Canon Kabushiki Kaisha

Nippon Seimitsu Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha

Dai-Ichi Seiki Kogyo Co., Ltd.

Akira Higeta

Isao Ikemoto

Yoshiyuki Kakumi

Shinichi Sasaki

Kazushi Watanabe

Shinya Noda

Satoshi Yasuda

Akihiro Toma

Minoru Sato

Shigeo Miyabe

Tadayuki Tsuda

Hironobu Isobe

Hiroo Kobayashi

Kazuo Shishido

Koji Miura

Toru Kameyama

Kenji Baba

Nobuharu Hoshi

Yoshiya Nomura

Kazuyuki Kubota

Kazuyoshi Odagawa

Takahiro Azeta

Toshifumi Moritani

Harukazu Sekiya

Takayoshi Hoshi

Hiroshi Koyama

Kenji Matsuda

Yoshiyuki Batori

Noboru Koumura

Ryozo Yanagisawa

Kazumi Sekine

Fumito Nonaka

Jun Miyamoto

Hideshi Kawaguchi

Jun Saito

Masateru Yasuhara

Minoru Matsuguma

Shinji Goto

Takeshi Matoba

Toshiyuki Asakawa

A lubricant supplying method for supplying a lubricant to a sliding portion between a cylindrical rotatable member for use in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus and a supporting member for slidably supporting an inner peripheral surface at one end side of the rotatable member with respect to a rotational axis direction of the rotatable member, includes a step of engaging the supporting member, including a hollow portion and an opening which communicates with the hollow portion and is provided at a position in which the opening opposes the sliding portion, with the rotatable member at the one end side; and a step of supplying the lubricant from the hollow portion toward the sliding portion through the opening.

Lubricant supplying method, supporting member and rotatable member unit

A process cartridge is detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus. The main assembly includes a motor, a gear receiving a driving force from the motor, a hole defined by twisted surfaces substantially coaxial with the gear and having a grounding contact. The cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and a projection engageable with the twisted surfaces. The projection is provided at a longitudinal end of the drum. When the gear rotates with the hole and projection engaged with each other, a rotational driving force is transmitted from the gear to the drum through engagement between the hole and the projection. The cartridge also includes a grounding contact electrically connected with the drum, for electrically grounding the drum when the cartridge is mounted to the main assembly, and provided on the projection to be electrically connectable with the main assembly grounding contact.

Coupling part, photosensitive drum, process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the main assembly includes a motor, a main assembly side gear for receiving driving force from the motor, a hole defined by twisted surfaces, the hole being substantially coaxial with the gear, and a main assembly side grounding contact provided in the hole, the process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; process mechanisms actable on the photosensitive drum; and a projection engageable with the twisted surfaces, the projection being provided at a longitudinal end of the photosensitive drum, wherein when the main assembly side gear rotates with the hole and projection engaged with each other, rotational driving force is transmitted from the gear to the photosensitive drum through engagement between the hole and the projection; and a cartridge side grounding contact electrically connected with the electrophotographic photosensitive drum for electrically grounding the electrophotographic photosensitive drum when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, the cartridge side grounding contact being provided on the projection so as to be electrically connectable with the main assembly side grounding contact

A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the main assembly includes a motor, a main assembly side gear for receiving driving force from the motor, a hole defined by twisted surfaces, the hole being substantially coaxial with the gear, and a main assembly side grounding contact provided in the hole, the process cartridge includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; process mechanisms actable on the photosensitive drum; and a projection engageable with the twisted surfaces, the projection being provided at a longitudinal end of the photosensitive drum, wherein when the main assembly side gear rotates with the hole and projection engaged with each other, rotational driving force is transmitted from the gear to the photosensitive drum through engagement between the hole and the projection; and a cartridge side grounding contact electrically connected with the electrophotographic photosensitive drum for electrically grounding the electrophotographic photosensitive drum when the process cartridge is mounted to the main assembly of the apparatus, the cartridge side grounding contact being provided on the projection so as to be electrically connectable with the main assembly side grounding contact.

A remanufacturing method of remanufacting a process cartridge includes (a) a step of preparing a used process cartridge which comprises a toner developing container, a cleaning container and pins for coupling the toner developing container and the cleaning container at opposite longitudinal ends of the process cartridge; the toner developing container including a toner accommodating portion, a toner supply opening, a developing roller and a developing blade; the cleaning container including an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; (b) a container separating step of separating the process cartridge into the toner developing container and the developing container by disengaging the pins from the process cartridge; (c) a developing roller dismounting step of dismounting the developing roller from the toner developing container separated by the container separating step; (d) a developing blade dismounting step of dismounting the developing blade from the toner developing container separated by the container separating step; (e) an elastic member mounting step of mounting an elastic member to a longitudinally inside of an end seal provided adjacent each of opposite longitudinal ends of a or the developing roller, at a position laterally outside of the end seal; (f) a developing blade mounting step of mounting a or the developing blade on a or the toner developer container; (g) a developing roller mounting step of mounting a or the developing roller on the toner developer container having the developing blade; (h) a toner refilling step of refilling the toner into a or the toner accommodating portion of the toner developing container having the developing blade and the developing roller; and (i) a container coupling step of coupling the toner developing container having the developing blade and the developing roller with a or the cleaning container by engaging a or the pin into them.

Process cartridge remanufacturing method

A remanufacturing method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, includes (a) a frame separating step of separating the first frame and the second frame from each other; (b) a developing blade dismounting step of dismounting, from the second frame, a developing blade which is mounted on the second frame to regulate an amount of the developer deposited on the developing roller; (c) a thin plate sheet material mounting step of mounting a thin sheet material on such a side of a longitudinal seal for providing a seal extended between the first frame and the second frame in a longitudinal direction of the second frame as is opposite from a side mounted to the second frame; (d) a developer filling step of filling the developer into the developer accommodating portion; (e) a developing blade mounting step of mounting the developing blade in a facing orientation which is opposite from a facing orientation in which the developing blade has been mounted on the second frame; and (f) a frame coupling step of coupling the separated first frame and second frame.

A remanufacturing method is disclosed for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, wherein the process cartridge includes first and second frames rotatably coupled relative to each other. The remanufacturing method includes (a) a separating step of separating the first and second frames; (b) a step of dismounting a developing roller mounted in the second frame; (c) a step of peeling off an elastic sealing member for providing a seal between the second frame and the developing roller; (d) a step of sticking a double coated tape on a seat on which the elastic sealing member has been stuck; (e) a step of filling developer into a developer accommodating portion of the second frame; (f) a step of mounting a developing roller to the second frame; and (g) a step of coupling the separated first and second frames.

Process cartridge and remanufacturing method therefor

A remanufacturing method for a process cartridge includes (a) separating a process cartridge into a lower frame member and an upper frame, (b) dismounting the photosensitive drum from the lower frame member, (c) dismounting the developing roller from the lower frame member, (d) sticking magnetic seals on the lower frame member, (e) sticking a blade elastic member at each of one and the other longitudinal ends of the developing blade, (f) mounting the developing roller onto the lower frame member, (g) mounting the photosensitive drum to the lower frame member, (h) refilling the developer into the developer accommodating portion in the upper frame, and (i) connecting an upper frame into which the developer has been refilled with a lower frame member.

Remanufacturing method for process cartridge

A connecting pin pivotally connects together the first frame and the second frame of a process cartridge including the first frame supporting an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a second frame supporting a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum, and detachably mountable to the main body of an image forming apparatus. The pin is formed of a metallic hollow material, having slits defined by opposed edges of the metal material, and has formed on the metallic hollow material a restraining portion having a leading end as a bending proximal base with respect to the direction of insertion of the connecting pin and an outwardly extending trailing end.

Connecting pin for process cartridge, and process cartridge

A remanufacturing method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, includes (a) a unit separating step of separating the first and second units from each other by removing a pair of connecting members for connecting them; (b) a developing roller dismounting step of dismounting the developing roller from the second unit having been thus separated; (c) a second end seal mounting step of mounting a second end seal in contact with or adjacent to an outside of a first end seal which is provided at each of one and the other longitudinal ends of the developing roller; (d) a developer refilling step; (e) a developing roller remounting step; (f) a unit re-coupling step; by which the process cartridge is remanufactured without mounting a toner seal to the developer supply opening having been unsealed by removing a toner seal when the process cartridge has been used.

A remanufacturing method for a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, the process cartridge including a first unit supporting an electrophotographic photosensitive drum and a second unit supporting a developing roller for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the electrophotographic photosensitive drum and having a developer accommodating portion accommodating a developer to be used for development of the electrostatic latent image by the developing roller, the first unit and the second unit being rotatably coupled, the method including (a) a unit separating step of separating the first unit and the second unit from each other; (b) a developer filling step of filling the developer into the developer accommodating portion of the second unit; (c) a unit coupling process of coupling the first unit and the second unit with each other; and (d) a tape affixing step of removably affixing a tape along an outer surface of the first unit, an outer surface of a drum shutter for covering such a portion of the electrophotographic photosensitive drum which is exposed from the first unit and a second unit, an outer surface of the second unit.

Growing community of inventors

Funabashi, Japan

Akira Higeta