CN112415873A

CN112415873A - Developing box

Info

Publication number: CN112415873A
Application number: CN202010839877.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 胡亮亮; 胡飞; 敖仕平
Original assignee: Jiangxi Yibo Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Jiangxi Yibo Electronic Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-22
Filing date: 2020-08-19
Publication date: 2021-02-26
Also published as: CN212623588U

Abstract

The invention discloses a developing box detachably mounted in an image forming device, comprising a shell; a coupling member; a developing roller; a developing roller gear engaged with the coupling member; a agitator including an agitator shaft having a first end disposed on the drive side and a second end opposite the first end; a mixing frame gear provided at a first end of the mixing frame shaft, the mixing frame gear being in direct contact engagement with the coupling member to receive the rotational driving force transmitted by the coupling member; a detection unit including a detection object provided on the opposite side of the drive side of the housing, the detection object being detectable by touching a detection object in the image forming apparatus; the coupling member is driven by the image forming device to rotate in a clockwise direction and the agitating frame rotates in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the driving side in a rotational axis direction of the developing roller.

Description

Developing box

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus.

Background

The prior art discloses an image forming apparatus such as a laser printer, a developing cartridge is mounted to a main body of the apparatus so as to be detachable therefrom. The developing cartridge contains a developer. After the developer in the developing cartridge is used up, the cartridge is removed from the main body of the apparatus. Then, a new developing cartridge is mounted into the main body. Further, when a jam occurs in the main body of the apparatus, the developing cartridge may be removed from the main body to remove the jam, and then mounted to the main body.

The image forming apparatus is provided with a detection mechanism that can detect whether the developing cartridge is brand new or used.

A detection unit is provided at a side of such a developing cartridge, which can be detected by a detection mechanism in the image forming apparatus to verify that the developing cartridge is new.

The developing cartridge is configured to be detachably mounted in the image forming apparatus and replaceable, which facilitates maintenance and use by a user, but with the progress of image forming technology and the saving of a use space by a user, it is necessary to provide a more miniaturized image forming apparatus and developing cartridge, and in addition, for convenience of transportation and reduction of transportation cost, it is desirable that the developing cartridge is more miniaturized, and an excessively large developing cartridge also suffers from problems of too long arrangement length of a gear train, resulting in an increase in production cost and a reduction in power transmission efficiency of gears, and in addition, gears are also subject to tooth skipping and an increase in torque due to excessively long arrangement during transmission.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a miniaturized developing box, which can reduce the occupied space of the developing box and the transportation cost of the developing box.

In order to achieve the technical effects, the invention is realized by the following technical scheme:

a developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus, comprising:

a housing having a developer accommodating portion that can accommodate a developer;

a coupling member provided on a driving side of the housing and rotatable by receiving a rotational driving force of a driving part in the image forming apparatus;

a developing roller having a developing roller shaft;

a developing roller gear engaged with the coupling member, the developing roller gear being mounted at a distal end of the developing roller shaft;

a agitator including an agitator shaft having a first end disposed on the drive side and a second end opposite the first end;

the stirring frame gear is arranged at the first end of the stirring frame shaft and is used for driving the stirring frame shaft to rotate, and the stirring frame gear is in direct contact engagement with the coupling member to receive the rotary driving force transmitted by the coupling member;

a detection unit including a detection object provided on the opposite side of the drive side of the housing, the detection object being detectable by touching a detection object in the image forming apparatus;

when the developing cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus, the developing roller is located on a lower end side of the casing and the agitating frame is located above the developing roller in a gravity direction; the coupling member is driven by the image forming device to rotate in a clockwise direction and the agitating frame rotates in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the driving side in a rotational axis direction of the developing roller.

Preferably, a first end of the agitator shaft passes through an inner wall of the drive side of the housing, and a second end of the agitator shaft is retained in the developer accommodating portion.

Preferably, the number of teeth of the agitator frame gear is set between 40 and 55.

Preferably, the developing device further comprises a powder feeding roller which is located between the agitating frame and the developing roller in a gravity direction when the developing cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus.

Preferably, the second end of agitator shaft is provided with transmission gear, transmission gear is provided with transmission portion and stretches into the portion, transmission portion structure is gear portion, stretch into the portion structure for stretching into in the developer holds the portion.

Preferably, the transmission gear is provided with a powder filling opening.

Preferably, an idler gear is provided between the transmission gear and the toothed portion of the detected unit.

Preferably, the idler gear has a first stage gear and a second stage gear, and the number of teeth of the first stage gear and the second stage gear is different.

After the technical scheme is adopted, the gear structure of the developing box can be compact, the phenomenon that a plurality of idle wheel transmission structures are arranged between the stirring frame gear and the coupling gear in the prior art is avoided, the torque of the gear train on the driving side of the developing box is reduced, the transmission efficiency of the gear train on the driving side is increased, and meanwhile, the production cost is also reduced.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a first perspective view of a developer cartridge according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a second perspective view of the developing cartridge provided in the present invention;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention with a drive side cover removed;

fig. 4 is an exploded view schematically showing a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention, with a drive side cover removed;

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention with a conductive side cover removed;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention, from another perspective, with a conductive side cover removed;

fig. 7 is a schematic view of a partially exploded structure of a first viewing angle of a driving side of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic view of a partially exploded structure of a second viewing angle of a driving side of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 9 is a partial structural schematic view of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention after the gear is removed from the driving side thereof;

fig. 10 is an exploded view schematically showing a bearing member on a driving side of a developing cartridge and a casing provided in embodiment 1 of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 2 of the present invention, with a drive-side cover removed;

fig. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 3 of the present invention, with a conductive side cover removed;

FIG. 14 is an exploded perspective view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 3 of the present invention, with a conductive side cover removed;

FIG. 15 is an exploded perspective view of a conductive side of a developing cartridge according to embodiment 4 of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is an exploded perspective view of the conductive side of the developing cartridge in accordance with embodiment 4 of the present invention;

fig. 17 is an exploded view schematically showing a first viewing angle of a driving side of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 5 of the present invention;

fig. 18 is an exploded view schematically showing a second viewing angle of a driving side of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 5 of the present invention;

fig. 19 is a partial perspective view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 6 of the invention;

fig. 20 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 6 of the present invention, with a drive-side cover removed;

FIG. 21a is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 6 of the present invention, with a conductive side cover removed;

fig. 21b is a partial perspective view of the conductive side of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 6 of the present invention;

fig. 22 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 7 of the present invention, with a drive-side cover removed;

fig. 23 is a schematic view of a partially exploded structure of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 7 of the invention;

FIG. 24 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 7 of the present invention, with a conductive side cover removed;

fig. 25 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 8 of the present invention, with an upper cover of a casing detached;

fig. 26 is an exploded view schematically showing a process of mounting the agitating shaft of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 8 of the present invention;

fig. 27 is a partial structural schematic view of a side of a unit to be detected of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 9 of the present invention;

fig. 28 is a schematic view of a partially exploded structure of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 9 of the present invention on the side of a unit to be detected;

fig. 29 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 9 of the invention when the second electrode is in contact with the first electrode;

fig. 30 is a schematic structural view of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 9 of the invention when the second electrode is out of contact with the first electrode;

FIG. 31 is a schematic perspective view of the conductive side of a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention;

FIG. 32 is an exploded perspective view of the conductive side of the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention;

fig. 33 is a schematic view of a first state structure in which a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention is engaged with a detecting body in an image forming apparatus;

fig. 34 is a structural view showing a first state in which a gear is engaged with a member to be detected in the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention;

fig. 35 is a structural schematic diagram of a second state in which a developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention is engaged with a detection body in an image forming apparatus;

fig. 36 is a structural view showing a second state in which a gear is engaged with a member to be detected in the developing cartridge provided in embodiment 11 of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

Example 1

First, as shown in fig. 1 to 10, the developing cartridge of the present invention is detachably mounted in an image forming apparatus, and includes a housing 1 fillable with developer, a housing 1 having a containing space therein for containing the developer, a developing roller 3 and a powder feeding roller 4 supported by the housing 1, the developing roller 3 and the powder feeding roller 4 being rotatably provided in the housing 1 and extending in a longitudinal direction of the housing 1, a rotational axial direction of the developing roller 3 being a longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge, a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the developing roller being a transverse direction of the developing cartridge, the developing roller being provided on a front side in the transverse direction of the housing 1, and a handle 2 provided on a rear side in the transverse direction of the housing 1 for a user to grip. A coupling member 5 is provided at one side end of the housing 1 in the longitudinal direction, the coupling member 5 is configured to engage with a driving part (not shown) in the image forming apparatus to receive a driving force, the side where the coupling member 5 is located is referred to as a driving side of the developing cartridge, the developing cartridge is provided at the opposite side of the coupling member 5 in the longitudinal direction with a conductive member 45 for electrically connecting to the developing roller 3, the conductive member 45 is configured to contact with an electric output part (not shown) in the image forming apparatus to electrically charge the developing roller 3, the side where the conductive member 45 is located is referred to as a conductive side of the developing cartridge, the driving side has a driving side cover 51 for preventing the coupling member and the like from being detached, and the conductive side has a conductive side cover 52 for protecting the conductive member 45 and the like.

The driving side of the developing cartridge in this embodiment includes a coupling member 5, a developing roller gear 6, a powder feed roller gear 7, and an agitation frame gear 8. The coupling member 5 is provided with a coupling portion 5a, a first tooth portion 5b, and a second tooth portion 5c, wherein the coupling portion 5a, the first tooth portion 5b, and the second tooth portion 5c are arranged in order along the longitudinal direction of the housing, the first tooth portion 5b is engaged with the powder feed roller gear 7 to transmit the driving force to the powder feed roller gear 7, and the second tooth portion 5c is engaged with the developing roller gear 6 and the agitation frame gear 8 to transmit the driving force to the developing roller gear 6 and the agitation frame gear 8. The developing roller gear 6 is mounted at the axial end of the developing roller shaft 3a of the developing roller 3, the powder feeding roller gear 7 is mounted at the axial end of the powder feeding roller shaft 4a, and the agitator gear 8 is provided at the axial end of the agitator shaft 30. The agitating frame is used to agitate the developer contained in the casing 1 onto the powder feeding roller 4, the powder feeding roller 4 is used to convey the developer onto the developing roller 3, and the developing roller 3 is used to develop the upper electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum. Above structure for the gear compact structure of development box has avoided among the prior art between agitator gear and the coupling gear through a plurality of idler transmission structure, has reduced the moment of torsion of the gear train of development box drive side, has increased the transmission efficiency of drive side gear train, has also reduced manufacturing cost simultaneously.

On the conductive side of the developing cartridge, a second agitating gear 9 and a detected unit 20 are provided. The second agitator gear 9 is also mounted on an axial end of the agitator shaft 30, which is disposed opposite to the agitator gear 8 in the longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge. The agitator shaft 30 rotates by receiving the driving force of the agitator gear 8 and transmits the rotational force to the second agitator gear 9, the second agitator gear 9 engages with the toothed portion 20a provided on the detected unit 20 to transmit the rotational force to the detected unit 20, and the detected unit 20 recognizes information such as whether the developing cartridge is a new developing cartridge and the page yield of the developing cartridge by the detection unit in the image forming apparatus through the rotational conveyance. Since the detected unit 20 does not need to drive the developing roller, the powder feeding roller, and other components inside the developing cartridge to rotate, the torque required for the rotation of the detected unit 20 is small, and therefore, the force transmission mechanism for transmitting the driving force to the detected unit 20 by the stirring rack may adopt other force transmission mechanisms, for example, a belt transmission, a worm gear, or a first friction member sleeved on a second stirring rack gear, and a second friction member sleeved on the outer periphery of the detected unit 20, and the function of transmitting the driving force can be realized by the friction force by the contact between the first friction member and the second friction member.

In addition, since the partial image forming apparatus has a restriction on the rotation direction of the detected member 20b on the detected unit 20, in order to change the rotation direction of the detected unit 20 to apply the image forming apparatus, an idle gear 10 may be optionally added between the second agitator gear 9 and the toothed portion 20a of the detected unit 20. Further, in the partial image forming apparatus, there is a limit to the rotation speed of the detected member 20b, and alternatively, the idle gear 10 is provided as an upper and lower two-stage gear, the number of teeth of the first-stage gear 10a and the second-stage gear 10b is different, and the rotation speed of the detected member 20 is adjusted by the different ratio of the number of teeth.

In order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the developing cartridge, the main body of the housing 1 of the developing cartridge is usually made of ABS or PS, but ABS and PS are not wear-resistant and have low surface lubricity, so that the bearing component for supporting the developing shaft 3a, the powder feeding roller shaft 4a and the coupling member 5 is not suitable for ABS and PS. Specifically, as shown in fig. 7 to 10, the housing 1 has an outer side surface 1b facing the longitudinal outside of the housing 1 in the longitudinal direction, an inner side surface 1a facing the longitudinal inside of the housing 1 in the longitudinal direction, a first bearing 11 is mounted on the outer side surface 1b, a second bearing 12 is mounted on the inner side surface 1a, the first bearing 11 is provided separately from the second bearing 12, a first bearing portion 11a, a second bearing portion 11b are provided on the first bearing 11, the first bearing portion 11b is configured as a shaft extending in the longitudinal direction, a coupling member 5 is mounted on the first bearing portion 11a, a powder feeding roller shaft 4a is inserted into the second bearing 11b, and when the first bearing 11 is mounted, the second bearing portion 11b is first fitted into the powder feeding roller shaft 4a, and then the first bearing 11 is positioned on the outer side surface 1 b. The second bearing 12 is provided with a third bearing portion 12a and a bearing positioned portion 12b, the housing 1 is provided with a bearing positioned portion 1d, the bearing positioned portion 12b is inserted into the bearing positioned portion 1d to position the second bearing portion 12, when the second bearing 12 is installed, the developing roller shaft 3a penetrates through the third bearing portion 12a, then the second bearing 12 penetrates through a through hole formed in the housing 1 to be installed on the inner side surface 1a of the housing 1, and the second bearing 12 is used for supporting the developing roller shaft 3 a. After the first bearing 11 and the second bearing 12 are mounted, the coupling member 5, the developing roller gear 6, and the powder feeding roller gear 7 can be mounted in place in sequence.

Optionally, the first bearing 11 may also be split into a third bearing and a fourth bearing, the third bearing and the fourth bearing are separately disposed, the third bearing is used for supporting the coupling member, and the fourth bearing is used for supporting the powder feeding roller gear.

Example 2

Next, embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described, and as shown in fig. 11 and 12, this embodiment is different from embodiment 1 in the structure for transmitting the driving force to the detected unit 20. In this embodiment, a second powder feeding roller gear 13 is disposed on the housing 1 at the opposite side of the powder feeding roller gear 7 in the longitudinal direction, the driving force received by the coupling member 5 is transmitted to the second powder feeding roller gear 13 through the powder feeding roller gear 7 via the powder feeding roller 4, and then the driving force is transmitted to the detected unit 20 via the second powder feeding roller gear 13 for driving the detected unit 20 to rotate, and the power transmission structure between the second powder feeding roller gear 13 and the detected unit 20 may be provided with reference to all the transmission structures described in embodiment 1, and will not be described again. It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the stirring gear for driving the stirring frame to rotate may be disposed on the driving side or the conductive side, and when disposed on the driving side, the stirring frame gear is engaged with the coupling member to receive the driving force, and when disposed on the conductive side, the stirring frame gear is engaged with the second powder feeding roller gear 13 to receive the driving force, and the engagement may be a direct engagement manner or a manner of being transmitted through 1 to 2 idler gears disposed therebetween.

Example 3

Referring to embodiment 3 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 13 to 14, in this embodiment, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge, the unit to be detected 20 and at least a part of the electric contact portion 42 for electrical connection with the image forming apparatus are disposed to overlap, the projection 20b on the unit to be detected 20 controls contact and release contact between the electric contact portion 42 and the electric output portion in image formation by a rotational motion, the image forming apparatus recognizes information such as whether development is a new developing cartridge by a combination of contact and release contact between the electric output portion in the image forming apparatus and the electric contact portion 42 of the developing cartridge, and after completion of detection, maintains electrical connection between the electric output portion in the image forming apparatus and the electric contact portion 42 of the developing cartridge, and this structure, the unit to be detected 20 and the developing cartridge can be electrically contacted in one position in the lateral direction of the developing cartridge, the space of the developing cartridge is further reduced. The electrical contact portion 42 electrically connects the developing roller shaft electrical contact portion 40 electrically contacting the developing roller shaft 3a through the one connecting portion 41, and through the above arrangement, the electrical connection of the developing roller 3 to the image forming apparatus is achieved through the developing roller electrical contact portion 40, the connecting portion 41, and the electrical contact portion 42. The same side of the housing 1 as the detected unit 20 is provided with a mounting protrusion 1c, the top end of the mounting protrusion 1c is provided with a non-circular electric contact mounting part 1c1, the electric contact 42 is mounted on the electric contact mounting part 1c1, specifically, during mounting, the detected unit 20 is sleeved on the mounting protrusion 1c, then the electric contact 42 is pre-mounted on the electric contact mounting part 1c1, and finally, the electric contact 42 is locked on the mounting protrusion 1c by a screw 43 passing through a clearance hole 41a on the connecting part 41. Preferably, the connection portion 41 is made of a conductive metal material such as steel, the electric contact portion 42 and the connection portion 41 are fastened by a screw 43 to realize stable electric connection, and the connection portion 41 is snapped into a groove on the developing roller electric contact portion 40 to realize stable electric connection with the developing roller electric contact portion 40. In order to stabilize the positioning and to secure the fixed electrical connection position between the electrical contact 42 and the image forming apparatus, the outer shape of the electrical contact 40 is set to be non-circular, and the electrical contact mounting portion 1c1 is also set to be non-circular, and preferably, the outer surface 42a of the electrical contact 40 and the outer surface of the electrical contact mounting portion 1c1 are both set to be square, and the inner surface 42b of the electrical contact 40 is also set to be square. Of course, other non-circular configurations may alternatively be implemented. The electrical contact 40 can also be designed without the enclosed inner surface 42b, but directly as a square sheet-like structure, in which case the mounting projection 1c can be provided with a corresponding recess, into which the square sheet-like structure can be snapped.

Example 4

Referring to embodiment 4 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 15 to 16, in this embodiment, an electrical contact 4201 is different from that in embodiment 3, and in this embodiment, the electrical contact 4201 is made of a metal sheet or a conductive plastic having a bending portion, the bending portion includes a first extending portion 4201a and a second extending portion 4201b, the extending directions of the first extending portion 4201a and the second extending portion 4201b are different, and it is preferable that the first extending portion 4201a and the second extending portion 4201b are bent at an angle of substantially 90 degrees, the first extending portion 4201a extends at least in a longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge, and the second extending portion 4201b extends at least in a transverse direction of the developing cartridge. During installation, the unit to be detected 20 is inserted into the mounting protrusion 1c, the first extension 4201a of the electrical contact 42 is attached to the electrical contact mounting portion 1c1, and the screw 43 is inserted through the through hole of the electrical contact 42 to fix the electrical contact 42 to the mounting protrusion 1 c. In order to enhance the mechanical strength of the electrical contact 42, it is preferable that the electrical contact 42 is made of a conductive metal sheet, and a portion of the electrical contact 4201 on the second extension 4201b is electrically connected to the developing roller electrical contact 40, the first extension 4201a is in contact with an electrical output contact in the image forming apparatus, and the electrical connection of the developing roller shaft to the image forming apparatus is achieved through the electrical contact 4201 and the developing roller electrical contact 40.

Example 5

Next, referring to embodiment 5 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 17 to 18, in this embodiment, bearing members for supporting the developing roller gear 6 and the powder feeding roller gear 7 are mounted on the driving side edge cover 51, a second bearing mounting portion 51a and a fourth bearing mounting portion 51b are provided on the driving side edge cover 51, an outer circumferential surface 1201b of the second bearing 1201 is fitted to an inner circumferential surface of the second bearing mounting portion 51a to position the second bearing 1201, an outer circumferential surface 15b of the fourth bearing 15 is fitted to an inner circumferential surface of the fourth bearing mounting portion 51b to position the fourth bearing 15, the third bearing 14 is provided on the housing 1, the developing roller shaft 3a is rotatably supported by the second bearing 1201 through the third bearing portion 1201a of the second bearing 1201, and the powder feeding roller shaft 4a is rotatably supported by the fourth bearing 15 through the second bearing portion 15a of the fourth bearing 15. Alternatively, for example, the second bearing 1201 is mounted on the housing 1 and the fourth bearing 15 is mounted on the drive-side edge cover 51, or the second bearing 1201 is mounted on the drive-side edge cover 51 and the fourth bearing 15 is mounted on the housing 1. The reduction of the manufacturing cost of the product can be realized by the application of different materials, and the developing cartridge can be more miniaturized. The second bearing mounting portion 51a and the fourth bearing mounting portion 51b constitute support portions on the drive-side cover 51, respectively, which support the developing roller shaft.

Example 6

Describing embodiment 6 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 19 to 21a, when the coupling member 5 is driven to rotate in the clockwise direction by the driving of the image forming apparatus as viewed from the driving side in the longitudinal direction of the developing cartridge, while if the agitator frame gear 8 is in direct contact engagement with the coupling member 5, the agitator frame 22 will rotate in the counterclockwise direction opposite to the rotation of the coupling member 5, and the agitator frame rotating in the counterclockwise direction will not be much affected by the agitator frame 22 rotating counterclockwise to convey the developer contained in the casing 1 when the developing roller of the developing cartridge is mounted downward in the image forming apparatus, that is, when the developer in the developing cartridge is conveyed from the top downward in the direction of gravity. However, when the developing roller of the developing cartridge is mounted forward in the image forming apparatus, that is, when the developer in the developing cartridge is conveyed in a horizontal direction intersecting the direction of gravity, the developer is swept from the front to the rear by the agitating bracket 22 rotating counterclockwise, and the action of conveying the developer by the agitating bracket 22 to the powder feeding roller 4 disposed in front of the agitating bracket 22 is suppressed. Therefore, as shown in fig. 21b, when the developing cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus and the conveyance of the developer in the horizontal direction intersecting the direction of gravity is adopted, one transfer gear 16 is added between the coupling member 5 and the agitator gear 8 to change the rotational direction of the agitator 22, and the agitator 22 is rotated clockwise in the same rotational direction as the coupling member 5 by the arrangement of the transfer gear 16, and the clockwise rotation of the agitator 22 will promote the conveyance of the developer toward the agitator 22 onto the powder feeding roller 4 disposed on the front side of the agitator 22. A rotating member 21 is further added to the housing 1, and preferably, the rotating member 21 is disposed separately from the stirring frame 22, the transmission gear 16 is mounted at one axial end of the rotating member 21 for driving the rotating member 21 to rotate, and a second transmission gear 17 is further disposed at the opposite side of the rotating member 21, and the second transmission gear 17 is engaged with the toothed portion 20a of the detected unit 20 through a third transmission gear 18 for driving the detected unit 20 to rotate. Alternatively, other force transmission mechanisms may be adopted between the detected unit 20 and the second transmission gear 17, for example, a belt transmission, a worm gear, or a first friction member may be sleeved on the second stirring rack gear, a second friction member may be sleeved on the outer circumference of the detected unit 20, and the first friction member and the second friction member may be brought into contact with each other to achieve the function of transmitting the driving force by using the friction force. Alternatively, the driving-side agitator gear 8 may be eliminated, one gear 46 may be mounted on the conductive side of the agitator shaft 30 of the agitator 22, the gear 46 may be driven to rotate by the engagement of the second transmission gear 17 on the conductive side of the rotating member 21 with the gear 46, and the detected unit 20 may be driven to rotate by the gear 46, and preferably, the rotating member 20 may be made of a metal material because the rotating member 20 needs to drive the agitator to rotate on the conductive side and needs a strong anti-torsion capability. The rotation of the stirring frame 22 may be driven by the powder feeding roller 4, for example, by mounting a gear on the conductive powder feeding roller shaft of the developing cartridge, mounting a gear on the conductive stirring frame shaft, and finally driving the stirring frame to rotate on the conductive side of the developing cartridge by the gear connection idler mechanism mounted on the powder feeding roller shaft, or by driving the stirring frame to rotate on the conductive side by the rotating member 21.

Example 7

Next, embodiment 7 of the present invention will be described, as shown in fig. 22 to 24, in which the structure for transmitting the driving force from the driving side of the developing cartridge to the conductive side of the detected unit is different, and in this embodiment, a rotating member 32 is added, and the rotating member 32 extends from the outside of the casing 1 in the longitudinal direction of the casing, that is, the rotating member 32 extends from the driving side of the casing to the conductive side from the outside of the casing 1 not including the developer accommodating portion. Further, a rotary member first support bearing 34 is provided on the casing 1 near the driving side and a rotary member second support bearing 35 is provided near the conductive side, and in order not to enlarge the entire volume of the developing cartridge, a recess 35 for accommodating the rotary member 32 is provided on the casing 1, and preferably, the rotary member 32 penetrates the casing 1 at the upper surface of the casing 1, and the recess 35 is also recessed from the upper surface of the casing 1 toward the inside of the casing accommodating the developer. The fourth transmission gear 31 and the fifth transmission gear 33 are respectively installed on both sides of the rotating member 32, and when the rotating member 32 is installed, the rotating member 32 may first pass through the rotating member first support bearing 34 and the rotating member second bearing 35, then the fourth transmission gear 31 is installed on the D-shaped protrusion of the rotating member 32 close to the driving side, and the fifth transmission gear 33 is installed on the D-shaped protrusion of the rotating member 32 close to the conductive side. The fourth transfer gear 31 is provided at the driving side for receiving the driving force from the coupling member 5, and the coupling member 5 may be directly engaged with the third gear or may transfer the power to the fourth transfer gear 31 through a plurality of gears. The fifth transmission gear 33 is for receiving the driving force transmitted from the rotating member 32, and engages with the detected unit 20 to transmit the driving force to the detected unit 20. Alternatively, the detected unit 20 may be directly mounted on the end portion of the rotating member 32 near the guide side to drive the detected unit 20 to rotate, or the fifth transmission gear 33 may transmit the driving force to the detected unit 20 through one or more transmission gears.

Preferably, in order to further reduce the size and improve the rigidity of the rotating member 32, the rotating member 32 is made of metal, has an original cylindrical structure, and preferably has a diameter of 3 to 7mm, but is not limited thereto, and since the rotating member 32 only drives the unit to be detected 20 to rotate, it may be made of plastic. In the present embodiment, alternatively, since the rotating component 32 is only used for the rotation of the detected unit 20, between the fourth transmission gear 31 and other gears on the driving side and between the detected unit 20 and the fifth transmission gear 33, other force transmission mechanisms may be adopted, for example, a belt transmission, a worm gear or a transmission using friction in the foregoing embodiments. In the present embodiment, the rotary member 32 for transmitting the driving force to the unit to be detected 20 is mounted on the outer surface of the casing, and the space outside the casing of the developing cartridge is used, so that the complexity of the internal structure of the developing cartridge is further reduced, and the torque for transmitting the driving force from the rotary member 32 to the unit to be detected 20 is also reduced because the rotary member 32 is directly disposed outside the casing 1.

Example 8

Referring to embodiment 8 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 25 to 26, in order to facilitate the mounting of the agitator shaft 30 and further reduce the size of the developing cartridge, the first end 30a of the agitator shaft 30 near the driving side of the developing cartridge is inserted through the first hole 38 provided on the inner wall 1e of the powder hopper, and the main portion 30a of the agitator shaft 30 and the second end 30b of the agitator shaft 30 near the conductive side are retained inside the inner wall 1f of the powder hopper, that is, the first end 30a of the agitator shaft 30 is inserted through the inner wall of the driving side of the housing 1, and the second end 30b and the main portion 30a are not inserted through the inner wall of the conductive side of the housing 1 and retained inside the developer accommodating portion 1g of the housing 1 for accommodating the developer. A second hole 39 is formed in the powder hopper conductive side inner wall 1f, the sixth transmission gear 37 passes through the second hole 39 from the outside of the housing 1 and is connected to the second end 30b of the agitating shaft 30, preferably, a transmission part 37a, an extending part 37b and an engaging part 37c are formed on the sixth transmission gear 37, the transmission part 37a is preferably a gear structure, the extending part 37b is configured as a part extending into the developer accommodating part 1g, the engaging part 37c is configured as a clip engaged with the second end 30b of the agitating shaft 30, preferably, the clip is configured as an elastic rib structure, the second end 30b is provided with an insertion hole 30b1 into which a part of the extending part 37b and the engaging part 37c are inserted and an engaging hole 30b2 of the rib structure, when the rib is engaged in the engaging hole 30b2, the sixth transmission gear 37 completes the connection with the agitating shaft 30, preferably, for the convenience of transmission of power, the insertion hole 30b1 is provided in a flat shape. After the above structure is provided, when the agitating shaft 30 is pre-installed on the housing 1, the pre-installation means that the first end 30a of the agitating shaft 30 passes through the powder bin driving side inner wall 1e and the sixth transmission gear 37 is not installed or connected to the agitating shaft 30, and at this time, the operator can fill the developer into the developer accommodating portion 1g through the second hole 39, and after the developer is filled, the sixth transmission gear 37 is installed and the sixth transmission gear 37 is connected to the second end 30b of the agitating shaft 30, so that the powder filling port can be not additionally provided at other positions of the housing 1 of the developing cartridge, and the mounting position of the powder filling port and the sixth transmission gear 37 can be integrated at one position, and further the size of the developing cartridge can be reduced. Alternatively, the first end 30a of the stirring frame shaft 30 may be disposed in the inner wall 1e of the powder cabin driving side, and the stirring frame gear 8 is provided with an extending portion and a fastening portion connected to the first end 30a, so as to achieve the technical effect of filling the developer into the developer accommodating portion 1g from the driving side, and of course, the first end 30a and the second end 30b of the stirring frame shaft 30 are both disposed to be connected through the extending portion and the fastening portion of the external gear, and also achieve the technical effect of integrating the powder filling port and the gear mounting portion to reduce the size of the developing cartridge in this embodiment.

Example 9

Referring to embodiment 9 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 26 to 30, the structure of the unit under test 201 of the present invention is different from the previous embodiments, and the unit under test 201 includes a first electrode 61, a second electrode 62 and a partial gear 65 having only partial teeth on the outer circumference, wherein the first electrode 61 is fixedly installed on the sidewall of the housing 1 and electrically connected to the developing roller 3, and the second electrode 62 is switchable between an electrically connected state and an electrically disconnected state with the first electrode 61 during the rotation. When the unit 201 is mounted, the first electrode 61 is first mounted on the sidewall of the housing 1, then part of the gear 65 is mounted on the protrusion of the housing 1, and then the second electrode 62 is mounted, and a spring 63 is mounted on the upper side of the second electrode 62 by the fastening member 64. The first electrode 61 is provided with a first electrode contact part 61a which is protruded around the housing, and the second electrode is provided with a second electrode contact part 62a which can be electrically contacted with the first electrode contact part 61 a. A second electrode lifting portion 1m and a releasing portion 1n are further provided on the housing 1, an inclined surface is connected between the second electrode lifting portion 1m and the mode portion 1n, a lifted portion 62b is provided on the second electrode 62, when the second electrode 62 is lifted by the second electrode lifting portion 1 along the inclined surface, the second electrode contact portion 62a is out of contact with the first electrode contact portion 61a to break the electrical connection, and when the lifted portion 62b enters the releasing portion 1n, the spring 63 applies an elastic force to the second electrode 62 so that the second electrode contact portion 62a is in contact with the second electrode contact portion 61a to maintain the electrical contact.

When the developing cartridge is initially installed in the image forming apparatus, a power supply member (not shown) in the image forming apparatus is in contact with the outer edge portion 62c of the second electrode 62, the lifted portion 62b of the second electrode 62 is in the release portion 1n, the image forming apparatus is electrically connected to the developing roller by the contact of the second electrode contact portion 62a with the first electrode contact portion 61a, the lifted portion 62b is lifted up from the release portion 1n to the second electrode lifting portion 1m by an inclined surface as the second electrode 62 is driven to rotate by the partial gear 65, the image forming apparatus is electrically connected to the outer edge portion 62c of the second electrode 62 by the contact of the power supply member, and after the lifted portion 62b is supported by the lifting portion 1m, the second electrode contact portion 62a will be out of contact with the first electrode contact portion 61a to break the electrical connection, at which time the electrical connection between the image forming apparatus and the developing roller 3 is broken, the second electrode 62 continues to be driven to rotate by the partial gear 65, and then enters the releasing portion 1n, the second electrode 62 is again in electrical contact with the first electrode 61, the electrical connection between the image forming apparatus and the developing roller 3 is restored and is always maintained, at which time the partial gear 65 is disconnected from the intermediate transmission gear, and the image forming apparatus completes the detecting action of the detected unit 201. Alternatively, the second electrode lifting portion and the releasing portion may be provided in plural to form plural detection modes, and similarly, the partial gear 65 may be replaced by full teeth, and only a clutch structure needs to be additionally provided between the full teeth and the second electrode 62. Alternatively, the outer edge portion 62c of the second electrode 62 in electrical contact with the image forming device may be non-circular, and when the outer edge portion 62c is non-circular, the outer edge portion 62c may also function to lift the power supply member in the image forming device so as to be detected by the image forming device.

Example 10

Next, embodiment 10 of the present invention will be described, which is different from embodiment 9 in that the second electrode 62 is always in electrical contact with the first electrode 61, a part of the insulating member is covered in the circumferential direction of the outer edge portion 62c of the second electrode 62, for example, an insulating rubber may be attached to a part of the outer edge portion 62c in the circumferential direction, and when the second electrode 62 is driven to rotate, the part of the outer edge portion 62c to which the insulating rubber is attached is not electrically connected to the image forming apparatus, and the part to which the insulating rubber is not attached is electrically connected to the image forming apparatus. Optionally, the insulating portion may also be spaced over the second electrode 62. Alternatively, the main portion of the second electrode 62 may be made of a non-conductive material, and then a conductive material may be coated on a portion of the outer edge portion of the second electrode 62 in the circumferential direction to form an electrical contact between the second electrode 62 and the first electrode 61.

Example 11

Receiving embodiment 11 of the present invention, as shown in fig. 31 to 36, the structure of the unit to be detected 202 in this embodiment is different from the previous embodiments, the detecting body 101 for detecting the unit to be detected 202 in the image forming apparatus in this embodiment can simultaneously supply power to the developing cartridge, and the detecting body 101 forms stable electrical contact with the second electrode 72 of the developing cartridge after the detection of the unit to be detected 202 is completed. In the embodiment, the developing cartridge electrode also comprises a first electrode 61 and a second electrode 72, the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 72 are made of conductive plastic, and the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 72 are always in electric contact with each other, alternatively, the first electrode 61 and the second electrode 72 can be integrally formed into an integral electrode component. In the present embodiment, the second electrode 72 is mounted on the side wall of the developing cartridge casing 1 and covers one gear 71, and the gear 71 is supported by the casing 1 and is restricted in its movement in the longitudinal direction of the casing 1 by the second electrode 72. The electrode 72 is provided with a guide rail 72a, a detected member 73 is mounted on the guide rail 72a, the detected member 73 can be made of conductive material or non-conductive material, the detected member 73 is provided with an upper guide part 73b and a lower guide part 73a, and the upper guide part 73b and the lower guide part 73a are clamped on the upper and lower sides of the guide rail 72a to limit the detected member to move in the longitudinal direction of the housing. In addition, when the detected member 73 is mounted on the slide guide 72a, its side surface is in contact with one of the flat portions 72b of the second electrode 72a to restrict its swing during the sliding. The second electrode 72a is also provided with an elastic member mounting portion 72b, and an elastic member 74 is mounted on the elastic member 72c with one end abutting against the detected member 73 and the other end abutting against the elastic member mounting portion 72c to urge the detected member 73 to one end of one of the slide guides 72a and to hold the detected member 73 at the end of the slide guide 72 a. For convenience of description, the detected member 73 is referred to as an initial position of the detected member 72a when it is urged by the elastic member 74 to be located at the above-described end position of the above-described guide rail 72 a. In the initial position, the detected member 73 does not touch the detecting body 101 in the image forming apparatus to move, and at this time, the detected body 101 abuts against the plane part 72b of the second conductive member 72 by an elastic force provided by an elastic member (not shown) provided in the image forming apparatus and connected to the detected body 101, and when the detected member 73 moves along the guide rail 72a by compressing the elastic member 74, the detected member 73 touches the detecting body 101 to move, and the image forming apparatus detects that the movement of the detected body starts to detect the developing cartridge. For convenience of description, a position where the detected member 74 compresses the elastic member 74 to move to one touch detection body 101 is referred to as a displacement position of the detected member 74. The detected member moves from the initial position to a displaced position with respect to the gear 71 toward the axial center of the gear 71, that is, the detected member 73 is closer to the axial center of the gear 71 at the displaced position than it is at the initial position with respect to the gear 71. A toggle part 71a is arranged on the gear 71 at a position deviating from the axial center thereof, when the gear 71 rotates, the part of the toggle part 71a located on the outer side in the radial direction of the gear 71 contacts a toggled part 73d on the detected member 73 firstly, and along with the further rotation of the gear 71, the toggle part 71a enables the detected member 73 to move from the initial position to the displaced position along the guide slide guide 72a by toggling the toggled part 73d, because the detected member 73d is closer to the axial center of the gear 71 when in position, as shown in fig. 36, when the detected member 73d moves to the displaced position, the toggle part 71a will not contact the toggled part 73d any more, so that the detected member 73d is pushed from the displaced position to the initial position by the elastic force of the elastic member 74, and after the detected member 73 moves from the displaced position to the initial position, the detected body 101 in the image forming apparatus also returns to the second moved position triggered by the detected member 73 from the displaced position The abutment position where the electrode member 72 abuts. The image forming apparatus can complete the detection operation of the developing cartridge in this manner, and can supply power to the developing roller and the like in the developing cartridge by the power supply member provided on the object 101. Preferably, in order to increase flexibility of the toggle part 71a to toggle the toggled part 73d, the toggled part 73d is provided in a cylindrical convex shape and the surface of the wave part 71a in contact with the toggle part 73d is provided as an arc surface, but is not limited thereto. Preferably, in order to make the detected member 73 move to touch the detecting body 101 more easily, alternatively, a plurality of the poking parts 71a may be provided in the circumferential direction of the gear 71 to repeatedly poke the poked parts 73d to move so that the detecting body 101 in the image forming apparatus can recognize a plurality of kinds of developing cartridge information, for example, different page yield information of the developing cartridge may be detected according to the number of times the detected member 73 touches the detecting body 101 to move. Preferably, the elastic member 74 in this embodiment uses a compression spring to urge and hold the detected member 73 at the initial position, and alternatively, a tension spring structure or a magnetic action component may be used to hold the detected member 73 at the initial position. Alternatively, the detected member 73 may be configured to move telescopically, for example, a guide groove is disposed on the second electrode 72, the detected member 73 is inserted into the guide groove and can move telescopically along the guide groove in the longitudinal direction of the housing 1, an elastic member is disposed between the detected member 73 and the second electrode 72 to force the detected member 73 to be initially located at a retracted position, a raised and lowered toggle portion is disposed in the circumferential direction of the gear 71, the toggle portion pushes the detected member 73 to move telescopically, the detecting body 101 is triggered to move when the detected member 73 is located at the extended position, and the detecting body 101 is not triggered to move when the detected member 73 is located at the retracted position.

In the present invention, in order to reduce the size of the developing cartridge, the unit to be detected is disposed on the conductive side of the developing cartridge, since the unit to be detected 20 of the developing cartridge needs to be detected by the image forming apparatus, and the image forming apparatus detects the rotation speed of the unit to be detected 20, therefore, the gear ratio between the gears of the developing cartridges needs to be optimized, and in order not to affect the developing effect of the developing cartridge, it is preferable that the teeth of the coupling member 5 and the developing roller gear 6 should be maintained relatively stable when the gear ratio is optimized, in the present invention, the number of teeth of the coupling member 5 is specifically defined as 42 teeth, and in order to make the variation deviation of the transmission ratio finally transmitted to the unit to be detected 20 within the operation range of the image forming apparatus, the number of teeth of the agitating frame gear 8 is set to 49, the number of teeth of the second transmission gear 17 is set to 12, and the gear of the, The number of teeth of the detected unit 20 is set to 38, wherein the stirring frame gear 8 is in direct contact engagement with the coupling member 5, the second transmission gear 17 is in direct contact engagement with the third transmission gear 18, the detected unit 20 is in direct contact engagement with the third transmission gear 18, and when the center distance between the stirring frame 22 and the coupling member 5 is kept unchanged, in order to maintain a relatively stable transmission ratio and change the structure of the gear train as little as possible, the gear of the stirring frame gear 8 is set to an adjustable value, and the number of teeth of the stirring frame gear 8 is preferably set to be between 40 and 55. Through adopting the gear train setting of compactness, optimizing the material between bearing and the casing main part and the cooperation design of structure, will be detected on the developing cartridge unit and electric contact component position integration on the developing cartridge together, fix a position the electric contact component of developing cartridge etc. scheme, realized developing cartridge's miniaturization, improved the transmission efficiency of gear train, reduced the moment of torsion of gear train, reduced developing cartridge manufacturing cost, improved developing cartridge's dimensional stability. Specifically, (agitator carrier gear/input gear) ((second transfer gear/first transfer gear) = (49/42) ((18/12) = (38/18) = 3.694) ((second transfer gear/second transfer gear) ().

According to the invention, through the scheme of adopting compact gear train arrangement, optimizing the matching design of materials and structures between the bearing and the shell main body, integrating the positions of the detected unit and the electric contact part on the developing box, positioning the electric contact part of the developing box and the like, the miniaturization of the developing box is realized, the transmission efficiency of the gear train is improved, the torque of the gear train is reduced, the production cost of the developing box is reduced, and the dimensional stability of the developing box is improved.

The above examples are only intended to illustrate the technical solution of the present invention, but not to limit it; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some technical features may be equivalently replaced; and such modifications or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the corresponding technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A developing cartridge detachably mountable to an image forming apparatus, comprising:

a developing roller having a developing roller shaft;

characterized in that, when the developing cartridge is mounted in the image forming apparatus, the developing roller is located on a lower end side of the casing in a gravity direction, and the agitating frame is located above the developing roller; the coupling member is driven by the image forming device to rotate in a clockwise direction and the agitating frame rotates in a counterclockwise direction when viewed from the driving side in a rotational axis direction of the developing roller.

2. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a first end of said agitator shaft passes through an inner wall of a driving side of said casing, and a second end of said agitator shaft is retained in said developer accommodating portion.

3. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the number of teeth of said agitator frame gear is set between 40 and 55.

4. A developing cartridge according to claim 1, further comprising a powder feeding roller located between said agitating frame and said developing roller in a gravity direction when said developing cartridge is mounted in said image forming apparatus.

5. A developing cartridge according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a second end of said agitator shaft is provided with a transmission gear provided with a transmission portion configured as a gear portion and an insertion portion configured to be inserted into said developer accommodating portion.

6. A developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein a powder filling port is provided on said transfer gear.

7. A developing cartridge according to claim 5, wherein an idler gear is provided between said transmission gear and the toothed portion of said detected unit.

8. A developing cartridge according to claim 7, wherein said idle gear has a first stage gear and a second stage gear, the number of teeth of said first stage gear and said second stage gear being different.