JPH05265264A - Image forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an image forming device low-priced and space-saving with one switch serving for the function of two separate switches in an electrophotographic copying device or printer with an LED printer head utilized as an image forming exposure means. CONSTITUTION:A microswitch pressing member 41 is pressed simultaneously by both the outer protruding part 23 of a process cartridge 1 and the innermost end protruding part 34a of a sliding force transmitting member 34 so as to transmit the mounted state to a microswitch. Furthermore, the microswitch is put in action only at the positively mounted time of the process cartridge 1 and an outer door.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to mounting of a process cartridge in the main body of an apparatus and closing of an exterior door in an electrophotographic copying apparatus, printer or the like having a removable process cartridge containing a latent image carrier and process means. The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that performs a switching operation only when both conditions of time are simultaneously satisfied.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An image forming apparatus includes a charging device for uniformly applying an electric charge on a latent image carrier (hereinafter referred to as a photoconductor), a developing device for forming an electrostatic latent image, and residual toner on the photoconductor. A cleaning device or the like for removing the is an essential means for the image forming process.

There is an image forming apparatus in which a process cartridge in which at least one of such image forming process means is integrated with a photosensitive member is attachable to and detachable from an apparatus main body.

By using the above-mentioned process cartridge, for example, maintenance such as periodical replacement of the photoconductor, cleaner or developing device by a service person, replacement of other various consumables, adjustment, etc. is required. The labor required for work can be significantly reduced, and the work efficiency is significantly improved. Further, there is an advantage that an image of a desired color can be easily formed only by mounting a process cartridge storing toner of each color on the main body of the apparatus.

A conventional image forming apparatus will be described below. FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing an essential part of a conventional image forming apparatus with an exterior door opened, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an essential part of the process cartridge, the exterior door, and the microswitch of FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 1 denotes a process cartridge, which is a photoconductor 2 having an inorganic or organic photoconductive layer provided on a conductive drum substrate, and a charger 3 for forming an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductor 2 by corona discharge. And a development unit that visualizes the electrostatic latent image
(A developing roller 6 to be described later) and a cleaning device for scraping off the residual toner on the photoconductor 2 after the transfer onto the transfer paper 4.
(Not shown), and the developing unit is a one-component developing system using the friction charging blade 5. Reference numeral 6 denotes a developing roller which rotates in the direction of arrow a and is adjacent to the developing roller 6 and is a toner supply roller 7 made of foamed resin such as urethane.
Is rotatably arranged in the direction of arrow b.

The process cartridge 1 also serves as a casing of the developing device, and the one-component toner 8 is also stored therein. A triboelectrifying blade 5 is fixedly installed in the process cartridge 1, and the tip of the triboelectrifying blade 5 is in surface contact with the developing roller 6 to regulate the amount of toner on the developing roller 6 and to make the toner have the same polarity as the electrostatic latent image. Charge. The charged toner is brought into contact with the photoconductor 2 that moves in the direction of arrow c, and the LED array head 9 attracts the charge of the electrostatic latent image formed on the photoconductor 2 for development.

The developing roller 6 is made of conductive rubber, and has the same polarity as the electrostatic latent image and the potential of the electrostatic latent image on the axis of the developing roller so that the toner may fly to the electrostatic latent image during development. A potential approximately midway of the potential of the non-image area is applied by a bias voltage applying device (not shown). The developed one-component toner 8 is conveyed and mixed again with the one-component toner 8 in the cartridge 1, and new one-component toner 8 is supplied onto the developing roller 6. The frictional charging blade 5 is composed of a thin plate-shaped rigid support member fixedly mounted on the process cartridge 1 and is integrally formed of an elastic resin toner layer thickness regulating member, and the material thereof is silicon, Teflon, polyimide, polyester, nylon. It is composed of an insulating elastic member such as.

Then, the toner image is transferred to the transfer paper 4 by applying a potential having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image on the photoconductor 2 to the transfer roller 10. The transfer paper 4 on which the toner image is transferred is guided to a fixing device 13 including a heat roller 11 having a heat source such as a halogen lamp and a pressure roller 12, and the nip rotation of the heat roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 is performed. The toner image on the transfer paper 4 is fixed by the pressure and heat accompanied by and is output as an image.
The LED array head 9 is composed of LED light emitting parts (not shown) arranged in a line on the LED array substrate and a converging rod lens 14 held by a lens holder. The LED holder 18 slidably supported with respect to 17 (two places) is provided with an LED slide spring 19 and a slide pin 20 (two or more places) to form an arrow d.
It is supported so that it can be moved by a minute amount.

The LED array head 9 moves in conjunction with the opening / closing operation of the rotation fulcrum shaft 21 of the exterior door 16 while drawing a circle between the X point and the Y point as a circular arc shown by a broken line e. Since the holder 18 comes into contact with a part of the main body of the apparatus, the circular movement around the rotation fulcrum shaft 21 is stopped. When the opening / closing angle is further reduced until the exterior door 16 is completely locked, the holder compression spring 15 attached to the exterior door 16
Presses the LED holder 18 toward the photoconductor 2, and therefore L
The ED array head 9 is moved vertically from the point Y onto the photoconductor 2. As a result, two positioning holes 22 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 3) are provided at both ends of the LED array head 9 shown in FIG. The protrusions 23 (see FIG. 7) are fitted to each other to position the photoconductor 2 and the LED array head 9.

In FIG. 7, the projecting plate 24 is provided on the outside of the side wall of the process cartridge 1, and when the process cartridge 1 is mounted on the main body of the apparatus, the photo interrupter is provided.
25 is crossed, and the completion of mounting is electrically transmitted to a control board (not shown) of the apparatus body. Further, the protrusion 26 provided inside the exterior door 16 pushes the micro switch 27 when the exterior door 16 is closed, and electrically transmits the fact that it is closed to the device body control board (not shown). Then, when both the photo interrupter 25 and the micro switch 27 are electrically turned on, the operation of the apparatus main body becomes possible.

[0012]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, the photo interrupter 25 for the process cartridge 1 and the micro switch 27 for the exterior door 16 are separately arranged as shown in FIG. In addition, it has a drawback that it has a high cost structure and requires twice as much mounting space.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems. When the conditions for mounting the process cartridge in the apparatus main body and closing the exterior door are satisfied at the same time with a low-cost and space-saving structure. An object is to provide an image forming apparatus capable of performing only a switching operation.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a process cartridge in which process means arranged around a photosensitive member are integrally formed, and an exterior door which can be opened and closed when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body. And an exposure means capable of urging the process cartridge in conjunction with the exterior door, and a switch mechanism linked to the process cartridge and the exterior door. The switch mechanism is provided for mounting the process cartridge and closing the exterior door. The switching operation is performed only when both conditions are simultaneously satisfied.

[0015]

According to the present invention, a photo interrupter for detecting the presence or absence of the process cartridge and a micro switch for detecting the open / closed state of the exterior door can be combined into one micro switch, and both the process cartridge and the exterior door can be used as an apparatus. By making it possible to perform the function as a switch only when it is securely attached to the main body, it becomes possible to perform a switching operation with a low-cost and space-saving configuration.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An electrophotographic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention when the exterior door is opened, FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of FIG. 1 when the exterior door is closed, and FIG. 3 is a process cartridge of FIG. It is a perspective view showing the composition of the important section of a switch. The same parts as those in the conventional example shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the process cartridge 1 is provided with a transfer roller 10 and an external door 28 having a transfer sheet conveying path formed therein, which is opened and closed about a door rotation fulcrum 29. It can be attached to and detached from the main body. Positioning of the process cartridge 1 and the apparatus main body is performed along the guide grooves 31 (see FIG. 1) of the process cartridge guide member 30 (two locations on both sides) provided on the inner wall of the apparatus main body shown in FIG. This is done by inserting the surface positioning projection wall 32.

LED array head 9 as exposure means
Are supported by the LED holder 18 via LED slide springs 19 by slide pins 20 (at two or more places) so as to be capable of minute movement in the direction of arrow d. At both ends of the LED holder 18,
Rotation center shaft hole 33 for rotational movement with respect to the device body
(Two places on both ends) are provided, and the slide force transmitting member 34 for rotating the LED holder 18 is provided on the side opposite to the LED array head 9 side with respect to the rotation center shaft hole 33.
Connecting pin 35 (2 at both ends) for sliding engagement with (2 places at both ends)
Locations) are provided.

A holder rotation center shaft 36 disposed in the process cartridge guide member 30 is rotatably fitted in the rotation center shaft hole 33 of the LED holder 18. Sliding force transmission member
One end of a restoring spring 37 is engaged with 34, and the other end is engaged with an engaging portion 38 of the process cartridge guide member 30 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow f.
Supported by.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, L is fitted so as to be fitted with the protrusion 23 provided on the exterior portion of the process cartridge 1.
Two positioning holes 22 are provided at both ends of the ED array head 9. If desired, the rotation center shaft hole 33 of the LED holder 18 is positioned on the extension line of the positioning surface 39 of the process cartridge 1 so that the protrusion 23 attached to the exterior portion of the process cartridge 1 and the positioning holes at both ends of the LED array head 9. Since the direction of attachment and detachment with 22 is vertical, positioning is performed smoothly.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the microswitch mechanism portion constituting the main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a horizontal sectional view for explaining the operating state of FIG.

When the process cartridge 1 is mounted in the apparatus main body, that is, when the process cartridge 1 is mounted in the apparatus main body as shown in FIG. The large inclined portion 41a of the micro switch pressing member 41 is pressed by the protrusion 40 attached to the exterior portion of the process cartridge 1 as shown in FIG. 5 (b). The movement of the micro switch pressing member 41 in the direction of the arrow f is performed by the guide protrusion of the micro switch pressing member shown in FIG.
41b and the groove 30a provided in the process cartridge guide member 30 convert in the direction of arrow g.

At this time, the amount of movement of the microswitch pressing member 41 in the direction of arrow g is the tangent component with respect to the large inclined portion 41a of the microswitch pressing member 41 as the amount of movement of the protrusion 40 of the process cartridge exterior in the direction of arrow f. When the process cartridge 1 is positioned, that is, when the abutment of the guide groove 31 of the process cartridge guide member 30 and the positioning projection walls 32 on both side surfaces of the process cartridge 1 are contacted with each other, the micro switch pressing member 41 is moved. It is moved to the first stage position h shown in 5 (b).

At this time, the protrusion 41c of the micro switch pressing member 41 shown in FIG. 4 stops at a position where the micro switch 42 is not pressed. Even if the process cartridge 1 is supported by the main body of the apparatus, the sliding force transmission member 34 is moved by the restoring force of the restoring spring 37 when the exterior door 28 is open to some extent.
As shown in FIG. 3, the LED holder 18, which is located in the left direction in the drawing and is interlocked with the sliding force transmission member 34, is located away from the process cartridge 1. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the exterior door 28 is locked to the apparatus main body by the hook member 43 (see FIG. 1), the sliding action member 44 disposed on the exterior door 28 becomes the sliding force transmission member 34. The tip is pressed and moved, and the LED holder 18 interlocked with this is moved in the direction of the process cartridge 1, and the LED array head 9 and the process cartridge 1, that is, the photoconductor 2 are positioned.

At this time, the projecting portion 34a at the innermost end of the slide force transmitting member 34 presses the small inclined portion 41d of the micro switch pressing member 41 as shown in FIG. The two-stage position i, that is, the micro switch 42 is moved to the operation position, and the mounting of the process cartridge 1 on the main body control board (not shown) and the exterior door 2 are completed.
Electrically communicate that 8 is closed.

On the contrary, as shown in FIG. 5 (d), when the process cartridge 1 is not mounted and the exterior door 28 is closed, the slide force transmitting member 34 has a protrusion 34a at the innermost end thereof which is a micro switch. The small inclined portion 41d of the pressing member 41 enters the groove portion 41e without being pressed. As a result, the device control board
There is no electrical transmission to the device (not shown), and the power to the device body does not turn on. When the exterior door 28 is opened, the micro switch pressing member 41 is moved to the first step position h by the restoring spring 45 arranged in the direction of arrow g, and the micro switch 42 does not operate. Further, when the process cartridge 1 is removed, the micro switch pressing member 41 returns to the initial position.

The operation up to image output in the state shown in FIG. 2 in which the process cartridge 1 is mounted in the apparatus main body will be described below. When the image forming operation signal is issued, the photoconductor 2 rotates and moves in the direction of arrow c, and the surface of the photoconductor 2 is uniformly charged to about −600 to −700 V by the corona discharge of the charger 3. Next, when the light beam from the exposure unit (LED array head 9) is irradiated onto the surface of the photoconductor 2 to which the negative charge is uniformly applied, the irradiated portion on the photoconductor 2 is charged. Disappears and an electrostatic latent image is formed.

When developing with the developing roller 6, the toner has the same polarity as that of the electrostatic latent image on the axis so that the toner may fly to the electrostatic latent image, and the potential of the electrostatic latent image and the potential of the non-image portion are almost at the middle level. Potential (-300
A bias voltage of about V) is applied by a bias voltage application device (not shown), and toner flies to the electrostatic latent image portion on the photoconductor 2 to form a toner image.

The developed one-component toner 8 is conveyed and mixed again with the one-component toner 8 in the cartridge 1,
New one-component toner 8 is supplied onto the developing roller 6.
The toner image on the photoconductor 2 is transferred to the transfer paper 4 by applying a potential (+800 V) having a polarity opposite to that of the toner image on the photoconductor 2 to the transfer roller 10. The transfer paper 4 on which the toner image is transferred is guided to a fixing device 13 including a heat roller 11 having a heat source such as a halogen lamp and a pressure roller 12, and the nip rotation of the heat roller 11 and the pressure roller 12 is performed. The toner image on the transfer paper 4 is fixed by the pressure and heat accompanied by and is output as an image.

[0031]

As described above, in the image forming apparatus of the present invention, the exclusive switch for transmitting the attachment / detachment of the process cartridge to / from the apparatus body to the apparatus body control board and the opening / closing of the exterior door are transmitted to the apparatus body control board. A low cost and space-saving configuration can be achieved by using two dedicated switches as a single switch that performs a switching operation only when both the process cartridge and the exterior door are securely attached to the apparatus main body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an embodiment of the present invention when an exterior door is opened.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view when the exterior door is closed in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a main configuration of a process cartridge, an exterior door and a micro switch of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a microswitch mechanism section that constitutes a main part of FIG.

5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view illustrating the operating state of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of a conventional image forming apparatus with an exterior door opened.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the main configuration of the process cartridge, exterior door, and micro switch of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Process cartridge, 2 ... Photoconductor, 3 ... Charging device, 4 ... Transfer paper, 5 ... Friction charging blade, 6 ... Developing roller, 7 ... Toner supply roller, 8 ... One-component toner, 9 ... LED array head, 10 … Transfer roller,
11 ... Heat roller, 12 ... Pressure roller, 13 ... Fixer,
14 ... Converging rod lens, 18 ... LED holder, 19 ...
LED slide spring, 20 ... slide pin, 22 ... LE
D positioning hole, 23 ... Process cartridge exterior projection, 28 ... Exterior door, 29 ... Exterior door rotation fulcrum, 30 ... Process cartridge guide member, 30a ... Groove, 31 ... Guide groove, 32 ... Positioning projection wall, 33 ... Rotation center shaft hole, 34…
Sliding force transmitting member, 34a ... Projection portion, 35 ... Connecting pin,
36… Holder rotation center axis, 37, 45… Restoring spring, 38
... Engaging portion, 39 ... Positioning surface, 40 ... Process cartridge exterior projection, 41 ... Micro switch pressing member,
41a ... Micro switch pressing member large inclined portion, 41b ... Micro switch pressing member guide protruding portion, 41c ... Micro switch pressing member protruding portion, 41d ... Micro switch pressing member small inclined portion, 41e ... Micro switch pressing member groove portion, 42 ... Micro Switch, 43 ... Hook member, 44
... Sliding member.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A process cartridge integrally formed with a process means arranged around a latent image carrier, an exterior door which can be opened and closed when the process cartridge is attached to and detached from the apparatus main body, and the exterior door. An exposure unit capable of interlockingly urging the process cartridge and a switch mechanism interlocking with the process cartridge and the exterior door are provided, and the switch mechanism is provided both when the process cartridge is mounted and when the exterior door is closed. An image forming apparatus characterized in that a switching operation is performed only when the above conditions are simultaneously satisfied. 2. The image according to claim 1, wherein the operating direction of the switch mechanism interlocked with the exterior door is orthogonal to the attachment / detachment direction of the process cartridge with respect to the apparatus main body and the opening / closing direction of the exterior door. Forming equipment. 3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a part of the switch mechanism is provided in an interlocking member of the exposing means capable of urging the process cartridge in interlock with the exterior door.