Patent Application
20060210305
The present patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §1.119 upon Japanese patent application no. 2005-077128, filed in the Japan Patent Office on Mar. 17, 2005, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
It is well known that a conventional image forming apparatus including an electrophotographic copier, printer, facsimile machine, multi-functional machine and so forth has a technique that can position an image bearing member supporting member.
In the image forming apparatus having the above-described technique, it is necessary to properly position and mount the image bearing member with respect to a main body of the image forming apparatus to form a high quality image on an image bearing member.
Therefore, a conventional image forming apparatus has a structure, for example as disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. 2004-233902, that includes a positioning member that is positioned and mounted to a mounting position with respect to a frame of the main body of the image forming apparatus. When the positioning member is mounted on the mounting position, an image bearing member supporting member is fitted into the mounting hole formed on the positioning member to position the image bearing member supporting member. Thereby, the image bearing member can be properly positioned on the main body of the image forming apparatus.
In this case, however, the amount of rotation speed deviation element drive gear during maintenance and/or replacement of the photoconductive element. The mounting hole is used as a tooling hole or a fitting portion for the image bearing member supporting member.
In the above-described conventional image forming apparatus, however, the image bearing member supporting member is fitted into the mounting hole of the positioning member to position the image bearing member supporting member with respect to the positioning member. That is, the mounting hole does not have a great amount of play, which makes it difficult to fit the image bearing member supporting member into the mounting hole, and the image forming apparatus has a disadvantage in the operability of positioning the image bearing member supporting member.
One or more embodiments of the present invention have arisen in view of the above-mentioned circumstances.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provide an image forming apparatus that can effectively position an image bearing member supporting member to a positioning member mounted on the image forming apparatus.
One or more embodiments of the present invention provide a method of positioning the image bearing member supporting member properly to the above-described image forming apparatus.
An embodiment of the present invention provides an image forming apparatus that includes an image bearing member, an image bearing member supporting member, a sliding member, a positioning member, and a pressing member. The image bearing member is configured to bear an image on a surface thereof. The image bearing member supporting member is configured to support the image bearing member. The sliding member has a guide portion. The positioning member is configured to be detachably positioned at a given position on the sliding member. The positioning member includes a fitting portion having planes and configured to fit with image bearing member supporting member while the positioning member being positioned at the given position. The pressing member is configured to press the image bearing member supporting member toward the planes of the fitting portion. The pressing member has a V-shaped portion so that the V-shaped portion is pushed between the guide portion and the image bearing member supporting member to press the image bearing member supporting member.
An embodiment of the present invention provides such an image forming apparatus in which the sliding member may be configured to move between first and second positions and that further includes a regulating member mounted thereon configured to regulate a movement of the pressing member. The pressing member may be movably supported by the positioning member while biased by a spring, both ends of which are locked by the sliding member and the pressing member.
When the sliding member is located at the first position, the pressing member biased by the spring may be regulated by the regulating member to stay away from the image bearing member supporting member.
When the sliding member leaves from the first position for the second position, the pressing member may move together with the sliding member.
When the sliding member comes to a third position located between the first and the second positions, the V-shaped portion may be pushed to a position between the guide portion and the image bearing member supporting member, and then is stopped.
When the sliding member further moves toward the second position, the pressing member may be released from a force exerted by the regulating member.
An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for positioning an image bearing member supporting member, the method including the steps of mounting the image bearing member supporting member to an image forming apparatus, closing a cover of the image forming apparatus to fit the image bearing member supporting member into a fitting hole formed on a positioning member mounted with respect to the cover, moving a sliding member in a given direction, contacting a pressing member mounted on the sliding member with the image bearing member supporting member, moving the sliding member to a given position, pushing a V-shaped portion of the pressing member between a guide portion of the sliding member and the image bearing member supporting member to press the image bearing member supporting member, and engaging the image bearing member supporting member with the positioning member.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the following detailed description of example embodiments, the accompanying drawings and the associated claims.
A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The accompanying drawings are intended to depict example embodiments of the present invention and should not be interpreted to limit the scope thereof. The accompanying drawings are not to be considered as drawn to scale unless explicitly noted.
It will be understood that if an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “against,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, then it can be directly on, against connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, if an element is referred to as being “directly on”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, then there are no intervening elements or layers present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, term such as “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, it should be understood that these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the present invention.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “includes” and/or “including”, when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
In describing example embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this patent specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, example embodiments of the present patent application are described.
Referring to
In
The plurality of process cartridges 1y, 1c, 1m, and 1bk are disposed in the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 1.
The intermediate transfer belt 2 is disposed opposite to the plurality of process cartridges 1y, 1c, 1m, and 1bk. The intermediate transfer belt 2 forms an endless belt extending over a plurality of supporting rollers 3, 4, and 5.
The plurality of process cartridges 1y, 1c, 1m, and 1bk include a plurality of respective image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk serving as a drum-shaped photoconductive element, and perform image forming operations for producing respective toner images with toners of different colors of yellow (y), magenta (m), cyan (c), and black (bk). Each of the toner images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt 2. Since the above described components indicated by y, c, m, and bk used for the image forming operations have similar structures and functions, except that respective toner images formed thereon are of different colors, which are yellow, magenta, cyan, and black toners, the discussion in
The process cartridge 1y includes the image bearing member 6y and other image forming components arranged around the image bearing member 6y, for example, a charging unit 11y having a charging roller 8y, a developing unit 9y having a developing roller 12y, and a cleaning unit 10y having a cleaning blade 13y. The developing unit 9y, the cleaning unit 10y, and a charging unit 11y are included in a unit case 14y.
When a series of image forming operations starts, the image bearing member 6y is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown) in a clockwise direction in
The developing roller 12y of the developing unit 9y is driven to rotate by a motor (not shown) in a counterclockwise direction in
The similar image forming operations as described above are performed for the process cartridges 1c, 1m, and 1bk. That is, a cyan toner image, a magenta toner image, and a black toner image are formed on the respective image bearing members 6c, 6m, and 6bk, and the cyan, magenta, and black toner images are sequentially laid on the yellow toner image transferred on the intermediate transfer belt 2.
The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a sheet feeding cassette 22 having a sheet feeding roller 23. The sheet feeding cassette 22 is disposed below the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 100 as shown in
After passing the fixing unit 25, the recording medium S is discharged to a sheet discharging part 26 formed on top of the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 100.
Further, residual toner remaining on the intermediate transfer belt 2 after the transfer of the overlaid toner image is removed by a belt cleaning unit 27.
In
The image forming apparatus 100 further includes a frame 33 in the main body 7. The frame 33 includes a front side plate 28 and a rear side plate 29, both of which are shown in
In
As shown in
Further, as shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
The shaft 40y is driven by a motor (not shown) to rotate. The torque of the rotation is transmitted via the image bearing member gear 38y and the cup-shaped gear 39y to the supporting shaft 16y, which rotates the image bearing member 6y as previously described. Since the near side portion of the supporting shaft 16y is fitted into the mounting hole 37y of the positioning member 32 via the bearing 17y, the supporting shaft 16y can be smoothly rotated in the above-described operation.
The similar image forming operations as described above are performed for the process cartridges 1c, 1m, and 1bk. That is, the far side portion of each of supporting shafts 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the process cartridge 1c, 1m, and 1bk are positioned with respect to the rear side plate 29, accordingly. And, the supporting shafts 16c, 16m, and 16bk and the image bearing members 6c, 6m, and 6bk are rotated in a same manner as described above.
While the motors of the image forming apparatus 100 are stopped, when the front door of the image forming apparatus 100 is opened and the positioning member 32 is rotated to an open positioned as shown in
When any of the process cartridges 1y, 1c, 1m, and 1bk is pulled in a direction as indicated by arrow “E” under the above-described condition, the process cartridges 1y, for example, is guided by a guide rail (not shown) to be drawn toward the near side or front side of the image forming apparatus 100.
Conversely, when any of the process cartridges 1y, 1c, 1m, and 1bk is pushed in a direction as indicated by arrow “G” under the above-described condition, the process cartridge 1y, for example, is inserted as guided by the guide rail toward the far side of the image forming apparatus 100. At this time, as shown in
Under the above-described condition, the near end portion of the supporting shaft 16y is positioned with respect to the frame 33. By closing the front door, the image forming apparatus 100 can be made ready to start a series of image forming operations. The process cartridges 1c, 1m, and 1bk can be detached and attached to the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 100 in the same manner as described above.
Referring to
The positioning member 32 in the open position as shown in
Further, as shown in
On the other hand, as shown in
Further, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk have respective long holes 48y, 48c, 48m, and 48bk that extend in a substantially horizontal direction. The long holes 48y, 48c, 48m, and 48bk are slidably engaged with stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk, respectively, which are a shoulder screw screwed to the sliding member 41 to regulate a movement of each of the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk.
With the above-described structure, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk can move in a horizontal direction in a given stroke with respect to the sliding member 41.
A lower surface of a flange formed on the upper portion of the sliding member 41 serve as a guide surface 50 that serves as a guide portion guiding the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk, when the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk move in a horizontal direction. For the above-described reason, the sliding member 41 has the guide surface 50 for the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk.
As shown in
As described above, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk are movably supported by the sliding member 41 while biased by the respective tension springs 52y, 52c, 52m, and 52bk. When the sliding member 41 is located at the first position, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk respectively biased by the tension springs 52y, 52c, 52m, and 52bk are regulated by the respective stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk mounted on the sliding member 41 so that the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk can stay away from the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, that is, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk can be prevented from contacting the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk.
With the above-described structure, when an operator manually rotates the positioning member 32 from its open position as shown in
Next, the operator manually slides the sliding member 41 with a rod-like member mounted on the sliding member 41 to the right direction in
Detailed operations are described below.
When the operator starts to slide the sliding member 41 from the first position shown in
With the above-described operation, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk forcedly press the bearings 17y, 17c, 17m, and 17bk with respect to the vertical planes 45y, 45c, 45m, and 45bk and the horizontal planes 46y, 46c, 46m, and 46bk of the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk, respectively.
After the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk are stopped, the sliding member 41 continuously moves toward the second position, the ends 61y, 61c, 61m, and 61bk of the long holes 48y, 48c, 48m, and 48bk formed on the respective pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk are separated from the stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk so that the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk can be released from the force exerted by the stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk.
As described above, since the bearings 17y, 17c, 17m, and 17bk press contact with the vertical planes 45y, 45c, 45m, and 45bk and the horizontal planes 46y, 46c, 46m, and 46bk of the mounting hole 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk, respectively, the near side portions of the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk and the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk supported by the corresponding supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk are properly positioned to the positioning member 32. At this time, the positioning member 32 is properly positioned with respect to the frame 33. Accordingly, the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk are properly positioned with respect to the frame 33 of the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 100.
By setting the positioning member 32 to the mounting position with respect to the frame 33 and moving the sliding member 41, the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk can be positioned with respect to the main body 7 of the image forming apparatus 100. Moreover, each size of the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk formed on the positioning member 32 can be made larger than a cross sectional area at the near side end of each of The supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk. Thereby, the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk can easily be fitted into the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk.
As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 of the example embodiment includes the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk that respectively press supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk fitted into the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk to the vertical planes 45y, 45c, 45m, and 45bk and the horizontal planes 46y, 46c, 46m, and 46bk, respectively. The pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk have the respective V-shaped portions 53y, 53c, 53m, and 53bk that are pushed toward a position between the guide surface 50 and the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk so as to press the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk.
When the sliding member 41 is at the first position, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk respectively biased by the tension springs 52y, 52c, 52m, and 52bk are regulated by the stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk mounted on the sliding member 41 so as to stay away from the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk without contacting the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk.
When the sliding member 41 starts to leave from the first position for the second position, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk under the above-described condition start to move together with the sliding member 41.
When the sliding member 41 reaches the third position between the first position and the second position, the respective V-shaped portions 53y, 53c, 53m, and 53bk of the biased pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk are pushed to a position between the guide surface 50 and the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, and then stop.
When the sliding member 41 further moves toward the second position, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk are released from the force exerted by the stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk.
Thus, the sliding member 41, the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk, the tension springs 52y, 52c, 52m, and 52bk, and the stoppers 49y, 49c, 49m, and 49bk are positioned.
When the sliding member 14 reaches to the second position as shown in
Further, the vertical planes 45y, 45c, 45m, and 45bk and the horizontal planes 46y, 46c, 46m, and 46bk are mounted on the respective mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk and are pressed by the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk are formed substantially perpendicular to each other. Therefore, the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk can be held in a stable manner to be properly positioned.
Further, the V-shaped portions 53y, 53c, 53m, and 53bk of the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk have respective angles as represented by “θ”.
For example, as shown in
When the angle “θ” is too great, the respective V-shaped portion 53bk may be pushed with a large force to the position between the guide surface 50 and the bearing 17bk (not shown in
Further, the respective two planes, that are the respective vertical planes 45y, 45c, 45m, and 45bk and the respective horizontal planes 46y, 46c, 46m, and 46bk, of the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk formed on the positioning member 32 are formed to have tongue-shaped pieces 55 and 56, including tongue-shaped pieces 55y, 55m, 56y, and 56m, which are shaped using a cutting and raising process in a press molding. For example, as shown in
Similarly to the above-described structure of the two planes of the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk, a plane of each of the pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk contacting the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk is formed to have a tongue-shaped piece 58 that is shaped using the cutting and raising process in a press molding, thereby forming a round portion 60y at the base of the tongue-shaped piece 58y as shown in
As described above, the image forming apparatus 100 includes the plurality of image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk, and the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk. The plurality of pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk pressing the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk are movably supported by the sliding member 41. Therefore, moving the sliding member 41 can move the entire pressing members 44y, 44c, 44m, and 44bk, which can press the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk to the two planes of the respective mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk.
Further, in the image forming apparatus 100, the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk are fixedly supported to the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, respectively. By rotating the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk are rotated. To perform this operation, the bearings 17y, 17c, 17m, and 17bk are mounted on the front side portion of the respective supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, so that the bearings 17y, 17c, 17m, and 17bk can be fitted into the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk.
As an alternative, the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk can be rotatably supported to the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, respectively. In this case, when the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk are driven to rotate without rotating the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk of the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk, the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk can be directly fitted into the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk. Accordingly, in this case, the respective supporting members 15y, 15c, 15m, and 15bk do not have the bearings 17y, 17c, 17m, and 17bk to be fitted into the mounting holes 37y, 37c, 37m, and 37bk.
Further, in the image forming apparatus 100, the supporting shafts 16y, 16c, 16m, and 16bk are integrally mounted to the image bearing members 6y, 6c, 6m, and 6bk, respectively. However, as an alternative, a supporting shaft can be rotatably or non-rotatably mounted to a frame of a main body of an image forming apparatus so as to detachably mount an image bearing member in an axial direction of the supporting shaft. The above-described structure can be employed in such image forming apparatus.
Further, when the supporting shaft is rotatably mounted to the frame, the image bearing member supporting member may include the supporting shaft and a bearing mounted at the near side portion of the supporting shaft. When the supporting shaft is non-rotatably mounted to the frame, the supporting shaft may directly be fitted into a mounting hole of a positioning member.
The above-described structures according to one or more embodiments of the present invention can be applied to an image forming apparatus that includes on image bearing member.
The above-described example embodiments are illustrative, and numerous additional modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. For example, elements and/or features of different illustrative and example embodiments herein may be combined with each other and/or substituted for each other within the scope of this disclosure and appended claims. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the disclosure of this patent specification may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.
With some example embodiments of the present invention having thus been described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-077128 | Mar 2005 | JP | national |
