JPH0525454U - Process cartridge - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When recycling process cartridges for electrophotography, the manufacturer and the disassembler are generally different. If the process cartridge is disassembled without understanding the structure of the process cartridge, the toner existing at the time of disassembly will be scattered. [Structure] A label 12 showing an arrow 12-1 is attached to a developing device 7 constituting a process cartridge, and a label 11 showing an arrow 11-1 is attached to a cleaning device 4.
Is attached. And the upper side 11-2, 12-, respectively
The item 2 indicates which should be turned up. When disassembled in this posture, the toners 8-1, 8-2 and 8-3 do not fall.

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 13, a developing device 7, and a cleaning device 4 are arranged around the photosensitive drum 1 and are housed in a housing provided with a window through which a laser beam 14 is incident. The toner is accommodated in the toner accommodating portion 15 adjacent to the developing portion including the probe 6, thereby forming a process cartridge. During image formation, the photosensitive drum 1 rotates in the direction of arrow 9 in the figure, is uniformly charged by the primary charger 13, and a latent image is formed by the laser beam 14 according to the image signal. The toner is rotated in the direction of the arrow 10 in the figure. The toner is made a thin layer by the developing sleeve 6 and the developing blade 5 and is applied to the latent image to form a visible image, and the transfer material is supplied by a sheet feeding means (not shown). Is transcribed to. The residual toner remaining on the photosensitive drum 1 after the transfer is scraped off by the cleaning blade 2 and prevented from leaking by the squeeze 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 cannot be used. Normally, the toner is replaced with a new one without any toner remaining in the toner container 15. Since this process cartridge can be easily replaced by the user, it contributes to the reduction of the social cost of having a service person go 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 a unit, and the primary charger 13 is a roller-shaped or corona charger, and is attached to the housing. Is. In the process cartridge, the above units are partially assembled and then assembled in a housing together with other members.

Most of such process cartridges are disposable. However, in recent years, as energy conservation, resource conservation, ecology, etc. have become issues, 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. However, as shown in FIG. 4, the used process cartridge still has a developing blade 5, toner 8-2 attached to the developing sleeve 6 and toner accumulated on the eaves 16 of the developing container in a part of the developing device 7. 8-3 remains, and the cleaning device 4 is clogged with the transfer residual toner 8-1 collected during paper passing.

As a result, when the process cartridges are assembled, they are assembled in order on the manufacturing line, so the manufacturing line is not contaminated. However, when disassembling, the process cartridges of various manufacturers are disassembled because the internal structure is not well understood. However, the toner often remains in the process cartridge, and the line often gets dirty. This is shown in FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows the toner 8-1 accumulated in the cleaning device 4 when the photosensitive drum 1 is disassembled in the direction shown by the arrow in the process cartridge of FIG. 4 in the state of FIG. The opening 17 between them was blocked by the photosensitive drum 1, but the opening 17 was opened by the movement of the photosensitive drum 1 and dropped due to gravity, resulting in toner scattering as indicated by reference numeral 8-4. I have polluted the decomposition line.

In FIG. 6, when the process cartridge of FIG. 4 is turned upside down and the photosensitive drum 1 is disassembled in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 6, the toner 8-3 accumulated above the eaves 16 at the tip of the developing device 7 is turned upside down. As a result, the toner may fall due to gravity and may fall on the photosensitive drum 1, but toner scattering as shown by reference numeral 8-5 may occur and the decomposition line may be soiled.

These toner drops not only hinder the smooth recovery of the toner, but when a large amount adheres to the magnet used in the developing sleeve 6, the magnetic flux density is lowered, and the toner of the developing magnet is reduced. I can no longer recycle. In addition, the scattering of toner leads to the pollution of the surrounding air and further to the environmental pollution of the earth, which is a serious problem.

[0011]

[Means and Actions for Solving the Problems]

 A first aspect of the present invention is a process cartridge, which is an assembly of a plurality of members for performing an electrophotographic process, and displays an indication of a possible posture when the member or the unit in which the members are assembled is to be disassembled. It is a process cartridge characterized by being provided.

A second invention of the present invention is the process cartridge, wherein an indication indicating a possible posture of the member or the unit is displayed on the member to be disassembled or the unit itself.

A third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that an indication indicating a possible posture of the member or the unit is displayed on a member or a unit on the other side that is disassembled from the member or the unit and separated. It is a process cartridge.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the process cartridge has a photosensitive member, a charging device, a developing device, and a cleaning device as a unit in the housing, and each unit is provided with an indication indicating a possible posture when disassembling. Is a process cartridge.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, any one of the first to fourth aspects is characterized in that the display showing the posture that can be taken at the time of disassembly is the display showing the direction of the disassembling member or unit. The process cartridge according to any one of the above.

[0016]

【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 is omitted unless it is related to disassembly and assembly.

A label 11 indicating the direction when the cleaning device 4 is disassembled is attached to a prominent place of the cleaning device 4 as an indication indicating the posture of the cleaning device 4 when disassembling the cleaning device 4. 11-1 is an arrow, and 11-2 shows the upper side. Similarly, a similar label 12 is attached to the developing device 7. 12-1 is an arrow and 12-2 shows the upper side.

With such a configuration, even a person who is completely unfamiliar with the configuration of the process cartridge can smoothly set the process cartridge without scattering toner by setting each unit according to the arrow indicating the setting direction at the time of disassembly. It becomes possible to disassemble.

FIG. 2 shows how the photosensitive drum 1 is disassembled from the cleaning device 4. If the cleaning device 4 is set in the direction indicated by the label 11, even if the photosensitive drum 1 is removed, the recovery toner 8-1 does not spill out from the openings 17 of the squeegee sheet 3 and the cleaning blade 2.

FIG. 3 shows a case where the developing sleeve 6 is removed from the developing device 7. If the developing device 7 is set in the direction indicated by the label 12 and the developing sleeve 6 is removed, the toners 8-2 and 8-3 will not spill.

It is to be noted that the direction of disassembling the member or each unit is not limited to the arrow, and may be a letter or word of each country, a symbol, a figure that can be seen up and down, or the like.

Further, a label is used in the embodiment as a signal for indicating the orientation of the member or each unit. However, this is not limited to the label, and for example, the label may be directly printed on the most prominent place of each unit. However, it may be a stamp or the like. In addition, a mark may be molded from the beginning on the mold used to mold each unit.

In the embodiment, the direction in which the unit should be placed is provided at one location by means of an arrow as an indication of the posture of the unit, but a plurality of units may be provided around the unit. Further, the display may be a display showing a posture in which the unit should not be disassembled. Although it is desirable to provide this display on the member to be disassembled or on the unit itself, for example, when the developing device 7 and the cleaning device 4 are covered with the housing of the process cartridge, the display may be provided on the housing. Alternatively, the display may be provided on the member to be disassembled or on the member adjacent to the unit.

[0025]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, in a process cartridge used in an electrophotographic apparatus or the like, a member or unit forming the process cartridge is provided with an indication indicating a posture that can be taken at the time of disassembling, so that a disassembler can Even if the structure of the process cartridge is unknown, it is possible to prevent toner scattering and enable smooth disassembly.

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

[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 in partial cross-section the disassembling operation of the cleaning device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial cross-section of the disassembling operation of the developing device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of a conventional example.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing an operation of a conventional example.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing an operation of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Photosensitive Drum 4 Cleaning Device 7 Developing Device 11 Label 12 Label 13 Primary Charger

Claims (5)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A process cartridge in which a plurality of members for performing an electrophotographic process are assembled, and a display indicating a posture that can be taken when disassembling the member to be disassembled or a unit in which the members are collected is provided. And process cartridge. 2. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein a display indicating a possible posture of the member or the unit is displayed on the member to be disassembled or the unit itself. 3. A process cartridge, wherein an indication indicating a possible posture of the member or the unit is displayed on a member or unit on the other side that is disassembled and separated from the member or the unit. 4. A process cartridge having a photosensitive member, a charging device, a developing device, and a cleaning device as a unit in a housing, and each unit is marked with an indication indicating a posture that can be taken at the time of disassembly. . 5. The process cartridge according to claim 1, wherein the display indicating the posture that can be taken at the time of disassembling is a display indicating the direction of the member or the unit to be disassembled.