JPS60111259A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To detach an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum and an insulating drum without putting other adjacent process equipment away from it specially, and carry out its maintenance by storing the image carrier in a cartridge. CONSTITUTION:When a device body is engaged with the holder 18 of the process cartridge 17, a hollow movable rail 72 is engaged loosely with a rail guide frame 71 fitted to the main body, a fixed rail 73 fitted to the holding frame 18 is engaged loosely with the hollow part, and the holding frame 18 is only pushed or pulled to slide the rails. When the equipment in the process cartridge 17 including the photosensitive drum 3 is repaired, the process cartridge 17 is drawn out and then detached to be replaced. In this case, when a rotary lever 42 is rotated clockwise, a developing device 5 rotates around a shaft 41 by gravitation to move away from the photosensitive drum 3 and is held by a stopper 40. Then, a screw 64 is detached from a stage 67 to rotate an electrostatic charger holding member 22, and then the photosensitive drum 3 is allowed to be drawn out after being separated sufficiently from a cleaning blade 69 and a scooping sheet 70.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to positioning and holding of an image bearing member of an image forming apparatus.

Image forming devices such as electronic copying machines, facsimile receivers,
Laser beam printers and the like include a photosensitive drum as an image carrier, and image forming process equipment used to form a latent image or a developed image, such as a charging device, a developing device, and a cleaner that act on the photosensitive drum. placed in precise relative positions. This photosensitive drum has a finite lifespan and must be replaced. Furthermore, it is necessary to remove the photosensitive drum when replenishing developing toner, disposing of waste toner, and cleaning charging wires. Traditionally, this type of maintenance was performed by specialized service personnel. Therefore, it was possible to mount each process device, including the photosensitive drum, in an accurate position, and to work without damaging each device.

However, with small and personal devices, the number of devices installed is larger than that of conventional devices, and the frequency of use varies by each user, making it difficult for specialized service personnel to perform maintenance. Therefore, maintenance is left to general users, but with conventional image forming apparatuses, it is difficult to mount the photosensitive drum and other process equipment in accurate positions without damaging them.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned facts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus that allows even general users to carry out maintenance work safely and reliably.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention includes an image carrier 3 and an image forming process device 5-1 disposed in close proximity to the image carrier 3.
In an image forming apparatus equipped with 4, the image carrier 3 is fixed by a receiving member 65 with an extra space for the support 3b of the image carrier 3, and a member 66 that presses the support 3b. When the support member 3 is held in this position and the pressure of the pressing member 66 is released, the support body 3
The image forming apparatus is characterized in that the image carrier 3 can be moved away from the image forming process equipment 5 or 14 by moving in the extra space.

Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below.

FIG. 1 shows an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied, which is an embodiment of an electronic copying machine. -This electronic copying machine is fj
j A drum-shaped photosensitive drum 3 serving as a carrier rotates in the direction of arrow R around a shaft 3a, while copying an image of a document 0 on a document table l moving in the direction of arrow X. First, the photosensitive drum 3 is primarily charged by the charger 4. There, when the reflected light of the original image O illuminated by the original illumination lamp L is imaged and exposed by the short focus lens array 2, an electrostatic latent image is formed. When this imaging exposure is completed, the document table 1 moves back. During this time, the blank exposure lamp Q is turned on to illuminate the outside of the image-forming exposure range of the photosensitive drum 3, which is rotating further, to short-circuit and eliminate the primary charge. The formed electrostatic latent image is visualized with toner supplied from the developing device 5. The developed toner image is transferred to a copy paper P sent from a cassette S by a charger 8. The copy paper P is then separated from the photosensitive drum 3 by a charger 9, and the developed toner image thereon is fixed by a fixing device 7 before being discharged outside the machine. On the other hand, the toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 3 is cleaned by a cleaner 14, and the residual charge on the photosensitive drum 3 is short-circuited and eliminated by the irradiation light from the document illumination lamp L.

In this electronic copying machine, the photosensitive drum 3, charging device 4, developing device 5, and cleaner 14 are provided in a process cartridge 17 held in a frame 29.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the details inside the process cartridge 17. In FIG. ) is the mounting mechanism for each device attached to each. A rotating shaft 3a of the photosensitive drum 3 is fitted into a bearing 3b. A groove member 65 having a sufficient margin (margin space amount Y) relative to the outer diameter of the bearing 3b is attached to the front and rear frames of the process cartridge 17, and the bearing 3b is placed therein. On the other hand, a holding member 22 of the charger 4 is rotatably supported by a shaft 49 on the front side (and rear side) of the cleaner 14 attached to the front and rear frames of the process cartridge 17 . This charger holding member 22 is fixed with screws 64 to a stage 67 attached to the front and rear frames of the process cartridge 17. In addition, an elastic member 66 is provided in the charger holding member 22.
is fixedly installed and the charger 4 is held in position (shape s in the figure), the bearing 3b in the groove 65 is pressed against one edge of the groove 65 by the elastic member 66, The photosensitive drum 3 is held in place. The elastic member 66, groove 65, and photosensitive drum 3 at this time are shown in the perspective view of FIG.

The cleaner 14 is attached to the front and rear frames of the process cartridge 17 with a lever 60, a spring 61, and a groove part 62, and includes a cleaning blade 69 and a scooping sheet 70.
is pressed against the photosensitive drum 3.

In the developing device 5, the groove at the bottom is a process cartridge.

It is fitted onto a support shaft 41 attached to the front and rear frames of the chef and is rotatably supported. A rotating lever 42 attached to the front and rear frames of the process cartridge 17 is urged counterclockwise by a spring 43 and presses a protrusion 44 on the front side (and rear side) of the developing device 5. The weight of the developing device 5 from its center of gravity acts as a clockwise force on the support shaft 41, but due to the rotational biasing pressure of the rotating lever 42 and the spring 43, the abutting rollers provided on the outside of the developing sleeve 45 46 comes into contact with the side of the photosensitive drum 3, and the positional relationship between the developing device 5 and the photosensitive drum 3 is maintained constant. Further, a gear 47 (see FIG. 5) attached to the rotating shaft 3a of the photosensitive drum 3 is connected to a gear (not shown) on the developing device 5 side [l! 1 matches.

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the process cartridge 17 is positioned in the main body of the apparatus, and is a view seen from the longitudinal side of the photosensitive drum. A pin 36 implanted in the front plate 24 of the apparatus main body connects to the front frame 32 of the process cartridge 17.
The pin 34 of the front frame 32 is inserted into the hole 37 provided in the front plate 2.
4 into the holes 35, respectively. The pin 26 of the nest plate 25 of the apparatus main body fits into the hole 39 of the rear frame 33 of the process cartridge 17, and the pin 38 of the rear frame 33 fits into the hole 27 of the nest plate 25, respectively. The process cartridge 17 is placed on a holding frame 18, and can be pulled out from the main body of the apparatus by pulling a handle 30 attached to the front of the frame 29.

FIG. 4 shows the state when the process cartridge 17 is pulled out. The main body of the device and the holder 18 are held together by a hollow movable rail 7 attached to a rail guide frame 71 attached to the main body.
A fixed rail 73 attached to the holding frame 18 is loosely fitted into the hollow portion of the fixed rail 73, and each rail slides when the holding frame 18 is pushed or pulled.

Including the photosensitive drum 3, the process cartridge 1
When repairing the equipment inside 7, pull out the process cartridge 17, remove it, and replace it.

When the rotation lever 42 is turned counterclockwise, the developing device 5 rotates by its own weight about the shaft 41, and is separated from the photosensitive drum 3 and held by the stopper 40. The amount of separation at this time is set to be larger than the amount of free space Y provided in the groove 65. Next, when the screw 64 is removed from the stage 67 and the charger holding member 22 is rotated, the pressing of the elastic member 66 against the bearing 3b is released. Since the groove 65 has enough space for the bearing 3b, the photosensitive drum 3 can be removed after being sufficiently separated from the cleaning blade 69 and scooping sheet 70. In addition, the abutting roller 46
This prevents the gear from coming into contact with the photosensitive drum 3 again.

When installing a new photosensitive drum 3, this procedure can be reversed. At this time, since the bearing 3b is held in contact with one edge of the groove 65, the photosensitive drum 3 is always mounted in a fixed position.

Note that if the bottom side of the groove 65 is sloped downward from the one edge side that the bearing 3b is in contact with, when the pressing of the elastic member 66 is released, the bearing 3b will slide on the bottom side of the groove 65, and the photosensitive drum 3 can also be configured to automatically separate from the cleaning blade 69 and scooping sheath 70.

” - In the example, a type of device in which a process cartridge is composed of a photosensitive drum and other process equipment is given as an example, but it is also applicable to a device in which a photosensitive drum and each process device are independently assembled into the main body of the device. can. Furthermore, the invention is not limited to electronic copying machines, but can also be applied to other image forming apparatuses such as facsimile receivers and laser beam printers that form latent images on an insulated drum using multi-stylus electrodes.

As explained above, according to the apparatus of the present invention.

When an image carrier such as a photosensitive drum or an insulating drum is removed, there is no need to separate other adjacent process equipment, and when the image carrier is attached, the image carrier is automatically positioned. Especially for general users who are not professional service personnel.
#A Even if the holding body is replaced, there is no mistake such as scratching it or attaching it to the wrong position, and there is an advantage that maintenance can be performed safely and reliably.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which the present invention is applied;
The figure is an enlarged view of the main parts, Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the process cartridge installed in the main body of the apparatus, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the process cartridge pulled out, and Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the process cartridge being pulled out.
The figure is a detailed perspective view of the photosensitive drum. 3 is a photosensitive drum, 5 is a developing device, 14 is a cleaner, 17 is a process cartridge, 65 is a groove member, and 66 is an elastic member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In an image forming apparatus equipped with an image bearing member and an image forming process device disposed close to and opposite to the image bearing member, a receiving member having an extra space relative to the support of the image bearing member;
The image carrier is held in a fixed position by a member that presses the support, and when the suppression of the suppression member is released, the support moves in the margin space and the image carrier is removed from the image forming process equipment. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a body can be separated.