Patent Grant
9983542
The present invention relates to a process cartridge and an electrophotographic image forming apparatus which uses the same.
Here, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus forms an image on a recording material using an electrophotographic type process. The examples of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus include an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (for example, a laser beam printer, an LED printer, and so on), a facsimile device, and a word processor.
The process cartridge is a cartridge which comprises at least developing means and an electrophotographic photosensitive drum in the cartridge integrally, and it is detachably mountable to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
Heretofore, the photosensitive drum and the process means actable on the photosensitive drum are integrally unified into a cartridge in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus using the electrophotographic image forming process. The process cartridge type of apparatus in which this cartridge is detachably mountable to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus, is employed. In this process cartridge type apparatus, the maintenance operation of the apparatus can be performed without depending on a service person, and therefore, the operability can be remarkably improved. Therefore, this process cartridge type apparatus is used widely in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
Light corresponding to the image information, such as the laser, an LED, or the lamp, is projected onto the photosensitive drum in the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. By doing so, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum. This electrostatic latent image is developed by a developing device. The developed image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto a recording material. By doing so, the image is formed on the recording material.
JP 2001-255806A discloses the color electrophotographic image forming apparatus of the in-line type in which a plurality of process cartridges are put in order by the one array. The process cartridge has a drum unit which includes a photosensitive drum, and a developing unit which includes a developing roller, and they are rotatably connected relative to each other by a pin. The photosensitive drum is provided with a cartridge coupling on an axial end of the photosensitive drum. When the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, a cartridge coupling engages with a main assembly coupling provided in the main assembly of the apparatus, so that the driving force is transmitted. A driving force is transmitted to the developing roller through the idler gears from the input gear functioning as the development driving force transmission member provided on the pin of the developing unit. When the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, the input gear is engaged with the gear provided in the main assembly of the apparatus, and engagement occurs so that the cartridge receives the driving force. More particularly, the drive transmissions of driving forces to the photosensitive drum and to the developing roller are received from the main assembly of the apparatus and carried out independently from each other.
However, recently, further downsizing and image quality improvement of the process cartridge and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus are desired. The input gear is provided on a swing center which does not change in the position even if the developing unit swings in the conventional example. For this reason, the developing roller requires a space in order to receive the driving force from the input gear through the idler gear of the process cartridge. The rotational accuracy of the developing roller is influenced by the engagement among the input gear, the idler gear, and the main assembly gear.
The present invention further develops the prior art structures mentioned above.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge and a small size electrophotographic image forming apparatus in which a rotational driving force is directly inputted to the developing roller through the shaft coupling member from the main assembly of the apparatus independently from the driving input to the photosensitive drum.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus in which even after the photosensitive drum and the developing roller are spaced apart, when the process cartridge is mounted, the engaging portion and a second main assembly drive transmission member of a shaft coupling member engage with each other, smoothly.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge and an image forming apparatus in which the rotational accuracy of the developing roller is improved, so that the image quality is improved.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The main assembly includes a rotatable first main assembly drive transmission member and a rotatable second main assembly drive transmission member. The process cartridge comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit, a drum roller, a developing unit, a drum coupling member, and a shaft coupling member. The drum unit comprises the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The developing roller is for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with a developer. The developing unit comprises the developing roller and is movably connected with the drum unit. The developing unit is movable relative to the drum unit between a contact position in which the developing roller is contacted to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a spaced position in which the developing roller is spaced from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The drum coupling member is provided on one axial end of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, for engaging with the first main assembly drive transmission member and transmitting a first rotational driving force to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus along an axial direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The shaft coupling member is provided on one axial end of the developing roller, for transmitting a second rotational driving force with a deviation permitted between an axis of the second main assembly drive transmission member and an axis of the developing roller. The shaft coupling member includes an engaging portion for engaging with the second main assembly drive transmission member and receiving the second rotational driving force, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus. The engaging portion is movable in a direction crossing with the axial direction of the developing roller. When the process cartridge enters the main assembly of the apparatus with the developing unit positioned in the spaced position, an axis of the engaging portion is deviated from the axis of the developing roller with respect to the crossing direction.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, in which the main assembly includes a first rotatable main assembly drive transmission member, and a second rotatable main assembly drive transmission member. The process cartridge comprises an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit, a developing roller, a developing unit, a drum coupling member, an Oldham coupling, and an intermediary engaging portion. The drum unit contains the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The developing roller is for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with a developer. The developing unit comprises the developing roller and is movably connected with the drum unit, the developing unit being movable relative to the drum unit between a contact position in which the developing roller is contacted to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a spaced position in which the developing roller is spaced from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The drum coupling member is provided on one axial end of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, for engaging with the first main assembly drive transmission member and transmitting a first rotational driving force to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus along an axial direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The Oldham coupling is for transmitting the second rotational driving force to the developing roller with a deviation permitted between an axis of the second main assembly drive transmission member provided on one axial end of the developing roller and an axis of the developing roller. The Oldham coupling includes a driving side engaging portion for engaging with the second main assembly drive transmission member when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, a following side engaging portion fixed to the developing roller, and an intermediary engaging portion which is engaged with the driving side engaging portion and with the following side engaging portion and which is movable with the engagement maintained with the driving side engaging portion and with the following side engaging portion when the developing unit moves between the contact position and the spaced position in a state in which the driving side engaging portion is in engagement with the second main assembly drive transmission member.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, comprising (i) a rotatable first main assembly drive transmission member and a rotatable second main assembly drive transmission member; (ii) a process cartridge mounted detachably to the main assembly of the apparatus of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; and (iii) feeding means for feeding the recording material. The process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit, a developing unit, a drum coupling member, and a shaft coupling member. The drum unit comprises the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The developing roller is for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with a developer. The developing unit comprises the developing roller and is movably connected with the drum unit. The developing unit is movable relative to the drum unit between a contact position in which the developing roller is contacted to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a spaced position in which the developing roller is spaced from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The drum coupling member is provided on one axial end of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, for engaging with the first main assembly drive transmission member and transmitting a first rotational driving force to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus along an axial direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The shaft coupling member is provided on one axial end of the developing roller, for transmitting a second rotational driving force with a deviation permitted between an axis of the second main assembly drive transmission member and an axis of the developing roller, in which the shaft coupling member includes an engaging portion for engaging with the second main assembly drive transmission member and receiving the second rotational driving force, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus. The engaging portion is movable in a direction crossing the axial direction of the developing roller. When the process cartridge enters the main assembly of the apparatus with the developing unit positioned in the spaced position, an axis of the engaging portion is deviated from the axis of the developing roller with respect to the crossing direction.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electrophotographic image forming apparatus for forming an image on a recording material, comprising (i) a rotatable first main assembly drive transmission member and a rotatable second main assembly drive transmission member; (ii) a process cartridge mounted detachably to the main assembly of the apparatus of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus; and (iii) feeding means for feeding the recording material. The process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, a drum unit, a developing roller, a developing unit, a drum coupling member, and an Oldham coupling. The drum unit comprises the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The developing roller is for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum with a developer. The developing unit comprises the developing roller and is movably connected with the drum unit. The developing unit is movable relative to the drum unit between a contact position in which the developing roller is contacted to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a spaced position in which the developing roller is spaced from the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The drum coupling member is provided on one axial end of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, for engaging with the first main assembly drive transmission member and transmitting a first rotational driving force to the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus along an axial direction of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum. The Oldham coupling is for transmitting the second rotational driving force to the developing roller with a deviation permitted between an axis of the second main assembly drive transmission member provided on one axial end of the developing roller and an axis of the developing roller, The Oldham coupling includes a driving side engaging portion for engaging with the second main assembly drive transmission member when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, a following side engaging portion fixed to the developing roller, and an intermediary engaging portion which is engaged with the driving side engaging portion and with the following side engaging portion and which is movable with the engagement maintained with the driving side engaging portion and with the following side engaging portion when the developing unit moves between the contact position and the spaced position in a state in which the driving side engaging portion is in engagement with the second main assembly drive transmission member.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
(General Arrangement of Image Forming Apparatus)
Each process cartridge 7 has an electrophotographic photosensitive member drum (hereinafter, photosensitive drum) 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d). Around the photosensitive drum 1 of the process cartridge 7, there are provided process means, such as a charging roller 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d), a developing roller 25 (25a, 25b, 25c, 25d), and a cleaning member 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d), are provided integrally. The charging roller 2 has a function of charging the surface of the photosensitive drum 1 uniformly. The developing roller 25 has a function of developing, with the toner, a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 into a visualized image. The cleaning member 6 removes the toner which remains on the photosensitive drum 1, after the developer image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is transferred onto a recording material.
A scanner unit 3 for forming the latent image on the photosensitive drum 1 by exposing the photosensitive drum 1 selectively on the basis of the image information, is provided in a lower part of the process cartridge 7.
A cassette 17, which contains the recording materials S is provided in a lower position of the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100. A recording material feeding means is provided so that the recording material S passes through a secondary transfer roller 70 portion and a fixing portion 74 to the upper portion of apparatus main assembly 100A. In the detail, it comprises a feeding roller 54 for carrying out the separation and feeding of the recording materials S from the cassette 17 one by one. It further comprises a conveying roller pair 76 for feeding the fed recording material S, and a resist roller pair 55 for synchronizing the transfer of the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 with the movement of the recording material S. In an upper part of the process cartridge 7 (7a, 7b, 7c, 7d), an intermediary transfer unit 5 as the intermediary transfer means for transferring the toner images formed on the photosensitive drums 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d), is provided. The intermediary transfer unit 5 comprises a driving roller 56 and a follower roller 57. It further comprises primary transfer rollers (58a, 58b, 58c, 58d) provided in the position opposed to the photosensitive drum 1 for each color, and an opposing roller 59 opposed to a secondary transfer roller 70, respectively. A transfer belt 9 is extended around the rollers. The circulative movement of the transfer belt 9 is carried out contacting all of the photosensitive drums 1. By applying a voltage to the primary transfer rollers (58a, 58b, 58c, 58d), the toner images are transferred primarily onto the transfer belt 9 from the photosensitive drums 1. The voltage is applied between the opposition 59 roller disposed in the transfer belt 9, and the secondary transfer roller 70 to transfer the toner image from the transfer belt 9 onto the recording material S.
Each photosensitive drum 1 is rotated in the image forming operation and the drum 1 is charged uniformly by the charging roller 2. Subsequently, the photosensitive drum 1 is selectively exposed with the scanner unit 3. By doing so, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 1. The latent image is developed by the developing roller 25. This forms the color developer image on each photosensitive drum 1. In synchronism with this image formation, a resist roller pair 55 feeds the recording material S to the secondary transfer position where the opposing roller 59 and the secondary transfer roller 70 are opposed to each other with the transfer belt 9 therebetween. An image transfer bias voltage is applied to the secondary transfer roller 70 to transfer the secondary color developer images on the transfer belt onto the recording material S. By doing so, a color image is formed on the recording material S. The recording material S, which has the formed color image thereon, is heated and pressed by the fixing portion 74, so that the developer image is fixed. Thereafter, the recording material S is discharged to the discharging portion 75 by the discharging roller 72. The fixing portion 74 is disposed in the upper position of the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100.
(Process Cartridge)
Referring to
Each process cartridge 7 (7a, 7b, 7c, 7d) includes a drum unit 26 as a first frame, and a developing unit 4 (4a, 4b, 4c, 4d) as a second frame. The drum unit 26 is provided with the photosensitive drum 1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d), and the charging roller 2 (2a, 2b, 2c, 2d) and the cleaning member 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d). And, the developing unit 4 is provided with a developing roller 25.
The drum unit 26 includes a cleaning frame 27 and the photosensitive drum 1 is rotatably mounted to it through a drum-front bearing 10 and a drum-rear bearing 11 (
Around the photosensitive drum 1, as mentioned above, the charging roller 2 and the cleaning member 6 are disposed. The residual toner removed by the cleaning member 6 from the photosensitive drum 1 surface is allowed to fall in a removed toner chamber 27a. A driving force is transmitted to the drum unit 26 from a main assembly driving motor (unshown) as a driving source, so that the photosensitive drum 1 is rotated correspondingly to the image forming operation process. The charging roller 2 is rotatably mounted to the cleaning frame 27 through the charging roller bearings 28. And, it is pressed by a charging roller pressing member 46 toward the photosensitive drum 1, by which it is rotated by the photosensitive drum 1.
The developing unit 4 comprises a developing roller 25, which contacts the photosensitive drum 1 and is rotated in the direction of arrow B, and a developing device frame 31 for supporting the developing roller 25. The developing roller 25 is rotatably supported on the developing device frame 31 through a developing-device-front bearing 12 and a developing-device-rear bearing 13 which are mounted to the respective sides of the developing device frame 31 (
The developing unit 4 shown in
In a contact-type developing system which effects development by contact between the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing roller 25, it is desirable that the photosensitive drum 1 is a rigid member and the developing roller 25 is an elastic member. This elastic member may be a solid rubber monolayer, and it may have the solid rubber layer and a resin material coating thereon in consideration of the charging application property to the toner.
The image forming operation of the process cartridge 7 will be described (
The toner in the toner accommodating portion 31a is fed by the rotation of the toner feeding member 36 to the toner supplying roller 34. The toner supplying roller 34 rotates to supply the toner to the outer periphery of the rotating developing roller 25. The supplied toner is triboelectrically charged by the developing blade 35 on the outer periphery of the developing roller 25. The developing bias voltage is applied to the developing roller 25 from the voltage source portion (unshown) provided in the image forming apparatus 100. By doing so, the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1 is developed. Here, the developing roller 25 is provided opposed to the photosensitive drum 1. The developing roller 25 is contacted to the photosensitive drum 1 and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 1.
(Mechanism for Mounting Process Cartridge to Main Assembly of Image Forming Apparatus)
Referring to
In
In
In
In this state, a portion-to-be-urged 11a of the drum-rear bearing 11 contacts the back pressed member 91 provided in the rear side plate 83, so that it is upwardly pushed by the pressing spring 92. And, the cartridge positioning portion 11b provided in the upper position of the drum-rear bearing 11 contacts the abutting portion 83a, which functions as the main assembly positioning portion, of the rear side plate 83, by which the process cartridge 7 is positioned relative to the apparatus main assembly 100A in the rear side.
In addition, a portion-to-be-pulled 10a of the drum-front bearing 10 engages with the pulling member 93 provided in the front side plate 82. The pulling member 93 is upwardly raised by a tension spring 94 provided on the front side plate 82, and by doing so, the portion-to-be-pulled 10a is also upwardly raised. And, an abutting portion 10b, which is cartridge positioning portion for the drum-front bearing 10, contacts a positioning portion 82b, which is the main assembly positioning portion of the main assembly front side plate 82, so that the process cartridge 7 is positioned relative to the apparatus main assembly 100A in the front side thereof.
As shown in
(Mechanism for Spacing Between Photosensitive Drum and Developing Roller in Process Cartridge)
Referring to
(Developing Device Separation Holding Member)
As shown in
Referring to
As shown in
When the image forming operation is started by the printing signal after the mounting operation is completed, the spacer member 8 (
When the developing operation is completed, the spacer member 8 is again moved in the direction of arrow N of
As has been described hereinbefore, the developing unit 4 can select easily the spacing and contact states between the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing roller 25. For this reason, the deformation of the elastic layer can be prevented even if the material of the elastic layer of the developing roller 25 is selected severely.
(Spacing Mechanism for Remounting of Process Cartridge)
A description will be provided about the operation of the spacing mechanism at the time of mounting again the process cartridge 7 having once been taken out of the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100, to the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100. The space holding member 64 is released from the hole 27e of the cleaning frame 27 in the process cartridge 7, having been taken out of the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100. For this reason, the developing unit 4 is in the contact position and the photosensitive drum 1 and the developing roller 25 contact each other (
Referring to
As shown in
(Structures of Developing Roller Supporting Portion and Developing Drive Force Input Portion in Process Cartridge)
Referring to
In this embodiment, an Oldham coupling 20, which is a shaft coupling member, is used as the developing drive force input portion. Referring to
As shown in
The driven side engaging portion 21 is fixed to the end of the developing roller shaft 25j. As for the fixing method, a spring pin and a parallel pin can be used. In addition, as shown in
Referring to sectional view of
The driven side engaging portion 21 is provided integrally with a rib 21a as shown in
The driving side engaging portion 23 is provided integrally with a rib 23a as shown in
The main assembly development coupling 53 is urged by a pressing member 73, such as a compression spring, toward the process cartridge 7 in the direction parallel with the axial direction of the photosensitive drum 1. However, the main assembly development coupling 53 is mounted to the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100 without play with respect to the direction crossing the axial direction. In other words, the main assembly development coupling 53 is movable only in the axial direction except during the rotation for the drive transmission.
When the driving side engaging portion 23 and the main assembly development coupling 53 engage with each other by the entrance in the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100 of the process cartridge 7, a phase deviation may occur between the projections 23c1 to 23c3 and the holes 53a-53c. In this case, the free ends of the projections 23c1 to 23c3 abut at the positions other than the holes 53a-53c, and the main assembly development coupling 53 retracts in the axial direction against the urging force of the pressing member 73. However, when the main assembly development coupling 53 rotates and the phases between projections 23c1-23c3 and the holes 53a-53c align with each other, the main assembly development coupling 53 is advanced by the urging force of the pressing member 73. The projections 23c1 to 23c3 and the holes 53a-53c are brought into the engagement with each other, so that the centering boss 23c4, which is the engaging portion positioning portion, and the centering hole 53e, which is transmission member positioning portion, are engaged with each other. The axis (rotation axis) of the driving side engaging portion 23 and the main assembly development coupling 53 are aligned. The projections 23c1 to 23c3 and the holes 53a-53c are engaged with each other by the main assembly development coupling 53 rotating, so that the rotational driving force is transmitted to the developing roller 25.
Here, the driving force to the drum drive coupling 66 and to the main assembly development coupling 53 is supplied from a motor provided in the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100. One motor may be provided for each of the process cartridges, or commonly for a plurality of the process cartridges.
(Operation of Oldham Coupling at the Time of Development Separation-Contact Operation in Process Cartridge)
Referring to
As shown in
Referring to
Even if the developing unit 4 is in the state of positioning at the developing position, the intermediary engaging portion 22 is in engagement with both the driving side engaging portion 23 and the driven side engaging portion 21. For this reason, even when the developing unit 4 moves between the spaced position and the contact positions, the intermediary engaging portion 22 permits those movements, maintaining the engagement with the driving side engaging portion 23 and with the driven side engaging portion 21.
At this time the driving side engaging portion 23 is positioned with high precision relative to the main assembly development coupling 53 by the contact portion 11c, and therefore, there is no need to substantially upsize the bevelled portion 23c6 and the bevelled portion 53f, so that the driving side engaging portion 23 and the main assembly development coupling 53 can be downsized.
As shown in
As has been described hereinbefore, in this embodiment, the structure is such that the rotational driving force is directly inputted to the developing roller 25 through the coupling 22 from the main assembly development coupling 53 rotated independently of drum drive coupling 66, which inputs the rotational driving force to the photosensitive drum 1. Accordingly, the influence of the rotation of the developing roller 25 on the rotational accuracy of the photosensitive drum 1 can be suppressed, and furthermore, the rotational accuracy of the developing roller 25 per se is improved. For this reason, the image quality is improved.
In addition, the driving side engaging portion 23 of the Oldham coupling 20 is positioned at the constant position relative to the cartridge 7, and it is made movable in the direction crossing the axis 25k of the developing roller 25. By this arrangement, the main assembly development coupling 53 and the driving side engaging portion 23 can be engaged with each other without using the large guide and so on (space-saving). Therefore, the process cartridge 7 and the image forming apparatus 100 can be downsized. In addition, the operability of the mounting of the process cartridge 7 to the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100 improves.
In addition, also when the developing roller 25 is mounted to the apparatus main assembly in the state spaced from the photosensitive drum 1, the driving side engaging portion 23 is placed at the constant position, and therefore the operability of the mounting, to the main assembly 100A of the apparatus 100, of the process cartridge 7 can be improved.
Furthermore, with respect to the output of the image, the Oldham coupling 20 is used, and therefore, the rotational driving force can be given to the developing roller 25 also where the developing unit 4 is spaced from the drum unit 26 so as to space the developing roller 25 from the photosensitive drum 1. Before the developing roller 25 for this reason, abuts the photosensitive drum 1, it is possible that the developing roller 25 is rotated so that the toner is triboelectrically charged by the developing blade 35, thereby giving a charge amount to the toner. When a sufficient charge amount cannot be given, and the toner is transferred onto the secondary transfer roller 70 (
In addition, there is a possibility that the residual toner container 71a of the intermediary transfer member cleaning 71 provided in the intermediary transfer unit 5 is filled up earlier rather than the expected lifetime of the cartridge 7 (increase of the exchange frequency of the residual toner container), but this possibility is also avoidable.
Furthermore, by using the Oldham coupling 20, also when the developing unit 4 is moved to the contact position from the spaced position, the developing roller 25 can be rotated. Therefore, when the developing unit 4 is moved to the contact position from the spaced position in the state where the photosensitive drum 1 rotates, the developing roller 25 can be rotated to reduce the impact to the photosensitive drum 1.
In addition, although this embodiment has been described with the example which uses the Oldham coupling 20, other couplings (for example, a lateral coupling and so on) which can absorb the rotational variation produced when the axes the input side and the output side are deviated, may be used.
In the first embodiment, the engaging portion bearing member 19 is urged to the drum-rear bearing 10 which supports the photosensitive drum 1. As shown in
The other structures are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the effects similar to the effects in the first embodiment are provided.
In the first embodiment, the Oldham coupling is used as the shaft coupling member. When the developing roller diameter is small, it is required for the amount of developing device separation to be large, and therefore, a spring, which is the elastic portion, may be used for the intermediary engaging portion 22 of the shaft coupling member 20, as shown in
In
Although the spring 22 is used as the middle engaging portion in this embodiment, an elastic rubber 22 of the cylindrical-shape may be used as the elastic portion as shown in
The other structures are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the effects similar to the effects of the first embodiment are provided.
In the first embodiment, the engaging portion bearing member 19 is urged to the drum-rear bearing 10 which supports the photosensitive drum 1, by the urging spring 18. In this embodiment, the drum-rear bearing 11 is provided with a hole 11f which is the holding portion for retaining the driving side engaging portion 23, as shown in
As shown in
The other structures are the same as that of those of the first embodiment, and provide the effects similar to the effects of the first embodiment.
In the above described embodiment, although the four process cartridges are used, this number is not inevitable but may be selected suitably, if necessary, by one-skilled-in-the-art.
In the embodiments mentioned above, although the image forming apparatus is the type of printer, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, it is applicable also to other image forming apparatuses, such as the copying machine and the facsimile device, and the image forming apparatuses, such as a composite machine thereof. In addition, although the intermediary transfer member is used in the embodiment mentioned above, the color toner images are superimposedly transferred onto the intermediary transfer member sequentially and the toner images carried by the intermediary transfer member are transferred onto the transfer material all together, the present invention is not limited to this type. For example, in an alternative structure, the recording material carrying member is used and the color toner images are superimposedly transferred onto the recording material carried by the recording material carrying member sequentially. The similar effects are provided when the present invention is applied to these types of image forming apparatuses.
As has been described hereinbefore, according to the present invention the large guide for the engagement with the engaging portion and the second main assembly drive transmission member is unnecessary. For this reason, the process cartridge and the electrophotographic image forming apparatus are downsized. Furthermore, even if the process cartridge is mounted in the state where the photosensitive drum and the developing roller are spaced from each other, the engaging portion and the second main assembly drive transmission member of the shaft coupling member engage each other smoothly, and therefore, the mounting property is improved.
In addition, the rotational accuracy of the developing roller can be improved, and therefore, the image quality can be improved.
While the invention has been described with reference to the structures disclosed herein, it is not confined to the details set forth, and this application is intended to cover such modifications or changes as may come within the purposes of the improvements or the scope of the following claims.
This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 332837/2006 and 259660/2007 filed Dec. 11, 2006 and Oct. 3, 2007, respectively which are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-332837 | Dec 2006 | JP | national |
| 2007-259660 | Oct 2007 | JP | national |
This is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/832,262, filed Aug. 21, 2015, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/437,331, filed Apr. 2, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,134,688, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/012,181, filed Jan. 24, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,335,454, which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/869,382, filed Oct. 9, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,899,364.
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| Child | 14832262 | US | |
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| Child | 13012181 | US |
