JPH10133548A - Process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make stored toner quantity small, to thin the film thickness of an electrophotographic photoreceptor and to reduce printing cost per specified number of sheets of recording paper by setting the film thickness of the photoreceptor equivalently to the toner quantity stored to be smaller capacity than the specified capacity of a toner container. SOLUTION: The toner quantity stored in the toner container 113 is decided corresponding to the number of sheets of printing feasible recording paper regulated in a process cartridge 102. The film thickness of the photoreceptor on the surface of a photoreceptor drum 108 is decided considering the number of sheets of printing feasible recording paper. Namely, the film thickness of the photoreceptor is formed to be thickness equivalent to 2,000 sheets of A4 regular paper according to the stored toner quantity, and formed to be thinner than the film thickness equivalent to the toner quantity for 10,000 sheets of A4 regular paper being the specified capacity of the container 113. Therefore, the process cartridge 102 where the number of sheets of printing feasible recording paper is 2,000 is produced by applying the parts of the process cartridge where the number of sheets of printing feasible recording paper is 10,000.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for performing printing on a recording medium in an electrophotographic system, and to a mountable process cartridge detachably mounted on a main body of such an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, a cartridge is integrally formed with an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and the cartridge is used for image forming. A process cartridge system that can be attached to and detached from the forming apparatus main body is employed. According to this process cartridge system, the maintenance of the apparatus can be performed by the user himself without relying on a service person, so that the operability can be remarkably improved. Therefore, this process cartridge system is widely used in electrophotographic image forming apparatuses.

In a recording apparatus such as a copying machine and a printer using electrophotography, a photosensitive drum, a charging device, a developing device, a transfer device, and a toner container are appropriately combined and integrated into a process cartridge. A type which is used by being mounted on a photographic image forming apparatus main body has been widely used.

In these process cartridges, the life of the process cartridge (ie, the number of printable recording sheets) is determined by the amount of toner stored in the toner container of the process cartridge, and the durability of each device in the process cartridge is determined. Is manufactured in consideration of this amount of toner. For example, the surface of a photosensitive member formed on a photosensitive drum is scraped by a printing operation, and if the scraping becomes large, normal printing cannot be performed. Therefore, the thickness of the photoreceptor is generally set in consideration of the number of recorded prints corresponding to the amount of toner stored in the toner container. In addition, such a process cartridge is replaced with a new process cartridge full of toner when the user uses up the toner, and the process cartridge that has used up the toner is discarded or recycled by refilling the toner at the manufacturer. .

[0005]

The present invention is a further development of the above-described conventional electrophotographic image forming apparatus, which reduces the amount of toner contained in a process cartridge and reduces the thickness of a photosensitive member. It is an object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which the printing cost per predetermined number of recording sheets is reduced by reducing the thickness of the recording sheet.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; A process unit such as a developing unit that acts on the photoreceptor, and a toner container that stores toner for the developing unit, and corresponding to the amount of toner stored in a volume smaller than the specified volume of the toner container, The film thickness of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is set.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the process cartridge according to the first aspect, a non-volatile storage element is provided in the detachable cartridge, and the toner accommodated in a smaller volume than a specified volume of the toner container. The film thickness information of the electrophotographic photosensitive member corresponding to the amount is stored in the storage element.

[0008] A third invention according to the present application is characterized in that the thickness information of the photoreceptor in the second invention is the number of recording media on which an image can be formed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the process cartridge according to any one of the first to third aspects, a charging unit, a developing unit or a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed as a process cartridge. The process cartridge is characterized in that it is detachable from the electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the process cartridge according to any one of the first to third aspects, at least one of a charging unit, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed. It is characterized in that it is made into a process cartridge and is detachable from the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the process cartridge according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrated into a process cartridge to be attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. It is characterized in that it is made possible. According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein the process cartridge according to any one of the first to third aspects is detachable from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body. Wherein the printer further comprises: mounting means for removably mounting the process cartridge; and transport means for transporting the recording medium for forming an image.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) A first embodiment of a recording apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a laser beam printer as an example of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to the present invention. 101
, A recording apparatus main body; 104, a recording paper tray for storing recording paper as a recording medium; 102, a mounting type process cartridge; 105, a fixing device; The recording paper for forming an image is transported from the recording paper tray 104 to the process cartridge 102 by a transport roller,
Here, an unfixed toner image is formed on the recording paper. Next, the recording paper is sent to the fixing device 105 and subjected to a heat and pressure treatment, and an unfixed toner image is fixed on the recording paper. Further, the recording paper is conveyed to and stacked on the paper discharge tray 112, and a series of recording processing is completed.

In the image formation in the electrophotographic system, the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 108 of the process cartridge is uniformly charged by the charging device 110, and the image is output from the scanner unit 131 including a laser and a polygon mirror correction system lens in accordance with an image signal. The modulated laser light is output, and the laser light is reflected by the return mirror 132 to form the exposure aperture 13.
3 irradiates the electrophotographic photosensitive drum 108 to form an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum in response to the irradiation of the laser beam. The electrostatic latent image is developed by the developing sleeve 111 carrying the toner in the toner container 113 to form a toner image.

A recording paper as a recording medium on which an image is formed is fed from a recording paper tray 104 onto a delivery roller 12.
0, transport rollers 121 and 122, registration roller 123
Is transferred to the transfer section, where the electrophotographic photosensitive member 108
The upper unfixed toner image is transferred onto the recording paper by the transfer roller 124. Next, the recording paper is sent to the fixing device 105 and subjected to heat and pressure processing, and the unfixed toner image is fixed on the recording paper.
The sheet is conveyed and stacked on the sheet discharge tray 112 by the conveying roller 125 and the sheet discharge roller 126, and a series of recording processes is completed.

These series of processes are controlled by a controller. In addition, 127, 128, 129, 130
Is a recording paper conveyance guide. As described above, a series of processes including a latent image forming process, a developing process of attaching toner to a latent image, a transfer process of transferring a toner image to recording paper, and a fixing process of heating and pressing an unfixed toner image and fixing it on recording paper. In the process cartridge 102 of the recording apparatus according to the present embodiment, an apparatus for performing each of the above-described processes such as the latent image forming process and the developing process is mounted therein, and the device also serves as a toner container. It is. The process cartridge 102 is of a type that can be mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus by mounting means 134 and 135. When the process cartridge 102 is mounted on the main body 101 of the recording apparatus, the process cartridge 102 and the main body 101 of the recording apparatus are connected by a gear. Power is transmitted from the printer to the process cartridge 102, and the main body of the recording apparatus 101 is connected to the process cartridge 102 and a non-volatile memory element to be described later by an electrical connection unit and a communication unit by contact of an electrical contact or the like. An electric bias or the like is applied to the process means, and the recording device main body and the storage element can communicate with each other.

Here, the toner is stored in a toner container 113 and adheres to the photosensitive drum 108 by the developing means 111. Subsequently, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper in the transfer device, sent to the fixing device in a state of an unfixed toner image, and a series of processes in the process cartridge 102 is completed. In a process cartridge having such a configuration, the amount of toner stored in the toner container 113 is generally determined in accordance with the number of printable recording sheets specified in the process cartridge.

For example, when the number of printable recording papers is defined as 10,000 A4 standard papers, it is necessary to print 10,000 sheets in black on a 5% area in the A4 standard papers. The toner amount is stored in the toner container. In general, the prescribed volume of the toner container is also adjusted to the required amount of toner.

In the process cartridge of the present invention, the toner container 113 is designed for printing 10,000 sheets of A4 standard paper, and its specified volume is large enough to store toner corresponding to printing 10,000 sheets. Has become. However, in the present embodiment, the amount of toner stored in the toner container 113 is limited to an amount that is sufficiently smaller than the amount stored in the specified volume, for example, an amount equivalent to 2,000 sheets of A4 standard paper.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the amount of toner stored in the toner container 113 of the process cartridge. In the case where 10,000 sheets of A4 standard paper are stored, up to the specified volume indicated by the arrow α. That is, the toner is stored in substantially the entire volume of the container.
Arrow: stored only up to β, ie, a sufficiently small amount.

The thickness of the photosensitive member formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 108 is also determined in consideration of the number of printable recording sheets specified in the process cartridge 102. Since the film of the photoreceptor is abraded during the charging process of the photoreceptor, the film thickness is generally set to be sufficiently large with respect to the magnitude of the abrasion. If the film thickness is not sufficient, the durability is reduced, and the characteristics of the photoreceptor are deteriorated as the photoreceptor is scraped, so that a sufficient image quality cannot be obtained.

In the process cartridge of this embodiment, the photosensitive member has a thickness corresponding to 2,000 sheets of A4 standard paper in accordance with the amount of stored toner. It is formed thinner than the film thickness corresponding to the toner amount for the sheet. By making the configuration of the process cartridge in this way, the number of printable recording papers is one.
By diverting the parts of 10,000 process cartridges and changing the film thickness of the photoreceptor and the amount of toner to be stored, it is possible to manufacture a process cartridge with 2,000 printable recording paper sheets, thereby reducing manufacturing costs. It can be suppressed.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The configuration of the recording apparatus according to this embodiment is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment, but is characterized in that a non-volatile storage element is mounted on a mountable process cartridge. This embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a process cartridge according to the present embodiment. Reference numeral 221 denotes an EEP-ROM (Electrically Era) which is a nonvolatile storage element.
Stable Programmable ROM), 2
20 is a connector. When the process cartridge 202 is mounted on the main body of the recording apparatus, the connector 220 is connected to the connector 107 (FIG. 1) of the main body of the recording apparatus, and the EEP-
The ROM 221 is electrically connected to a controller unit in the recording apparatus main body via the connector 220. At the same time, the EEP-ROM 22
1, the communication with the controller of the recording apparatus 101 is started, and the contents stored in the EEP-ROM 221 can be read out to the controller.

On the other hand, a storage element, ie, EEP-ROM 221
Stores the specifications of the process cartridge 202. In the present embodiment, the information that the number of printable recording sheets is limited to 2,000 sheets of A4-size standard paper as information on the film thickness of the photoconductor is described. It is stored in the EEP-ROM 221. The user operates the EEP-RO by operating the operation panel 103 of the recording apparatus main body 101.
M221 can be read, and the recording device 101
It can be confirmed from the operation panel 103 that the process cartridge 102 mounted on the printer has a specification in which the number of printable recording sheets is limited to 2,000 A4 standard size sheets. The information about the film thickness is preferably the number of printable sheets of the recording medium as described above, but may also be information such as a reduced film thickness itself or a small amount of toner.

In the above-described embodiment, the process cartridge is a process cartridge in which a charging unit or a cleaning unit, an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a developing unit are integrally formed, and this process cartridge is attached to an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body. To make it removable.
In addition, at least one of the charging unit and the cleaning unit, and the electrophotographic photosensitive member and the developing unit are integrally formed as a process cartridge so as to be detachable from the main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. Further, it means that at least the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a process cartridge so as to be detachable from the apparatus main body.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording medium by using an electrophotographic image forming process. For example, an electrophotographic copying machine or a printer (a laser beam printer, an LED printer, a facsimile, or the like) may be used. included.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By using a mountable process cartridge with a large number of printable recording papers, the thickness of the photosensitive material formed on the photosensitive drum is reduced by making the thickness of the photosensitive material equivalent to the amount of toner smaller than the specified volume of the toner container. The number of possible recording sheets has been reduced, manufacturing costs have been kept low, and an inexpensive process cartridge has been realized. Further, by mounting a non-volatile storage element on the process cartridge and storing information on the thickness of the photosensitive member of the process cartridge in the storage element, the user can know the specifications of the process cartridge used on the recording apparatus. It became possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus according to first and second embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a process cartridge according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a process cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a system block diagram of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a process cartridge according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Recording device main body 102 ... Mountable process cartridge 103 ... Operation panel 105 ... Fixing device 107 ... Connector 108 ... Photosensitive drum 109 ... Drum cleaning blade 110 ... Charging device 111 ... Developing device 113 ... Toner container 202 ... Process cartridge 208 ... Photosensitive drum 220 Connector 221 EEP-ROM 301 Controller 302 Operation panel 303 Sensor group 304 Driver 305 High voltage power supply

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main body of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a process unit such as a developing unit acting on the electrophotographic photosensitive member; and a toner for the developing unit. And a toner container, wherein the film thickness of the electrophotographic photosensitive member is set so as to correspond to the amount of toner stored in a volume smaller than a specified volume of the toner container. 2. The electrophotographic photosensitive member according to claim 1, wherein a non-volatile storage element is provided in said removable cartridge, and the amount of toner stored in said toner container is smaller than a prescribed volume of said toner container. Wherein the film thickness information is stored in the storage element. 3. The process cartridge according to claim 2, wherein the thickness information of the photoconductor is the number of recording media on which an image can be formed. 4. The process cartridge, wherein a charging unit, a developing unit or a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a process cartridge, and this process cartridge is made detachable from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The process cartridge according to any one of the above. 5. The process cartridge, wherein at least one of a charging unit, a developing unit, and a cleaning unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a process cartridge so as to be detachable from an electrophotographic image forming apparatus main body. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein: 6. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the process cartridge is configured such that at least a developing unit and an electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrally formed into a process cartridge so that the process cartridge can be attached to and detached from an apparatus main body. A process cartridge according to any one of the above. 7. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording medium, wherein the process cartridge according to claim 1 is detachably mountable to a main body of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: mounting means for removably mounting a cartridge; and transport means for transporting the recording medium for forming an image.