JPH05333608A - Image carrier driving device for printing cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the backlash of an image carrier with respect to a driving shaft in a state where the image carrier of a printing cartridge used for an electrophotographic copying machine, is connected to the driving shaft. CONSTITUTION:A shaft supporting body 43 is provided in the center of the rotation of a flange 41 comprising the image carrier 2, and freely rotatably supported by a housing 13. A spider 49 is fitted into the hollow part of the top end of the driving shaft 47 supported by a device main body 1a, a driving pin 48 attached to the slider 49 is projected outward than an oblong hole 50 and the top end part of the driving shaft 47 is fitted into the shaft supporting hole 44 of the shaft supporting body 43. to fit the driving pin 48 into the groove 45 of the shaft supporting hole 44. Therefore, the image carrier 2 and the driving shaft 47 can be concentrically connected by the fitting part of the shaft supporting hole 44 of the shaft supporting body 43 and the driving shaft 47, and the rotation of the driving shaft 47 is transmitted to the shaft supporting body 43 by the driving pin 48 and the groove 45, to prevent the backlash.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an image carrier of a print cartridge which can be pulled out and inserted into the main body of the image carrier and the image carrier in an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer. The present invention relates to a driving device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an image forming apparatus, an image forming apparatus such as a primary charging device, an image exposing section, a developing device, a transfer charging device, and a cleaner is arranged around an image carrier, and the image is carried by the primary charging device. After uniformly charging the surface of the body, it is imagewise exposed to form an electrostatic latent image, and the electrostatic latent image is developed into a visible image with a developing machine, and the visible image is transferred onto a sheet with a charger. It is known that after the transfer, the sheet is sent to a fixing device to be fixed, and the residual toner on the image carrier is cleaned with a cleaner. In such an image forming apparatus, the image bearing member and the image forming apparatus have a short life and need to be regularly inspected / repaired or replaced. Therefore, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-65049. As shown, the image carrier and some of the image forming devices are integrated into a print cartridge, and the print cartridge is detachable from the main body of the apparatus to facilitate inspection / repair work and replacement work.

It is important for the image carrier of such a print cartridge to be driven at a constant speed during the image forming operation in order to form an image with no cycle deviation. For that purpose, the drive shaft supported on the main body of the apparatus and the image carrier are the cores. It is necessary to connect so that there is no gap or play. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a bearing hole c is formed at the center of rotation of the flange b of the image carrier a, and an engagement groove d is radially formed on the outer periphery of the bearing hole c and is supported on the apparatus main body side. The drive transmission shaft g is fitted into the shaft center hole f of the drive shaft e, and is urged toward the projecting side by the spring h so that the pin i provided on the drive transmission shaft g is inserted into the elongated hole j of the drive shaft e.
Is a device in which the drive pin k is pressed against one end of the drive transmission shaft g so as not to slip out, and the drive pin k is provided at the tip of the drive transmission shaft g. Engagement groove d while fitting at the tip
Is fitted to the drive pin k of the drive transmission g to concentrically connect the image carrier and the drive shaft e, and the image carrier a can be rotated by the drive shaft e, and the print cartridge is inserted into the main body of the apparatus. The flange b is driven by the drive pin k of the drive transmission shaft g.
The drive transmission shaft g moves against the spring h even if it collides with, so that the flange b and the drive transmission shaft g are not damaged.

[0004]

With such a device,
Since the drive transmission shaft g slides with respect to the drive shaft e, the drive transmission member g rattles with respect to the drive shaft e, and the image carrier a rattles with respect to the drive shaft e, which adversely affects image formation. May affect.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an image carrier driving device for a print cartridge which can solve the above-mentioned problems.

[0006]

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems] The image carrier 2 has a drum shape in which flanges are attached to both ends of the drum 40.
A shaft bearing 43 having a shaft bearing hole 44 having a groove 45 is provided at the center of rotation of one of the flanges 41, and the shaft bearing 43 is rotatably supported by the housing 13 and also supported by the apparatus body 1. A slider 49 is fitted in the hollow end of the drive shaft 47, and a drive pin 48 which is fitted in the groove 45 is inserted through an elongated hole 50 formed in the drive shaft 47 in the axial direction.
9. An image carrier driving device for a print cartridge, which is connected to a slider 9 and has its slider 49 slidably held to the front end side by a spring 51.
As a result, the image bearing member 2 and the drive shaft 47 can be concentrically connected at the fitting portion of the shaft support hole 44 of the shaft support body 43 attached to the flange 41 and the drive shaft 47, and the rotation of the drive shaft 47 can be driven. Since the pin 48 and the groove 45 are transmitted to the shaft support 43, not only play can be prevented, but even when the groove 45 and the drive pin 48 do not coincide when the print cartridge is inserted into the apparatus main body 1, the drive pin 48 does not have the spring 51. Since it slides in the axial direction against, it does not damage each part.

[0007]

[Examples] FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view of an image forming apparatus. An image carrier 2 is provided in a main body 1 of the apparatus, and a primary charger 3, a developing device 4, and a pre-transfer device are provided around the image carrier 2. A charging device 5, a transfer charging device 6, a separation charging device 7, a cleaner 8 and the like are sequentially arranged, and the surface of the image carrier 2 is uniformly charged by the primary charging device 3 and then image exposure is performed by the image exposure mechanism 9. To form an electrostatic latent image, the developing device 4 develops the electrostatic latent image into a visible image, and the paper in the paper tray 10 is conveyed toward the image carrier 2 by the paper feeding mechanism 11 to be visualized. Image transfer charger 6
A copy is made by transferring the sheet onto a sheet and sending it to the fixing device 12 to fix it. The image exposure mechanism 9 is a laser system including a laser oscillator, a rotating mirror, and a plurality of mirrors, and is configured to receive image information from an external OA device and perform image exposure on an image carrier. The image carrier 2, the primary charger 3, and the cleaner 8 are attached to a housing 13 to form a print cartridge A, and the housing 13 can be inserted and pulled out along a guide rail 14 provided in the apparatus main body 1. The print cartridge A can be pulled out from the apparatus main body 1 and inserted.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 7, the housing 13 includes one side plate 20, another side plate 21, and a peripheral wall 22, and the peripheral wall 22 has a cleaner housing 23, and the cleaner housing 23 has the cleaning blade 2 attached thereto.
4, fur brush 25, auger 26 are provided, and one side slide rail 27 is provided.
0 and the upper surface of the other side plate 21, a cover body 28 is attached, an opening window 29 is formed in the cover body 28 in the longitudinal direction, and the projecting end portion becomes the other side slide rail 30. Is provided with a positioning side plate 31, a side plate 32 is attached to the other side plate 21, and the primary charger 3 is attached on the cover 28. The cover 28, the one side plate 20, and the other side plate 21 The grid 33 of the primary charger 3 is attached between the two.

As a result, the housing 13 is slidable in the axial direction of the image carrier 2 along the guide rail 14 provided on the apparatus main body 1 with the one side slide rail 27 and the other side slide rail 30. As shown in FIG. 1, the image carrier 2 has a drum shape in which plastic flanges are fitted and attached to both ends of a metal drum 40, and one of the flanges 41 has a mounting hole at the center of rotation. 42 is formed, and a metal shaft support 43 is fitted and fixed in the mounting hole 42. The shaft support 43 has a stepped cylindrical shape with a small diameter part 43a having a shaft support hole 44 and a large diameter part 43b having a plurality of grooves 45 radially as shown in FIG. The large diameter portion 43b is fitted and fixed in the mounting hole 42 and projects outward from the flange 41, and the large diameter portion 43b is rotatably supported by the other side plate 21 of the housing 13 via a bearing 46. ..

A drive shaft 47 is rotatably supported by the main body 1 of the apparatus, for example, a rear frame 1a, and a tip end portion of the drive shaft 47 is fitted into a shaft support hole 44 of a shaft support body 43. The carrier 2 and the drive shaft 47 are concentrically connected to each other, and the drive pin 48 provided on the drive shaft 47 is fitted into the groove 45, and the rotation thereof is transmitted to the shaft support 43 to drive the image carrier 2. To do. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the slider 49 is fitted in the hollow portion of the drive shaft 47, and the drive pin 48 is fitted and attached to the slider 49 through the elongated hole 50 in the axial direction of the drive shaft 47.
The slider 49 is biased and held by a spring 51 toward the tip. A tapered tapered guide element 52 is fitted to the tip of the drive shaft 47 so that the drive shaft 47 and the shaft support hole 44 of the shaft support body 43 can be fitted smoothly.

Since the toner collected by the cleaner 8 is stored inside the image carrier 2, the shaft support 43 seals the inside of the image carrier 2 with a bottom, so that the print cartridge A is installed in the main body of the apparatus. 1, the space 53 between the shaft support hole 44 and the front end surface of the drive shaft 47 becomes negative pressure and high pressure when the shaft support hole 44 is fitted into the front end portion of the drive shaft 47 and pulled out. A drill hole 54 is formed in the small diameter portion 43a of the shaft support 43, and the drill hole 54 is opened to the outside by a groove 55 of the flange 41.

[0012]

The image carrier 2 and the drive shaft 47 can be concentrically connected to each other at the fitting portion of the shaft support hole 44 of the shaft support body 43 attached to the flange 41 and the drive shaft 47, and the drive shaft 47 can rotate. Is transmitted to the shaft support 43 by the drive pin 48 and the groove 45, so that play can be prevented. Further, even when the groove 45 and the drive pin 48 do not coincide with each other when the print cartridge is inserted into the apparatus main body 1, the drive pin 48 slides in the axial direction against the spring 51, so that each part is not damaged. Further, since the drive shaft 47 is fitted to the shaft supporting body 43 attached to the flange 41, even if the flange 41 is made of plastic, the shaft supporting body 43 is made of metal, so that the fitting portion with the drive shaft 47 can be early. The image carrier 2 can be prevented from being worn, the cost can be reduced, and the durability of the connecting portion with the drive shaft 47 can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connecting portion between an image carrier and a drive shaft.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a connecting portion between an image carrier and a drive shaft.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a print cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a left side view of the print cartridge.

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the print cartridge.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a print cartridge.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 device main body, 2 image carrier, 13 housing, 40
Drum, 41 Flange, 43 Shaft support, 44 Shaft support hole, 45 groove, 47 Drive shaft, 48 Drive pin, 4
9 Slider, 50 oblong hole, 51 spring.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing 13 is provided with an image carrier 2 and at least one image forming device to form a print cartridge, and the print cartridge is inserted into the apparatus main body 1.
The image bearing member 2 can be pulled out, and the image bearing member 2 has a drum shape in which flanges are attached to both ends of the drum 40. The shaft bearing member 43 has a shaft bearing hole 44 having a groove 45 at the center of rotation of one flange 41.
Is provided, the shaft support 43 is rotatably supported by the housing 13, and the drive shaft 4 supported by the apparatus main body 1 is also provided.
7. A slider 49 is fitted in the hollow portion at the tip of 7, and a drive pin 48 which fits in the groove 45 is connected to the slider 49 through an axially elongated hole 50 formed in the drive shaft 47. An image carrier driving device for a print cartridge, characterized in that the child 49 is slidably held by a spring 51 toward the front end side.