JPH0525451U - Process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When recycling process cartridges, disassemblers handle products from different manufacturers. Therefore, there is a risk that the disassembling order will be incorrect and the members will be damaged and cannot be recycled. [Structure] The members are provided with the order numbers circled in the disassembly order. That is, if the photosensitive drum 1, the charging roller 11, the developing blade 2, the squeeze sheet 3, the developing sleeve 6, and the developing blade are disassembled in this order, the member is not damaged.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a process cartridge used in a copying machine, a printer, etc. using electrophotography.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Some laser beam printers to which the electrophotographic method is applied, for example, have a main part for performing an image forming process as an integrated process cartridge. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a primary charging device 11, a developing device 7, and a cleaning device 4 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1 and the photosensitive drum 1 is housed in a housing provided with a window through which the laser beam 12 is incident. The toner is accommodated in the toner accommodating portion 14 adjacent to the developing portion including the probe 6, thereby forming a process cartridge. Further, 8 indicates the toner remaining inside the cartridge at the end of its life. During image formation, the photosensitive drum 1 rotates in the direction of the arrow 9 in the figure, is uniformly charged by the primary charger 11, and a latent image is formed by the laser beam 12 according to the image signal. The toner is made into a thin layer by the developing sleeve 6 and the developing blade 5 which are rotating in the direction of arrow 10 in the figure, and is applied to the latent image to form a visible image, which is supplied by a sheet feeding means (not shown). It is transferred to the transfer material. After the transfer, the residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 is scraped off by the cleaning blade 2 and prevented from leaking by the squeegee sheet 3, and is stored in the cleaning device 4. If such an image forming process is repeated, the amount of toner in the developing device 7 decreases and it becomes unusable. Normally, the toner in the toner storage unit 14 is replaced with a new one without any remaining toner, and the toner is replaced. Since this process cartridge replacement can be easily done by the user, it contributes to the reduction of the social cost of the service person traveling around.

In such a process cartridge, the photosensitive drum 1 is assembled so as to be rotatably supported by the above-mentioned housing, and the developing device 7 has at least the developing sleeve 6 and the developing blade 5 assembled in a single container. The cleaning device 4 is unitized, and the cleaning blade 2 and the squishy sheet 3 are assembled into a single container to be unitized, and the primary charger 11 is a roller-shaped or corona charger, and is a unit attached to the housing. Is. The process cartridge is constructed by partially assembling the above units, and is assembled in a housing together with other components.

Most of such process cartridges are disposable. However, in recent years, as energy conservation, resource conservation, ecology, etc. have become a problem, serious consideration has been given to recycling process cartridges.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 If you want to recycle the process cartridge, you must first disassemble the used process cartridge to get the necessary parts.

However, in general, the disassembler is often different from the manufacturer, and in this case, the process cartridges of various manufacturers are disassembled. Therefore, in many cases, the information that tells in what order the most important component loss can be reduced is not transmitted. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, when the used process cartridge is disassembled in the order of the circled numbers, the cleaning blade 2, the charging roller 11, the photosensitive drum 1, and the squeeze sheet 3 are disassembled in this order. However, the parts cannot be disassembled, but since the root fixing part of the cleaning blade 2 is removed and it moves in the direction of the arrow a in the figure, the charging roller 11 that disassembles secondly is removed at the edge of the cleaning blade 2. It will hurt.

As a result, the charging roller 11 which is intended to be effectively used as a recycled part is no longer usable.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, if the developing sleeve 5 is to be released before the developing sleeve 6, the developing sleeve 5 also damages the surface of the developing sleeve 6.

As a result, similarly, the image sleeve 6, which was being effectively used as a recycled part, is no longer usable.

Further, even if it happens that it can be disassembled as described above, it takes a lot of observation time in order to find out how to disassemble the process cartridge that does not show how it is assembled. It takes a lot of time because it disassembles the member so that it is not damaged and is not damaged.

Furthermore, when disassembling the process cartridge, there are some parts that cannot be easily disassembled, and the process cartridge cannot be disassembled unless the disassembly order of such parts is known. In the end, it's no different than when a process cartridge is thrown away.

[0012]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 A first invention of the present invention is a process cartridge in which a plurality of members for performing an electrophotographic process are assembled, and the process cartridge is characterized in that the order of disassembling the members is shown.

In a second aspect of the present invention, a process cartridge is a total assembly of a photoconductor unit, a cleaning unit, a charging unit, a developing unit, etc. in which a plurality of members are partially assembled, and the order of disassembling each unit is Is a process cartridge according to the first invention.

[0014]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention. The device configuration of all members and units is the same as that shown in the conventional example, the same functional parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted unless related to disassembly.

In FIG. 1, the photosensitive drum 1, a shaft for supporting the photosensitive drum 1, and a process cartridge are mounted on the apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus, and a shaft joint portion for connecting the shaft and the drive unit of the apparatus main body, the shaft. A supporting frame having a bearing for supporting the photosensitive drum unit is partially assembled as a photosensitive drum unit.

In the prominent places of the photosensitive drum 1 or the supporting frame (not shown) on the end surface side of the photosensitive drum 1, the developing device 7, and the cleaning device 4, the ordinal numbers indicating the order of disassembling each member are circled. The symbol ~ is attached. The number may be printed on the label to display the symbol, but this is not limited to the label, and for example, it may be printed directly on the most prominent place of each unit, It may be a stamp or the like. In addition, the symbols used to mold each unit may be pre-molded with symbols.

First, when the photosensitive drum 1 unit indicated by this symbol is disassembled, the process cartridge is disassembled into a cleaning device 4 unit and a developing device 7 unit.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the charging roller 11 marked with a symbol is disassembled second. The third is the disassembly of the cleaning blade 2 with the symbol, and the fourth is the disassembly of the squi sheet 3 with the symbol. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the developing sleeve 6 having the fifth symbol is disassembled, and the developing blade 5 having the sixth symbol is disassembled in this order. As a result, each part was disassembled without damage, and if possible, it was effectively used as recycled parts, leading to energy saving and resource saving.

In addition, as a second embodiment, the order of disassembling each unit is not limited to a number, and “I, R, H, N ---” and “A, B, C, D- It may be a character of each country such as "-", or may be a color code of "red, orange, yellow, green ---".

[0021]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, in the present invention, in the process cartridge used for electrophotography, etc., the order of disassembling the members or units constituting the process cartridge such as the photoconductor unit, the cleaning unit, the charger, and the developing unit can be set. By displaying on each member and unit, quick disassembly is possible without damaging the member.

As a result, it becomes possible to efficiently recycle the process cartridge, and it is possible to contribute to problems such as energy saving, resource saving, and the environment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a partial cross-section of a process cartridge embodying the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a partial cross section of a cleaning unit embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing, in a partial cross section, a developing device unit embodying the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional process cartridge.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional developing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Photosensitive drum 2 Cleaning blade 6 Developing sleeve 11 Charging roller

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazushige Sakurai 3-30-2 Shimomaruko, Ota-ku, Tokyo Canon Inc.

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A process cartridge in which a plurality of members for carrying out an electrophotographic process are assembled, and the process cartridge is characterized in that the order in which the members are disassembled is shown. 2. The process cartridge comprises a photoconductor unit, a cleaning unit, a charging unit, a developing unit, etc., each of which is formed by partially assembling a plurality of members, and the order of disassembling upon disassembling is indicated in each unit. The process cartridge according to claim 1, which is characterized in that.