DE69132193T2 - Work unit and imaging device with such a unit - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a developing cartridge or process cartridge, an image forming apparatus to which the developing cartridge is detachably attachable. The image forming apparatus may take the form of an electrophotographic machine, an electrostatic recording device such as a copying machine or a laser beam printer.

Image forming machines such as copiers require maintenance and servicing after a long period of use, which includes replacing an image carrier unit (photosensitive drum), replacing a developing device or replenishing a developer (toner), cleaning a discharge wire of a charger, replacing a cleaning device filled with toner residue, and adjusting or replacing some elements around the photosensitive drum.

However, maintenance and servicing requires expert knowledge and skills and is therefore not easy for the average user.

In view of the situation, a developing cartridge structure is proposed in which a developing cartridge includes as a unit the photosensitive drum and working device such as a developing device, a charging device, the cleaning device or the like. The developing cartridge is detachably attachable as a unit to a main body of the image forming apparatus. When the working device requires maintenance or servicing, the entire developing cartridge is replaced with a new cartridge, so that the need for Maintenance and servicing by an expert is no longer possible.

JP-A-2257146 describes a developing cartridge where unused toner is stored in a first chamber and used toner collected by the cleaning device of the cartridge is stored in a second chamber. To prolong the life of the cartridge, the user first decides whether the photosensitive drum of the cartridge is still functional and then either changes the unused toner chamber when new toner is required, or changes the used toner chamber when it is full, or alternatively exchanges the used with the unused toner chamber so that the used toner is fed back into the developing device. Such operations do not cause any failures in the cartridge other than toner leakage or loss of space to collect used toner, and the user of the cartridge is required to decide whether to adjust the photosensitive drum based solely on the number of copies that have been made to continue the work.

Referring to Fig. 17, a construction of such a developing cartridge is first shown. It has a photosensitive drum 10, a cleaning device 13 and a developing device 11 which surround the photosensitive drum 10. A toner container 110 coupled to the developing device 11 is arranged substantially above the developing device 11. A charging device 12 is arranged substantially above the photosensitive drum 10. The cleaning device 13 removes the toner residues from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10 so that the photosensitive drum is ready for the next image forming process. The cleaning device 13 has a cleaning container 13a for receiving the removed toner residues, a cleaning blade 131 for removing the toner residues from the outer surface the photosensitive drum 10, a toner receiving layer 132 for receiving and supplying into the cleaning container 13a the toner scraped off by the cleaning blade 131, and a stirring device (not shown) for conveying the toner received by the cleaning container 13a into the interior thereof.

The developing device 11 supplies the toner to the electrostatic latent image of the photosensitive drum 10 to make it visible. The developing device includes a developer container 11a, a developer sleeve 112 for supplying the toner to the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10, a developer blade 11b in sliding contact with the developer sleeve 112 to triboelectrically charge the toner and form a toner layer of constant thickness on the developer sleeve 112. A wall of the developer container 11a spaced from the photosensitive drum 10 is provided with an opening 11c which communicates with an opening (not shown) of a toner container 110 for receiving the toner, so that the developer container 11a and the toner container 110 communicate with each other.

When the toner in the toner container 110 is used up, the developing cartridge must be replaced. The service life of the developing cartridge must be changed in accordance with the design of the image forming apparatus with which the developing cartridge is used. For example, in a high-speed copying machine, the number of copies produced in one month is very high and, consequently, the frequency of replacing the developing cartridge is very high. Therefore, it is desirable that the developing cartridge have a toner container with a larger capacity in order to increase its service life. On the other hand, in a copying machine with a smaller capacity, the number of copies produced in one month is small. In addition, it is desirable to reduce the weight and size of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

To meet this task, the size of the developing cartridge is reduced along with the toner capacity. Therefore, different developing cartridges must be prepared for different main types of the image forming apparatus.

It is accordingly a basic object of the invention to provide a developing cartridge and an image forming apparatus usable therewith, into which the developing cartridge can be easily incorporated with a different service life when the developing cartridge is manufactured in a factory.

Another object of the invention is to provide a developing cartridge and an image forming apparatus usable with the developing cartridge, into which the developing cartridge can be easily incorporated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a developing cartridge and an image forming apparatus usable with the developing cartridge, into which the developing cartridge can be easily removed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a developing cartridge and an image forming apparatus usable with the developing cartridge, into which the developing cartridge can be easily installed or removed so that various components can be reused, thereby reducing environmental pollution.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2A, 2B, and 2C are sectional views taken along lines a-a, b-b, and c-c, respectively, in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of an image forming apparatus to which the developing cartridge according to the invention is detachably attachable.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6A is a perspective view of an upper body.

Fig. 6B is a perspective view of a lower body.

Fig. 7 shows the removal of the development cassette.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge to which the invention is applicable.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the developing cartridge when a liquid elastomer is injected to a joint in the developing cartridge.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a cartridge after the liquid elastomer is injected on the bonding surface of the toner container.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view after the liquid elastomer is injected.

Fig. 12 is a sectional view of a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view when the developing cartridge is divided into an upper and a lower body.

Fig. 14 is a perspective view when liquid elastomer is injected to the joint of the upper body.

Fig. 15 shows a system for injecting the liquid elastomer schematically.

Fig. 16 is a schematic view of a liquid elastomer injection system.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view of a conventional developing cartridge.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments

The embodiments of the invention are described with reference to the attached drawing.

Referring to Fig. 3, there is shown an image forming apparatus usable with a developing cartridge according to an embodiment of the invention. Reference numeral 10 denotes an image bearing means in the form of, for example, a photosensitive drum. Around the photosensitive drum 10, image forming working means such as a developing means 11, a charging means 12 or a cleaning means 13 are arranged. The photosensitive drum 10 and such working means are formed as a unit on the developing cartridge casings 14a and 14b made of plastic material. The developing cartridge 14 thus formed is detachably attachable to the main body of the apparatus. This makes maintenance or servicing easier. The structure of the developing cartridge casing is described in detail below. When the developing cartridge 14 is mounted in the main body, a transfer charger 15 is located below the photosensitive drum 10. On the sheet feed side of the transfer charger 15, a sheet feed holder 16, a take-up roller 17 and registration rollers 18 are provided. On the other side at the sheet output, a sheet guide 19, an image fixing device 20, sheet output rollers 21 and a sheet output holder 22 are provided.

A short optical focusing element group 24 is arranged above the developing cassette 14 in order to image the light emitted from an original illumination lamp 23 and reflected by the original O onto the photosensitive drum 10. At the top of the main body 1, a reciprocating document carrier 25 is arranged. The reference number 26 designates a document cover.

The photosensitive drum 10 is uniformly charged by a charger and is exposed to light coming from the original 0 through the short optical focusing element group 24 so that an electrostatic latent image in accordance with the information of the original is formed on the photosensitive drum 10. The electrostatic latent image is carried by the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10 to the developing device 11 where the latent image is developed with a toner t into a toner image. Then, the transfer sheet P is fed from the sheet feed holder 16 via the sheet feed rollers 17 to the registration rollers 18. Then, it is brought between the photosensitive drum 10 and the transfer charger 15 in timed relation with the latent image by the registration rollers 18. The toner image is transferred from the photosensitive drum 10 to the transfer sheet P by the transfer charger 15. The transfer sheet P carrying the transferred toner image is fed to the image fixing device 20 in which the toner image is fixed into a permanent image. Then, the transfer sheet P is discharged by the sheet discharge rollers 21 onto the holder 22. After the image transfer is completed, the photosensitive drum 10 is cleaned by the cleaning device 13 to remove the toner residues, so that the photosensitive drum 1 is now ready for the next image forming process. Reference numerals 30a and 30b denote holders which are in the form of guides to facilitate attachment of the developing cartridge 14 to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

The developing cartridge 14 of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to Fig. 1, 2A, 2B and 2C. In this embodiment, the housing of the Developing cartridge 14 has an upper housing A (14a) and a lower housing B (14b). Housings A and B can be joined together or separated from each other.

The casings A and B are molded from a plastic material having elasticity. On the right side of the casing A, a toner container 110 serving as a developer container is integrally formed. A shutter 111 is fused to seal the container. The opening 111a of the toner container 110 communicating with the developing device is closed by an adhesive sealing device 113 as shown in Fig. 2C. One end of the sealing device 113 is folded and protrudes from the casing A. A handle 114 is connected to the end. When the handle 114 is pulled by the user, the sealing device 113 is removed from the opening 111a, allowing the supply of the toner t to the developing sleeve 112. A claw 27 is provided below the toner container 110 for coupling the casings A and B. By the connection between the claw 27 integrally formed on the casing A and an opening formed in the casing B, the upper and lower casings can be connected by a simple structure. Four of these claws 27 and corresponding openings 28 are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the sheet of the drawing. In more detail, the opening 23 on the angled surface 27a is engaged with the claw 27, and one end 28a of the opening 28 is locked by the lower surface 27b of the claw 27. By having such elasticity of the claw 27, the connection to and detachment from the opening 28 can be easily performed and the coupling to the opening 28 can be ensured. On the left side of the casing A as shown in the figure, a toner waste container 130 (developer container) 130 is formed. One end of the housing A is folded to form a part 14a1 of the lower surface of the container 130. The lower housing B extends to the part overlapping the lower surface 14a1. Position in which they are screwed with screws 29 at the overlapping portion. Thus, the lower surface of the container 130 is formed by the parts of the casings A and B. A part of the casing A facing toward the upper portion of the photosensitive drum 10 is provided with an opening 141 for passing light for image exposure. Sealing means 26a and 26b formed of foamed polyurethane are provided around the openings of the toner container and the cleaning container to prevent leakage of the toner from the container.

As shown in Fig. 2A, the casing B covers the lower part of the developing cartridge 14, and from the side surface, walls 102a and 102b are pulled up and extended toward the lower surface of the casing A. On the walls 102a and 102b of the casing B, support shafts 103a and 103b for rotatably supporting the photosensitive drum 10 are fixedly arranged by screws 106a and 106b below the photosensitive drum 10, the casing B being provided with an opening 101 for allowing the transfer of the toner image from the photosensitive drum 10 to the transfer sheet P and for receiving a drive device (not shown) of the main body of the image forming apparatus. Above the side wall 102a of the casing B, a loading cage 122 is held by a fixing pin 125. At the other end of the charging cage 122, a pin 128 is integrally formed and engaged with and held by a hole 129 formed in the side wall 102b of the casing B. In the charging cage 122, bearings 123a and 123b are arranged which support a shaft 130 of the charging roller 121 while the charging roller 121 is pressed against the photosensitive drum 10. One end of the charging cage 122 extends out of the casing B and has an electrode plate 126 for supplying electric power to the charging roller 121. The electrode plates 126 are connectable to power supply contacts (not shown) of the main body of the image forming apparatus.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2B, the cleaning device 13 and the developing device 12 will be described in detail. The casing B is provided with mounting seats 133a and 133b for mounting the cleaning blade 131 which is intended to contact the photosensitive drum 10 to scrape the toner residues from the peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 10. The cleaning blade 131 is fixedly mounted on the mounting seats 133a and 133b by means of screws 135. A receiving sheet 132 is adhered near a longitudinal end of the opening 101 formed in the lower portion of the casing B. The side wall of the casing B is curved inward adjacent to the toner container 110. The curved portion serves to support the sleeve bearings 117a and 117b by springs 118a and 118b to hold the developer sleeve 112. The developer sleeve 112 has spacers 116a and 116b to maintain a constant distance between the surface of the developer sleeve 112 and the photosensitive drum 110. The spacers 116a and 116b are biased against the photosensitive drum by springs 118a and 118b. At one of the ends of the developer sleeve 112, a gear 119 is arranged which engages with a drum gear 104 attached to the drum 10. With the rotation of the photosensitive drum 10, the gear 119 and thus the developer sleeve 112 are rotated in the direction shown by an arrow in Fig. 1. A cylindrical magnet roller 115 is provided in the developing sleeve 112. It is equipped with a plurality of magnetic poles. Its end pins are held by the housing B. Above the developing sleeve 112, a blade 120 is arranged on a mounting seat (not shown) that protrudes from the side walls 102a and 102b of the housing B.

The lower casing B has the photosensitive drum 10, the cleaning blade 131, the recording sheet 132, the charger 12, the developing sleeve 112 and the blade 120 for the developing sleeve 112. Therefore, the precise positioning of the various elements relative to the photosensitive drum is ensured by the accuracy of the housing B and consequently the correct positioning is facilitated.

The developing cartridge 14 of this embodiment can be additionally disassembled into the upper case A and the lower case B. The developing cartridges 14 in which the toner has been used up are collected. The collected cartridge 14 is disassembled into the cases A and B. The case A is then cleaned and a new sealing device 113 is adhered. A toner cap (not shown) is removed from a filling opening and the toner is supplied through the opening. After that, the opening is closed again by the toner cap. In addition, used parts and warped rubber members or the like which are not reusable are replaced with new ones. Then, the cases are assembled. The developing cartridge is now distributed from the factory.

The case B containing the working device can be connected to another case 14c having the shape shown in Fig. 1 and having a larger toner capacity and a larger toner waste capacity than those of the case B. Another developing cartridge having a longer service life and usable with different types of main bodies can be easily manufactured.

Fig. 4 shows a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the invention. A pipe 138 is provided for discharging the toner residues from the developing cartridge 14. The pipe is connected to a toner residue bottle (not shown) in the main body of the image forming apparatus. The toner residue container 113 is provided internally with a screw-shaped toner residue conveyor 139 for feeding the toner residues to the discharge pipe 138. One end of the The helical toner residue conveying device 139 is connected to a drive gear (not shown). The drive gear engages with the drum gear 104. In this example, it is sufficient if the upper housing A is only equipped with the toner container 110. The toner residue container is not necessary. It is therefore not necessary to make the toner residue capacity dependent on the toner capacity. In this embodiment, the toner residue container is formed by coupling the housing A to the housing B.

A guide line 14c shows a composition of another example of the casing A. In the casing 14c, the toner container 110 is arranged in a lower portion. The toner container 110 is provided inside with a toner conveying device (not shown). The casing is extended on both sides of the toner container 110 and is engaged with clutch claws 27 formed on the ends of the toner container 110 of the casing A.

In the above-described embodiments, the developing cartridge has the developing device. However, the invention is applicable to a developing cartridge without the developing device. In this case, the invention is applied to a toner waste container for the cleaning device. Referring to Figs. 5, 6A and 6B, another embodiment of the invention will be described. Fig. 5 is a side sectional view of the developing cartridge according to this embodiment, Fig. 6A is a perspective view of an upper case, and Fig. 6B is a perspective view of a lower case.

In the above-described embodiments, the upper and lower casings A and B are connected not only by the engagement between claws and holes but also by screws. In this embodiment, however, the casings A and B can be connected only by the engagement between claws and holes. Openings are connected. In the description of this embodiment, the same reference numerals as for the previously described embodiments are used for elements with corresponding functions and a detailed description is omitted for the sake of simplicity.

Sectional views taken along lines a-a, b-b and c-c in Fig. 5 are like those shown in Fig. 2A, 2B or 2C and described previously. The developing cartridge of this embodiment is also detachably attachable to a main body of the image forming apparatus as shown in Fig. 3.

In this embodiment, the casing A and the casing B are firmly connected by engagement between claws 27b and the openings 29 instead of the screws 29 in the previously described embodiment. In this embodiment, four claws 27b are formed on the lower outer surface 14a1 of the toner waste container 130 formed on the left side of the casing A. The casing B is accordingly provided with four openings 29 in the wall covered by the lower surface 14a1 of the casing A. As on the toner container 110 side, on the toner waste container 130 side, the claws 27b of the casing A and the openings 29 of the casing B are engaged with each other so that the casings A and B are connected to each other. Reference numeral 27c designates an inclined surface of the claw 27b and reference numeral 29 designates an engaging end of the opening 29. In this embodiment, the claws 27 on the side of the toner container 110 and the claws 27b on the side of the toner waste container 130 are inclined outward, in other words, they are inclined away from each other. As a result, the elasticity of the housings A and B made of plastic material, more precisely the elasticity of the claws 27 and 27b, acts. such that the strength of the engagement is enhanced when they are engaged with the associated openings 28 and 29.

In this embodiment, the developing cartridge can be easily detached. As described above, the upper and lower casings A and B are connected by claws 27 and 27b. When the developing cartridge is to be detached, the developing cartridge 14 is placed on a detaching device 200. Rods 201 and 202 are then pressed to press the claws 27 and 27b. Consequently, the upper casing A can be easily detached from the lower casing B.

Without using the device 200, the housings A and B can be separated from each other by selectively pressing the claws 27 and 27b. However, in this case, it is preferable that the plurality of claws are pressed simultaneously and thus it is easier when the device 200 is used.

Another embodiment of the developer cartridge is described. In this embodiment, additional sealing means are used to further prevent leakage of the developer from the cartridge.

Referring to Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11, the cartridge of this embodiment with sealing means will be described. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the developing cartridge of this embodiment. The developing cartridge 201 contains an image bearing means in the form of a photosensitive drum 202 and developing means arranged around it. The working means include a cleaning means 203, a developing means 204 and a charging means 205 which are held on the cartridge case 201a. They form a unit which is detachably attachable as a unit to a main body of the image forming apparatus. When the photosensitive drum 202 and/or the When the developing device 204 has reached the end of its useful life, when the cleaning device 203 is filled with toner residues, or when the toner in the developing device 204 is used up, the entire developing cartridge 201 is replaced with a new developing cartridge. Consequently, maintenance or servicing is easy. In this embodiment, the charger 205 is in the form of a known corona charger, but may be replaced with a contact charger as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,851,960.

The cleaning device 203 has a cleaning blade 230 for removing the toner residue (developer residue) from the surface of the photosensitive drum 202, a toner receiving sheet 231 for preventing the toner residue from leaking out, and a toner residue container 232 for receiving the toner residue. The toner residue container 232 is formed by connecting the cleaning container 203a, the blade holder 230a, and the cartridge case 201a via sealing devices 213. The sealing devices 213 effectively prevent the toner from leaking through the connecting portions.

The developing device 204 has a developing sleeve 240 which is rotatable in a constant direction and transfers the toner (developer) from its outer surface to the photosensitive drum 202, a regulating blade 241 for regulating the thickness of the developing layer on the developing sleeve 240, and a toner container 242 which contains the toner and which supplies the developer to the developing sleeve 240. The toner container 242 is constituted by the toner container 212 and the developing container 204 which are connected by screws or the like and with sealing devices 214 therebetween so that they can be disassembled and cleaned. The sealing device 214 effectively prevents leakage of the toner through the connecting portions.

In the developing cartridge having the above-described structure, the photosensitive drum 202 is uniformly charged by a charger 205 and exposed to light for an image, so that an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum 202. With the rotation of the photosensitive drum 202, the electrostatic latent image reaches the developing device 204, where the latent image is supplied with toner from the developing sleeve 240 of the developing device 204 to be developed into a toner image. The toner image is transferred to the transfer sheet by a transfer charger or the like (not shown). After the completion of the image transfer operation, the photosensitive drum 202 is cleaned by the cleaning blade 230 so that the toner residue is removed from the photosensitive drum 202. The photosensitive drum 202 is then ready for the next image forming operation. The toner removed by the cleaning blade 230 is collected in the toner waste container 232 of the cleaning device 203 through the receiving sheet 231 contacting the photosensitive drum 202.

Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, description will be made of the sealing means 213 and 214. The sealing means of this embodiment are formed by injecting a two-liquid urethane rubber material R onto a bonding surface 201b (Fig. 9) of the cartridge case 201a and onto a bonding surface 212a (Fig. 10) of the toner container 212 through a nozzle 215. The material R is a foaming material and thus it is foamed onto the bonding surfaces 201b and 212a and cured into an elastomer approximately 20 seconds to 10 minutes after the injection.

In Fig. 9, the material R extends from point (a) along arrows 216 and 217 and returns to point (a), creating a closed ring. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 10 Sealing device 214 starts molding at point (b), continues along the direction of arrows 218 and 219, and is returned to the original point (b). The joining surfaces 201b and 212a are previously provided with grooves as shown in Fig. 11. Therefore, the material R finally forming the sealing device flows into the grooves and is then cured into the elastic elastomer. Therefore, the sealing device is not easily removed or displaced.

With the hardened sealing means 213 and 214 on the cartridge case 210a and the toner container 212, the cartridge case 210a and the toner container 212 are connected to the cleaning container 203a and the developer container 204a, respectively, and the toner leakage can be well prevented by the connecting portions. The height h (Fig. 11) of the elastomer 213 and 214 after the containers are coupled is larger than the distance C (Fig. 8) after hardening, and thus the sealing means is compressed to the height equal to the distance C, filling the distance.

In this embodiment, the material R is injected or discharged through the injection nozzle, whereby the injection speed, the injection amount can be fully automatically controlled, so that the sealing means along the joint surface can be reliably formed. Therefore, the apparatus satisfactorily meets the complicated shape as shown in Fig. 9.

As described above, the foamed polyurethane rubber is used as the sealing device material R. However, the material is not limited to this and other materials such as soft rubber or plastic materials such as silicone rubber or other elastomers (elastic high polymer materials) can be used with the same beneficial effects.

Accordingly, the sealing means are formed by hardened liquid elastomers such as foamed polyurethane rubber or the like for sealing the connecting portions of a variety of devices such as the developing device 204 in the developing cartridge, the toner container of the cleaning device 203 and the toner waste container. Therefore, when the structure of the containers is complicated, the sealing of the toner at the connecting portions can be easily achieved. In addition, the closed ring can be easily formed and thus the toner leakage through the sealing device connecting portions can be prevented.

Referring to Figs. 12, 13 and 14, there is shown a developing cartridge according to another embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. 12, the developing cartridge is formed by an upper casing A and a lower casing B in this figure, and the same reference numerals as in Fig. 8 are used for the elements having corresponding functions.

As shown in Fig. 13, the developing cartridge in Fig. 12 has the upper and lower cases A and B connected by claws 250 and screws 251. The claws 250 of the upper case A are elastically engaged with the corresponding openings 251 formed in the lower case B, thereby connecting the upper case A and the lower case B to each other. The upper and lower cases A and B sandwich the sealing devices 213b and 214b therebetween. The toner container 242 is formed by connecting the upper case A to the lower case B and connecting the upper case A to a blade holder 241a for holding a regulating blade 241. The Connecting portions are provided with a sealing device 214a for preventing toner leakage. The toner waste container 232 of the cleaning device 203 is formed by connecting the upper case A to the lower case B and by connecting the upper case A to a cleaning holder 230a for holding a cleaning blade 230. The connecting portion is formed with a sealing device 213a for preventing toner leakage.

Fig. 14 shows the view in the direction I in Fig. 13. In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 14, the two-liquid urethane rubber material R is injected from the nozzle 215 onto the joint surfaces between the upper and lower casing sections of the toner container and the toner waste container. Since it is a foaming material, it foams and becomes an elastomer on the joint surfaces 201b and 212a in about 30 seconds to 10 minutes after injection or discharge. The injection path starts from (a) and extends in the directions of arrows 216 and 217 to return to the position (a) so that a closed ring is formed. The surfaces receiving the material R (joint surfaces 201b and 212a) have been previously provided with grooves, whereby the material R easily flows into the grooves and then hardens into an elastomer. The sealing device is therefore not easy to remove or move. In this way, the upper housing A with the sealing devices 213 and 214 hardened thereon is connected to the lower housing B, so that the sealing devices 213 and 214 prevent leakage of the toner from the toner container and from the toner waste container. The height h (Fig. 11) of the sealing devices 213 and 214 after the housings are connected is, after curing, greater than the distances C1, C2, C3 and C4 (Fig. 12) and consequently the elastomer is compressed to a height equal to the distances C1 to C4, thus filling the distances.

Like the previously described embodiment, in this embodiment, the injection path speed and amount can be fully automated so that the sealing device can be reliably formed along the joint surfaces. In addition, the injection sections are concentrated on one of the housings and therefore the injection or application can be completed after only one positioning of the housings. This is advantageous because the number of manufacturing steps can be significantly reduced.

Similar to the previous embodiment, the material R can consist of soft rubber or soft plastic or the like.

In this embodiment, the liquid elastomer is applied to the bonding surface. With reference to Fig. 15, the system for mixing the two-liquid active material (liquid elastomer) and ejecting it through a nozzle 215 is described.

In Fig. 15, liquid A and liquid B are contained in containers A60 and B61. They are metered by metering pumps 262 and 263 to a mixer and stirrer station 264 with high accuracy so that their mixing ratio for the two-liquid reaction is accurate. In the mixer and stirrer station 264, the liquid A and the liquid B are uniformly mixed by the motor. The mixed liquid takes up to about 30 seconds to harden into an elastic elastomer, and therefore the mixed liquid is ejected through a nozzle 250 of the ejector 265 in the middle of the reaction. The mixer and agitator station 264, the ejector 265 and an injection head containing a nozzle 250 are moved along X, Y and Z axes to achieve the shape of the container or the like while ejecting the liquid elastomer.

The dosing by the dosing pumps 262 and 263, the mixing and stirring speeds, movement of the spray head along the three axes, the ejection speed or the like are controlled precisely in accordance with a predetermined program in a control of an industrial robot (not shown). The injection is therefore carried out automatically.

The materials used are as follows: TABLE 1

Referring to Fig. 16, the description will be made of a system using a liquid of single liquid reaction type. A N2 gas is injected into the liquid to foam it and it is sprayed through a nozzle 16.

A liquid elastomer, as shown in Fig. 16, is mainly made of polyurethane material which is heated to 70°C to 100°C in a container 266 by a heater. It is supplied to a foaming mixer machine 268 by a pump. In the foaming mixer machine 268, the liquid supplied from the container 266 is mixed with N₂ gas to be foamed. Before the liquid elastomer is hardened, it is injected to the device such as the toner container or the like through nozzles of the ejector 270.

As with the two-liquid material, an industrial robot not shown is used so that its control unit controls the mixing of the N2 gas, the supply of the material, the movement in the three axis directions of the spray head and the ejection speed or the like. The injection or the discharge is thus automatic.

Preferably, the elastomer has an elongation of 100 to 200%, a hardness (Asker C) of 4 to 15, a compression recovery of not less than 90%.

The previous description referred to development cartridges with both the toner residue container for the cleaning device and the toner container for the development device. The invention is not limited to this and is applicable to the development cartridges with at least one of the containers.

As previously described, according to the embodiments of the invention, the sealing device by curing the discharged liquid elastomer for a plurality of connecting portions of the developer container of the developing cartridge and therefore the leakage of the developer can be prevented better than conventional and in addition the invention is advantageous in the possibility of sealing complicated connecting portions.

Furthermore, automatic control of the liquid elastomer injection is possible and consequently the assembly of the development cassette is easier.

The developing cartridge described above may contain an image bearing device and at least one working device which acts directly or indirectly on the image bearing unit. In more detail, the developing cartridge may contain as a unit an electrophotographic photosensitive unit and a charger, a developing device and/or a cleaning device. A cartridge thus constructed is detachably attachable to an image forming apparatus such as a copier or laser printer.

As previously described, according to the embodiments of the invention, the developing cartridge is separable in the housing, one of which contains an image carrier device and working device acting thereon and the other of which contains a toner container with toner particles and/or a toner residue container. They are assembled by joining them together and can then be disassembled.

The invention therefore has the following advantageous effects:

1. By selecting the housing that contains the toner container (developer container), it is easy to create development cartridges that have different service lives and cross-sections; and

2. The housing containing the image carrier device and the processing device can be unified so that the production management can be made simpler.

According to the present invention, the developing cartridge which is easily assembled and usable in an image forming apparatus therewith can be provided.

Although the invention has been described with reference to the constructions disclosed herein, it is not limited to the details described and is intended to cover such modifications and changes as will achieve the advantages or come within the scope of the following claims.

Claims (20)

1. A method of manufacturing a developing cartridge which is detachably attachable to a main body of an image forming apparatus and which has a photosensitive member (10) and a developing member (112) for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive member (10), the method comprising the steps of: Attaching the development component (112) to a first housing (14b) selecting one of the plurality of second housings (14a) each having a developer containing portion (110) for containing a developer (t) supplied to the developing member (112) to develop the latent image, the second housings (14a) having different developer containing capacities and the selected second housing (14a) having a desired developer containing capacity; and Coupling the first housing (14b) with the selected second housing (14a). 2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising removably attaching a toner sealing device (113) for sealing a supply opening (111a) of the developer containing portion (110), the supply opening (111a) enabling the supply of the developer (t) to the developing member (112). 3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coupling step comprises coupling the first housing (14b) to the selected second housing (14a) by coupling means (27, 28, 29), bridging the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a) for separately coupling the first housing and the selected second housing, wherein the first housing and the selected second housing are separable by releasing the connection of the coupling device. 4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the coupling device has the form of a claw (27) having an end connectable to an opening (28) in the first housing (14b). 5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising attaching an elastic sealing device (26a) between the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a) to prevent leakage of the developer (t) between the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a). 6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the elastic sealing device (26a) is a polyurethane material. 7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of attaching cleaning means (131) to the first housing (14b) to remove residual developer from the photosensitive member (10). 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the cleaning device (131) has a cleaning blade (131) which is attached to the first housing (14b) in contact with the photosensitive member (10). 9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the second housings (14a) each have an exposure opening (141) through which imaging light can enter the photosensitive component (10). 10. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising the step of attaching a charger (12) to the first housing (14b) in order to charge the photosensitive component (10). 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the charging device (12) has a charging roller (121) attached to the first housing (14b) in abutment with the photosensitive member (10). 12. A developing cartridge system for producing a developing cartridge detachably attachable to a main body of an image forming apparatus, the system comprising; a photosensitive component (10); A developing member (112) for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive member (10); a first housing (14b) containing the development component (112); and a plurality of second housings (14a) connectable to the first housing (14b), and wherein each second housing (14a) has a developer containing portion (110) for containing a developer (t) to be supplied to the developing member (112) for developing the latent image, the developer containing portion (110) of each second housing (14a) having a different developer containing capacity; and wherein one of the second housings is connected to the first housing. 13. A system according to claim 12, wherein each second housing (14b) further has a toner sealing device (113) for sealing a supply opening (111a) of the developer containing portion (110), the supply opening (111a) enabling supply of the developer (t) to the developing member (112). 14. System according to claim 12 or 13, further comprising coupling means (27, 28, 29) for separate connection the first housing (14b) with the selected second housing (14a), wherein the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a) are separable by releasing the connection of the coupling devices (27, 28, 29). 15. System according to one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the coupling device has the form of a claw (27) with one end that is connectable to an opening (28) in the first housing (14b). 16. System according to one of claims 12 to 15, further comprising a resilient sealing device (26a) which is positionable between the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a) in order to prevent escape of the developer (t) between the first housing (14b) and the selected second housing (14a). 17. System according to claim 16, wherein the elastic sealing device (26a) is a polyurethane material. 18. System according to one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the first housing has cleaning means (131) for removing the residual developer (t) from the photosensitive member. 19. System according to one of claims 12 to 18, wherein each of the second housings (14a) has an exposure opening (141) through which the imaging light can enter the photosensitive member (10). 20. A system according to any one of claims 12 to 19, wherein the developing member (112) has a developing roller (112) for developing a latent image formed on the photosensitive drum (10).