JPH08305243A - Process cartridge and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a process cartridge, which can be smoothly attached to and removed from a device main body, and an image forming device capable of miniaturization. CONSTITUTION: This process cartridge B comprises a first guide portion 18a, which has an electrophotographic photoconductor, a process means working on the electrophotographic photoconductor, a cartridge frame supporting both the electrophotographic photoconductor and the process means, and guide parts provided on both of the outside surfaces of the cartridge frame to serve as guides when the process cartridge B is attached to or removed from an image forming device main body A, and which is provided on the extension of the rotation axis of the electrophotographic photoconductor, and a second guide portion 18b which is extended backward from the first guide portion 18a in the direction of insertion of the process cartridge B into the image forming device main body A and which is curved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus in which the process cartridge can be mounted.

Here, the image forming apparatus includes, for example, an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, an LED printer, a laser beam printer, etc.), an electrophotographic facsimile machine, an electrophotographic word processor and the like.

Further, as the process cartridge, a charging means, a developing means or a cleaning means and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge, and this cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus.
Also, at least one of the charging means, the developing means, and the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be integrally attached and detached. Further, it means that at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge so as to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge is formed into an image forming apparatus. A process cartridge system that can be attached to and detached from the main body is adopted. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without resorting to a serviceman, so that the operability can be markedly improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is
It is widely used in image forming apparatuses.

In such a process cartridge, in order to be mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus, a cylindrical boss serving as a guide portion is provided on both outer surfaces of a cartridge frame housing each member such as an electrophotographic photosensitive member. The boss is provided and is inserted along the guide rail formed on the apparatus body.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a further development of the above-mentioned conventional mounting structure of the process cartridge. The object of the present invention is to enable smooth mounting / dismounting with respect to the main body of the image forming apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus in which the cartridge can be attached and detached smoothly and can be downsized by using the process cartridge.

[0007]

A typical constitution according to the present invention for achieving the above object is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, at least one process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member. A cartridge frame body that supports the photoconductor and the process means; and guide portions that are provided on both outer side surfaces of the cartridge frame body and serve as guides when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. A first guide portion is provided on the extension of the rotation axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and a second guide portion is extended from the first guide portion to the rear side in the insertion direction of the process cartridge into the main body of the image forming apparatus. The second guide portion is formed in a curved shape to form a process cartridge.

Further, in order to mount the process cartridge, an image forming apparatus having a curved guide rail for guiding the guide portion of the cartridge is constituted.

[0009]

In the above structure, when the process cartridge is inserted into the image forming apparatus main body, the curved guide portion provided on the process cartridge is guided along the curved guide rail provided on the apparatus main body. While being inserted. Therefore, the process cartridge can be smoothly inserted in a curved locus.

Further, by mounting and demounting the process cartridge along the curved locus as described above, the height of the main body of the apparatus can be suppressed to be lower than that in the case where the process cartridge is mounted and demounted along the linear locus. .

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First Embodiment First, a process cartridge according to the first embodiment and an image forming apparatus to which the process cartridge can be attached will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 12.
1 and 2 are external explanatory diagrams of the process cartridge, FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the configuration of the image forming apparatus in which the process cartridge is mounted, and FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory diagram of the configuration of the process cartridge. FIG. 7 is a structural explanatory view of the mounting means of the process cartridge, and FIGS. 8 to 12 are explanatory drawings of the mounting state of the process cartridge.

As an order of explanation, the process cartridge and the overall structure of an image forming apparatus using the process cartridge will be described first, and the process cartridge mounting / demounting structure will be described.

{Overall Configuration} This electrophotographic image forming apparatus (laser beam printer) A has a structure as shown in FIG.
Information light based on image information is emitted from the optical system 1 to a drum-shaped electrophotographic photosensitive member to form a latent image on the photosensitive member, and the latent image is developed with a developer (hereinafter referred to as “toner”). Form a toner image. In synchronism with the formation of the toner image, the recording medium 2 is separated and fed one by one from the paper feed cassette 3a by the pickup roller 3b and the pressure contact member 3c which is in pressure contact with the recording medium 2, and the conveying roller pair 3d and the registration roller pair 3e. The toner image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, which is conveyed by the conveying unit 3 including the above and is formed into a process cartridge B, is transferred to the recording medium 2 by applying a voltage to the transfer roller 4 serving as the transfer unit,
The recording medium 2 is conveyed to the fixing unit 5 by the conveyor belt 3f. The fixing means 5 is composed of a driving roller 5a and a fixing rotation 5d which is a cylindrical sheet rotatably supported by a support 5c and has a heater 5b built therein, and applies heat and pressure to the recording medium 2 passing therethrough. To fix the transferred toner image. Then, the recording medium 2 is conveyed by the pair of discharge rollers 3g and 3h, and the discharge section 6 is passed through the reverse conveyance path.
It is configured to discharge to the bottom. Incidentally, this image forming apparatus A
Can be manually fed by the manual feed tray 3i and the roller 3j.

(Process Cartridge) On the other hand, the process cartridge B comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive member and at least one process means. Here, as the process means, for example, a charging means for charging the electrophotographic photoreceptor, a developing means for developing the latent image formed on the electrophotographic photoreceptor, and a cleaning means for cleaning the toner remaining on the surface of the electrophotographic photoreceptor Etc. In the process cartridge B of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the photosensitive drum 7 which is an electrophotographic photosensitive member having a photosensitive layer is rotated, and a voltage is applied to a charging roller 8 which is a charging means to apply the voltage to the photosensitive drum. The surface of 7 is uniformly charged, and the optical image from the optical system 1 is projected onto the charged photosensitive drum 7 by the opening 9
The latent image is formed by exposure through the developing means, and the latent image is developed by the developing means 10.

The developing means 10 is a developing rotator in which the toner in the toner storage portion 10a is fed by a rotatable first feeding member 10b1 and second rotatable feeding member 10b2, and a fixed magnet 10c is built in. While the roller 10d is rotated, a toner layer to which a triboelectric charge is applied by the developing blade 10e is formed on the surface of the developing roller 10d, and the toner is transferred to the photosensitive drum 7 according to the latent image to form a toner image. It is formed and visualized.

Then, after a voltage having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image is applied to the transfer roller 4 to transfer the toner image onto the recording medium 2, the cleaning blade 11a is used for the photosensitive drum 7.
Scrape off the toner remaining on the
The residual toner on the photoconductor drum 7 is removed by the cleaning means 11 which collects the scum by b and collects it in the waste toner storage portion 11c.

Each member such as the photosensitive drum 7 is composed of a cleaning frame 13 and a toner developing frame 12 in which a developing frame 12a, a developing lower frame 12b and a lid member 12c are welded and integrated. It is housed in the cartridge frame configured as described above to form a cartridge, and is detachably mounted to the cartridge mounting means provided in the apparatus main body 14.

{Attachment / Detachment Configuration of Process Cartridge} Next, a configuration for attaching / detaching the process cartridge B to / from the image forming apparatus A will be described.

The process cartridge B is attached and detached by opening the opening / closing member 15 as shown in FIG. When the opening / closing member 15 is opened around the shaft 15a (see FIG. 3), the cartridge mounting means is, as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. A guide rail 16 formed in a protruding curved shape (in this embodiment, a substantially arc shape) is provided substantially symmetrically, and a guide member 17 is attached above the guide rail 16. Further, a first inclined surface 16a and a second inclined surface 16b having an inclination larger than that of the first inclined surface 16a are formed on the entrance side of the guide rail 16 and subsequently.

On the other hand, guide rails 16 are provided on both outer side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge B in correspondence with the guide rails 16.
A guide portion that is guided along 16 is formed. The guide portion is configured so as to project from substantially symmetrical positions on both outer side surfaces in the longitudinal direction of the cartridge frame,
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the boss 18a serving as the first guide portion 18a and the rib 18b serving as the second guide portion are integrally configured. The portion of the boss 18a is located on an extension line of the rotation axis of the photosensitive drum 7, and the rib 18b is continuously bulged downward from the boss 18a in the insertion direction of the process cartridge B in accordance with the shape of the guide rail 16. The curved shape (in this embodiment, a substantially arc shape) is extended. In the above configuration, when the process cartridge B is mounted,
As shown in FIG. 8 to FIG. 12, the boss 18a and the rib 18b are inserted along the guide rail 16 so that the tip of the cartridge is submerged under the optical means 1 of the apparatus. The guide rail 16 is formed in a substantially arc shape, and the guide member 17 above the guide rail 16 also has a shape following this, and the rib
Since 18b also has a substantially circular arc shape, the process cartridge B becomes substantially horizontal as it is inserted. When the cartridge B is further pushed in, as shown in FIG. 12, the abutting members 19 provided on the apparatus main body 14 come into contact with the abutting surfaces 20 provided near both ends of the tip of the cleaning frame 13 and then the process cartridge. The boss 18a of B falls into the receiving recess 16c formed at the end of the guide rail 16. As a result, the drum gear 21 (see FIG. 2) fixed to the side end of the photoconductor drum 7 is attached to the main body 14 of the apparatus.
The driving force can be transmitted to the process cartridge B by meshing with the side driving gear 22 (see FIG. 7).

Next, when the opening / closing member 15 is closed, as shown in FIG.
The pressing member 24 urged by 23 abuts on the arm portion 25 of the cleaning frame body 13, and presses the torsion coil spring 23 with a predetermined pressure while twisting it. At this time, the abutting member 19 provided on the apparatus main body 14 and the contact surface 20 of the process cartridge B are brought into contact with each other to position and mount the process cartridge B.

Of the bosses 18a provided on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the process cartridge B, one boss 18a (in this embodiment, the left boss) is hollow, and the conductive shaft 18c (see FIG. 2) penetrates. This conductive shaft 18
c is in slidable contact with the inner surface of a cylindrical base body made of aluminum that constitutes the photosensitive drum 7 via a conductive plate or the like, and the end is exposed from the boss 18a. On the other hand, a conductive grounding member 30 (see FIG. 7) is provided in the receiving recess 16c formed at the end of the guide rail (the left guide rail in this embodiment) 16 on which the boss 18a on the side where the conductive shaft 18c is provided is guided. ) Is attached. The ground member 30 is a plate-shaped member attached to the sheet metal chassis of the apparatus main body 14 by screwing or the like, and a part thereof is exposed to the inside of the recess 16c.

Therefore, when the process cartridge B is mounted, the boss 18a falls into the recess 16c as described above, but at this time, the end surface of the conductive shaft 18c exposed from the boss comes into contact with the ground member 30 and the photosensitive member. Drum 7 is a conductive shaft
It is grounded through 18c, the earth member 30, and the sheet metal chassis.

An opening for contacting the recording medium 2 on which the photosensitive drum 7 is conveyed is formed in the lower part of the cartridge frame, and the opening is closed by a drum shutter member 28 when the cartridge is not used. As a result, the photoconductor drum 7 is protected. As shown in FIG. 1, the shutter member 28 includes a shutter arm 27 that is rotatable about a shaft 26 on one side of the outer surface of the developing device frame 12a in the longitudinal direction, and both outer ends of the developing device frame 12a in the longitudinal direction. It is rotatably supported by a link member 29 which is rotatable around a side rotation center 29a. Then, as described above, the process cartridge B
When you insert along the guide rail 16,
The protruding portion 29b of the first rail 16a of the guide rail 16
By contacting the inclined surface 16b, the shutter member 28 opens (see FIGS. 7 to 12), and conversely, the process cartridge B
When removed, the torsion coil spring 31 attached to the shaft 26
The shutter member 28 is automatically closed by the urging force (see FIG. 1).

As described above, the arc-shaped guide rail 16 is provided on the apparatus main body 14 side and the arc-shaped rib 18b is also provided on the process cartridge B, so that the attachment / detachment locus of the process cartridge B with respect to the apparatus main body has an arc. It is done like drawing. Therefore, the process cartridge B can be smoothly attached and detached, the photosensitive drum 7 can be surely grounded in accordance with this operation, and the shutter member 28 can be smoothly opened and closed. Further, since the attachment / detachment locus has an arc shape, the device main body is
When the process cartridge B is mounted from above 14, it can be smoothly mounted in a small mounting space, and the image forming apparatus can be downsized.

Another Embodiment Next, another example of each part of the process cartridge B and the image forming apparatus according to the above-described embodiment will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, the guide rail 16
Although an example in which the shape of the above is substantially arcuate is shown, the same effect can be obtained even if it is a curved shape in which an arcuate portion is continuously formed on a straight line portion. Further, the rib 18b guided by the guide rail 16 is not limited to the arc shape, and may be a curved shape following the shape of the guide rail 16, for example, an elliptical shape.

The process cartridge B described above is for forming a monochromatic image. However, the process cartridge is not limited to the case of forming a monochromatic image, but a plurality of developing means are provided and an image of plural colors (for example, 2). It can also be suitably applied to a cartridge that forms a color image, a three-color image, a full-color image, or the like.

As the developing method, various known developing methods such as a two-component magnetic brush developing method, a cascade developing method, a touchdown developing method and a cloud developing method can be used.

The electrophotographic photosensitive member is not limited to the above-mentioned photosensitive drum, but includes, for example, the following. First, a photoconductor is used as the photoconductor, and examples of the photoconductor include amorphous silicon, amorphous selenium, zinc oxide, titanium oxide, and an organic photoconductor (OP).
C) etc. are included. The shape on which the photoconductor is mounted includes, for example, a drum-shaped, belt-shaped rotating body, a sheet-shaped body, and the like. Generally, a drum-shaped or belt-shaped one is used. For example, in the case of a drum type photoconductor, a photoconductor is vapor-deposited or coated on a cylinder of aluminum alloy or the like. Is.

As for the structure of the charging means, the so-called contact charging method was used in the above-described first embodiment, but a tungsten wire conventionally used as another structure is provided with a metal shield such as aluminum around the three sides, It goes without saying that a configuration may be used in which positive or negative ions generated by applying a high voltage to the tungsten wire are moved to the surface of the photosensitive drum to uniformly charge the surface of the drum.

The charging means may be of a blade type (charging blade), a pad type, a block type, a rod type, a wire type or the like other than the roller type.

As a method for cleaning the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum, the cleaning means may be constituted by using a blade, a fur brush, a magnetic brush or the like.

The above-mentioned process cartridge is
For example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and at least one of process means
It is equipped with one. Therefore, as the aspect of the process cartridge, in addition to the embodiment described above,
For example, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a charging unit are integrally made into a cartridge, which can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. A cartridge in which the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the developing means are integrally formed so that the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. The electrophotographic photosensitive member and the cleaning means are integrally made into a cartridge, which can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. Further, there is one in which an electrophotographic photosensitive member and two or more of the above-mentioned process means are combined into an integrated cartridge, which can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body.

That is, the above-mentioned process cartridge is one in which the charging means, the developing means or the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. . Further, at least one of the charging means, the developing means, and the cleaning means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge so that it can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. Further, it means that at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge so as to be attachable to and detachable from the apparatus main body.

Further, although the laser beam printer has been illustrated as the image forming apparatus in the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this, and other image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine, a word processor, etc. It is also possible to use for.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the curved guide rail is provided on the apparatus main body side and the curved guide member is provided on the process cartridge, the process cartridge can be smoothly attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. You can Therefore, it is possible to smoothly mount the image forming apparatus in a small mounting space, and by using the process cartridge according to the present invention, the image forming apparatus can be downsized.

If the guide member is provided with a conductive shaft and the earth member is provided on the apparatus main body side, the electrophotographic photosensitive member can be surely earthed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view illustrating a left outer side surface of a process cartridge.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the outer right side surface of the process cartridge.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an image forming apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of a process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of a state where the process cartridge is attached and detached.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a right side guide structure for guiding attachment and detachment of a process cartridge.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a left side guide structure for guiding attachment and detachment of a process cartridge.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the process cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a state in which the process cartridge is attached to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the process cartridge is mounted on the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of a state in which the process cartridge is attached to the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the process cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus.

[Explanation of Codes] A ... Image forming apparatus, B ... Process cartridge, 1 ... Optical system, 2 ... Recording medium, 3 ... Conveying means, 3a ... Cassette,
3b ... Pickup roller, 3c ... Pressure contact member, 3d ... Conveying roller, 3e ... Registration roller, 3f ... Conveying belt,
3 g, 3 h ... Ejection roller, 3 j ... Roller, 3 i ... Manual feed tray, 4 ... Transfer roller, 5 ... Fixing means, 5 a ... Drive roller, 5 b ... Heater, 5 c ... Support, 5 d ... Fixing rotator, 6 ... Ejecting section , 7 ... Photosensitive drum, 8 ... Charging roller,
9 ... exposure opening, 10 ... developing means, 10a ... toner storage,
10b1, 10b2 ... Toner feeding member, 10c ... Magnet, 10d ... Developing roller, 10e ... Developing blade, 11 ... Cleaning means,
11a ... Cleaning blade, 11b ... Squisheet, 11
c ... Waste toner storage section, 12 ... Toner developing frame, 12a ... Developing frame, 12b ... Developing bottom frame, 12c ... Lid member, 13 ... Cleaning frame, 14 ... Device body, 15 ... Opening / closing member, 15a ... Shaft , 16 ...
Guide rail, 16a ... 1st inclined surface, 16b ... 2nd inclined surface,
16c ... Recessed portion, 17 ... Guide member, 18a ... Boss, 18b ... Rib, 19 ... Abutting member, 20 ... Contact surface, 21 ... Gear, 22 ... Drive gear, 23 ... Screw coil spring, 24 ... Pressing member, 25 ... Arm part, 26 ... Shaft, 27 ... Shutter arm, 28 ... Drum shutter member, 29 ... Link member, 29a ... Rotation center, 29b ... Projection part, 30 ... Ground member, 31 ... Screw coil spring

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Toshiyuki Karama 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc. (72) Inventor Isao Ikemoto 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Within the corporation

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A process cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus main body, comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member; and a cartridge frame body supporting the electrophotographic photosensitive body and the process means. A guide portion that is provided on both outer side surfaces of the cartridge frame body and serves as a guide when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus, the guide portion being a rotation axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. And a second guide portion extending rearward from the first guide portion in the insertion direction of the process cartridge into the image forming apparatus main body.
A process cartridge having a curved guide portion. 2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second guide portion has a curved shape that bulges downward. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a conductive shaft for grounding the electrophotographic photosensitive member is provided on one side of the first guide portion. 4. The process cartridge comprises a charging means, a developing means or a cleaning means as the process means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member which are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein 5. The process cartridge is a cartridge in which at least one of a charging unit, a developing unit, a cleaning unit as the process unit, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a cartridge and is attached to and detached from an image forming apparatus main body. The process cartridge according to claim 1, which is made possible. 6. The process cartridge is a cartridge in which at least a developing unit serving as the process unit and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally made into a cartridge and can be attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus. 1. The process cartridge according to 1. 7. An image forming apparatus, wherein a process cartridge is attachable / detachable and forms an image on a recording medium, an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a process unit acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and A cartridge frame body that supports the process means, and guide portions that are provided on both outer side surfaces of the cartridge frame body and serve as guides when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the main body of the image forming apparatus are provided. A first guide portion provided on the extension of the rotation axis of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and a second guide portion extending rearward from the first guide portion in the insertion direction of the process cartridge into the image forming apparatus main body, Mounting means for detachably mounting the process cartridge having the second guide portion formed in a curved shape, and transporting the recording medium. It has a conveying means, wherein the mounting means, the image forming apparatus characterized by having a guide rail of curved shape for guiding the guide unit. 8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the guide rail is formed in a curved shape that is downwardly swelled and bulges downward. 9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a grounding member provided at the innermost portion of the guide rail, the grounding member being capable of contacting a conductive shaft for grounding the electrophotographic photosensitive member of the process cartridge. apparatus. 10. The image forming apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic copying machine, a laser beam printer, or a facsimile machine.