T) can be mounted.

The primary transfer unit 51 is located above the photosensitive drum 30 and transfers the toner image on the photosensitive drum 30 developed by the developing device 40 to the intermediate transfer member 55.
The intermediate transfer member 55 is an endless belt in which an aluminum vapor deposition film is provided on the surface of a PET film, and a semiconductor paint is formed and laminated on the surface layer. The intermediate transfer member 55 is rotationally driven along the primary transfer unit 51, rollers 52 and 53, and the secondary transfer unit 64 at substantially the same peripheral speed as the photosensitive drum 30.

  The secondary transfer unit 64 (secondary transfer roller pair 64a, 64b) is for transferring the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body 55 to a recording medium 70 such as paper, film, cloth or the like. Further, the secondary transfer unit 64 (64a, 64b) also serves as a roller for conveying the recording medium 70 conveyed from below upward.

  The fixing unit 65 (fixing roller pair 65a, 65b) is positioned above the secondary transfer unit 64 (64a, 64b), and the toner image transferred to the recording medium 70 is heat-fused to the recording medium 70 to be a permanent image. It is for.

  The cleaning unit 35 is provided between the primary transfer unit 51 and the charging unit 31, and has a rubber cleaning blade (not shown) in contact with the surface of the photosensitive drum 30. After the toner image is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 55 by the primary transfer unit 51, the cleaning unit 35 scrapes off and removes the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 30 with a cleaning blade. The waste toner scraped off is stored in a container.

Further, the laser printer 10 includes a paper feed tray 60 in which a plurality of recording media 70 are accommodated, a pair of paper feed rollers 61 a and 61 b that take out the recording media 70 one by one from the paper feed tray 60, and a pair of paper feed rollers 61 a and 61 b. The recording medium 70 conveyed from the fixing unit 65 (fixing roller pair 65a, 65b) and the feed roller pair 62a, 62b and the gate roller pair 63a, 63b for sandwiching and conveying the recording medium 70 conveyed from the recording medium 70 further downstream. And the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b for transporting the recording medium 70 to the re-transport path h, and the recording medium 70 transported from the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b for discharging the recording medium 70 from the discharge port. The pair of discharge rollers 67a and 67b and the recording medium 70 conveyed to the reconveying path h are conveyed to the gate roller pairs 63a and 63b. Comprising feeding roller pair 68a, 68b, a.
Further, a switching guide 69 for switching the transported recording medium 70 to the re-transport path h is also provided.

  In addition, the laser printer 10 includes an operation panel 80 that can specify a printing direction, a type of printing medium, and the like in an upper part of the housing, and serves as a user interface.

Next, the configuration of the toner cartridges 41, 42, 43, and 44 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the toner cartridge 41. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the toner cartridge 41.
Hereinafter, the toner cartridge 41 will be described, but the other toner cartridges 42, 43, and 44 have the same configuration.

  The toner cartridge 41 includes a developing roller 41a, a housing 410, a toner container 413, a regulating blade 420, a seal member 417, a toner supply roller 41c, and the like.

  The developing roller 41a is made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy or an iron alloy, and is subjected to nickel plating, chrome plating, or the like as necessary. The developing roller 41a has both ends in the longitudinal direction pivoted by a pair of roller holders 440 so that the developing roller 41a can rotate in a direction (counterclockwise in FIG. 3) opposite to the rotation direction of the photosensitive drum 30 (clockwise in FIG. 3). It is supported.

  Further, when the toner cartridge 41 faces the photosensitive drum 30, there is a gap between the developing roller 41 a and the photosensitive drum 30. That is, the toner cartridge 41 develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 30 in a non-contact state. When developing the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 30, an alternating electric field is formed between the developing roller 41 a and the photosensitive drum 30.

  The housing 410 is manufactured by fusing a plurality of paired molded housing parts, that is, an upper housing part 411 and a lower housing part 412. The housing 410 forms a toner storage portion 413 that can store the toner T. As the developing device 40 rotates, the toner cartridges 41, 42, 43, and 44 rotate, whereby the toner T of the toner cartridges 41, 42, 43, and 44 is agitated.

The regulating blade (blade) 415 imparts electric charge to the toner T carried on the developing roller 41a, and regulates the layer thickness of the toner T carried on the developing roller 41a.
The regulation blade 420 includes a rubber member 430 and a rubber support portion 425. The rubber support portion 425 is a thin plate having a spring property such as phosphor bronze or stainless steel.
The rubber member 430 is fixed (adhered) to the upper surface 425a side of one end of the rubber support portion 425 via a double-sided tape or the like. Further, the other end of the rubber support portion 425 is welded (laser welding) to the upper surface 445 a of the bent piece 445 of the roller holder 440, and the regulating blade 420 is fixed to the housing 410 via the roller holder 440.
Further, a blade back member 414 made of malt plane or the like is provided on the side opposite to the developing roller 41 a side of the regulating blade 420.

The rubber member 430 is pressed against the developing roller 41a by the elastic force due to the bending of the rubber support portion 425. In addition, the blade back member 414 prevents the toner T from entering between the rubber support portion 425 and the housing 410, stabilizes the elastic force due to the bending of the rubber support portion 425, and prevents the rubber from the back of the rubber member 430. The rubber member 430 is pressed against the developing roller 41a by urging the member 430 toward the developing roller 41a.
Therefore, the blade back member 414 improves the uniform contact property of the rubber member 430 to the developing roller 41a.

  The seal member 417 prevents the toner T in the toner cartridge 41 from leaking out of the device and collects the toner T on the developing roller 41a that has passed through the developing position into the developing device 40 without being scraped off. The seal member 417 is a seal made of a polyethylene film or the like. The seal member 417 is supported by a seal support sheet metal 418 and is attached to the housing 410 via the seal support sheet metal 418. Further, a seal urging member 419 made of malt plain or the like is provided on the opposite side of the seal member 417 from the developing roller 41a side. The seal member 417 is developed by the elastic force of the seal urging member 419. It is pressed against.

The toner supply roller 41c is provided in the toner storage unit 413, and supplies the toner T stored in the toner storage unit 413 to the developing roller 41a. The toner supply roller 41c is made of polyurethane foam or the like, and is in contact with the developing roller 41a in an elastically deformed state. The toner supply roller 41c is disposed below the toner container 413 and is configured to be rotatable about a central axis. Further, the toner supply roller 41c rotates in a direction (clockwise direction in FIG. 3) opposite to the rotation direction of the developing roller 41a (counterclockwise direction in FIG. 3).
The toner supply roller 41c also has a function of peeling off the toner T remaining on the developing roller 41a after development from the developing roller 41a.

Next, the operation of the laser printer 10 configured as described above will be described.
First, an image to be printed output from the host side is input to the control unit 90, and pulse data for driving laser light is generated. The exposure unit 20 is driven based on this pulse data, and the laser light irradiates the photosensitive drum 30. The photosensitive drum 30 is charged by a charging unit 31, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface thereof by irradiation with laser light.

  The toner is supplied from the toner cartridges 41, 42, 43, and 44 to the photosensitive drum 30 through the developing rollers 41a, 42a, 43a, and 44a. As a result, the photosensitive drum 30 is developed with toner, and a toner image is formed on the surface thereof.

  The photosensitive drum 30 further rotates, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum 30 is transferred to the intermediate transfer member 55 by the primary transfer unit 51. The toner image on the intermediate transfer member 55 is moved to the secondary transfer unit 64 (64a, 64b) by driving the drive roller 52.

On the other hand, the recording medium 70 fed to the paper feed tray 60 is fed one by one by a pair of paper feed rollers 61a and 61b and conveyed downstream. The transported recording medium 70 is further sandwiched between feed roller pairs 62a and 62b and gate roller pairs 63a and 63b and transported to secondary transfer roller pairs 64a and 64b.
In the secondary transfer unit 64 (secondary transfer roller pair 64a and 64b), the toner image formed on the intermediate transfer body 55 is transferred to the recording medium 70 by applying a secondary transfer bias to the secondary transfer roller 64b side. The The transferred recording medium 70 is conveyed to the fixing unit 65, and the transferred toner image is fused by being heated and pressed by the fixing roller pair 65a and 65b. Then, the recording medium 70 is conveyed to the switching guide 69 by the fixing unit 65 (65a, 65b).

The switching guide 69 is normally provided so as to block the conveyance path from the fixing unit 65 (65a, 65b) by its own weight. Then, the leading end of the recording medium 70 conveyed from the fixing unit 65 (65a, 65b) comes into contact with the switching guide 69 and pushes up the guide 69, thereby being conveyed to the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b.
The recording medium 70 conveyed to the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b is further conveyed and nipped by the discharge roller pair 67a, 67b and discharged from the laser printer 10.

When double-sided printing is specified on the host side or the operation panel 80, the controller of the control unit 90 causes the rotation of the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b and the discharge roller pair 67a, 67b to be the rotation direction so far. Control to rotate in the reverse direction. That is, when the trailing edge of the recording medium 70 conveyed from the pair of fixing rollers 65a and 65b passes through the switching guide 69, the switching guide 69 blocks the conveyance path from the pair of fixing rollers 65a and 65b by its own weight, and at the same time. The blocked re-transport path h is opened. In this state, the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b is driven in the reverse direction of rotation, so that the recording medium 70 sandwiched between the post-fixing roller pair 66a, 66b is transported to the re-transport path h. .
The recording medium 70 conveyed to the re-conveying path h is conveyed again to the gate roller pair 63a and 63b via the refeed roller pair 68a and 68b, and is transferred to the recording medium 70 by the secondary transfer roller pair 64a and 64b. The back side is printed and double-sided printing is performed.

The toner cartridge 41 operates as follows. That is, the toner T accommodated in the toner accommodating portion 413 is supplied to the developing roller 41a by the rotation of the toner supply roller 41c. The toner T supplied to the developing roller 41a reaches the contact position of the regulating blade 420 as the developing roller 41a rotates, and is charged when passing through the contact position, and the layer thickness is regulated. Is done.
The toner T on the developing roller 41a whose layer thickness is regulated reaches a developing position facing the photosensitive drum 30 by further rotation of the developing roller 41a, and is placed on the photosensitive drum 30 under an alternating electric field at this developing position. It is used for development of the formed latent image.
Then, the toner T on the developing roller 41a that has passed the developing position by further rotation of the developing roller 41a passes through the seal member 417 and is collected in the toner cartridge 41 without being scraped off by the seal member 417. Further, the toner T still remaining on the developing roller 41a can be peeled off by the toner supply roller 41c.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a peripheral structure of the regulating blade 420.
The regulating blade 420 regulates the layer thickness of the toner T carried on the developing roller 41a. In order to keep the layer thickness of the toner T constant, the rotating shaft of the developing roller 41a and the rubber support portion 425 are fixed. It is necessary to keep the distance L to the lower surface 425b constant. For example, it is required to specify that the error range of the distance L (design value 9.83 mm) is, for example, about ± 0.03 mm.
In order to keep the error range of the distance L within the above-described value, the shape accuracy of the roller holder 440 and the rubber member 430 is important.
In addition, since the plate | board thickness error is prescribed | regulated by the standards, such as JIS, as for the rubber | gum support part 425, only the shape accuracy of the roller holder 440 and the rubber member 430 becomes important.
Hereinafter, the shape accuracy of the roller holder 440 will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the shape and shape accuracy of the roller holder 440.
The roller holder 440 is a sheet metal member that has been subjected to bending processing and punching processing, and is formed of a main body portion 441 and a bent piece 445 that is bent substantially at right angles to the main body portion 441.
The main body 441 is provided with a hole 442 that fits (supports) at one end of the developing roller 41a. Further, as described above, the lower surface 425b of the rubber support portion 425 of the regulating blade 420 is brought into close contact with the upper surface 445a (the surface in the bending direction) of the bent piece 445, and laser welding is performed.
The bent piece 445 may be bent so as to have the shape shown in FIG. 5 or may be bent in the opposite direction.

As described above, the distance L between the rotation shaft of the developing roller 41a and the lower surface 425b of the rubber support portion 425 needs to be within an error range of, for example, about ± 0.03 mm. This distance L coincides with the distance L1 between the upper surface 445a of the bent piece 445 and the center of the hole 442. Therefore, it is required to form an error range of the distance L1 between the upper surface 445a of the bent piece 445 and the center of the hole 442, for example, ± 0.03 mm.
Further, since the distance L1 is affected by an angle (bending angle) formed by the main body portion 441 and the bent piece 445, for example, ± 0.05 mm is required as the perpendicularity (squareness) of the bending angle. .
In addition, the plate | board thickness of the roller holder 440 and the dispersion | variation in plate | board thickness are about 1.6 mm +/- 0.12 mm, for example, and the fitting tolerance of the hole part 442 is formed about H6, for example.

Next, the manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus of the roller holder 440 will be described.
6 and 7 are views showing a method of manufacturing the roller holder 440 in the order of steps.
First, as shown in FIG. 6A, a predetermined position of a strip-shaped sheet metal material 500 (for example, SPCC (cold rolled steel plate)) is punched by punches 601 and 602, and two reference holes 501 and 502 are punched. To form.
Next, as shown in FIG. 6B, the sheet metal material 500 is punched out by punches 603 and 604 to form part of the outer shape of the main body 441 and the bent piece 445 of the roller holder 440.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, the sheet metal material 500 is punched out with a punch 605 to form the remaining outer shape of the main body 441 and the bent piece 445.
Thereby, most of the outer shape of the roller holder 440 is formed, but the main body portion 441 is connected to the sheet metal material 500 via the connecting portions 503 and 504 extending toward the vicinity of the two reference holes 501.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, the bent piece 445 is bent with respect to the main body 441. Apply temporary bending. Specifically, the bending die 606 is brought into contact with the lower surface of the main body portion 441 (the back side in FIG. 6D). Further, a bending press 607 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the bent piece 445 and pressed to the lower surface side, and the bent piece 445 is bent about 90 ° with respect to the main body 441.
This bending process is a temporary bending process, and an angle (bending angle) formed by the main body 441 and the bent piece 445 is about 90 ° ± 0.1 to 0.2.
Such provisional bending is performed in order to reduce so-called spring back. That is, the main bending process is further performed in the subsequent process, so that the angle (verticality) formed by the main body 441 and the bent piece 445 is surely kept within the required accuracy.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the sheet metal processing apparatus 700 described later forms a sheet metal material 500 on which the body 441 and the bent piece 445 are formed. The main bending process is performed to keep the corner within the required accuracy.
Details of the sheet metal processing apparatus 700 and the main bending process will be described later.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, the hole 442 is formed by punching a predetermined position of the main body 441 from the punch 701 while performing the main bending process.
At this time, the punching position of the punch 701 (the position where the hole 442 is formed) is defined with reference to the base end 448 that is the base portion of the main body 441 and the bent piece 445. By performing the main bending process and the punching process at the same time, the punching position of the punch 701 can be defined with reference to the base end 448.
The details of the hole punching of the hole 442 will also be described later.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 7C, connecting portions 503 and 504 for connecting the main body portion 441 of the roller holder 440 and the sheet metal material 500 are punched out by punches 608 and 609. Thereby, the outer shape of the roller holder 440 is completely formed, and at the same time, it is separated from the sheet metal material 500.
In the roller holder 440 formed in this way, the perpendicularity of the bending angle between the main body 441 and the bent piece 445 and the distance L1 between the base end 448 and the center of the hole 442 are both within the required accuracy. It will be a thing.

FIGS. 8 to 11 are side sectional views showing a schematic configuration of the sheet metal processing apparatus 700, and show operations from the main bending process of the bent piece 445 to the hole punching process of the hole portion 442 in the order of steps.
The sheet metal processing apparatus 700 is an apparatus that performs the main bending process of the bent piece 445 and the punching process of the hole portion 442, and the bent piece is between the die 710 on which the roller holder 440 is placed and the die 710. The slider 720 that sandwiches and presses the 445, the stripper 730 that moves up and down while holding the body 441 of the roller holder 440, and sandwiches and presses the body 441 between the die 710, and can move up and down with respect to the stripper 730. A punch 701 that is guided to punch a hole 442 and a punch plate 702 that supports the punch 701 and moves it up and down are provided.

  The die 710 has a die upper surface 711 for closely contacting the main body 441 of the roller holder 440 and a die side surface 712 for closely contacting the bent piece 445. The flatness, surface roughness, etc. of these surfaces Is finished with high precision. The die upper surface 711 and the die side surface 712 are formed so as to be orthogonal to each other with high accuracy. Note that the corner portion 713 where the die upper surface 711 and the die side surface 712 intersect with each other comes into contact with the main body portion 441 and the base end 448 of the bent piece 445 during the main bending process of the bent piece 445.

  The die 710 has a cam engagement surface 714 that faces away from the die side surface 712 and is inclined with respect to the die upper surface 711 at a predetermined angle (for example, about 80 to 60 °). A cam driver 751 (described later) abuts on the mating surface 714 so that the die 710 moves in parallel in the horizontal direction (left-right direction in FIG. 8).

The slider 720 is arranged on the die side surface 712 side of the die 710, and is configured to be movable in parallel in the horizontal direction toward the die side surface 712.
The slider 720 has a pressing surface 721 that is parallel to and faces the die side surface 712. The pressing surface 721 is finished with high accuracy such as flatness and surface roughness. The slider 720 moves in parallel toward the die 710 so that the bent piece 445 is sandwiched and pressed between the die side surface 712 and the pressing surface 721.
In addition, on the upper side of the pressing surface 721, urethane 760 is provided to cope with variations in the plate thickness of the roller holder 440.

  The slider 720 has a cam engagement surface 723 that faces away from the pressing surface 721 and is inclined with respect to the upper surface 722 at a predetermined angle (for example, about 80 to 60 °). The slider 720 is configured to move in parallel in the horizontal direction when a cam driver 752 described later contacts the surface 723.

The stripper 730 is a plate-like member disposed on the upper side of the die 710 and the slider 720, and is configured so that the main body 441 of the roller holder 440 can be sucked and held on the lower surface 731 thereof. A portion of the lower surface 731 that holds the main body 441 is finished with high accuracy such as flatness and surface roughness.
The stripper 730 is movable in the vertical direction while holding the roller holder 440, and presses the main body 441 between the lower surface 731 and the die upper surface 711.

The punch plate 702 is disposed above the stripper 730 and configured to be movable up and down with respect to the stripper 730. Further, the punch plate 702 moves up and down together with the stripper 730.
A punch 701 extending downward is fixed to the punch plate 702. By moving the punch plate 702 up and down with respect to the stripper 730, the tip of the punch 701 is lower than the lower surface 731 of the punch plate 702. It protrudes to the side.
Note that. The punch 701 is guided so as to be movable only in the vertical direction with respect to the stripper 730.

  Further, the sheet metal processing apparatus 700 includes a cam driver 751 that contacts the cam engagement surface 714 of the die 710 and horizontally moves the die 710 and a cam that contacts the cam engagement surface 723 of the slider 720 and horizontally moves the slider 720. A driver 752.

  The cam driver 751 is a member that extends downward from the lower surface 731 of the stripper 730, and an engagement surface 751 </ b> S parallel to the cam engagement surface 714 is formed at the tip of the cam driver 751. When the engagement surface 751S comes into contact with and presses the cam engagement surface 714 of the die 710 as the stripper 730 moves, the die 710 moves horizontally and the position of the die 710 relative to the stripper 730 (punch 701) is defined. It has become so.

Similarly to the cam driver 751, the cam driver 752 is a member extending downward from the lower surface 731 of the stripper 730, and an engagement surface 752S parallel to the cam engagement surface 723 is formed at the tip thereof. The cam driver 752 is shorter than the cam driver 751.
When the engagement surface 752S comes into contact with and presses the cam engagement surface 723 of the slider 720 as the stripper 730 moves, the slider 720 moves horizontally, and the slider 720 (pressing surface 721) and the die 710 (die side surface 712). ) And the bent piece 445 of the roller holder 440 is sandwiched and pressed.

Next, the operation | movement at the time of punching the hole part 442 from the main bending process of the bending piece 445 by the sheet metal processing apparatus 700 is demonstrated.
First, as shown in FIG. 8, the sheet metal material 500 is adsorbed and held on the lower surface 731 of the stripper 730. Specifically, the folded piece 445 of the roller holder 440 is held by the stripper 730 so as to face downward (on the die 710 side).
The sheet metal material 500 is formed by substantially forming the outer shape of the roller holder 440 and bending the bent piece 445 with respect to the main body 441 (see FIG. 6D). As described above, the bending angle between the main body 441 and the bent piece 445 is about 90 ° ± 0.1 to 0.2.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the stripper 730 is moved downward (die 710) while holding the sheet metal material 500 (roller holder 440). Accordingly, the bent piece 445 is gradually inserted between the die 710 (die side surface 712) and the slider 720 (pressing surface 721).
At the same time, the engagement surface 751S of the cam driver 751 disposed in the stripper 730 comes into contact with the cam engagement surface 714 of the die 710 and starts to press. As a result, the die 710 moves horizontally toward the bent piece 445 and finally moves horizontally to a position where the die side surface 712 substantially contacts the bent piece 445. Thus, the die 710 cannot move horizontally to the cam driver 751 side, and the horizontal position with respect to the stripper 730 (punch 701) is defined.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the stripper 730 is further moved toward the die 710. Then, the engagement surface 752S of the other cam driver 752 disposed in the stripper 730 comes into contact with the cam engagement surface 723 of the slider 720 and starts to press. As a result, the slider 720 moves horizontally toward the bent piece 445, and finally, the bent piece 445 is sandwiched and pressed between the pressing surface 721 and the die side surface 712.
In addition, the stripper 730 finally descends to a position where it comes into contact with the die 710 via the main body 441.

  Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, the roller holder 440 is pressed toward the die 710 by the pressing surface 721 of the slider 720, and the base end 448 is pressed against the corner 713 of the die 710. The main body 441 is pressed between the lower surface 731 of the stripper 730 and the die upper surface 711 of the die 710. Further, the bent piece 445 is pressed by the pressing surface 721 and the die side surface 712, and is subjected to a main bending process (see FIG. 7A).

Note that the urethane 760 disposed on the upper side of the slider 720 contacts the bent piece 445 before the pressing surface 721 contacts the bent piece 445. That is, the urethane 760 moves the roller holder 440 to the die 710 before the main body 441 is pressed by the slider 720 and the die 710 even when the plate thickness of the roller holder 440 varies (particularly thin). Plays the function of pressing.
Therefore, the base end 448 of the roller holder 440 is surely brought into contact with the corner portion 713 of the die 710. Then, the urethane 760 is finally crushed between the pressing surface 721 and the bent piece 445.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 11, with the roller holder 440 held by the die 710, the slider 720, and the stripper 730, the punch plate 702 is lowered to bring the punch 701 below the lower surface 731 of the punch plate 702. Make it protrude. Thereby, a hole 442 is formed in the main body 441 of the roller holder 440 (see FIG. 7B).
In this hole punching process, the formation position of the hole portion 442 is performed with reference to the base end 448 of the roller holder 440. This is because the roller holder 440 is positioned by pressing the base end 448 against the corner portion 713 of the die 710, and the punch 701 is also positioned by the die 710 via the cam driver 751 and the slider 720.
Therefore, the roller holder 440 is formed with high accuracy in the distance L1 between the center of the hole 442 and the base end 448. That is, the distance L1 between the center of the hole 442 and the base end 448 is formed to be within the required error accuracy.

As described above, according to the sheet metal processing apparatus 700 and the sheet metal processing method according to the present embodiment, the roller holder 440 reliably forms the distance L1 between the center of the hole 442 and the base end 448 with high accuracy. can do.
Thus, the developing roller 41a is attached to the pair of roller holders 440 (both ends of the developing roller 41a are fitted in the holes 442), and the regulating blade 420 is fixed, so that the rotation shaft of the developing roller 41a and the regulating blade are fixed. A distance L between 420 and the lower surface 425b of the rubber support portion 425 can be defined with high accuracy. That is, the toner cartridge 41 and the laser printer 1 can be assembled with high accuracy and efficiency without performing shim adjustment or the like as in the prior art.
The layer thickness of the toner T carried on the developing roller 41a can be regulated and maintained by the regulating blade 420. Therefore, highly accurate recording processing can be realized by the laser printer 1.

  It should be noted that the various shapes and combinations of the constituent members shown in the above-described embodiments, the operations, the operation procedures, and the like are examples, and can be variously changed based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention. .

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the laser printer which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a toner cartridge. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a configuration of a toner cartridge. It is a figure which shows the surrounding structure of a control blade. It is a figure which shows the shape and shape accuracy of a roller holder. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing method of a roller holder in order of a process. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing process following FIG. It is a sectional side view showing a schematic structure of a sheet metal processing apparatus, and shows operations from a main bending process to a hole punching process in order of steps. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing process following FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating manufacturing steps subsequent to FIG. 9. It is a figure which shows the manufacturing process following FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Laser printer (image forming apparatus) 20 ... Exposure unit (exposure unit) 30 ... Photosensitive drum (photosensitive member) 31 ... Charging unit (charging unit) 40 ... Developer (developing unit) 41 ... Toner Cartridge, 41a ... developing roller, 51 ... primary transfer unit (transfer part), 64 ... secondary transfer unit (transfer part), 70 ... recording medium (recording material), 420 ... regulating blade (blade), 425 ... rubber support Part (spring member), 430 ... rubber member (elastic member), 440 ... roller holder (roller holder sheet metal), 441 ... main body part, 442 ... hole (extracted hole), 445 ... bent piece, 448 ... proximal end, 500 ... Sheet metal material (sheet metal material), 700 ... Sheet metal processing device, 701 ... Punch, 710 ... Die, 711 ... Die top surface, 712 ... Die side surface, 713 ... Corner part, 714 ... Cam engaging surface (backward portion), 720 ... Slider, 721 ... Pressing surface, 723 ... Cam engaging surface (backward portion), 730 ... Stripper, 751 ... Cam driver (first cam), 752 ... cam driver (second cam), 760 ... urethane (elastic member), T ... toner (developer)

Claims (8)

In the sheet metal processing apparatus for forming a punched hole in a predetermined position of the main body part with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body part and the bent piece are formed
A die having a corner abutting the die side body portion and a base end of the bent piece die upper surface and the bent piece is in close contact to close contact with the body portion,
A slider having a pressing surface parallel to and opposite to the side surface of the die and moving toward the side surface of the die to sandwich the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface;
A stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and sandwiches the main body with the upper surface of the die;
A first cam disposed on the stripper and abutting a portion facing away from the side surface of the die as the stripper moves to define a position of the die with respect to the stripper;
A punch subjected to piercing the body part that is sandwiched between the die and the stripper with is movably guided relative to the stripper,
A sheet metal processing apparatus comprising: In the sheet metal processing apparatus for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body portion with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body portion and the bent piece are formed,
A die having a corner abutting the die side body portion and a base end of the bent piece die upper surface and the bent piece is in close contact to close contact with the body portion,
A slider having a pressing surface parallel to and opposite to the side surface of the die and moving toward the side surface of the die to sandwich the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface;
A stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and sandwiches the main body with the upper surface of the die;
The bending piece is sandwiched between the pressing surface and the side surface of the die by moving the slider in contact with a portion facing the pressing surface with the movement of the stripper along with the movement of the stripper. The second cam to make,
A punch subjected to piercing the body part that is sandwiched between the die and the stripper with is movably guided relative to the stripper,
A sheet metal processing apparatus comprising: Sheet metal processing device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it comprises an elastic member that is crushed between the bent piece is arranged on a part of the pressing surface. In the sheet metal processing method for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body part, with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body part and the bent piece are formed,
A die having a die upper surface that is in close contact with the main body, a die side surface that is in close contact with the bent piece, and a corner that is in contact with the base end of the main body and the bent piece;
A slider having a pressing surface parallel and opposite to the side surface of the die and moving toward the side surface of the die to sandwich the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface;
A stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and can sandwich the main body with the upper surface of the die;
A first cam disposed on the stripper and abutting a portion facing away from the side surface of the die as the stripper moves to define a position of the die with respect to the stripper;
Using a first step of holding by adhesion the body portion and the bent piece and the body portion and a proximal end of the bent piece with respect to the same time the die,
Using a punch that is guided so as to be movable with respect to the stripper and that punches the main body that is sandwiched between the stripper and the die. A second step of forming a hole in the position;
A sheet metal working method characterized by comprising: In the sheet metal processing method for forming a punched hole at a predetermined position of the main body part, with respect to the sheet metal material on which the main body part and the bent piece are formed,
A die having a die upper surface that is in close contact with the main body, a die side surface that is in close contact with the bent piece, and a corner that is in contact with the base end of the main body and the bent piece;
A slider having a pressing surface parallel and opposite to the side surface of the die and moving toward the side surface of the die to sandwich the bent piece between the die and the pressing surface;
A stripper that moves toward the die while supporting the main body and can sandwich the main body with the upper surface of the die;
The bending piece is sandwiched between the pressing surface and the side surface of the die by moving the slider in contact with a portion facing the pressing surface with the movement of the stripper along with the movement of the stripper. The second cam to make,
Using a first step of holding by adhesion the body portion and the bent piece and the body portion and a proximal end of the bent piece with respect to the same time the die,
Using a punch that is guided so as to be movable with respect to the stripper and that punches the main body that is sandwiched between the stripper and the die. A second step of forming a hole in the position;
A sheet metal working method characterized by comprising: In the sheet metal material, a bending angle of the bent piece with respect to the main body is formed in advance wider than a desired angle,
The sheet metal working method according to claim 4 or 5 , wherein in the first step, the bending angle is formed to a desired angle. A developing roller, a blade that abuts the developing roller and regulates a layer thickness of the developer carried on the developing roller, a main body portion in which a hole portion that supports the roller is formed, and one end of the blade A roller holder sheet metal having a bent piece to be fixed,
The sheet metal manufactured by the sheet metal processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , or the sheet metal manufactured by the sheet metal processing method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, as the roller holder sheet metal. A developing device characterized by using A photoconductor, a charger for charging the photoconductor, an exposure unit for exposing the photoconductor charged by the charger to form an electrostatic latent image, and developing and visualizing the exposed photoconductor An image forming apparatus including: a developing unit that transfers the image developed on the photosensitive member to a recording material;
An image forming apparatus using the developing device according to claim 7 as the developing unit.

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