JPH02131254A - Recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the possibility of the breaking of a wire by connecting a spring to the power source of a lower unit side electrically and providing a developing unit with a metallic piece which abuts on the spring and supplies electric power to a prescribed part of the developing unit when an upper unit is closed. CONSTITUTION:The spring 14a is connected electrically to the power source 15 of the lower unit 3 and the developing unit 1 is provided with the metallic piece 11a which abuts on the spring 14a when the upper unit 4 is closed to supply the electric power to the prescribed part of the developing unit 1. Therefore, when the upper unit 4 is closed, the spring 14a which is connected electrically to the power source 15 of the lower unit 3 abuts on the metallic piece 11a of the developing unit 1 of the upper unit 4 to energize the developing unit 1 toward a photosensitive body 2 and also supply the electric power to the prescribed part of the developing unit 1. Consequently, the electric conductive between the lower unit 3 and upper unit 4 is eliminated or may be short, so the cost is reduced and the possibility of the breaking of the electric conductor resulting from the opening/closing operation of the upper unit 4 is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to recording apparatuses such as electrophotographic printers such as laser printers, electrophotographic copying machines, and transfer electrostatic recording printers.

2. Description of the Related Art This type of recording device consists of a fixed lower unit and an upper unit that is attached to the lower unit so as to be able to move up and down to open and close. It is known that the unit is provided with a spring and a power source that push the imager toward the photoreceptor when the upper unit is closed.

The developing device is equipped with a magnetic roller close to the photoreceptor, its drive motor, a toner remaining amount detection sensor, etc., and electric wires for transmitting electricity to these are connected between the developing device and the power supply on the lower unit side. It is provided.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the conventional recording device as described above, the power source is located on the lower unit side and the developing device is located on the upper unit side, so when the upper unit is opened or closed, the distance between the power source and the developing device changes. , the electric wires between these will move, and there is a risk of wire breakage. Furthermore, when the developing device is attached or detached as a unit, the electric wire from the power source must be attached or detached each time, which is a cumbersome task. Furthermore, since dedicated electric wires are provided, the number of parts increases, the number of assembly steps increases, and costs increase.

An object of the present invention is to provide a recording device that solves the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems A recording device according to the present invention includes a fixed lower unit and an upper unit that is attached to the lower unit so as to be movable up and down and opens and closes.The upper unit includes a photoreceptor and a developing device. In a recording device in which the lower unit is provided with a spring that pushes the developer toward the photoreceptor when the upper unit is closed, the spring is electrically connected to a power supply on the lower unit side, and the spring is electrically connected to the power supply on the lower unit side,
The device is characterized in that a metal piece is provided for contacting the spring and transmitting electricity to a predetermined portion of the developing device when the upper unit is closed.

Operation When the upper unit is closed, a spring electrically connected to the power supply of the lower unit comes into contact with the metal piece of the developer in the upper unit, biasing the developer toward the photoreceptor, and electricity is applied to a predetermined part of the developer. can be conveyed to. This eliminates or reduces the need for electrical wires between the lower and upper units.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a laser printer will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the left side of FIG. 1 will be referred to as the front, the right side will be referred to as the rear, and the left and right sides of FIG. 2 will be referred to as left and right.

The drawing shows a developing device (1) and a photosensitive drum (2) of a laser printer. Although detailed illustrations are omitted, the laser printer is divided into a fixed lower unit (3) and an upper unit (4) that is attached to the lower unit (3) so as to be movable up and down and can be opened and closed. The developing device (1) and photoreceptor drum (2) are installed in the upper unit (4) as shown below.
installed on.

The photosensitive drum (2) is rotatably attached to the upper unit (4) so as to extend parallel to the left-right direction. A photoreceptor (2a) is attached to the surface of the photoreceptor drum (2).

The developing device (1) is equipped with a case (5) made of synthetic resin, and the rear upper part of the case (5) has a shaft (6) extending in the left-right direction.
Upper unit (4) so that it can be rotated slightly through the
is supported by At the lower front of the case (5), there is a magnet roller (7) extending left and right and its sleeve (8).
) is rotatably supported. A drive motor (9) for the magnet roller (7) and the sleeve (8) is attached to the right rear part of the case (5). A remaining toner amount detection sensor (lO) is attached to the center of the rear surface of the case (5). A plurality of (for example, 6) metal pieces (lla) (llb) (lie) < 1 are attached to the lower rear surface of the case (5).
1d) (lie) (Iff') (generally referred to by the symbol (l1)) are attached. Then, the first metal piece (ll
a) is attached to the sleeve (8) of the magnetic roller (7), and the second and third metal pieces (llb) (lle) are attached to the sensor (1).
0), the fourth and fifth metal pieces (lld) (lle) are electrically connected to the motor (9) by electric wires (l2), respectively.

The same number of metal spring holders (13a) (13b) (13c) (13d) (13e) as the metal pieces (1l) of the developing unit (1) are attached to the synthetic resin base (l6) of the lower unit (3).
) (13f) (generally referred to as (13)) are fixed, and a metal coil spring (14a) is attached to each spring receiver (13).
(14b) (14c) (14d) (14e) (1
4f) (generally referred to as code (14)) is installed,
electrically connected. The lower unit (3) is provided with a suitable power source (15), and the first to fifth . 5 spring receivers (13a) <13b) (13c) (1
3d) (13e) is electrically connected to this power source (15), and the sixth spring receiver (131') is grounded.

When the upper unit (4) is rotated upward and opened, the metal piece (l1) of the developing device (1) of the upper unit (4)
are all separated upwardly from the spring (l4) of the lower unit (3), and the sleeve (8) of the magnetic roller (7), the motor (9) and the sensor (10) are not energized.

When the upper unit (4) rotates downward and closes, all the springs (l4) come into pressure contact with the corresponding metal pieces (11), and the case (5) of the developing device (1) is pressed against the magnetic roller (7). The sleeve (8) is urged in a direction toward the photoreceptor drum (2), that is, forwardly. Although not shown, synthetic resin rollers are rotatably attached to both ends of the magnet roller (7), and the springs (14) press these rollers against the photosensitive drum (2) to Body drum (2)
The distance between the sleeve (8) and the sleeve (8) is kept constant. On the other hand, when the spring (l4) comes into contact with the metal piece (l1), these are electrically connected. Therefore, a bias voltage is applied to the sleeve (8) of the magnet roller (7), and the motor (9) and sensor (IO) are also energized.

As mentioned above, when the upper unit (4) is closed, the spring (l4) provided in the lower unit (3) comes into contact with the metal piece (11) of the developing device (1) of the upper unit (4). , from the power supply (15) of the lower unit (3) to the developing device (1)
sleeve (8), motor (9) and sensor (10)
Since the lower unit (3) and the upper unit (4) are energized, there is no need for an electric wire between the lower unit (3) and the upper unit (4).

For this reason, there is no fear of wire breakage due to opening and closing of the upper unit (4), and reliability is improved. In addition, a developing device (1
) There is no need to attach or remove electric wires when attaching or detaching, making the work easy.

The first metal piece (lla) and the sleeve (8) are
2), the sleeve (8) may be electrically connected via a metal shaft or bearing (not shown) that supports the sleeve (8).

In the above embodiment, the sleeve (8), the motor (9) and the sensor (lO) are all equipped with a metal piece (ll) and a spring (l4).
), but only some of them may be energized by a metal piece and a spring.

Effects of the Invention According to the recording apparatus of the present invention, as described above, when the upper unit is closed, the lower unit is provided with a spring for biasing the developing device toward the photoreceptor, and the spring is provided in the upper unit for biasing the developing device toward the photoreceptor. By contacting the metal piece of the container, electricity is transmitted from the power source of the lower unit to a predetermined portion of the developing device, thereby eliminating or reducing the need for electric wires between the lower unit and the upper unit. Therefore, the number of parts is reduced, the cost is reduced, and the risk of wire breakage due to opening and closing of the upper unit is reduced, improving reliability.

Further, the work of attaching and removing electric wires when attaching and detaching the developing device is eliminated or reduced, making the work easier.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway schematic side view of a developing unit and photosensitive drum of a laser printer showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view of the same. (1)...Developer, (2)...Photosensitive drum, (2
a)...Photoreceptor, (3)...Lower unit, (4)
... Upper unit, (5) ... Case, (7) ...
・Magnetic roller, (8)...Sleeve, (9)・
... Drive motor, (IO) ... Toner remaining amount detection sensor, (11) ... Metal piece, (l2) ... Electric wire, (l3
)...Spring receiver, (l4)...Coil spring, (!5
)···power supply.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Consisting of a fixed lower unit and an upper unit that is attached to the lower unit so as to be vertically movable and opens and closes, the upper unit is provided with a photoreceptor and a developing device, and the lower unit is provided with an upper unit. In a recording device that is equipped with a spring that pushes the developer toward the photoreceptor when the unit is closed, the spring is electrically connected to the power supply on the lower unit side, and the spring is connected to the developer when the upper unit is closed. A recording device characterized in that a metal piece is provided for contacting and transmitting electricity to a predetermined portion of a developing device.