JP5446193B2 - Image forming cartridge and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an image forming cartridge and an image forming apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a process cartridge that can be attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus such as a printer is widely known. In such a process cartridge, an exposure unit such as an LED is built in the process cartridge, and a connector for sending an electrical signal to the exposure unit is provided so as to protrude in the same direction as the mounting direction of the process cartridge, 2. Description of the Related Art A connector is known that is coupled to an image forming apparatus by an operation of mounting a process cartridge on the image forming apparatus.
JP 2001-34144 A

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming cartridge and an image forming apparatus that are more resistant to radio wave interference than a case where a connecting means for transmitting a signal to an exposure means is provided protruding from the image forming cartridge. .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the image forming cartridge, an image holding member that is exposed to light to form an electrostatic latent image, an exposure unit that exposes the image holding member with a plurality of light emitting elements, and the image A housing in which the holding body and the exposure unit are accommodated and which can be attached to the image forming apparatus, and provided inside the housing, and when the housing is attached to a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, the image An insertion portion into which a connection means provided in the forming apparatus is inserted; and an insertion portion provided in the insertion portion , directly connected to the exposure means on the side opposite to the light irradiation side of the exposure means, when the housing is mounted on a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, which is connected directly to the inserted device under connection means to the inserted part, which closed the connection means for transmitting signals to the exposure means.

Invention according to claim 2, inserted in the image forming cartridge according to claim 1, in mounting the pre Kikatamitai a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, wherein the target connection means within said housing Then, the connected means is connected to the connecting means.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus, the mounting portion that forms the predetermined position on which the image forming cartridge according to the first or second aspect is mounted, and the mounting portion projects from the mounting portion. And the connected means provided with an electrical connection portion directed toward the image forming cartridge mounted at the predetermined position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, the image forming apparatus includes a guide portion that guides the image forming cartridge to a predetermined position of the mounting portion, and the guide portion guides the image forming cartridge. The direction to be performed is a direction toward the electrical connection portion of the connected means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect , the connected means is provided on a circuit board that controls the operation of the exposure means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the image forming apparatus according to the third aspect , the connected unit and a circuit board that controls the operation of the exposure unit are electrically connected by a connection substrate. Yes.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming cartridge which is more resistant to radio wave interference than the case where the connecting means for transmitting a signal to the exposure means is provided protruding from the image forming cartridge. it can. Further, it is possible to provide an image forming cartridge that is more resistant to radio wave interference than when a flexible cable or the like is used between the connection unit and the exposure unit.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming cartridge which is more resistant to radio wave interference than the case where the connecting means for transmitting a signal to the exposure means is provided protruding from the image forming cartridge. it can.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that is more resistant to radio wave interference than the case where the connecting means for transmitting a signal to the exposure means is provided protruding from the image forming cartridge. it can.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the connecting means can be connected together with the operation of mounting the image forming cartridge.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide an image forming apparatus that is more resistant to radio wave interference than when a flexible cable or the like is used between the connected means and the circuit board.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the degree of freedom in the arrangement of the circuit board that controls the operation of the exposure means can be increased.

  Next, an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 10 includes, in order from the bottom, image forming units 12Y and 12M that form images of Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black). , 12C, 12K are vertically arranged.

  In FIG. 1, the vertical direction is the vertical direction. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish YMCK, description is given by adding any of Y, M, C, and K after the reference. When it is not necessary to distinguish YMCK, Y, M, C, and K are denoted. Omitted.

  The image forming unit 12 includes an LPH (LED array print head) 16, a photoconductor (an example of an image carrier) 18, a charging body 20, a developing unit 22, a wiping unit 24, and residual toner remaining on the photoconductor 16. And a toner cartridge (not shown) for supplying toner to the developing unit 22.

  The LPH 16 is used as a light source, and a plurality of light emitting elements are arranged in a line. The operation of the LPH 16 is controlled by a control unit 26 (described later), and lighting is controlled based on image data of each color. By using the LPH 16 as the light source in this way, a light beam scanning optical system is not required, so that the corresponding space is not required, and the image forming apparatus 10 can be downsized.

  A drum-shaped photoconductor 18 is disposed in front of the LPH 16 (on the right side in FIG. 1), and the surface of the photoconductor 18 is exposed by the light beam of the LPH 16 that is controlled to be turned on based on image data. The

  Around the photosensitive member 18, a charging member 20, a developing unit 22, and a wiping unit 24 are arranged, and the photosensitive member 18 whose surface is uniformly charged by the charging member 20 is exposed by the light beam of the LPH 16. Thus, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoreceptor 18. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing unit 22 and a toner image is formed on the photoreceptor 18. The toner image is transferred onto the paper P, but the residual toner that has not been transferred is removed by the wiping unit 24 and collected by the waste toner collecting unit 14.

  On the other hand, the control unit 26 described above is disposed on the back side of the image forming units 12Y, 12M, 12C, and 12K arranged in tandem, that is, on the left side of FIG. A board 28 is provided.

  The control unit 26 uniformly charges the surface of the photoconductor 18 with the charging body 20, irradiates a light beam from the LPH 16 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photoconductor 18, and develops it using toner. Then, the operation of each processing step of transferring the developed toner image onto a recording sheet, fixing the recording sheet on which the toner image is transferred, and discharging the recording sheet is controlled.

  Further, the control unit 26 is managed by a controller board 28 which is a higher level. In other words, the controller board 28 manages input of image data from an external host computer or the like, image processing, image formation timing, and the like, and instructs the control unit 26 via an MCU interface (not shown). It has become.

  The control unit 26 is connected to a commercial power source (not shown), and generates a low-voltage power source 30 and a high-voltage power source 32 at the upper and lower portions of the controller board 28, respectively, via a power supply line (not shown). Supply power to each part.

  Incidentally, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each image forming unit 12 is detachable from the apparatus main body 35 of the image forming apparatus 10, and is provided on the front side of the control unit 26 and takes a predetermined position. It is accommodated in the mounting part 40.

  Here, a waste toner collecting unit 14 is provided at the upper part of the image forming unit 12, and a gap 80 (an example of an inserted part) is provided between the lower part of the image forming unit 12 and the waste toner collecting unit 14. A developing unit 22 is provided with a gap therebetween. A photosensitive member 18 and an LPH 16 are provided between the waste toner collecting unit 14 and the developing unit 22, the photosensitive member 18 is disposed on the front side of the image forming unit 12, and the LPH 16 is a central portion of the image forming unit 12. Is arranged. The LPH 16 is provided in the vicinity of the photoconductor 18 and is provided between the gap 80 and inside a predetermined length from the surface of the image forming unit 12. Further, on the circumferential surface of the photoconductor 18, a charging body 20 is disposed on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the photoconductor 18 with respect to the position where the LPH 16 and the photoconductor 18 face each other. A developing roll 221 provided in the developing unit 22 is disposed on the downstream side. On the peripheral surface of the photoreceptor 18, the distance between the LPH 16 and the charging body 20 is arranged closer than the distance between the LPH 16 and the developing roll 221.

  A male-type drawer connector 36 (hereinafter referred to as “male connector 36”) is directly connected to the LPH 16, and the back side of the LPH 16 (the back side of the image forming unit 12 or the side through the holding member 16A that holds the LPH 16). The side opposite to the side irradiated with light from the LPH 16 is fixed. Therefore, the male connector 36 is disposed at the center of the image forming unit 12. Further, the position where the male connector 36 is arranged in the longitudinal direction of the LPH 16 is arranged at a position closer to the end side than the center part.

  Here, the image forming unit 12 uses a pair of brackets 12A, which are used as side plates, and the waste toner collecting unit 14, the developing unit 22, the photosensitive member 18, the LPH 16, and the like are attached to the brackets 12A. For this reason, when the image forming unit 12 is viewed from the back, the male connector 36 is exposed inside (toward the back) the gap 80 provided in the waste toner collecting unit 14 and the developing unit 22. On the other hand, as an example of the housing, a configuration including an exterior surface 12B of the image forming unit 12 constituted by the waste toner collecting unit 14, the developing unit 22, and the like, and other parts not shown, or a pair of brackets 12A. In addition, a configuration in which a housing that covers the waste toner collecting unit 14, the developing unit 22, the photoconductor 18, the LPH 16, and the like attached between the pair of brackets 12A is further provided may be used.

  On the other hand, the control unit 26 has a box shape, and a circuit board 34 for controlling the operation of each LPH 16 is disposed therein. Each of the circuit boards 34 is connected to a female drawer connector 38 (hereinafter referred to as “female connector 38”), and each female connector 38 protrudes from the control unit 26.

  The female connector 38 and the circuit board 34 are directly connected, and the female connector 38 is exposed to the outside through a through hole 26 </ b> A provided in the control unit 26. The female connector 38 is fixed to the peripheral edge of the through hole 26 </ b> A so that the pressing force applied to the female connector 38 is not transmitted to the circuit board 34. Further, the female connector 38 exposed from the through hole 26A is exposed in a state of protruding from a mounting portion 40 provided on the front side of the control unit 26 and having a predetermined position. Further, the female connector 38 is arranged with a contact (an example of a connection portion) electrically connected to the male connector 36 facing the mounting portion 40 side that is a protruding direction.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a pair of guide grooves 42, which are examples of guide portions, are formed on the side walls 40 </ b> A of the mounting portion 40 provided in the apparatus main body 35. Here, the attachment angles of the female connector 38 and the male connector 36 are set in advance to be substantially the same, and the guide groove 42 is formed in accordance with the attachment angle of the male connector 36.

  A pair of guide pins 44 protruding from brackets 12 </ b> A provided at both ends of the image forming unit 12 can be engaged with the guide grooves 42, and the image forming unit 12 can be connected via the guide pins 44. It is stored behind the mounting portion 40.

  Here, the groove width of the guide groove 42 becomes narrower as it goes from the opening side to the back side of the mounting portion 40, and between the guide pin 44 and the guide groove 42 on the back side of the mounting portion 40. , To prevent rattling.

  When the image forming unit 12 is guided to the back of the mounting portion 40, the female connector 38 of the control unit 26 enters the gap 80 inside the exterior surface 12 B of the image forming unit 12. The male connector 36 is fitted and the image forming unit 12 is attached to the apparatus main body 35.

  In this way, the male connector 36 of the image forming unit 12 is fitted into the female connector 38 of the control unit 26, whereby the male connector 36 and the female connector 38 are electrically connected, and the control unit 26 starts the LPH 16 and the image forming unit. The operation of the component parts constituting 12 is controlled.

  Here, the guide groove 42 is formed on the side wall of the mounting portion 40 of the apparatus main body 35 and the guide pin 44 is formed on the side wall of the image forming unit 12, but the image forming unit 12 is properly mounted in the mounting portion 40. Since it is only necessary to be able to guide the position, the present invention is not limited to this.

  The guide groove 42 may be provided on the image forming unit 12 side, and the guide pin 44 may be provided on the mounting unit 40 side. In addition, a mounting table on which the image forming unit 12 can be mounted is provided in the mounting unit 40. An uneven portion may be provided on the upper surface of the mounting table, and an engaging portion that engages with the uneven portion may be provided on the back surface of the image forming unit 12 to guide the image forming unit 12 within the mounting portion 40.

  Here, the male connector 36 is composed of, for example, a plurality of pins (not shown). The female connector 38 is formed with a plurality of holes 38A into which the pins can be engaged, and the positions of the male connector 36 and the female connector 38 are slightly shifted (such as the dimensional tolerance of a product such as the image forming unit 12). In consideration of the above, the pin is elastically deformed and engaged with the hole so that the deviation can be absorbed.

  On the other hand, a part of the photoconductor 18 of each image forming unit 12 protrudes from the end face of the bracket 12A in the right direction in FIG. 1, and is pressed by a spring (not shown) through a transport belt 46 which is an endless belt. In this state, it is in contact with the conveyor belt 46 (line contact from the front side to the back side in FIG. 1).

  Here, on the front side of the conveyance belt 46 (front side of the image forming apparatus 10), that is, on the right side of the conveyance belt 46 in FIG. Therefore, the front side of the image forming apparatus 10 can be opened. When the opening / closing cover is opened, the conveying belt 46 lies down following the opening / closing cover, and the image forming unit 12 is exposed to the outside. In this state, the image forming unit 12 can be taken out.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 1, the conveying belt 46 includes a lower end roller 48 provided in the vicinity of the lowermost image forming unit 12Y, an upper end roller 50 provided in the vicinity of the uppermost image forming unit 12K, Is wound around and is rotated by a driving force of a driving means (not shown). In the present embodiment, it circulates clockwise in FIG.

  On the other hand, under the image forming apparatus 10, a drawer-type storage box 52 is provided that stacks and stores sheets P as recording media. From the storage box 52, the uppermost sheet P is taken out one by one by a sheet take-out mechanism 54, and is conveyed by a sheet feeding / conveying section 56 composed of a plurality of pairs of rollers and a plurality of pairs of guide plates. Is fed to the most upstream side, that is, the reverse position by the lower end roller 48, and is conveyed by the conveyance belt 46 as the main conveyance unit 58.

  Transfer members 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K are disposed inside the conveyance belt 46 at the contact portions between the conveyance belt 46 and the photoconductors 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K, respectively. A predetermined pressure is applied to the conveyor belt 46 while being sandwiched between the photoreceptors 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K and the transfer bodies 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K. These contact portions serve as transfer portions, and images of the respective colors developed with toner on the photoconductors 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K are sequentially overlapped on the four transfer members 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K. Is transcribed.

  A fixing unit 62 is disposed on the upper portion of the conveyance belt 46 on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction. A heating roller 64 and a pressure roller 66 are in contact with and opposed to the fixing unit 62, and the paper P enters the contacted portion so that the image is pressed and heated. It has become. A discharge conveyance unit 68 composed of a plurality of pairs of rollers is disposed on the upper portion of the fixing unit 62 on the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction.

  The sheet P that has been subjected to the fixing process in the fixing unit 62 is changed in the diagonally left direction in FIG. 1 by the discharge conveyance unit 68 and discharged to the discharge unit 70 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 35.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a reverse conveyance unit 72 is provided from the upper part of the fixing unit 62 to the right side (opening / closing cover) of the conveyance belt 46. The apparatus main body 35 is provided with a switching member (not shown) that constitutes a part of the reversing conveyance unit 72 and the discharge conveyance unit 68 so that the conveyance path of the paper P can be reversed. It is switched to the transport unit 72 or the discharge transport unit 68.

  When images are formed on both sides of the paper P, when the rear end of the paper P once guided to the discharge unit 70 by the discharge conveyance unit 68 passes through the switching member, the switching member is turned from the discharge conveyance unit 68 side to the reverse conveyance unit. Swing to the 72 side to switch the transport path. Then, with the trailing edge as the head, the paper P is conveyed downward in the apparatus main body 35 through the reverse conveying portion 72 in the direction of the arrow, and the guide roller 76 disposed downstream of the reverse conveying portion 72. To make a U-turn and return to the main conveyance unit 58. The sheet P returned to the transfer unit by the main conveyance unit 58 is transferred to the fixing unit 62 after the four full-color images are transferred, and is subjected to image fixing processing. To be guided to.

  The operation of this embodiment will be described below.

  When an image formation instruction is input to the control unit 26 shown in FIG. 1, image data is sent from the control unit 26 to each image forming unit 12. Thereby, in each image forming unit 12, first, the surface around the photoconductor 18 is covered by the charged body 20 to which a high voltage (direct current and alternating current superimposed or only direct current) supplied from the high voltage power supply 32 is applied. Charge uniformly. Next, in each image forming unit 12, lighting of the LPH 16 is controlled based on the image data, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photoconductor 18. Then, the developing unit 22 supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 18 by utilizing the action of a high voltage (superimposed of direct current and alternating current) supplied from the high voltage power supply 32 or a magnetic field, and statically. Develop the electrostatic latent image.

  In synchronism with this operation, in the storage box 52, the uppermost sheet P is taken out by the paper take-out mechanism 54 and is carried to the transfer unit by the paper infeed conveyance unit 56. Transfer members 60Y, 60M, 60C, and 60K are provided at the contact portions where the photosensitive members 18Y, 18M, 18C, and 18K come into contact with the paper P, and the conveyance belt 46 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. A predetermined pressure is applied to the sheet P while being sandwiched between the photosensitive member 18 and the transfer member 60.

  As a result, the Y color image is first transferred from the photoreceptor 18Y of the lowermost image forming unit 12Y to the paper P, and when this transfer area reaches the second stage image forming unit 12M from the bottom, the Y color is transferred. The M color image is transferred onto the same transfer area where the image of No. 1 is transferred. Next, in the third-stage image forming unit 12C from the bottom, the C-color image is transferred onto the same transfer area where the Y-color and M-color images are transferred, and in the uppermost image-forming unit 12K, the Y-color, The K color image is transferred onto the same transfer area where the M and C color images have been transferred, and as a result, the four color (YMCK) images are overlaid.

  The paper P on which the four color images are superimposed in this way is sent to the fixing unit 62 along the main conveyance unit 58. In the fixing unit 62, the paper P is pressed and heated by the heating roller 64 and the pressure roller 66. Then, the paper is discharged by a discharge conveyance unit 68 to a discharge unit 70 formed on the upper surface of the apparatus main body 35.

  Here, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a male connector 36 is directly connected to the LPH 16. For this reason, the male connector 36 is disposed in the center of the image forming unit 12, but the male connector 36 is formed from a gap 80 provided between the waste toner collecting unit 14 and the developing unit 22 of the image forming unit 12. Can be exposed.

  When the female connector 38 that can be connected to the male connector 36 is protruded from the control unit 26 and the image forming unit 12 is guided to the back of the mounting portion 40, the female connector 38 enters the gap 80 of the image forming unit 12. I will let you. Then, the male connector 36 of the image forming unit 12 is fitted into the female connector 38, and the image forming unit 12 is attached to the apparatus main body 35.

That is, in this embodiment, the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 are directly connected, and the male connector 36 and the female connector 38 can be directly connected. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a flexible cable as an example of a conducting member for electrical connection between the members, and it is more resistant to radio wave interference than when a flexible cable is used. Further, as compared with the case where a flexible cable or the like is used, it is not necessary to consider that the wiring becomes an obstacle when the image forming unit 12 is attached or detached. Therefore, workability such as design and assembly is improved. Further, since the male connector 36 fits into the female connector 38 together with the operation of mounting the image forming unit 12 to the apparatus main body 35, the male connector 36 and the female connector 38 are connected after the image forming unit 12 is mounted to the apparatus main body 35. Compared to the above, the operability for the user is good and the configuration of the image forming apparatus 10 is simplified. Further, the guide groove 42 is configured such that the groove width becomes narrower as it goes from the opening side to the back side of the mounting portion 40, and the opening side is relatively inserted when the image forming unit 12 is inserted into the apparatus main body 35. The male connector 36 suppresses rattling with the female connector 38 on the back side. Since backlash is suppressed on the back side, the male connector 36 and the female connector 38 are easily connected, and damage is less likely to occur.
On the other hand, the position where the male connector 36 is disposed in the longitudinal direction of the LPH 16 is disposed at a position closer to the end side than the center portion, and therefore, the male connector 36 is located near the position where the LPH 16 is attached to the bracket 12A. The connector 36 and the female connector 38 are connected, and the force received by the LPH 16 at the time of connection is reduced as compared with the case where the male connector 36 is provided at the center in the longitudinal direction of the LPH 16. Note that the male connector 36 may be provided in the central portion of the LPH 16 in the longitudinal direction. In this case, the force received by the LPH 16 is substantially equal in both the longitudinal directions, so that the difference between both ends with respect to strain can be reduced. .

  In this embodiment, the female connector 38 is directly connected to the circuit board 34 that drives the LPH 16. As a result, it is not necessary to electrically connect the female connector 38 and the circuit board 34 with a flexible cable, and it is more resistant to radio wave interference than when a flexible cable or the like is used.

Here, the male connector 36 is provided on the LPH 16 side and the female connector 38 is provided on the control unit 26 side. However, of course, a female connector may be provided on the LPH 16 side and a male connector may be provided on the control unit 26 side. That is. Further, when a so-called drawer connector having a backlash in a direction crossing the connection direction is used as the connector, the connectivity is further improved and the damage is hardly caused.
(Other reference examples )
In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 are directly connected. However, due to a problem in component arrangement of the image forming unit 12, the separation distance between the LPH 16 and the female connector 38 is larger than that in the above embodiment. In some cases, the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 cannot be directly connected.

  In this case, there is no problem if the male connector 36 is used as a dedicated connector and designed according to the separation distance between the LPH 16 and the female connector 38, but in this case, the cost increases. For this reason, it is preferable to use an existing male connector.

  Therefore, in such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 are connected by the flexible cable 82, and the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 are electrically connected via the flexible cable 82. Since the flexible cable 82 is an elastically deformable member, the LPH 16 and the male connector 36 are bridged by the reinforcing member 84 and reinforced. Accordingly, when the image forming unit 12 is guided to the back of the mounting portion 40, the male connector 36 of the image forming unit 12 is fitted into the female connector 38.

  Here, when an electrical noise enters the flexible cable 82, the exposure signal is disturbed. For this reason, a metal radio wave shielding member 86 is provided outside the female connector 38 so as to cover the flexible cable 82 in a state where the male connector 36 is fitted to the female connector 38. The length of the flexible cable 82 is also shorter than that of the male connector 36 provided on the exterior surface 12B of the image forming unit 12. This prevents electrical noise from entering the flexible cable 82.

  Here, the radio wave shielding member 86 is provided on the female connector 38 side, but it is only necessary to cover the flexible cable 82 with the male connector 36 fitted to the female connector 38, so as shown in FIG. In addition, a radio wave shielding member 88 may be provided on the male connector 36 side. In this case, the reinforcing member 84 shown in FIG. 6 becomes unnecessary by attaching the radio wave shielding member 88 to the holding member 16A of the LPH 16.

  In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the female connector 38 is directly connected to the circuit board 34 that drives the LPH 16. However, as shown in FIG. 8, the female connector 38 is interposed between the female connector 38 and the circuit board 34. The connection board 90 may be provided, and the female connector 38 and the circuit board 34 may be electrically connected via the connection board 90.

  In this case, the female connector 38 and the circuit board 34 are more resistant to radio wave interference than the case where the female connector 38 and the circuit board 34 are connected by a flexible cable. The degree of freedom is increased.

  Here, in order to protect the female connector 38 and the connection board 90, it is better to cover the female connector 38 and the connection board 90 with a protection member 92. However, the protection member 92 may be formed of resin.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an image forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state where an image forming unit is mounted on the image forming apparatus main body according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in the middle of mounting the image forming unit to the image forming apparatus main body according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in the middle of mounting the image forming unit on the image forming apparatus main body according to the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing a state in the middle of mounting the image forming unit to the image forming apparatus main body according to the present embodiment, with the developing unit removed. It is a schematic sectional view showing a first reference example of the female connector of the image forming apparatus main body and the male connector of the image forming unit according to the present embodiment. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the 2nd reference example of the female connector of the image forming apparatus main body which concerns on this Embodiment, and the male connector of an image forming unit. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the 1st modification of the female connector of the image forming apparatus main body which concerns on this Embodiment, and the male connector of an image forming unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Image forming unit 16 LPH (exposure means)
18 Photosensitive member 22 Developing section (developing device)
34 Circuit board 35 Device body 36 Male connector 38 Female connector 60 Transfer body (transfer means)
80 Clearance 82 Flexible cable 86 Radio wave shielding member 88 Radio wave shielding member 90 Connection board

Claims (6)

An image carrier that is exposed to light to form an electrostatic latent image;
Exposure means for exposing the image carrier with a plurality of light emitting elements;
A housing in which the image carrier and the exposure unit are accommodated and attachable to the image forming apparatus;
An inserted portion that is provided inside the casing and into which a connection means provided in the image forming apparatus is inserted when the casing is attached to a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus;
When the housing is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, the insertion target is provided on the insertion portion and is directly connected to the exposure unit on the side opposite to the light irradiation side of the exposure unit. A connecting means that is directly connected to the connected means inserted into the part and transmits a signal to the exposure means;
Image-forming cartridge to have a. When the casing is mounted at a predetermined position of the image forming apparatus, the connected means is connected to the connecting means after the connected means is inserted into the casing;
The image forming cartridge according to claim 1. A mounting portion that forms the predetermined position on which the image forming cartridge according to claim 1 is mounted;
The connected means provided so as to protrude from the mounting portion and with the electrical connection portion directed toward the image forming cartridge mounted at the predetermined position of the mounting portion;
An image forming apparatus.   A guide unit that guides the image forming cartridge to a predetermined position of the mounting unit, and a direction in which the guide unit guides the image forming cartridge is a direction toward an electrical connection unit of the connected unit; The image forming apparatus according to claim 3.   The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the connected unit is provided on a circuit board that controls the operation of the exposure unit.   4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the connected unit and a circuit board for controlling the operation of the exposure unit are electrically connected by a connection board.

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