JPH0876669A - Process cartridge and image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To maintain excellent conductivity and to prevent abnormal sound or strange sound from being produced even though grease or the like is not applied by constituting an electric contact member of a conductive resin member obtained by filling a resin material consisting of polyphenylen salfide with conductive substance. CONSTITUTION: The end face of a core bar 8a in a thrust direction is covered with a cap 25 functioning as the electric contact member, and an electrode 26 is brought into contact with the cap 25 by elasticity with the load of 50 to 200gf. When the process cartridge is attached by the attaching means of a device main body, a receiving terminal 27 on the process cartridge side is brought into contact with the feeding terminal 28 on the device main body side, so that a power source 29 on the device main body side and a power source 27 on the process cartridge side are electrically coupled. The cap 25 functioning as the electric contact member is constituted of the conductive resin obtained by filling the resin material consisting of polyphenylen salfide with the conductive substance to give the conductivity, for example, carbon fiber or the like.

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 for forming an image using a developer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a latent image is formed by selectively exposing an image carrier uniformly charged by a charger, and the latent image is developed by a developer by a developer. At the same time as forming an image, the image formed by the developer is transferred to a recording medium to record an image. In such an apparatus, maintenance of each member is performed by a professional service person, which may be inconvenient for the user.

Therefore, the image carrier, the charging device, the developing device,
By integrating the cleaning unit and the like into an integrated structure into a cartridge, the user can replenish the developer and replace the parts of the image carrier that have reached the end of life by loading the cartridge into the main body of the apparatus, facilitating maintenance. What has been done has been put to practical use.

In such a process cartridge, it is necessary to apply a bias voltage to each of the charging roller forming the charging device and the developing roller forming the developing device, and to electrically ground the image carrier. In order to rotate such a charging roller and a developing roller, a contact member is brought into contact with the rotating body, and the main assembly of the apparatus and the rotating body are electrically connected via the electric contact.

[0005]

However, since the electric contact member has conventionally been made of a metal member having excellent conductivity, when the rotating member rotates during image formation, the metal members rub against each other at the contact portion. However, there was a problem that abnormal noises and abnormal noises occurred.

Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of the abnormal noise and the abnormal noise, the conductive grease is applied to the rubbing portions of the metals, but the grease applying work is performed manually by the surroundings. Therefore, there is a problem in that workability is poor because it is necessary to pay attention so as not to adhere to the member, and it is difficult to cope with automation of the production line to improve productivity.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to maintain good conductivity and to prevent the generation of abnormal noise or noise without applying grease or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus having a contact member that can be prevented.

[0008]

A typical configuration according to the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a process cartridge detachable from an image forming apparatus main body with an image carrier.
At least one process unit acting on the image bearing member, and an electrical contact member for electrically connecting the image bearing member or the process unit to the image forming apparatus main body, wherein the electrical contact member is polyphenylene. It is characterized in that it is composed of a conductive resin member in which a resin material made of sulfide is filled with a conductive substance.

As another configuration, in an image forming apparatus for forming an image using a developer, an image carrier, a charging unit for charging the image carrier, and a developer for the image carrier. Developing means for forming an image, transfer means for transferring the image formed on the image carrier to a recording medium, conveying means for conveying the recording medium, the image carrier or charging means or developing means. A means and an electric contact member for electrically connecting the main body of the apparatus, wherein the electric contact member is a conductive resin member obtained by filling a conductive material in a resin material made of polyphenylene sulfide. .

[0010]

In the above structure, since the electric contact member is made of the conductive resin member, even if the contact member rubs against another metal contact without impairing the conductive performance, an abnormal noise is generated.・ No abnormal noise will occur.

Therefore, since it is not necessary to apply grease or the like as in the conventional case, it becomes easy to automate the production line.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] A first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8. 1 is a structural explanatory view of the image forming apparatus in which the process cartridge is mounted, FIG. 2 is a structural explanatory view of the process cartridge, FIG. 3 is an explanatory drawing of the cartridge mounting structure, and FIGS. It is a structure explanatory view of an electric contact member for applying a charging bias to a charging roller.

Here, as the order of the description, the overall structure of the image forming apparatus and the process cartridge will be described first, and then the structure of the electrical contact member will be described.

{Overall Configuration} This image forming apparatus A is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the laser beam L based on the image information is irradiated from the optical system 1 to form an image of a developer (hereinafter referred to as “toner”) on the photosensitive drum which is an image carrier. Then, in synchronization with the formation of the toner image, the recording medium 2 is conveyed from the sheet feeding cassette 3a by the conveying means 3 including a pickup roller 3b, a pair of registration rollers 3c, and the like, and an image forming unit is formed as a process cartridge B into a cartridge. 3, the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred to the recording medium 2 by applying a voltage to a transfer roller 4 as a transfer unit, and the recording medium 2 is guided to a fixing plate 5 by a guide plate 3d. To do.

The fixing means 5 comprises a driving roller 5a and a fixing roller 5b containing a heater, 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 discharge roller pair 3e and discharged to the discharge section 6.

On the other hand, in the process cartridge B constituting the image forming section, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a photosensitive drum 7 having a photosensitive layer on a cylindrical surface of aluminum is rotated and the surface thereof is charged by a charging means. It is uniformly charged by applying a voltage to a certain charging roller 8, and the optical image from the optical system 1 is exposed on the photosensitive drum 7 through the exposure unit 9 to form a latent image, which is developed by the developing means 10. . This developing means 10
The toner in the toner reservoir 10a is fed by the toner feeding member 10b, the developing roller 10d having the fixed magnet 10c built therein is rotated, and 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. By transferring the toner to the photosensitive drum 7 according to the latent image, a toner image 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 to 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 waste toner in the waste toner reservoir 11c.

Each component such as the photosensitive drum 7 holds a toner container 12a forming a toner reservoir 10a, a developing frame 12b holding a developing roller 10d, a photosensitive drum 7, a charging roller 8 and a cleaning means 11. Cleaning frame
12c and a shutter member 12d for protecting the photoconductor drum 7 from exposure to radiation are housed in a housing constituted by combining them and made into a cartridge, which is detachably attached to a cartridge attaching means provided in the apparatus main body 13. It

The mounting of the cartridge is performed by opening the front unit 14 of the apparatus main body 13 as shown in FIG. That is, a front unit 14 that can be opened and closed by a hinge 14a is attached to the front portion of the apparatus body 13, and when the front unit 14 is opened, cartridge mounting means is provided in the apparatus body 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cartridge mounting means has a drum pin 15 for supporting the photosensitive drum 7, and
A guide part 16 formed outside the cleaning frame 12c and a click spring part 17 having a spring property are provided on both side surfaces. On the other hand, the device body 13 has a click hole in which a guide hole portion 18 for guiding the guide portion 16 and a click spring portion 17 are inserted.
Positioning portions 20 for positioning the photosensitive drum 7 and the photosensitive drum 7 are formed on both side surfaces. Therefore, the process cartridge B is positioned and mounted in the image forming apparatus A by inserting the guide portion 16 of the process cartridge B along the guide hole portion 18. Then, when the process cartridge B is mounted, the drum drive gear 21 axially supported on the side surface of the apparatus main body 13 is attached to the photosensitive drum 7, and the drum gear 22 (see FIG.
Driving force can be transmitted to the photoconductor drum 7.

The shutter member 12d is opened and closed centering on the shaft 12d1 (see FIG. 2) as the process cartridge B is attached and detached by an opening and closing mechanism (not shown).
When the cartridge B is attached to the image forming apparatus A, the cartridge B is opened, and when the cartridge B is removed from the image forming apparatus A, the cartridge B is closed.

{Structure of Electric Contact Member} Next, the structure of the electric contact member for electrically connecting the charging roller 8 and the apparatus main body 13 will be described.

As shown in the sectional view of FIG. 4, the charging roller 8 has a conductive elastic layer 8b on a cored bar 8a, a high resistance elastic layer 8c thereon, and a protective film 8d on the surface. Have. The cored bar 8a has conductivity, and by supplying a bias voltage to the cored bar 8a, the surface of the photosensitive drum 7 is uniformly charged via the charging roller 8.

As shown in FIG. 5, both ends of the cored bar 8a are supported by bearings 23, respectively, and the bearings 23 are mounted on the cleaning frame 12c and the bearings as shown in FIG.
By being urged in the direction of the photosensitive drum 7 by a spring 24 which is contracted between the photosensitive drum 7 and 23, the photosensitive drum 7 comes into a predetermined pressure contact with the photosensitive drum 7 and is rotated by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 7. It has become.

An end face in the thrust direction of the core metal 8a is covered with a cap 25 as an electric contact member, and an electrode 26 is elastically contacted with the cap 25 with a load of 50 to 200 gf. Then, the process cartridge B is the apparatus main body 13
When mounted by the mounting means, the power receiving terminal 27 on the side of the process cartridge B and the power feeding terminal 28 on the side of the apparatus main body 13 come into contact with each other, and the power source 29 on the side of the apparatus main body 13 and the process cartridge B
The side electrode 27 is electrically connected.

Here, a cap as the electric contact member
The reference numeral 25 is made of a conductive material for making a resin material such as polyphenylene sulfide (hereinafter referred to as “PPS”) have conductivity, for example, a conductive resin filled with carbon fiber or the like.

It is often said that the PPS has excellent insulating properties as one of the properties common to polymer materials, and the PPS also has good insulating properties and arc resistance even under high temperature and high humidity. Have sex. However, “the new technology of imparting conductivity to polymers, the actual development of new applications and their practical application-
"Comprehensive reference materials" (January 25, 1983, published by Chubu Business Development Center Publishing Department), p.
PS has a specific resistance of about 10 ⁶ Ωcm, but when exposed to As F ₅ vapor, the specific resistance becomes 1 Ωcm, and the conductivity is improved 10 ⁶ times by doping with As F ₅ . By crystal analysis,
The Ferni rings next to each other are tilted ± 45 ° with respect to the plane created by sulfur. Therefore, it is possible that the electrons are delocalized in the polymer via the d orbital of sulfur to improve the conductivity. Is stated.

Further, since PPS is generally excellent in fluidity and heat resistance, it is possible to increase the filling amount of the conductive substance as compared with other resins, and to increase the filling amount of the conductive substance. By doing so, the moldability is slightly deteriorated, but it is superior to other resins.

Therefore, PPS is suitable as a base resin for a conductive resin, since the resin itself is potentially conductive and the filling amount of a conductive substance can be increased.

Regarding the conductive substance with which the PPS is filled, a substance having a smaller size is more likely to be uniformly dispersed up to the surface portion of the resin, and stable conductivity can be obtained. However, if it is too small, it becomes difficult for the conductive substances to come into contact with each other, and it becomes difficult to form a conductive path. Therefore, the size of the conductive substance is 5 to 20 μm for the fiber diameter.
It is recommended to use a fiber having a fiber length of 100 to 500 μm in m. Furthermore, the higher the content of the conductive substance, the better the conductivity.
For example, when the content rate was 30%, the resistance value was 50 to 150 Ω. If this content rate is less than 30%, the resistance value will increase,
It also has poor stability. When the content is 30% or more, the resistance value decreases and the stability also improves. However, if the content is too high, moldability and the like gradually become a problem.

Therefore, the content rate of the conductive material should be set to an optimum value in accordance with the required conductive performance, usage conditions and the like. In this example, as the conductive material to be filled, stable conductivity was obtained when the carbon fiber content was in the range of 20 to 50%, and good image formation was possible.

The contact pressure between the cap 25 and the electrode 26 ensures contact between the two, and the metal bar 8a on the side opposite to the side where the cap 25 is provided hits the cleaning frame 12c by pressing the electrode 26. Suppressing scraping of the frame 12c,
Moreover, in order to reduce the rotation load of the core metal 8a, about 50-200 gf
It is preferable to make the load low.

In this embodiment, in order to ensure the contact between the cap 25 and the electrode 26, as shown in FIG. 6, a projection 25a having a triangular cross section (may be a semicircle or the like) is provided on the contact end surface of the cap 25. At least two or more are provided. This is because if the conductive material filled in the conductive resin forming the cap 25 is unevenly dispersed in the resin, a conductive path due to the conductive material is not formed between the electrode 26 and the cored bar 8a, and the conductive failure is caused. appear. At this time, if the protrusion 25a is provided as described above,
The conductive substance is locally concentrated on the protrusion 25a, and the conductive substance is sufficiently protruded at the tip of the protrusion 25a.
When contacting the protrusion 25a with a constant load, the electrode 26 and the cap
Stable conductive performance can be obtained by contact with the conductive material sufficiently protruding from the tips of the projections 25a of 25.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cap is
The contact end surface of 25 may be provided with a ring-shaped protrusion 25b. The cap 25 provided with the protrusion 25b can also obtain stable conductive performance similarly to the cap 25 provided with two or more protrusions 25a. It is preferable that the cap 25 provided with the ring-shaped protrusion 25b is brought into contact with the electrode 26 'having a two-leg contact terminal at a low load of about 50 to 200 gf.

As described above, by forming the cap 25 as an electric contact member that comes into contact with the electrodes 26 and 26 'with the conductive resin, even if the electrodes 25 and 26' made of metal are rubbed, abnormal noise is generated. No strange noise is produced. Therefore, unlike the conventional case, it is not necessary to apply grease or the like to the contact portion, and the assembling process of the charging roller 8 can be automated.

[Second Embodiment] As a second embodiment, a structure for supplying power to the developing roller 10d through a conductive resin will be described.

The developing roller 10d rotates when a roller gear attached to the roller shaft meshes with a drum gear. As shown in FIG. 9, the developing roller 10d is covered with a roller 30 on the end of the developing roller 10d.
Contacts the photosensitive drum 7 to maintain a constant gap t between the photosensitive drum 7 and the developing roller.

An electrode 31 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the developing roller 10d, and the electrode 31 rotates integrally with the developing roller 10d. And the electrode 32 is in contact with the electrode 31,
This electrode 32 connects the process cartridge B to the image forming apparatus A.
When it is attached to, the power source 29 of the apparatus main body 13 is connected. As a result, the developing bias can be applied from the apparatus main body 13 to the developing roller 10d.

Here, the electrodes 31 and 32 are made of a metal member having a spring property, and an electric contact member 33 is attached to the tip of one electrode 32, and the contact member 33 contacts the electrode 31. It is like this. The contact member 33 is a conductive resin member having a shape as shown in FIG. 10, and as described in the first embodiment, the PPS resin material has a fiber diameter of 5 to 20 μm and a fiber length of 100 to 100 μm. A member formed by filling 20 to 50% of a conductive material such as carbon fiber having a size of about 500 μm and molded is attached to the electrode 32 by caulking or the like. The contact member 33 and the electrode 31 are 50 to 200 gf depending on the spring property of the electrode 31.
I try to make contact with the load.

As described above, even when the developing roller 10d is connected to the power source, the contact with the rotating portion is performed by the contact member 33 which is a conductive resin member, so that grease or the like is not applied to the contact portion. Even if there is no abnormal noise or noise, stable power supply can be achieved.

[Third Embodiment] As a third embodiment, a structure in which the photosensitive drum 7 is grounded through a conductive resin will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, a ground electrode 35 is attached to one of the bearings 34 axially supporting both ends of the photosensitive drum 7 in the longitudinal direction. When the process cartridge B is attached to the image forming apparatus A, the ground electrode 35 is attached. The base end of the device contacts the ground contact of the device body 13. An electric contact member 36 is attached to the tip of the ground electrode 35 by caulking or the like, and the contact member 36 is in sliding contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rotating aluminum cylinder of the photosensitive drum 7 with a constant load. . As a result, the photoconductor drum 7 contacts the contact member 36.
And is grounded via the ground electrode 35.

Here, the contact member 36 is made of a resin material such as PPS with a fiber diameter of 5 to 20 μm, as in the above-mentioned embodiment.
, A conductive resin such as carbon fiber having a fiber length of 100 to 500 μm filled with 20 to 50% of conductive material is used.
It is designed to contact the inner surface of the photoconductor drum with a load of ~ 200gf.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12, two protrusions are provided on the surface where the contact member 36 contacts the photosensitive drum 7.
36a is provided. With the arrangement of the protrusions 36a, even if the inner peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum 7 is scratched, the two protrusions 36a do not ride up at the same time, and at least one of the protrusions 36a is surely attached to the inner peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum. It is arranged so as to come into contact with each other and are displaced in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

By thus rubbing the resin contact member 36 against the inner peripheral surface of the photoconductor drum, abnormal noise,
It is possible to prevent the occurrence of noise and the like. Therefore, it is not necessary to apply grease or the like to the contact portion unlike the conventional case,
It is possible to automate the process of assembling the photoconductor drum 7.

[Other Embodiments] The process cartridge B according to the present invention described above is not limited to the case of forming a monochromatic image as described above, but a plurality of developing means are provided to provide a multicolor image (for example, a two-color image, It can also be suitably applied to a cartridge that forms a three-color image or full-color image.

As the developing method, it is possible to use various developing methods such as a known two-component magnetic brush developing method, cascade developing method, touch-down developing method, cloud developing method and the like.

The image carrier is not limited to the above-mentioned photosensitive drum, but includes the following, for example. First, a photoconductor is used as the photoconductor, and as the photoconductor, for example, amorphous silicon, amorphous selenium,
Zinc oxide, titanium oxide, organic photoconductor (OPC) and the like 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-mentioned first embodiment, but a tungsten wire which has been conventionally used as another structure is provided with metal shields 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.

Further, as a method of 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 as an image carrier and at least one process means are provided. Therefore, as the mode of the process cartridge, in addition to the embodiment described above, for example, the image carrier and the charging means are integrally made into a cartridge, which can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. The image carrier and the developing means are integrally formed into a cartridge, which can be attached to and detached from the main body of the apparatus. The image carrier and the cleaning means are integrally made into a cartridge so that it can be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. Further, there is one in which an image carrier 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.

In the above-described embodiment, the photosensitive drum, the developing roller, etc. are made into a cartridge, and the process cartridge is mounted to form an image. However, the photosensitive drum, the developing roller, etc. are made into a cartridge. Alternatively, even an image forming apparatus directly attached to the apparatus body can be applied to the present invention.

That is, the photosensitive drum and charging means for uniformly charging the photosensitive drum, developing means for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum, and the toner image formed on the photosensitive drum are transferred to a recording medium. In an image forming apparatus having a transfer unit for carrying out, a transporting unit for transporting a recording medium, etc. in the apparatus main body, for electrically connecting the photoconductor drum or the charging unit or the developing unit to the power source of the apparatus main body. Similar effects can be obtained even when the electric contact member is made of a conductive resin member in which a resin material made of PPS is filled with a conductive substance.

Further, although the laser beam printer is exemplified as the image forming apparatus in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present invention is not limited to this, and other image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine, a facsimile machine or a word processor can be used. It is also possible to use for.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, when electrically connecting the charging member or the image bearing member to the apparatus main body, the sliding portion is connected via the PPS resin member.
It is possible to prevent abnormal noise and noise from being generated from the rubbing portion.

Since it is not necessary to apply conductive grease or the like to the rubbing portion as in the conventional case, it is possible to automate the assembly production line.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration explanatory view of an image forming apparatus with a process cartridge attached.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration of a process cartridge.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a cartridge mounting configuration.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional explanatory diagram of a charging roller.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a power supply configuration to a charging roller.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a cap end surface.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a power supply configuration to a charging roller.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an end surface of the cap.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a power supply configuration to a developing roller.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a contact member.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a ground configuration of a photosensitive drum.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a contact member.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Optical system, 2 ... Recording medium, 3 ... Conveying means, 3a ... Cassette, 3b ... Pickup roller, 3c ... Registration roller, 3d ... Guide plate, 3e ... Ejection roller, 4 ... Transfer roller, 5 ... Fixing means, 5a ... drive roller, 5b ... fixing roller, 6 ... discharge section, 7 ... photoconductor drum, 8 ... charging roller,
8a ... core metal, 8b ... elastic layer, 8c ... elastic layer, 8d ... protective film, 9 ... exposure part, 10 ... developing means, 10a ... toner reservoir, 10
b ... toner feeding member, 10c ... magnet, 10d ... developing roller,
10e ... Developing blade, 11 ... Cleaning means, 11a ... Cleaning blade, 11b ... Squeeze sheet, 11c ... Waste toner reservoir, 12a toner container, 12b ... Developing frame body, 12c ... Cleaning frame body, 12d ... Shutter member, 13 ... Device body ,
14 ... Front unit, 14a ... Hinge, 15 ... Drum pin, 16 ...
Guide part, 17 ... Click spring part, 18 ... Guide hole part, 19 ...
Click recess, 20 ... Positioning part, 21 ... Drive gear, 22 ... Drum gear, 23 ... Bearing, 24 ... Spring, 25 ... Cap, 25a,
25b ... Protrusion, 26, 26 '... Electrode, 27 ... Power receiving terminal, 28 ... Power feeding terminal, 29 ... Power source, 30 ... Roller, 31, 32 ... Electrode, 33 ... Contact member, 34 ... Bearing, 35 ... Ground electrode, 36 ... Contact members, 36a ...
Protrusion

Claims (16)

[Claims] 1. A process cartridge attachable to and detachable from an image forming apparatus main body, an image carrier, at least one process unit acting on the image carrier, the image carrier or the process unit, and the image forming apparatus main body. An electric contact member for electrically connecting the electric contact member and the electric contact member, the electric contact member being formed of a conductive resin member in which a conductive material is filled in a resin material made of polyphenylene sulfide. 2. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the electric contact member is for supplying power to a charging member or a developing member as a process means. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the electric contact member is for grounding the image bearing member. 4. The conductive material with which the resin material is filled is carbon fiber having a fiber diameter of 5 to 20 μm and a fiber length of 100 to 500 μm, and the filling rate into the resin material is 20 to 50%. The process cartridge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: 5. The process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the electric contact member is configured to be brought into contact with another electric contact member with a load of 50 to 200 gf. 6. The process cartridge according to claim 4, wherein the electrical contact member has a protruding portion. 7. The process cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the electric contact member has two or more protruding portions. 8. The process cartridge according to claim 6, wherein the protruding portion of the electric contact member is configured to come into contact with another electric contact member with a load of 50 to 200 gf. 9. The process cartridge comprises a charging means, a developing means or a cleaning means as the process means and an electrophotographic photosensitive member as the image carrier, which are integrally formed into a cartridge, and the cartridge is formed in the main body of the image forming apparatus. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the process cartridge is removable. 10. The image forming apparatus, wherein the process cartridge comprises at least one of a charging unit, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit as the process unit, and an electrophotographic photosensitive member as the image carrier, which are integrally formed into a cartridge. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the process cartridge is removable from the main body. 11. The process cartridge is configured such that at least a developing unit as the process unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member as the image carrier are integrally made into a cartridge so as to be attachable to and detachable from an image forming apparatus main body. The process cartridge according to claim 1, which is a product. 12. An image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein a process cartridge is attachable / detachable, an image carrier, at least one process unit acting on the image carrier, the image carrier or A process cartridge having an electric contact member for electrically connecting the process means and the main body of the image forming apparatus, wherein the electric contact member is composed of a conductive resin member obtained by filling a conductive material in a resin material made of polyphenylene sulfide. An image forming apparatus comprising: a mounting unit for mounting a recording medium, a transfer unit for transferring an image formed on the image carrier to a recording medium, and a conveying unit for conveying the recording medium. . 13. An image forming apparatus for forming an image using a developer, an image carrier, a charging unit for charging the image carrier, and an image of the developer on the image carrier. Developing means, transfer means for transferring the image formed on the image carrier to a recording medium, conveying means for conveying the recording medium, the image carrier or charging means or developing means, and the apparatus main body. An electric contact member for electrically connecting the electric contact member with the electric contact member, the electric contact member being formed of a conductive resin member in which a conductive material is filled in a resin material made of polyphenylene sulfide. 14. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the image forming apparatus is an electrophotographic copying machine. 15. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the image forming apparatus is a laser beam printer.
The image forming apparatus described. 16. The image forming apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the image forming apparatus is a facsimile machine.